Premed Student - Rochester vs. Vanderbilt vs. Stony Brook?

<p>I'm a New York student looking to go into biology on a premed track.
I've narrowed my decision down to 3 schools, having visited all three over a week. All have a medical school right on campus, which means opportunities for research are all present.</p>

<p>U of Rochester
Pros:
Feel the best fit of the three schools
Academic freedom really appeals to me in giving me some free electives
Receiving $20-25K in merit scholarships
U of R is a top research university
Don't mind the weather (I grew up in upstate NY all my life so I'm used to the cold)
Best record of the three schools of med school acceptance (~70 odd percent)
Have several friends there
I like smaller colleges
Cons:
Kind of isolated
Surrounding city is not as good
Cost is still ~$35-40K/year</p>

<p>Vanderbilt (College of Arts & Sciences)
Pros:
Also feel a very good fit into the student body
Love the campus and the surrounding city
Very good academics
Still a good medical school acceptance rate (60-ish percent)
Also a smaller size school
Cons:
Have to pay the most, ~$50,000/year after financial aid and merit scholarships
Unfamiliar with the area, no friends there
South is kind of conservative, although Vanderbilt students seemed okay
Vanderbilt has more of a liberal arts focus</p>

<p>SUNY Stony Brook
Pros:
Lowest cost - full tuition plus $3K/year, so only ~$9K/year
Proximity to many research laboratories and opportunities to get involved
Access to great facilities
Close to NYC
Cons:
Felt the worst fit of the three schools
Large school, and I felt that fewer students were focused on learning.
A bit of a drive to get to NYC (although I heard there's a train that runs from the campus to the city)</p>

<p>Any thoughts/advice? Thank you all in advance for anything and everything.</p>

<p>What’s your budget? if you go to either of your two higher priced options, would the money be paid off income by your parents or would you/they take on debt (beyong the $5,500 federal loans)?</p>

<p>I’d go with Vandy.</p>

<p>I’d go Rochester, they do have good track records to Med School and the cost is modest. Why pay more go to Vandy?</p>

<p>In response to the budget question, my parents are willing to pay for Rochester, but if I go to Stony Brook they will put the~$100000 saved towards med school tuition.</p>

<p>StonyBrook so you can save money for med school.</p>