Cornell vs Columbia

[ssc_396]

Why does Cornell get double the applications seen by Columbia? Looking at the rankings/finaid they look similar. Does anyone know why Cornell is so popular?

If you had a choice which would you pick?

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[OwnageMobile]

I hear Cornell is in a better part of the city.

Do a search on this-- there have been plenty of similar threads.

 

[WayChanger]

Columbia joined the AMCAS just this year. I would guess that exclusion from the convenience of the one-stop AMCAS primary was responsible for the low application numbers in past years. Now that Columbia is on AMCAS, however, I suspect that the application numbers will be much closer.

 

[badlydrawnvik]

i like that columbia has new york presbyterian right next door.

 

[Rebs]

Washington Heights vs. Upper East Side Manhattan

 

[The Madden Bus]

i like that columbia has new york presbyterian right next door.

That's Cornell, chief.

 

[Hebrew Hammer]

That's Cornell, chief.

Actually, its both. They share hospitals.

 

[The Madden Bus]

Actually, its both. They share hospitals.

While it is true that the hospital is called New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, the actual teaching facility of Cornell Medical School is the next block over from New York Presbyterian (I used to live a few blocks from it, I know that area like the back of my hand). Columbia's medical teaching facility is uptown by their undergrad facility (I think).

 

[LizzyM]

While it is true that the hospital is called New York Presbyterian Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, the actual teaching facility of Cornell Medical School is the next block over from New York Presbyterian (I used to live a few blocks from it, I know that area like the back of my hand). Columbia's medical teaching facility is uptown by their undergrad facility (I think).

Weill Medical College of Cornell University is at York Avenue and 69th Street (that's east of First Avenue and just west of the FDR Drive). Its hospital (now called New York Weill Cornell Medical Center) is on 68th Street east of York Avenue. Rockefeller University is immediately south (research institution, grants PhDs only), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is on the west side of York Avenue and south of the med college, the Hospital for Special Surgery (orthopedics) is on the east side of York Ave and north of the medical college.

Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons (P & S, to those in the know) is in Washington Heights, the far northwestern corner of Manhattan as is the Columbia University Medical Center.

In 1997 the two hospitals (The New York Hospital & Columbia Presbyterian) merged but it was an administrative thing - it didn't as far as I've heard, affect the med students.

 

[badlydrawnvik]

i guess they are all over the place?
http://www.nyp.org/contactus/index.html?name1=Contact+Us&type1=2Active

 

[The Madden Bus]

Weill Medical College of Cornell University is at York Avenue and 69th Street (that's east of First Avenue and just west of the FDR Drive). Its hospital (now called New York Weill Cornell Medical Center) is on 68th Street east of York Avenue. Rockefeller University is immediately south (research institution, grants PhDs only), Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is on the west side of York Avenue and south of the med college, the Hospital for Special Surgery (orthopedics) is on the east side of York Ave and north of the medical college.

Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons (P & S, to those in the know) is in Washington Heights, the far northwestern corner of Manhattan as is the Columbia University Medical Center.

In 1997 the two hospitals (The New York Hospital & Columbia Presbyterian) merged but it was an administrative thing - it didn't as far as I've heard, affect the med students.

That's what I said, just less detailed.

 

[LolaLee]

Does anyone know when Cornell and Columbia stop interviewing? Thanks! Good luck!

 

[ssc_396]

I have never been to, and know nothing about NYC. One reason I ask about Columbia is that the housing is right next to P&S (I think). What's it like living in this area? I have a wife and wee daughter joining me wherever I wind up.

 

[LizzyM]

I have never been to, and know nothing about NYC. One reason I ask about Columbia is that the housing is right next to P&S (I think). What's it like living in this area? I have a wife and wee daughter joining me wherever I wind up.

Here are the demographics
Columbia:
http://www.livingchoices.com/community/communitydetails.aspx?refer=vcomwcbs&mid=5600&zip=10032


Cornell:
http://www.livingchoices.com/community/communitydetails.aspx?refer=vcomwcbs&mid=5600&zip=10021

 

[badlydrawnvik]

i didn't see the area that cornell is in, but columbia's area seemed pretty residential, although probably not as nice as cornell's east side location.

 

[LizzyM]

The area around Cornell is one of the sweetest in New York. Sotheby's auction house is up the street, the apartments in buildings on Park Avenue sell for prices in the millions. Think "Bonfire of the Vanities" or "The Nanny Diaries".

 

[Will Ferrell]

some applicants are afraid of Columbia because they don't want to be pressured into joining the rugby team.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

I spent a week at Cornell in December when I interviewed at Columbia, and I just don't get how people say Cornell is in a much nicer area than Columbia. Both Cornell and Columbia are surrounded by big buildings that will be your scenery on the way to the Subway. The schools are within big buildings, and the hospitals are big buildings. It's city life either way - not a whole lot of difference. The three things that put the location of Cornell over Columbia (for me) is 1. in midtown and closer to downtown (for night life purposes), and 2. greater variety of bars and restaraunts directly surrounding the buildings, and 3. subsidized student housing. I know the perception of safety is a fear for some people at Colubmia, but I never felt unsafe walking around the campus - maybe I didn't venture far enough away? Either way, both schools are fantastic, and I would choose between the schools based primarily on curriculum and any financial aid offers, leaving location a distant third (or fourth, or fifth...).

 

[golftrippy]

I spent a week at Cornell in December when I interviewed at Columbia, and I just don't get how people say Cornell is in a much nicer area than Columbia. Both Cornell and Columbia are surrounded by big buildings that will be your scenery on the way to the Subway. The schools are within big buildings, and the hospitals are big buildings. It's city life either way - not a whole lot of difference. The three things that put the location of Cornell over Columbia (for me) is 1. in midtown and closer to downtown (for night life purposes), and 2. greater variety of bars and restaraunts directly surrounding the buildings, and 3. subsidized student housing. I know the perception of safety is a fear for some people at Colubmia, but I never felt unsafe walking around the campus - maybe I didn't venture far enough away? Either way, both schools are fantastic, and I would choose between the schools based primarily on curriculum and any financial aid offers, leaving location a distant third (or fourth, or fifth...).

On an unrelated note, would anyone eat SanDiegoSOD's avatar hotdog to gain admission to their first choice school?

PS. San Diego...settled by the Germans in 1904...they named it "San Diego"....which is loosely translated as "a whale's vagina"

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

PS. San Diego...settled by the Germans in 1904...they named it "San Diego"....which is loosely translated as "a whale's vagina"

Ahhh... "San Diago..."

 

[golftrippy]

Ahhh... "San Diago..."

Hahaha, I just realized someone wrote this on another post today...great minds think alike

 

[LizzyM]

I spent a week at Cornell in December when I interviewed at Columbia, and I just don't get how people say Cornell is in a much nicer area than Columbia. Both Cornell and Columbia are surrounded by big buildings that will be your scenery on the way to the Subway. The schools are within big buildings, and the hospitals are big buildings. It's city life either way - not a whole lot of difference. The three things that put the location of Cornell over Columbia (for me) is 1. in midtown and closer to downtown (for night life purposes), and 2. greater variety of bars and restaraunts directly surrounding the buildings, and 3. subsidized student housing. I know the perception of safety is a fear for some people at Colubmia, but I never felt unsafe walking around the campus - maybe I didn't venture far enough away? Either way, both schools are fantastic, and I would choose between the schools based primarily on curriculum and any financial aid offers, leaving location a distant third (or fourth, or fifth...).

Look at the demographics: the Cornell zip code (10021) is an affluent white area where 70% of the population has at least a college degree and the average annual family income is in the six figures. It is one of the most affluent, "desirable" zip codes in the country.

The Columbia zip code (10032) has a population that is less educated, more diverse (large population of Hispanics - particularly Dominicans, IIRC), poorer, but with a lower personal crime rate than 10021.

 

[ny skindoc]

While its no doubt true that Cornell is in a "better" neighborhood in terms of the local area having many affluent apt buildings and stores,Columbia is actually closer to subway lines which will get you around the city more quickly.Its heavily hispanic area is very busy and filled with lots of people on its main streets at all hours.While I would not wander around there aimlessly late at night,it should not pose many safety problems-see what the students there think .The crime rate all around NY has dropped significantly and many well to do people priced out of other parts of Manhattan have moved into Columbias -Washington Heights neighborhood

 

[45408]

one of my professors had some kind of interview at Cornell once, and he described the place as "oozing cash"