Hello everyone, I plan to major in Biology on the pre‑med track, with the current long‑term goal leaning toward becoming a Physician Assistant or pursuing another strong medical career. I would really appreciate insights on the schools on his list.
I am especially interested in hearing about:
- Quality of education
- Access to research and clinical‑hour opportunities
- Strength of the pre‑med/pre‑health advising
- How challenging it is to maintain a strong GPA
I live locally to UAlbany, Union College, and Siena, so I could commute from home to any of those. I have also received a $10,000/year scholarship from UAlbany, which makes the cost difference between UAlbany and the other schools quite significant.
I would love your thoughts on which school might be the best fit overall.
UB - Honors - $32,000 (Net cost/year)
Stony Brook - $33,000
UAlbany - Honors - $23,610 (around $7,000 if commute)
So I suspect a lot of us are immediately going to focus on finances, because a lot of the licensed medical professions require expensive post-college programs. PA programs not at all being an exception.
Accordingly, you need to have a really solid plan for how you would pay not only for undergrad, but also that second phase.
And to state the obvious, Albany would make it way easier from that perspective, particularly if you commute. And there is nothing “wrong” about Albany from a pre-health perspective. It is a well-respected SUNY, has the classes you need, and I am sure would provide you with the support you need, understanding things like grades are up to you (and for the record, many core pre-health classes are not typically easy anywhere). I don’t know much about their Honors program, but often they have relevant perks for pre-health students, such as concentrating good peers for study groups and mentoring, priority paths to research positions, and priority registration.
That said, if you can confirm you have a good comprehensive plan for affording your total education at other colleges, then we can get into various possible pros and cons. Indeed, you’d have to decide if the extra cost of a residential program was worth it for the non-academic experience side of things.
But again, that only makes sense to consider if you are sure that wouldn’t undermine your ability to complete your planned educational progression.
The people on this website, who have experience with questions about universities and funding, know that I am a big proponent and fan of SUNY Buffalo.
I don’t know where you’re from originally, but we’re from Southern California. Our daughter attended the University of Buffalo because they had a special program that would link students to medical schools in upstate New York. Plus, at that time, she received a full ride. She also got into a number of elite schools including all the UCs.
I don’t think the program is available anymore because the school became overwhelmed with out of state residents who wanted to get into any med school, anywhere. You can ask.
One of the requirements was a biomedical engineering course, and she discovered that she loved the engineering portion. It was very easy for her and it came naturally to her.
She switched majors to electrical engineering and computer software (she needed an extra year for the double major). She had phenomenal instructors and she became a tutor. She came back to Southern California and has constantly moved up the ladder as an engineering manager.
The SUNY system has a number of good medical school programs and the SUNY system is completely underrated. One of my medical providers is from a SUNY school. She’s phenomenal and knows her stuff.
One of my high school friends went to a SUNY and received a degree in perfusion. She’s at a hospital in La Jolla, and has been recruiting students to the field because surgical units need perfusionists.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the education at the SUNY schools.
If my California surfer kid could go to Buffalo for 5 years, then any student can survive the weather there.
Good luck!
I’m sure all are fine. Siena is religious if that’s a concern.
I, for one, would want to go away to school if that was an option.
But Union and Stony Brook/Buffalo, etc. are of different sizes.
Which works best for you?
I’m sure they’re all fine educations. And don’t forget you have to pay for med school too - so keep that in mind.
In general, I’m not a fan of commuting unless it’s all you can afford - because college is about, going to college.
You might look at each to say what types of special programs they have for pre med students and any shadowing opportunities aligned with the school.
Union, for example, has early assurance with Albany Med Center, no MCAT required, if you qualify. Of course, Albany has one too. You might look at each to see what “extras” they might offer -
Here is Buffalo’s
The Early Opportunity Program in Medicine (EOPIM) is an early assurance program that if successfully completed will lead to entry into medical school at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.
I don’t see one at Siena or SB but it doesn’t mean they don’t have or some sort of enrichment.
I agree it is a good experience to go away for college if feasible, but it looks like that option has a minimum of around a $70K four-year cost for the OP (at Albany), and then around $100K+ at Buffalo or Stony Brook.
So I think it would be worth getting some clarity from the OP about what those sorts of cost differences would actually mean for them in their family’s financial context.
The big question: how much do the differences in cost matter to you and your family, including whether and how much money will be available for professional school after undergraduate?
Once you visit UB and hopefully sit down to discuss finances, you will be in a better position to decide.
I would choose UB, but I am not the one going to college. Another thing to keep in mind is that student loans will be changing and you will have less federal funding available for grad school. Depending on your finances, this might be a reason to choose Albany.
It seems you are leaning more toward a health career that does not include medical school. This path would likely be less costly.
Yes, UB is a great school. A few of my friends are there and following a similar path, but the cost difference is making me think carefully. I’m wondering whether it’s worth spending around $130K, especially since I’ll need to continue my education afterward, while UAlbany is offering me a generous scholarship. I’m also planning to gather more details through the guidance Iabout pre‑med opportunities at UAlbany.
Have you confirmed that your eligible to receive the same amount merit from the private schools if you commute? Some schools will deduct from a merit award if you do not live on campus.
Albany is a perfectly good school to attend if you like it and are looking to save the money for grad school. I know young adults who graduated from Albany and are currently working in health care.
I think UB has a lot to offer for pre-health, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve your goals at Albany.
I have reached out to Union, Stony and UB for financial aid consideration. Waiting for reply from UB and Union. Stony Brook already responded that they don’t match with other scholarship offers.
It also occurred to me to throw in one more thought. If you can financially swing being residential at a place like Buffalo, that’s great. But if you could only stretch to being residential at Albany, that still could be good! In fact I have known plenty of people who have had a kid go residential somewhere relatively close, and the consensus is it really doesn’t seem much different.
If I am not mistaken, Albany is also one of the colleges where if you are not a local commuter, you have to live on campus the first two years. So you could consider doing that for the first couple years, then decide how to handle the last couple years including in light of how your further education plans are evolving.
If you do stay local, I would try to live on campus for at least the first year. Once you’re fully acclimated, you can always weigh the option of living at home to save money, but full immersion at first would help you to make the connections you need to make to get the most out of college. Could you afford to do this at Union? I’m not even sure they’d allow you to commute, and if you did, it would set you apart, because the vast majority of students, especially first-years, live on campus.
I think, in your position, I would look first at the three local schools and decide which one you’d choose if it were just those three. Personally, I’m not sure I see why you’d spend nearly as much to commute to Siena as you’d pay to live on campus at Albany. The Honors College at Albany would provide a residential community of serious students. You could afford to stay on campus all four years, but you’d also have the option to move home to save money. It’s not a bad thing to have flexibility as your plans unfold. There’s also an early-assurance PA program:
Anyway, I’d suggest narrowing down the decision to one local school (and I suspect Albany wins), and one non-local school (which is likely UB Honors), and then take a deeper dive into the pros and cons between those two before making a final decision.
You have gotten great advice. The cost of school sounds manageable to you, though saving $40k over 4 years can be helpful for sure. I agree that if you stay local, try to live on campus initially. It offers more enjoyable college experience.
I’d pick Honors at Albany with honors dorm for 23k or if it doesn’t make a big difference for your family financially, whichever you prefer between SUNY Albany as an on campus student or Honors at SUNY Buffalo for 32k. Albany has plenty of places for you to volunteer and get clinical hours (clinics, etc.) especially if you can be a CNA, EMT.. so it should primarily be where you feel most comfortable. Happy students do better overall
