So, this may end up being eventually moot since I have WL spots at Northwestern, Georgetown, U of Illinois, Rosalind Franklin, and PCOM, but I have acceptances to both the coastal Touros and I need to make a decision.
First, Touro CA:
Pros:
-Somewhat lower cost of living (not as much as I expected though after doing some research)
-Potential to work on public health, which is a major interest of mine
-NorCal weather and scenery
-Possibly potential to make connections with Bay Area medical technology development?
-Actual campus (if very.... postindustrial)
-Not much going on in Vallejo; so, fewer distractions
Cons:
-Not much going on in Vallejo; so, fewer ways to blow off steam and regain sanity
-Would need a car to get around
-Crime rates similar to Chicago but without any of the big-city amenities
-Far from my social support network
-Seems very primary care focused, and I'd like the option of going into a specialty
-Admin seems disorganized; gave us some of the pharmacy forms at our interview instead of the DO forms, didn't fix the mistake. Forms I've received for pre-matriculation stuff have contained inaccurate/obsolete info
-Seemed very OMM focused in almost a woo-woo manner. I feel like OMM offers some useful tools from what I've seen of it, but I got the impression they want to emphasize it for things I don't really think is appropriate
-Staff kinda seemed down on the school? Dean actually said in our interview that "people with other options usually don't come here"
Lingering Questions:
-Not much info seems available online on rotations... anyone know anything about their location/quality?
-Are there research opportunities beyond the public health stuff, and is the public health program sufficiently developed to offer the connections/skills to make it work it?
Now, Touro NY (Harlem):
Pros:
-Somewhat cheaper tuition (~5k/year)
-More opportunities to go into a specialty
-Shiny new research facilities offer opportunities for bench lab research
-NYC certainly offers better networking opportunities than Vallejo
-I have friends in NYC so would have a social support network going in
-I liked the teaching staff I interacted with quite a lot, especially the guy who ran the demo of the simulation room
-Can do daily stuff easily on my bike (I'm big into cycling)
-NYC is a world class city, so, plenty of ways to blow off steam. I also love the energy of the city and feel like I could feed off that
Cons:
-NYC is NYC; so, plenty of potential distractions
-Rotations all over the place in Staten Island, Jersey, LI, etc, and appear to be of mixed quality
-I keep hearing bad things about the clicker sessions and constant tests wasting people's time
-COMLEX scores seem marginally worse than Touro-CA's esp on Step 2+3
-Admin seems squirrely. Faculty interviewers + deans giving presentations kind of danced around the overadmission incident last year, probation status, and other admin issues
-A perhaps superficial reason: "campus" looks like a RL version of Hollywood Upstairs Medical College from the Simpsons
-No but really WTF, how come all this tuition isn't going towards making the place look less embarrassing and getting some rotation sites in Harlem or at least in the Bronx?
Lingering Questions:
-Admin seems shady... but precisely how shady? Did the housecleaning after last year make things better?
First, Touro CA:
Pros:
-Somewhat lower cost of living (not as much as I expected though after doing some research)
-Potential to work on public health, which is a major interest of mine
-NorCal weather and scenery
-Possibly potential to make connections with Bay Area medical technology development?
-Actual campus (if very.... postindustrial)
-Not much going on in Vallejo; so, fewer distractions
Cons:
-Not much going on in Vallejo; so, fewer ways to blow off steam and regain sanity
-Would need a car to get around
-Crime rates similar to Chicago but without any of the big-city amenities
-Far from my social support network
-Seems very primary care focused, and I'd like the option of going into a specialty
-Admin seems disorganized; gave us some of the pharmacy forms at our interview instead of the DO forms, didn't fix the mistake. Forms I've received for pre-matriculation stuff have contained inaccurate/obsolete info
-Seemed very OMM focused in almost a woo-woo manner. I feel like OMM offers some useful tools from what I've seen of it, but I got the impression they want to emphasize it for things I don't really think is appropriate
-Staff kinda seemed down on the school? Dean actually said in our interview that "people with other options usually don't come here"
Lingering Questions:
-Not much info seems available online on rotations... anyone know anything about their location/quality?
-Are there research opportunities beyond the public health stuff, and is the public health program sufficiently developed to offer the connections/skills to make it work it?
Now, Touro NY (Harlem):
Pros:
-Somewhat cheaper tuition (~5k/year)
-More opportunities to go into a specialty
-Shiny new research facilities offer opportunities for bench lab research
-NYC certainly offers better networking opportunities than Vallejo
-I have friends in NYC so would have a social support network going in
-I liked the teaching staff I interacted with quite a lot, especially the guy who ran the demo of the simulation room
-Can do daily stuff easily on my bike (I'm big into cycling)
-NYC is a world class city, so, plenty of ways to blow off steam. I also love the energy of the city and feel like I could feed off that
Cons:
-NYC is NYC; so, plenty of potential distractions
-Rotations all over the place in Staten Island, Jersey, LI, etc, and appear to be of mixed quality
-I keep hearing bad things about the clicker sessions and constant tests wasting people's time
-COMLEX scores seem marginally worse than Touro-CA's esp on Step 2+3
-Admin seems squirrely. Faculty interviewers + deans giving presentations kind of danced around the overadmission incident last year, probation status, and other admin issues
-A perhaps superficial reason: "campus" looks like a RL version of Hollywood Upstairs Medical College from the Simpsons
-No but really WTF, how come all this tuition isn't going towards making the place look less embarrassing and getting some rotation sites in Harlem or at least in the Bronx?
Lingering Questions:
-Admin seems shady... but precisely how shady? Did the housecleaning after last year make things better?
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