Help me decide between the two please! (MI resident)
Wayne
~58k CoA
-I love the city of Detroit, both living here and training in urban hospitals.
~300 student class size
-Ranked pre-clinical year
Hofstra
~79k CoA
-East garden city is hella boring, but Hofstra is an hour east of NYC.
-99 student class size
-Amazing curriculum, newer facilities, and Hofstra is co-owned by a healthcare systems so clinical rotations will no issue.
Overall, if money wasn't an issue, I think I would go to Hofstra, but that extra 21k a year plus interest might be too much.
Thanks in advance!
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First of all, congratulations! It's nice to have decisions to make and I'm sure that wherever you end up you'll be able to have a positive experience; but, maybe my experience can help give you some guidance. I too am a Michigander and I too had to choose between Hofstra and Wayne. I ended up choosing the former, for reasons that I'll get in to, but first let me address the pros/cons list you've made.
Prices: Not too much to say there, Wayne is indeed the cheaper option. You'll have to weigh the other aspects to see if they are worth the extra dollars.
Location: As you say "garden city (/hempstead) is hella boring", but that's not entirely fair. The beautiful thing about Long Island is that you're always only twenty minutes or so from something worth doing. I play tennis on the north side of the island, go mountain biking out east, kiteboard down south, and road bike to the west. And if that's not you scene, then there's plenty of parks, beaches, museums, restaurants, bars, clubs, concert venues etc. not too far away. Of course, there's the City too. And if you're willing to drive a bit, Boston, Philly, DC, the Jersey Shore, the Catskills, and the Adirondacks are all within reach. Plenty of interesting things to do, regardless of what you're interested in.
Class size: I am personally a huge fan of the small class size. I went to a small university so there's probably some bias there and I do know that there are some advantages to bigger classes but I still feel that 100 is a much better number than 300. One thing that Hofstra does really well is creating a class culture that is very unique to each year. The lectures are mandatory which sounds sort of overbearing in theory, but in practice it really works well both for the social benefits of (everyone is always there) and the academic benefits (everyone is always there). 100 students is a good number because you feel valued, both by your peers and by the faculty; the class as a whole feels cohesive and personable and not like a faceless crowd.
Curriculum, etc.: If the AAMC has its way, all the schools will slowly have to drift towards what Hofstra has right now in order to maintain accreditation. Most schools are already a good way there, but to start there is probably cleaner and better. You'd be part of the 7th class and so you are still very much in the formative years of the school; this means that you get to play a significant role in establishing the traditions and guiding the curriculum. This is palpable; there is a real sense that your words and opinions have real and immediate effects. The curriculum as it is right now (and it constantly improves) is quite good. There's a nice balance of small group and large group learning, lab time, and clinical experience. It's sort of hard to explain to people at other schools, but it's organized around broad themes like molecular biology (e.g. cell bio, cancer, reproduction, genetics), metabolism (e.g. GI, biochem), homeostasis (e.g. cardio, renal, pulmonary), etc. which works well. There are at least, probably 2 or 3 guest lecturers a week from the hospital system and quite a few of them are like the Chief of such-and-such specialty and they all seem pretty eager to have students shadow them. It's very very easy to take advantage of Northwell's resources (the big healthcare system).
Lastly, the real reason that I chose Hofstra is that it was the only school that I visited where the students seemed excited to be there in particular. At the other schools, Wayne included, students seemed to be glad to be in medical school in general, but their school was just a way to become a doctor. The students I talked to at Hofstra were legitimately glad to be at Hofstra; 1st years praised the curriculum, 4th years talked about how well they were prepared for rotations, everyone quipped about intramural sports. It seemed like a fun and worthwhile place to go and it definitely has been.
Hopefully that helps. If you have any questions at all, please, don't hesitate to ask; I'd be glad to try and answer them.
Once again, congratulations!