racedc2 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I need to decide between penn state and stony brook and I need to do it ASAP!! I feel extremely lucky to have this decision but I'm really struggling with it so any insight would be helpful. I think I would want to do a residecy after graduating so not sure if this changes anything. Both schools are the same distance from home and tuition is similar because I'm out of state for stony brook Stony Brook: Pros - well established program, connections to hospitals in NYC (where I potentially want to live after graduating), students seemed like they had a good balance between school and life (or as good as it can be..) Cons - COL is much high on Long Island than Hershey, rotations can be anywhere on LI or in NYC so 2nd year could involve lots of traffic, capstone project/mini thesis that I've been told you don't get much guidance or help with Penn State Pros - Hershey Medical Center, low cost of living, have on campus housing where I could walk to the hospital everyday, everyone seemed very invested in each individual student, a little closer to my siblings who are in school Cons - new program (just graduated their first class in 2016 BUT had 100% pass rate), Hershey is kind of in the middle of nowhere/not much to do there Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimistic3 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I would choose Penn State. Their program is really incredible (I love the TBL idea) and you can tell that all the faculty truly care about each student and their success. HMC is also a great facility. I wouldn't be worried about their provisional accreditation and being a new program. The PANCE scores for the first class were higher than the national average in every subsection and all 30 students who started to program graduated and passed the PANCE on the first try. I will say that I'm not familiar with Stony Brook's program but I love everything about Penn State's program except for the fact that there is only 1 elective (I've seen schools that go up to 3) and that it's far from a major airport (harder to fly into the Harrisburg airport because of timing and pricing), though flying may not be an issue for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panglossian Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I have no affiliation with either school but based entirely on your pros and cons lists it sounds like you are leaning towards Penn State. What are your top priorities? Is living/working in NYC post-graduation more important to you than campus/commute while in school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger777 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Penn State. LI has all the cost of NYC without being interesting. If there is ever a giant tsunami you will be trapped out there with the other 3 million people and drown ;) I targeted PS pretty heavily when I was applying but didn't get a look ( my grandmother was the head dietician there in the late 50s) . Agree with the comments above about dedication and seriousness. Ditto the facilities. The director is extremely well regarded. Good job getting into SB as an OOS student tho. Very competitive bc. of the in state tuition. They don't allow people to transition to in state once they are out there a while? I went to BInghamton back in the 90s and they put me through after a semester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racedc2 Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 panglossian My top priorities are getting into a residency program and/or a job but I'm unsure of how much the program you attend is weighted when applying. Initially I was leaning towards Stony Brook because it's an established program but after talking to some people a lot have said go to the cheapest one because where you graduate from doesn't matter as long as you pass your boards. roger777 You can get in state for the second year which would even out the tuition, otherwise SB would be a lot more and my decision would be a lot easier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger777 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 panglossian My top priorities are getting into a residency program and/or a job but I'm unsure of how much the program you attend is weighted when applying. Initially I was leaning towards Stony Brook because it's an established program but after talking to some people a lot have said go to the cheapest one because where you graduate from doesn't matter as long as you pass your boards. roger777 You can get in state for the second year which would even out the tuition, otherwise SB would be a lot more and my decision would be a lot easier... Yeah I applied to that and Upstate as well bc. could have gotten NYNG to pay for it. Me and like 4000 other people:) I think that and RFU were probably the two most competitive programs numbers-wise I applied to. The other 2 public options City (where I went for prereq) and Downstate were (incredibly) still BS in 14/15 cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodododi Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Stony Brook! I may be biased because I live in NYC, but Stony Brook has such an amazing reputation within NYC. Also, Stony Brook is a state school, so the tuition is relatively low. Definitely a great choice if you want to work in NYC in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktsterry Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Penn state. Cost of living alone is a good enough reason for me. I don't think that extra curriculars or lack there of is important because how much time/$$ do you think you'll really have to enjoy these things? And as far as residency goes, unless either school has an affiliation with a residency program (I'm not familiar with east coast schools), then I can't imagine it matters a whole lot where you went. Also, did you confirm that you can get in-state tuition in year two? I only ask because the program I'm going to just this year was forced to get rid of that perk. It's probably a state legislature thing, but it's worth double checking with your program! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racedc2 Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Penn state. Cost of living alone is a good enough reason for me. I don't think that extra curriculars or lack there of is important because how much time/$$ do you think you'll really have to enjoy these things? And as far as residency goes, unless either school has an affiliation with a residency program (I'm not familiar with east coast schools), then I can't imagine it matters a whole lot where you went. Also, did you confirm that you can get in-state tuition in year two? I only ask because the program I'm going to just this year was forced to get rid of that perk. It's probably a state legislature thing, but it's worth double checking with your program! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk have not confirmed about the in-state tuition for the 2nd year. That's probably a good idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainOnNeptune Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Well, if I was choosing for myself i would say Penn state hands down. I was really hoping to get an interview there but didn't hear back. However, if you think you want to live in near Stony Brook after school I think it makes more sense for you to go there, where your rotations might become job offers you would be interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuturePA-S1995 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Following this topic because I'm also choosing between two schools. What do you guys consider most important when choosing a program? The two programs I'm choosing between are similar cost, location, and program length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPZ Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I have heard it is a good idea to choose a program in an area you would like to work in. What did you end up choosing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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