Urgent advice needed: University of Toledo vs. SUNY Downstate

[LostinOhio]

Urgent Decision:
I'm an OOS matriculating to one of these 2.
Which would you choose to attend? UTCOM is in a barren city without much of a history or any reputation whatsoever. However, I felt like their staff and faculty cared about the students on my interview day. The match list isn't really impressive, though.

SUNY Downstate is in a somewhat unpalatable area as well. However, it does carry a reputation for impressive clinical exposure (whether or not this is overrated seems to vary depending on whom you ask). Both schools allow you to have instate tuition after living off campus for a year, but SUNY Downstate still figures to cost nearly 70k more after 4 years (mainly because of living expenses in Brooklyn). The match list, however, is a tad more reassuring than UTCOM's.

What to do? What else is there to consider?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[235009]

which region do you want to do your residency in?
if north east then downstate
if cali then downstate is prob a better bet
if elsewhere then it doesn't really matter which you choose

 

[desperate4help]

downstate hands down...

New york vs toledo?

seems like an easy choice to me.

downstate has better reputation too.

 

[JJMrK]

Moving to SSD. I'd probably choose to save the 70k. Match lists aren't terribly useful because you don't know who wanted to go into what and where they wanted to do it.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Urgent Decision:
I'm an OOS matriculating to one of these 2.
Which would you choose to attend? UTCOM is in a barren city without much of a history or any reputation whatsoever. However, I felt like their staff and faculty cared about the students on my interview day. The match list isn't really impressive, though.

SUNY Downstate is in a somewhat unpalatable area as well. However, it does carry a reputation for impressive clinical exposure (whether or not this is overrated seems to vary depending on whom you ask). Both schools allow you to have instate tuition after living off campus for a year, but SUNY Downstate still figures to cost nearly 70k more after 4 years (mainly because of living expenses in Brooklyn). The match list, however, is a tad more reassuring than UTCOM's.

What to do? What else is there to consider?

Even though I'm going to be a Downstate student, I'd suggest Toledo over Downstate in the interest of saving 70K over four years (which will easily be about 140-150K at the end of your loan life).

However, in the interest of making your decision, I would say go with whichever school you feel you will be happiest! I don't know the specifics of UTCOM, but I think that its academics aren't going to be significantly different from Downstate's. I think the biggest factor here will be YOUR happiest and whether you "CARE" about the "clinical experience" you'll get at Brooklyn. If you feel it'll be the "key" to you getting the most out of your career path, then go for Downstate. Otherwise, pocket the 70K and just go "through the hoops" and graduate in four years!

 

[synthase]

Cost and fit. If you could be happy at UTCOM, there is no reason to take on that much extra debt to go to a comparable state school as an OOS student. Good luck!

 

[235009]

living cost estimates vary considerably even among schools in the same city ...you really need to look closely at the line by line expenses listed in each. The difference may be that downstate adds a few thousand for "personal expenses" and the other school doesn't. also you'll need a car in toledo and but not in brooklyn. don't fall into the trap of taking those two numbers at face value knowing the details behind them

 

[Bungie]

I don't know anything about DS. Toledo is a good school, and pretty cheap especially if you're IS. Also, cost of living is cheap. But as another user stated, if you want to do an north east residency, DS would be the better choice. Otherwise I'd choose UTCOM.

 

[LostinOhio]

I want a cali residency...Is DS still a no go?

 

[Bungie]

You'll have to compare match list, but I would think NY has more connections to Cali. Either way Cali residencies are tough to get from what I hear. Doing well at either school should help your chances.

 

[235009]

I want a cali residency...Is DS still a no go?

more cali residents probably end up at SUNYs than at any other OOS state school so the cali residency directors are more likely to be familiar with SUNY students than toledo students which would work in your favor when applying for residency

 

[LostinOhio]

There aren't enough Cali matriculants to Toledo for me to make an estimate about how often/easy it is for a Toledo med student to go back to Cali. Whereas there seems to be quite a few from SUNY that go back to Cali, which I attribute to a larger number of Cali students going to DS in the first place. Thus, comparing match lists don't help much.

If I liked Toledo more than Brooklyn, is the reputation of SUNY Downstate as a good school for clinical experience and the possible familiarity it has with California residencies worth disregarding my affinity for Toledo?

 

[235009]

If I liked Toledo more than Brooklyn, is the reputation of SUNY Downstate as a good school for clinical experience and the possible familiarity it has with California residencies worth disregarding my affinity for Toledo?

that's totally your call ...i dont know what you personally value more ...i can imagine that toledo and downstate are very different in many respects (i've never been to toledo)

 

[LostinOhio]

that's totally your call ...i dont know what you personally value more ...i can imagine that toledo and downstate are very different in many respects (i've never been to toledo)

hah... i appreciate the advice. Just hasn't helped me make a decision.

 

[futuredoc528]

hah... i appreciate the advice. Just hasn't helped me make a decision.

As someone planning (as of now) to go to Downstate next year, I've been doing a lot of apartment hunting. Although downstate itself may be in an unsavory area, there are a lot of areas of Brooklyn that are really nice, and as you need to live of campus anyway, all you will experience of the neighborhood around campus is the 2 block walk to the subway, and there's a shuttle if you really don't feel safe (I feel perfectly safe in the area, although I'm a large male so take it for what you will)

 

[byurazorhog]

I normally advocate for going to the cheaper school but in this instance, I think I might have to side with Downstate. I just feel that it'll give you more opportunities down the line overall. I can't imagine living in Toledo under any circumstance though so my opinion is heavily biased. If you're willing to do residency at some of the better known Midwest programs in the future, UT is probably not that bad of a choice. I have nothing against the midwest and am going to a school there but Toledo is rough. My PI and my lab supervisor were both from there originally before moving their entire lab at UT out west and even they said they'd never go back.

 

[LostinOhio]

why would DS give me more opportunities?