BU vs Stony Brook vs UNC

[Andnosoupforyou]

Gonna throw this out there to see what the masses think. Input is appreciated. Love to hear from any current acceptees/med students to these schools. All three are great, no doubt about it.

Here's how I stand, just to organize it all for myself:

Stony Brook
+ IS
+ Close to everything I've grown up with (friends, sig. other)
+ Awesome study-abroad opportunities
- Wasn't as enchanted with it as the other schools (still a great school!)
Bottom Line: State school that's closest to home.

UNC
+ If I can manage to get IS tuition after 1st year, will be the cheapest option
+ Best facilities & chillest faculty & Chapel Hill is a sweet little town
+ Chance to do an MPH at the #2 school in the nation
- OOS tuition for 1st year, and there is uncertainty about gaining IS tuition
- 500-odd miles from home
- Don't know how I'll feel about Chapel Hill after a few years here
Bottom Line: Loved it the most, but also the biggest change.

Boston University
+ Got the biggest trauma center in the Northeast, & I've been considering EM
+ BU has the convenience of being in a city
+ Relatively close to home ($40 buses to NYC = big win)
+ Faculty seemed great, new housing complex being built for 2012
- $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
- Finding an apartment with my own bedroom might be tricky
Bottom Line: Boston: interesting, diverse, expensive.

Wildcard Waitlist: Brown Medical School
+ Awesome faculty, students, BRAND NEW MED SCHOOL BEING BUILT
- Interviewed late, so I likely won't get off the waitlist.
Bottom Line: I won't get in, unless I do somehow.

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[gzer0]

Hey, it's me.

UNC, don't kid yourself. Worth the money, even if you didn't get IS tuition. Change is good, it'll make you grow as a person. Change your driver's license, pay taxes, demonstrate a desire to reside in NC (they don't need to know if it's indefinite or not, but you better make it seem like you're just not here to go to school), register to vote here, etc.

It's hard to get accepted into UNC OOS because they like their doctors sticking around NC. If you got in, it may have been because you made it clear to them this was a place you would want to practice medicine in for years to come. Getting NC residency is trickier than some states. NC is great though, there are so many pockets of cosmopolitan/urban/suburban life. It's refreshing from NYC.

 

[soniye]

I'm an MSI at SB (also instate from Long Island)... and I'd say UNC. BU probably isn't worth your money and I think you'll appreciate a new experience. And just so you're aware the international opportunities are quite limited (2-4 spots per program) and is done by a lottery system. So I wouldn't bank completely on that.

 

[Andnosoupforyou]

If only UNC was a little closer, it'd be perfect.... as it stands, traveling between NC & NY is upwards of $200.

 

[iniquus]

If only UNC was a little closer, it'd be perfect.... as it stands, traveling between NC & NY is upwards of $200.

It's more like 170-180 after tax for most tickets between RDU and LGA. And that's fine-- you won't be travelling back and forth to NYC a lot. You'll have your plate full.

 

[medapp1]

BU!!!! My best friend went to MIT and I spent a summer at Harvard doing research and Boston is AMAZING. BU has a gorgeous campus and it's in a great part of town. You've got access to the esplanade for exercising and hanging out. I found Boston to be pretty much the most academically engaged area i've ever been it and it was great. People everywhere studying/discussing at coffee shops/cafes/libraries.

BU has an absolutely outstanding emergency medicine program if that's possibly what your interested in. Not to mention, the social/athletic/academic activities that you can partake in outside of school are limitless in Boston and may be more isolated in NC.

All great schools and I can see why you're having a tough decision with this. Good luck!