Which SUNY? (UB vs. Stony Brook vs. Upstate)

[zeppelinpage4]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some opinions on the SUNY medical schools.

I figure it's pretty late in the cycle and I probably won't be hearing back from any more schools until after May when waitlists start getting looked at.

Anyhow, I am fortunate to be in a position where I can choose schools. The three SUNY schools I got into are Upstate, University at Buffalo, and Stony Brook. Due to their probation status I am iffy about Upstate. However, I equally liked UB and Stony Brook and I just can't seem to decide. Could anyone give me some feedback on these schools?

I'm not sure what i want to specialize in, but I have a strong interest in research and possibly academic medicine.
More importantly though, I don't want to be in a highly competitive environment. I hope to work very hard, but I really just wanna work with my classmates and I'd be happy enough with passing.

Stony Brook:
Pros:
-Beautiful area in Long Island and I like the suburbs, very ideal location
-Great research opportunities with Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven nearby
-Good reputation and well known. I think the best known SUNY because of it's research and size
-Medical school attached to the hospital

Cons:
-Living on long Island is expensive
-I heard the grading was curved????

Buffalo:
Pros:
-Many students from my undergrad attend this medical school and I have friends that are there or may be going there
-I felt the best sense of fit on interview day, I really felt at home.
-Roswell Park nearby for research
-Living in Buffalo is much cheaper
-Classes end by 1pm each day (not sure when classes end for the other schools)

Cons:
-Buffalo is not as pretty as the area Stony Brook is in.
-Not as well known as Stony Brook or as renound for research
-I'll need to drive to all clinical sites because the medical school is separate from the hospitals.

I have not discounted Upstate either, but their probation status has gotten me to put it aside. If you guys believe Upstate may be worth looking at still, let me know. Outside the probation, I liked Upstate a lot. I got similarly good vibes as I did in Buffalo.

Many thanks!

P.S. is the curriculum the same in all three of these? I can't seem to find details on their websites. Tuition wise they should be approximately the same.

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[YankeeLion16]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some opinions on the SUNY medical schools.

I figure it's pretty late in the cycle and I probably won't be hearing back from any more schools until after May when waitlists start getting looked at.

Anyhow, I am fortunate to be in a position where I can choose schools. The three SUNY schools I got into are Upstate, University at Buffalo, and Stony Brook. Due to their probation status I am iffy about Upstate. However, I equally liked UB and Stony Brook and I just can't seem to decide. Could anyone give me some feedback on these schools?

I'm not sure what i want to specialize in, but I have a strong interest in research and possibly academic medicine.
More importantly though, I don't want to be in a highly competitive environment. I hope to work very hard, but I really just wanna work with my classmates and I'd be happy enough with passing.

Stony Brook:
Pros:
-Beautiful area in Long Island and I like the suburbs, very ideal location
-Great research opportunities with Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven nearby
-Good reputation and well known. I think the best known SUNY because of it's research and size
-Medical school attached to the hospital

Cons:
-Living on long Island is expensive
-I heard the grading was curved????

Buffalo:
Pros:
-Many students from my undergrad attend this medical school and I have friends that are there or may be going there
-I felt the best sense of fit on interview day, I really felt at home.
-Roswell Park nearby for research
-Living in Buffalo is much cheaper
-Classes end by 1pm each day (not sure when classes end for the other schools)

Cons:
-Buffalo is not as pretty as the area Stony Brook is in.
-Not as well known as Stony Brook or as renound for research
-I'll need to drive to all clinical sites because the medical school is separate from the hospitals.

I have not discounted Upstate either, but their probation status has gotten me to put it aside. If you guys believe Upstate may be worth looking at still, let me know. Outside the probation, I liked Upstate a lot. I got similarly good vibes as I did in Buffalo.

Many thanks!

P.S. is the curriculum the same in all three of these? I can't seem to find details on their websites. Tuition wise they should be approximately the same.

I'm between SBU, Upstate, and downstate. I think that SBU is more well known, but Downstate has a better residency match list and clincal experience. Downstate also has a new curriculum and a new building opening in 2014. SB is beautiful and could definitely provide a comfortable learning environment. I'm torn as well.

 

[earf]

Hey guys, just wanted to get some opinions on the SUNY medical schools.

I figure it's pretty late in the cycle and I probably won't be hearing back from any more schools until after May when waitlists start getting looked at.

Anyhow, I am fortunate to be in a position where I can choose schools. The three SUNY schools I got into are Upstate, University at Buffalo, and Stony Brook. Due to their probation status I am iffy about Upstate. However, I equally liked UB and Stony Brook and I just can't seem to decide. Could anyone give me some feedback on these schools?

I'm not sure what i want to specialize in, but I have a strong interest in research and possibly academic medicine.
More importantly though, I don't want to be in a highly competitive environment. I hope to work very hard, but I really just wanna work with my classmates and I'd be happy enough with passing.

Stony Brook:
Pros:
-Beautiful area in Long Island and I like the suburbs, very ideal location
-Great research opportunities with Cold Spring Harbor and Brookhaven nearby
-Good reputation and well known. I think the best known SUNY because of it's research and size
-Medical school attached to the hospital

Cons:
-Living on long Island is expensive
-I heard the grading was curved????

Buffalo:
Pros:
-Many students from my undergrad attend this medical school and I have friends that are there or may be going there
-I felt the best sense of fit on interview day, I really felt at home.
-Roswell Park nearby for research
-Living in Buffalo is much cheaper
-Classes end by 1pm each day (not sure when classes end for the other schools)

Cons:
-Buffalo is not as pretty as the area Stony Brook is in.
-Not as well known as Stony Brook or as renound for research
-I'll need to drive to all clinical sites because the medical school is separate from the hospitals.

I have not discounted Upstate either, but their probation status has gotten me to put it aside. If you guys believe Upstate may be worth looking at still, let me know. Outside the probation, I liked Upstate a lot. I got similarly good vibes as I did in Buffalo.

Many thanks!

P.S. is the curriculum the same in all three of these? I can't seem to find details on their websites. Tuition wise they should be approximately the same.

Out of your choices, I would have to choose SBU. There's an awesome undergrad community that I'm not sure the other two schools have. The research opportunities there are pretty well known as well.

 

[6svette]

If you like the suburbs, go with sbu. I felt the quality of everything was much better compared to the other sunys, and it has the best reputation, like you said. Upstate NY is a drag

 

[zeppelinpage4]

YankeeLion16 I definitely know how you feel. Hopefully this thread helps you get some info. as well. 🙂

Out of your choices, I would have to choose SBU. There's an awesome undergrad community that I'm not sure the other two schools have. The research opportunities there are pretty well known as well.

Thanks for the input. I never actually considered undergrad community as a factor. Do the med students share a lot of activities with the undergrads?

I know UB has an undergrad a few minutes drive from the med school.

If you like the suburbs, go with sbu. I felt the quality of everything was much better compared to the other sunys, and it has the best reputation, like you said. Upstate NY is a drag

Thanks, could you give some details on the quality differences you saw? I know Stony Brook had the nicest and most modern looking hospital/med school, but I didn't get to see much else.

As for upstate NY, I wouldn't say it's a drag, I although I can understand why many people would haha.😛 Long Island is a lot nicer, but I grew up in upstate NY and wouldn't mind living here for med school. I like the long winters and the snow to a certain degree.

Any more input guys? It looks like Stony Brook is getting the most praise. I read in another thread that SBU had a lot of gunners...is there any truth to that? Hardworking, but laid back student body is very important to me.

 

[snikkle]

I was accepted at Upstate as well, and from what I saw.. it's a great school. From what I gathered from talking to medical students there, the probationary status isn't a big deal, and has no baring on residency match / quality of education. The students there are also SUPER friendly and seem to help out one another.

I believe there's an undergrad community there as well b/c of Syracuse U which is across the street. I don't think there's really much interaction between the grad / undergrad campuses other than running into each other during nightlife activities.

Reputation-wise, there isn't all that much of a difference between the SUNYs, but SBU and Downstate do have the bigger names. In the end, it really comes down to what location you prefer.

 

[DrSolus]

I think you're discounting the fact that you felt most comfortable at UB too much here. It's obvious you should go to the school that you felt the best FIT at - and you stated that you felt this at UB.

Any perception of one school being better than another is all speculation and impression at best. I know that UB is in the middle of moving to a beautiful new downtown campus with tons of money being funneled there to fund spectacular new research facilities and ground breaking research.

SBU would be far from home (a pain in the arse to get home) and would be more expensive to be at. If you have reservations about Upstate, put Upstate out of your mind as well.

You already have a connection to people who went to your undergrad at UB and my experience with the students who go there has been that they are among the friendliest and laidback of most med students I've met. Go to UB!

 

[Waywoe]

I graduated from Upstate in 2012 and am currently a resident here. I would not be too concerned about the probation status. We fully expect it to be lifted the next time the issue is looked at. My class was very laid back with very few gunners and this has pretty much been the norm over the years.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Just wanted to update, I attended the SUNY Upstate Second Visit day and I am blown away. As Waywoe said, the students definitely did not seem to be affected by the probation. Their match results had just come out and the class did very well. Upstate also impressed me a lot. They had block scheduling and the facilities were much nicer than UBs.

So, with the probation not being an issue, it seems I am now trying to decide between Upstate, UB and Stony Brook.

I'm even more confused now though. As an upstate NYer, I felt more at home at UB and Upstate, but Stony Brook seems to be better for research.


Any more input?

Much appreciated.

 

[LongJourney12]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Just wanted to update, I attended the SUNY Upstate Second Visit day and I am blown away. As Waywoe said, the students definitely did not seem to be affected by the probation. Their match results had just come out and the class did very well. Upstate also impressed me a lot. They had block scheduling and the facilities were much nicer than UBs.

So, with the probation not being an issue, it seems I am now trying to decide between Upstate, UB and Stony Brook.

I'm even more confused now though. As an upstate NYer, I felt more at home at UB and Upstate, but Stony Brook seems to be better for research.


Any more input?

Much appreciated.

I don't know how much help this will be, but I'll put in my two cents. If you're really interested in a career in academic medicine then it's best to choose the school that has the better "research" name because you will most likely have access to better resources (more PIs with R01s, K08's as well as infrastructure) that will better prepare you for that career route. I am currently conducting research at a top tier medical school and I've asked PI's (MD's, MD/PhD's and PhDs) for their opinion on the matter because I am in a similar situation (want a career in academic medicine) and the general consensus is to lean towards the school that is producing more reputable research. So, with all of this in mind, you really need to sit down and think about your ultimate goals as a physician and then weigh that with the other deciding factors (cost, "fit" etc) to decide which school is best for you. I really hope this helps a little and that you are ultimately happy wherever you end up!

 

[EM2013]

Current MS-4 at Stony Brook - wanted to quickly share my completely biased plug for Stony.

Curriculum/Grading: Pre-Med's obsess over this - I know this because I did too. The details of any school's pre-clinical curriculum are irrelevant. They are all the same, just packaged / labeled differently. Go to the school that gives you the most amount of free time that you can use to prep for exams (especially for the USMLE Step 1 at the end of you second year), be a real person, hang out w friends, exercise, etc. The current 2nd year curriculum is designed to maximize your free time and the testing all throughout this year is given in the form of customized NBME exams (standardized, computerized exams that mimic the USMLE). This will maximize your Step 1 score. Our Step 1 AVERAGE was 234 or something like that. 30 people in our class scored 250+. The third years' AVERAGE was even higher. These numbers probably mean nothing to you but let me assure you, they are ridiculously high.

Match List: Someone made a comment that Downstate's match lists are better. I have not seen their match lists but I really doubt they are anywhere NEAR our's. People in my class placed into Hopkins, MGH, Brigham, Mt. Sinai, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, Yale, Stanford, Pitt, USC, UCLA, UCSF in specialties such as RadOnc, otolaryngology, ophtho, anestheisiology, radiology, PNMR, plastic surgery, dermatology, EM, thoracic surgery, etc, etc, etc...the list goes on and on. When I was deciding, I asked current students at Downstate why they chose to be there. Quite a few said "because this was the only place I got in." Take that for what it's worth...

Location/Fit: There is definitely something to be said about going to med school in a place that is somewhat close to your family if that's important to you. For that reason, you might choose Upstate or Buffalo if it's closer to your family. Downstate is in the "city" but remember it's NOT Manhattan. Most of your time will be spent around the school which is not really a desirable area. Your subjective sense of fit on the interview day is irrelevant. You will find your group and make friends no matter where you go - I PROMISE you.