gesuchtish Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I recently got accepted at SUNY upstate while waiting for invites from Wayne State/Albany/Penn State/NYMC/St Louis U. I'm thinking about withdrawing from all of these places since SUNY seems to be better than they are on the US news ranking. Am I wrong? This whole application process is so depressing and I'm sick of going to ghettos for interviews Talking about urban blight, I can't imagine how I could stand spending 4 years in Detroit or St Louis, not to mention paying a quater million price for that experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I recently got accepted at SUNY upstate while waiting for invites from Wayne State/Albany/Penn State/NYMC/St Louis U. I'm thinking about withdrawing from all of these places since SUNY seems to be better than they are on the US news ranking. Am I wrong? This whole application process is so depressing and I'm sick of going to ghettos for interviews Talking about urban blight, I can't imagine how I could stand spending 4 years in Detroit or St Louis, not to mention paying a quater million price for that experience. out of all those schools...i heard exceptional good things about Penn State... but ya, SUNY upsate is an awesome school. close to home and cheap (33K per year and 9 K to live there)...that would be a good choice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gesuchtish Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 Hi Sony, do you think vermont is better than SUNY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I recently got accepted at SUNY upstate while waiting for invites from Wayne State/Albany/Penn State/NYMC/St Louis U. I'm thinking about withdrawing from all of these places since SUNY seems to be better than they are on the US news ranking. Am I wrong? This whole application process is so depressing and I'm sick of going to ghettos for interviews Talking about urban blight, I can't imagine how I could stand spending 4 years in Detroit or St Louis, not to mention paying a quater million price for that experience. i would not use the word "BAD school" though...if you can edit that out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I would try to go to the PENN state interview. It's a good school. The things I didnt like about SUNY upstate 1) old technlogy 2) syracuse sucks...things I liked 1) cheap 2) close to home 3) decent match list. and as for removing the word "bad" in your title...What I noticed from interviewing at a decent number of allopathic schools, is that every school is pretty much equal...unlike some other professions (eg. law schools).. Large part of where you finally decide to go, depends on your personality (Which includes your area preference) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gesuchtish Posted January 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I tried to change the title from bad to not-so-good, but somehow the forum wouldn't allow me to do that:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I tried to change the title from bad to not-so-good, but somehow the forum wouldn't allow me to do that:confused: also check out NYMC match list. freaking blew me out of the water. 19 rads, 5 neuro surgery. frig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 I was accepted at both SUNY upstate and Penn State. Out of the two, I personally liked Penn State much more even though the tuition there is about 11K/year more than at SUNY. It was REALLY hard for me to say no to Penn State when I got accepted in Canada...but paying 44k/year US vs. 14K/year CDN...I think it's a great school. Generally, all 'state' schools are good because the education is regulated by the government since they provide most of the funding. Whereas private schools have their own funding so their education is not as tightly regulated (ie. bob's medical school [i made that up] vs. johns hopkins) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted January 26, 2007 Report Share Posted January 26, 2007 If you didn't like the school/surrounding area when you went there for the interview, I don't see why you'd want to keep the acceptance there. Might as well tell them to give your spot to another person. There are definitely people there who WANT to spend their lives in the urban ghetto helping the local community, and for them attending a medical school that allows you to train in inner city hospitals would be very beneficial. However, if your preference is based solely on ranking, I would take some time to think this over before you jump the gun. When I applied to undergrad, I got into schools ranked 25th and 11th on the US News list...They were very similar (both small liberal arts schools in the midwest), but eventually I ended up going to the one ranked 25th. To me, the fact that I was going to live in a large urban area was more important than the ranking. The #11 school was literally in the middle of nowhere - the closest town with a population of 100,000 or more was 3 hours away. I definitely don't regret going for the school with a slightly lower ranking. Besides, I don't know how they rank med schools, but with undergrad US News they look at other things besides the quality of education. The 2 schools I'm referring to differed greatly in the size of their endowment, and this is a major factor in rankings - and I am suspicious that it was the ONLY reason for the 14-spot difference in the rankings. But does it really matter if you go to a school which has a $300 million endowment or a school with a $1 billion endowment? Not for me. Unless you are accepted at Ivy League, I wouldn't drop the other acceptances based solely on rankings. As Sony said, there is not THAT much of a difference between schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excalibre Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Generally, all 'state' schools are good because the education is regulated by the government since they provide most of the funding. Whereas private schools have their own funding so their education is not as tightly regulated (ie. bob's medical school [i made that up] vs. johns hopkins) I am not entirely sure about that. Almost all of the ones ranked as 'top' are private (U.S. News or word of mouth). But that depends on the ranking system. Only two of the top 10 on U.S. News are public with respect to research oriented schools. Among primary care focus, the public ones seems to dominate. Supposedly, every school in the either Canada or the U.S. is good since they are accredited by the LCME. Also each student must right the USMLE steps in the U.S. and private schools as I understand generally do better on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Yes, you are right. Why do people talk about 'good' and 'not-so-good' schools if all of them are accredited by LCME? There must be some difference...right? The majority of 'top' US schools are private. Private schools get way more funding and hence, conduct way more research. But you have to admit - there is a difference between attending Johns Hopkins and NYMC. The variation among state schools is not as much. People usually refer to US med schools in a 'tier' system...Harvard/Yale being top tier and NYMC being 3rd tier ...most 'state' schools are 2nd tier...don't ask me what determins this system cuz I have no clue lol. Students that attend private schools do better on USMLEs - could it be because the 'top' schools accept students with higher GPAs and MCAT scores? I'm sure that must be some indicator of how they will do on the USMLEs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarzi Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Well - just b/c a school is LCME accredited, it doesn't mean that ALL accredited programs are equal in quality. As I'm sure, the LCME scores the programs - so some programs are top quality, while some programs barely passed but are still accredited. Some schools may even be on probation and you wouldn't know it. Albany had some issues with their accredition a few years back - they did not lose their license, but they were given recommendations and warnings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 i agree with tarzi - rosalind franklin also had some problems...i think saskatchewan (yes, a canadian school!) did as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Anyone know where I can find a basic summary of those "issues" that jeopardized the schools' accreditations? Just wondering how serious they really are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Anyone know where I can find a basic summary of those "issues" that jeopardized the schools' accreditations? Just wondering how serious they really are. RFU problems were financial, not academic. Everything is fixed now. And recent match lists (plastics at Stanford) show that the school is doing really well. I would not worry about it in the US...as far as I know, there are no allopathic schools under serious trouble. Most of the problems that arrise to cause accreditations problems are political in nature it seems...eg. the dispute between DMC and Wayne State (residency programs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Do you know anything about DO, Sony? I personally find osteopathic medicine to be interesting as well, and would apply (plus DO schools tend to be easier to get in, anyway) if their degrees were honored in Canada on the same level as allopathic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Yes, you are right. Why do people talk about 'good' and 'not-so-good' schools if all of them are accredited by LCME? There must be some difference...right? The majority of 'top' US schools are private. Private schools get way more funding and hence, conduct way more research. But you have to admit - there is a difference between attending Johns Hopkins and NYMC. The variation among state schools is not as much. People usually refer to US med schools in a 'tier' system...Harvard/Yale being top tier and NYMC being 3rd tier ...most 'state' schools are 2nd tier...don't ask me what determins this system cuz I have no clue lol. Students that attend private schools do better on USMLEs - could it be because the 'top' schools accept students with higher GPAs and MCAT scores? I'm sure that must be some indicator of how they will do on the USMLEs. Is there a difference between NYMC and JHU? yes of course there is. But not so much as ppl think. You will still be a good doctor if you go to either place. You still can get a kick ass residency if you go to NYMC (check out the match lists). But if you go to JHU you will have a easier time...but its because you are more of a gunner by nature (heck you had the stats to get into JHU) and you have a solid reputation behind you. Not because JHU somehow "teaches you better information". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Do you know anything about DO, Sony? I personally find osteopathic medicine to be interesting as well, and would apply (plus DO schools tend to be easier to get in, anyway) if their degrees were honored in Canada on the same level as allopathic. PM ME, i know a person who has gone through the DO process this season...I am sure he wont mind answering your questions... Personally I know very little... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Do you know anything about DO, Sony? I personally find osteopathic medicine to be interesting as well, and would apply (plus DO schools tend to be easier to get in, anyway) if their degrees were honored in Canada on the same level as allopathic. D'oh, I just now saw that sticky at the top of this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintime Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 If you don't mind me asking, for those who got accepted to US schools, which ones did you get accepted to and what were your stats? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 If you don't mind me asking, for those who got accepted to US schools, which ones did you get accepted to and what were your stats? Thanks! i presume this question is directed at me... check my sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 If you don't mind me asking, for those who got accepted to US schools, which ones did you get accepted to and what were your stats? Thanks! check the accepted/rejected/waitlisted thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meowmix Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 I'm a third-year at a US state school, and a dual citizen. Above all, IGNORE the USNews ranking in making your decision. Those rankings are based on faculty opinions, research funding, etc. - issues that are largely irrelevant to quality of student education and student happiness. My school is ranked top 10 in a few categories and it still has plenty of problems. Comparing USMLE scores between schools - I don't know where you got the info, but I think the idea that private schools do better is somewhat bogus. To start with, each school guards their average USMLE score very very closely. This info is not readily available. We have no idea what our class's average score was. There is no place that you can go and look it up. In the second place, there is a huge variation in students' preparation when they take Step 1. Some schools require everyone to take it at the end of MS2. Some allow students to take as long as they like after MS2, so those with academic difficulties have more time to remediate. Others (including several "prestigious" private schools) have students take it after MS3. There is no strong correlation between MCAT score and Step 1 score, so the idea that the private schools get better students with higher MCAT scores , who then go on to do better on Step 1, is also questionable. Finally, there are several state schools that are exceedingly good (e.g. UCSF), and many private that are not at all superb, so it's impossible to generalize about all state and all private. You are waiting on several perfectly fine schools where you will get a decent education. If you can't stand the thought of living somewhere, then by all means turn them down, as long as you have somewhere else to go. Money should be a huge factor in your decision, much more than rankings. That alone would toss UVM out of contention for me, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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