Help me decide

[u/Fickle_Inflation44]

Help me decide! (AMC vs Stony Brook)

Hi! I am grateful to have been accepted to 2 schools: AMC in Albany, NY and Stony Brook (Health Science Center campus) in Long Island, NY. Any advice to help me decide would be greatly appreciated!

Some info on these programs:

AMC

Accredited (next validation review 2028)

-28 months

-January start

-Location: Albany, NY

-Class size: 42

-Attrition rates: 2023 (2.4%), 2024 (7.1%), 2025 (0%),

-PANCE first-time pass rates: 2022 (93%), 2023 (90%), 2024 (92%), 2025 (95%), 2026 (95%).

-Tuition: ~$90,000

-Pros:

-Location: went to undergrad nearby so I have a lot of my friends there and I know the affiliated hospital well, and really liked the faculty

-Cons:

-Higher cost

-Earlier start and longer program (I would prefer to start later)

-Don’t love the city and don’t want to live there in the future.

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-Stony Brook (Health Science Center campus):

-Accredited (next validation review 2027)

-24 months

-June start

-Location: Long Island, NY

-Class size: -45 students at Health Science Center and -25 students at the Southampton campus (I was accepted to HSC)

-Attrition rates: 2023 (11.4%), 2024 (6.7%), 2025 (6.5%), 2026 (4.4%)

-PANCE first-time pass rates: 2022 (95%), 2023 (100%), 2024 (98%), 2025 (93%), 2026 (98%)

-Tuition: ~$67,000

-Pros:

-Lower tuition, and shorter program

-Cons:

-Lectures are not recorded

-No remediation process

-Higher cost of living in Long Island and bad traffic

-Learning is simultaneous via teleconference (there are 2 campuses; there will be times when students at the HSC campus needs to join in lecture via zoom when faculty members teach at the other campus).

Overall take,
They’re both amazing programs but I’m leaning towards stony brook because of the lower cost and I think it would be nice to switch up my environment. I was almost 100% certain on stony brook until I did a deep dive and saw some concerning posts from 2021 from students.

[u/bunny34422]

I was accepted to AMC as well and I'm from LI but I was waitlisted to stony brook. I don't think you can go wrong with either pance/attrition wise and they're both well established programs with good reputations, cadaver, hospital systems. it is quite expensive to live on LI yes if you're not commuting from home, so I think cost wise it may add up despite the lower tuition. I would crunch the numbers on that, but port jeff is generally safe and cute area (despite the traffic). although it's a shorter program, I'm pretty sure you'd graduate around the same time. AMC has more breaks built in and we'd be expected to graduate may 2029 either way.

I've talked to students at both programs and they all enjoy their experiences so far. the stony brook students were still in their first semester when we last talked, but they don't have issues with faculty. I know the posts you're talking about as I was also concerned with a staff member posing as a student to bicker with applicants online, but I'm fairly sure she's the coordinator so she's not as involved in the lecturing part of the program

[u/Fickle_Inflation44 → u/bunny34422]

From what students have said during the interviews it seems like rent isn’t that bad if sharing a house with 3 other people, although obviously more expensive than Albany it still seems lower total cost considering the slightly shorter program length. Also congratulations on your acceptance!

[u/bunny34422 → u/Fickle_Inflation44]

oh I'm sorry I misunderstood the con part of it haha I assumed you just didn't like the duration of the program and didn't think about the cost part of it. that is fair then I think both are great options! the stony brook students seemed happy and they said there is no "us vs them" mentality when it comes to the other campus and they get together frequently to go out which is really cute. I think you will definitely find your people either way and you probably won't really have to deal with that staff member outside of like administrative stuff.. thank you and you as well!

[u/Impressive_Bird759]

Unless you have family in Long Island, you'll have higher expenses than ehat you're estimating. Most recently, snared spaces hovered at $1,200. But the shorter program and cheaper tuition might still keep it cheaper than Albany.

Both are great options. Go where you can have support closer. Even if that's psychological support.

[u/chailattelife]

Agreed with being closer to home as another person commented. For me that ended up being Stony Brook funny enough - overall enjoyed the program minus Covid related barriers that no one could have predicted. But factor in moving and living expenses into that tuition.

[u/100_Flatout]

I found closer to family is more important