<p>Here's the deal.
I got into Stony Brook's 8 year combined degree program for medicine, except everything that I've read about the school just depresses me.
I think I may be better off just going the normal route with medicine, I don't have a problem with working hard for the grades and the MCAT.
Now, I got unlucky in the admissions game, got waitlisted at mostly all my reaches, and I doubt I'd be getting significant financial aid, either.
So it comes down to Pitt, which has given me full tuition, or TCNJ, which is closer to home and has the smaller college feel to it.
Which school would make it easiest for me to get into medical school?
Or am I just crazy in giving up a sure thing with Stony Brook? Should I just suck it up and go there anyway?</p>
<p>My sister (lots of medical knowledge) says Pitt is phenomenal for anything medical and that you should go for it.</p>
<p>IMO, the Stony Brook BS/MD is a great deal. I don’t know much about Stony for undergrad, however.</p>
<p>I go to Pitt and I’m a NJ resident, so here’s my two cents. I’ve found Pitt is a great school to be an undergrad at. It’s an urban area but not too urban, and the entire neighborhood of Oakland is pretty much the campus. You can get to a lot of places by walking or on the bus system which Pitt students can ride for free. I think Pitt has the advantage for a pre-med because it has the resources of the medical school and UPMC, with the main branch of UPMC literally right across the street from the dorms. </p>
<p>I did apply and was accepted to TCNJ back in high school and interviewed there for their BS/MD program with UMDNJ. I wasn’t very impressed with TCNJ, to be honest. It’s a traditional campus with colonial buildings and there didn’t seem to be much to do. They do have some respected programs, but I personally believe that TCNJ is a little overrated.</p>
<p>^^^ Agree with TCNJ comments above. IMO Pitt is the better choice, especially for pre-med. Not that name recognition means everything to everyone, but if it means something to you, then Pitt is the better choice. And regarding the social aspect, there is so much more to do in the surrounding area at Pitt than TCNJ which has a sleepy social life and surrounding town. Trust me…I attended TCNJ. The town is boring and without a car you can feel stranded. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I got into TCNJ, although I won’t be attennding there I would say go there. It is a beautiful place and it really is a very good school.</p>
<p>Pitt hands down on that one. Better school, better rep, much better research and volunteer opportunities exist right on campus. </p>
<p>Pitt is #5 in the amount of National Institute of Health (NIH) biomedical research funding it receives (after Harvard, John Hopkins, Penn, and UW). As NIH funding is the major mechanism to fund academic bioscience and medical research in the US, it is a direct reflection on both the quantity and quality of such research and faculty being done at a school. UPMC, its medical center, is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in the world, with 20 hospitals including a transplant hospital in Sicily and a hospital in Dublin, Ireland. It is ranked #13 in US News hospital rankings and Pitt’s med school is ranked #14 in research and #12 in primary care. Further, the vast majority of the medical and bioscience research facilities are right on campus, making it much easier to volunteer, shadow clinicians, or get involved in a research lab(s) since it is at the same location that you’ll be living and taking the rest of your classes.</p>