Stonybrook, Buffalo or OSU for premed

College Search & Selection
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Folks,
Looking for some input on making a choice. Biology major going on pre-med track. Narrowing down to SBU, UB and OSU. We from NY so both Stony and Buffalo are Instate and will be about 20K cheaper per year. Just wondering if OSU is that much better (20K) than Stony or Buffalo. Also any key advantages between Stony and Buffalo?

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Don’t spend extra money on an undergrad degree. The $80,000 you save by attending one of your instate options can be put towards medical school if you eventually attend. Medical school is largely funded with loans, loans and more loans.

Save your money


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Go with Stony, I’ve heard a multitude of people rave about their pre-med program. (and this is coming from an OSU class of ‘25 member)

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Stony Brook’s student profile has risen notably in recent decades, which may reflect a rising profile in general: Of Competitive Colleges that Have Increased in Selectivity, These May Have Increased the Most.

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Going OOS, unless you have a strong reason/means for pre-med makes no sense.

SBU or Binghamton will be equivalent, go with fit.

Binghamton will be more a like a real college experience.
SBU slightly less so, but will also be totally fine.

Good luck

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The OP is choosing between Buffalo and Stony Brook
not Bing.

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Arrgh good point 


Similar points apply though, but I guess location factor comes into play as well.
@roc2020 where are you coming from?

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Thanks for the responses. We are from Upstate so Buffalo will be lot closer. I see that is more of a traditional campus than Stony too.
I do see the financial advantages of going with InState.
Was just wondering if the extra “prestige/ranking” of OSU and being a bigger school afford any significant advantages in terms of research/shadowing etc. for premed. (Which we acknowledge is a challenging from any school)

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For med school, I believe it makes zilch worth of difference.
The only difference it would make is if you ever decided to NOT pursue
a medical track, but even then I don’t think there is a ton of diff Buffalo vs OSU

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SB and Buffalo will both be very good for premed, no need to go OOS.
However, think of

  1. fit: try to visit if possible as they’re different in environment and vibe. If you’re from upstate you may like the change of environment (and slightly better weather) so + for SB, but a - would be the fact it’s very commuter/suitcase. Joining a living learning community (or honors program) to create a ready-made community would matter more.
  2. plan B: most premeds don’t make it through the premed gauntlet and of those who do a majority never gets into any med school.
    Choosing another major would help (There’s an oversupply of them and few jobs) Biostatistics, something that involves agriculture
?
    Anyway: what’s his plan B and which university makes it easier to pivot to it or has interesting alternate majors?
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If you consider these choices by their overall scores in U.S. News, you will note only a fairly minor difference, with OSU at 69 and Stony Brook and Buffalo at 62.

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Thanks. Yes, we are looking to try and visit them this week. Also got into the Honors program at Buffalo, so maybe that gets a leg up. (still researching the overall benefits of Honors).
Plan B: So far focused on pre-med, but also interest in Bioinformatics and BME (has strong math skills).

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Bioinformatics would be the major, then - and premed the intention (premed is not a major - at schools that offer it, they have the lowest acceptance rate per major, because med schools want students able to handle a major AND the premed pre-reqs as an indication they’ll be able to handle med school’s pace and intensity.)
I think getting into BME after being admitted to the university for another major would add a semester or perhaps more.

Honors offers some benefits indeed - for a premed, this includes a personal adviser (rather than a general person who doesn’t know you) + faculty mentor. In other words, you’ll always know what classes you’re supposed to take or where to go, they’ll let you know about opportunities that match your profile to which you can apply, etc.
Another great perk is priority registration (meaning you can take classes when you learn best, mornings if you’re an early bird but if you’re a night owl you can avoid that 8 am class! And in addition, you can select the best professors before the class is full.) Being able to choose the best classes with the best professors at the best time for you will make learning and getting good grades much easier (if you do your part).
The DNP early assurance program could be a great opportunity if he’s got good premed activities and patient hours, with a 3.5+ GPA (too low for med school but good enough for the Honors-only DNP program).

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Thanks
 That’s really good info. Now hoping to get to campus this week