hanginginthere!
Full Member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2024
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Hi everyone, thanks so much for your help on this. I feel very privileged to be in this position but have to decide between NYMC and CMSRU by Monday and am losing a lot of sleep over it!
NYMC
Pros
CMSRU
Pros
NYMC
Pros
- Closer to family
- A more established medical school with a more recognized name
- More research and more access to doing research at institutions in NYC
- Huge clinical affiliate network with many options for rotations (but some see this as a con too)
- Great match list (they definitely bat above their average)
- Better suited to matching into nyc which I will probably, but not definitely, want to do
- Larger university network
- I know a lot of people that go there, will be a good social network for me
- Nice big campus, can get food there, go to the gym, etc
- I am Jewish and they give off for all of the Jewish holidays which could really significantly hinder school schedules which was a big cause of stress undergrad
- Bigger class size; more traditional medical school experience without anything particularly exciting in the curriculum
- I’ve heard that the atmosphere can sometimes be a bit on the competitive side
- Have heard complaints about course content and exams not matching up with the boards
- Have heard that admin can be not super supportive or favors the “gunners”
- Main affiliate hospital is suburban and I want to learn medicine and do residency in an intense urban environment (I know that NYMC has NYC rotation options but none of those places have a level one trauma center)
- Tuition is 13k more a year
- Cost of living is higher (but I’d live in nyc and everything is a trade off I guess?)
CMSRU
Pros
- Get the best vibes from admin and student body. Truly a positive and collaborative space where everyone wants everyone to succeed
- Smaller class size
- Located in Camden, NJ where I will have the urban medical learning experience I want but will live in Philly which is a great place to live
- Innovative curriculum including active and small group learning, starting in the student-run clinic your first week, having blocks dedicated to shadowing, humanities and arts courses integrated into the curriculum (I’m a big humanities person and view medicine through this lens)
- Step review courses are part of the curriculum
- Everything clinical is harmonized in the Cooper University Hospital
- Tests are a mix of NBME and in-house content
- Amazing community-centered work
- Further from home (but still not too far) but definitely would have a smaller support system
- Definitely more geared toward primary care, and I am almost certain I want to specialize (but it’s completely doable, however its match list definitely looks different than NYMC’s)
- Fewer research facilities and much less funding and infrastructure (I have a very heavy research background)
- Will have to play catch up every year during holidays (but that’s life, I know)
- Not as “prestigious”
- Might be more challenging to match back into nyc (but again, doable)
- No real cafeteria on campus, campus is one small (but very nice) building so resources are more limited