sophie davis vs stony brook SfM (bs/md)

hi everyone! i’m trying to decide between sophie davis’ 7 year bsmd and stony brook’s 8 year bsmd. for context, i have not yet gotten into SfM (im not sure when that decision is coming out) but im hoping to get some advice so I can make a decision as soon as possible.

im leaning toward sophie davis bc it doesnt require the mcat, its 7 years vs 8, and i connect with their mission sentiment (serving underserved areas; i have a lot of ideas for how I can get involved in that which I hope to get to do). I’m interested in neurology right now and have a few publications + planned publications, but if i decide i want a more competitive specialty, i might end up struggling to match bc sophie davis is very primary care focused and not many people match into the notoriously competitive specialties. I probably won’t have as much of a problem at stony brook, since the program isn’t heavily focused on primary care. Something I’ve been wondering is if the lower match rate is reflective of the quality of the program or simply the fact that most students don’t attempt to match into harder specialties since they go in with the goal of doing primary care?

i was also wondering how accessible research is at sophie davis. It seems to be surrounded by a lot of research-heavy med schools and institutions so i was wondering how easy it is for sophie davis students to get involved in research and clinical work at these places to strengthen residency apps (I’ve heard that being an external student can make it hard to get lab positions)

Cost: I haven’t seen a consistent number for what the total cost for 7 years at Sophie Davis approximately is. I was hoping to compare this with stonybrooks total cost for the 8 year program (Sophie Davis being significantly cheaper would probably steer me towards that program). I don’t think I’ll be commuting at either program.

I’ve also heard that CUNY SOM is not that well regarded and that the out of the class they accept at the beginning, only a portion actually graduates the program on time. I was wondering if anyone currently in the program could let me know if this is true or not? For a school that is focused on primary care, their students seem to consistently match into competitive specialties and I saw this year there were a few matches into highly competitive programs (neurosurgery, plastics, ophtho), but i haven’t been able to find other match lists so I don’t know if this is the norm.

Ultimately, I can see how Sophie Davis’ mission might limit it in certain other aspects (research, matching, etc.) but I would love to train in a place that would teach me about medical equity/access. Based on what I’ve seen online, I think that there’s an assumption that Sophie Davis doesn’t deliver as good quality education and thus jeopardizes ability to match. I’ve seen nothing to prove that but it is something I’ve seen talked about enough on places such as Reddit that it makes me slightly nervous.

Stonybrook is also an amazing school as well but I’m worried about sacrificing the opportunity to learn about medical inequity and social health directly for what might not even be a significantly better chance at building a good residency app/matching in neurology. Of course if I don’t get in, Sophie Davis will be my top choice :)

Sorry for this super long post! If anyone has knowledge about cost/experiences in either programs, I would really appreciate any advice that might help to inform my decision!