Cornell Tri-I $$

[astrisize]

To those of you in the Tri-I program currently, how far does your stipend go - especially the first year? Is it a living-wage in the middle of Manhattan? Also, I know you have subsidized housing - how much is this?

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[Habari]

this was actually one of my concerns when i chose this place. another program in the vincinity was offering much more money, and i didn't want to be cramped or take out loans while doing this.

now, i'm very glad i didn't go to the other program [my best friend is at the school, and i know it well] and finances haven't been a problem in the least.

as i mentioned to some people who visited the school, i don't consider myself to be particularly fiscally responsible [i go where i want in the city, go out often, buy things that i need ... want] and i've managed to save about 3k thus far - and plan to have about 5k at the end of this school year.

our first year housing is 480/month, and comes straight out of our stipend check, so the money we get direct deposited is 'disposable'. housing increases to about 560 the next year, and stays at that level adjusted for inflation throughout your time here.

the 2800/year health insurance is also paid by the program as are all other med school fees. they also subsidize costs of journals/textbooks by 200/year - and travel by 800/year.

even if you do not choose to live in the dorm setting for the first year - or at all during your time here, and still want to stay close by, rents are well within reach [1 person in our md/phd class lives 5 blocks away]. there have been some articles in the nytimes about the 'great deals' on the upper east side in terms of rents [if 2 people go in for a place, it would be around 700/months - don't take my word for it - call around].

the gym i joined in the area [though rockefellers gym is good, i swim often and we didn't have a pool] has a deal with New York Hospital, and this is also taken directly out of my stipend before i recieve the check.

the big jump in the stipend comes once one enters the graduate school years, and increases then with inflation [about 1-2k a year]

the program pays for so many meals that my budget for food was way overestimated [about 3 lunches a week are covered by the program - they give us a budget and we get food from restaurants for our frontiers class and other luncheons]. the med school also covers many dinners - always something going on. i consistently save about 40% of the stipend check that we get every 2 weeks [remember that housing and my gym fee is already taken out].

at the end of the day - the stipend covers all of my needs more than adequetley, and my classmates feel the same way. no one takes out loans because they need to, and we have all been pleasantly surprised that it is possible to live comfortably and reasonably around here.

again - don't just take my word for it - e-mail my classmates and upper classmen about their thoughts about this or anything else.

 

[UDbiochem]

I'm applying the next cycle, and I'm wondering about housing in NYC also.

My parent's home is in Northeast Jersey, right outside the city. I've heard some medical schools or graduate schools in the city do not allow you to live in the dorms if your parents live that close to the city.

Do you know if this is true for Cornell? I tried to do research on the housing websites but couldn't find anything.

 

[Habari]

not at all true for cornell. i haven't heard about this at any other grad/med schools in the city either.

 

[DarkChild]

blah blah blah...
i didnt read what habari wrote....
yes we get a stipend. it isnt a lot. $20.866 that is taxed at 33%. take home after tax and rent is $445/ 2 weeks.
i've been quite explicit about my beef with our program's stipend:
1) it hits us hard this year, but next year when we move into 2nd year housing which is even more expensive, while our stipend bumps up slightly, our rent goes up even more so that net we are down even WORSE than in first year.
2) i seriously have problems making ends meet on this stipend. i've lost 10lbs since school started. i am on a diet of ramen noodles and noodle bowls. yes i do spend a decent amount on alcohol, but come on a guys gotta live!!
3) relative to other schools in NYC we are grossly underpaid. Columbia's stipend is near 25K which over 7 years versus our 21K (which steps up a little over time) means that columbia students get an extra year's worth of stipend over cornell students. thats pretty huge.
4) cornell's md/phd policy states that we (mudphuds) get paid the lesser of rockefeller's and cornell's graduate program stipends. so we get paid less than the cornell grad students and might i add that we get few of the supposed perks at rockefeller as first years. for instance, we cant use the rockefeller gym or the tennis courts.
5) cornell's medical student budget for living expenses is actually more than what we get as stipend after tax. so basically we get less money than cornell KNOWS students can live on!!
6) books? etc? i'm still hitting my parents up for dough to pay for class materials. when i'm 27 its going to be embarrasing asking mom and dad for a few hundred bucks because i cant make ends meet. things would be significantly better if there were some funding for us to buy books and the things that we need for class.

in the end, stipend is only one of the few things to consider in an md/phd program. with that being said, it would be a prime consideration for me given the high standard of living in NYC. mistake me not - it sucks. i'll make it through, misery loves company and i'm very good at scooping out free food now. 🙂

 

[DarkChild]

bwahahaha no way jose!
and $200 for books and journals?!
what is that?
nature and science - boom the better part of $200 gone.
hey how much is harrisons again?
lets not be overly rosy here
and saved 3K?! sorry to call you out, but how?
$445X2 is $890/month. we started in july - thats 5.5 months or $4895. to have saved $3K by now you must have spent only 1895 in 5.5 months or $11/day.
un peu unrealistic eh, mon ami?

Originally posted by Habari

at the end of the day - the stipend covers all of my needs more than adequetley, and my classmates feel the same way. no one takes out loans because they need to, and we have all been pleasantly surprised that it is possible to live comfortably and reasonably around here.
[/B]

 

[Habari]

6) books? etc? i'm still hitting my parents up for dough to pay for class materials. when i'm 27 its going to be embarrasing asking mom and dad for a few hundred bucks because i cant make ends meet. things would be significantly better if there were some funding for us to buy books and the things that we need for class.

haha - maybe that has a little bit to do with yo high-priced jumpers and exorbiant use of the neighborhood escort service😉

first of all our stipend payments are front loaded [you will recall Mr. Dark_Child, that your first 2 stipend checks alone amounted to $1800, and we got one extra pay period], so we've been paid ~7k, from which i definately have saved 3k, no prb. i spend about ~13/day on average. if you're hurtin' now man, it's gonna get quite a bit worse.

if you end up saving nothing at all - that leaves you with almost 30/day, one can certainly manage and more.

also - like most programs, and depending on the way you file your tax returns, you get most of it back.

clearly it depends on what your spending habits are. no one else i know is 'hitting up their parents for dough'. i know for a fact that 'Dark_Child' spends at least 100/week on restocking his 'pimp juice' - bound to lead you to ramen. sure, he looks good in his fine threads ... but it's gotta cost a pretty penny.

 

[Doctor&Geek]

Perhaps I need to visit New York so that Dark Child can introduce me to some of his "friends" 😀 😛

Yours,

 

[dl2dp2]

Your "best friend" ;-) That's a funny label for ******

Originally posted by Habari

now, i'm very glad i didn't go to the other program [my best friend is at the school, and i know it well] and finances haven't been a problem in the least.

[/B]

 

[looseygoosey]

Ruthie told me that you can get 4K extra per year if you apply and receive a supplemental training grant. Do Cornell many students do this? Do other programs have this option?

 

[astrisize]

I know that during your grad years at least at WashU if you receive a training grant or some sort of other funding, they bump your stipend from the normal 22K to 27K.

 

[coldchemist]

My gosh! I thought it was bad living in the DC area and getting paid only ~27K. And I'm not at all responsible, fiscally speaking. Thank heavens for Stafford.

 

[DarkChild]

its an extra 3K and only in your research years.
i actually dont think as many cornell students do this as they would have you believe.

Originally posted by looseygoosey
Ruthie told me that you can get 4K extra per year if you apply and receive a supplemental training grant. Do Cornell many students do this? Do other programs have this option?

 

[surge]

Originally posted by looseygoosey
Ruthie told me that you can get 4K extra per year if you apply and receive a supplemental training grant. Do Cornell many students do this? Do other programs have this option?

So what are the supplemental grants available to MSTPs now?
Since the glory days of HHMI predoctoral grants are now behind us....?

 

[arrowsmith]

"also - like most programs, and depending on the way you file your tax returns, you get most of it back."

Habari...so how are you filing your tax returns to get most of it back?

 

[Habari]

its an extra 3K and only in your research years.
i actually dont think as many cornell students do this as they would have you believe.

check our 'handbook' - it's 4k, and it's during any year - but there are certainly a lot more fellowships available in your grad years [jack kent cooke is the only one i can think of during med school years]. i've only heard of a handful of people bothering to apply for these [again, i say it's because most people are not squeezed for money - you've gotten one counter opinion, ask others]

we get our taxes taken out before we get our checks - and since we fall into the lowest tax bracket [i think, this will be the first year i file taxes w/this stipend], there should be a reasonable refund - but i'll find out soon enough.

 

[exigente chica]

Originally posted by Habari
haha - maybe that has a little bit to do with yo high-priced jumpers and exorbiant use of the neighborhood escort service😉



clearly it depends on what your spending habits are. no one else i know is 'hitting up their parents for dough'. i know for a fact that 'Dark_Child' spends at least 100/week on restocking his 'pimp juice' - bound to lead you to ramen. sure, he looks good in his fine threads ... but it's gotta cost a pretty penny.

I plan on saing akot as well!

live comfortably while saving money..way to go Habari...

I am looking into Cornel too😉

 

[DarkChild]

Originally posted by exigente chica
I plan on saing akot as well!

live comfortably while saving money..way to go Habari...

I am looking into Cornel too😉

OH GOD SPELL CHECK!!!

 

[exigente chica]

Originally posted by DarkChild
OH GOD SPELL CHECK!!!

I was on the phone and typing with one hand..my bad...

 

[vixey1230]

so it seems to me that cornell's stipend (regardless of whether or not students feel it's sufficient to get by) is quite a bit lower than most other mstp program. i just got back from vandy, and their stipend (to live in nashville, as opposed to nyc - mind you) starts at $22K, and goes up every year.

why is this? one would think that with the high cost of living in nyc (albeit the subsidized housing), it'd be a bit higher...

 

[ATLien1224]

Yo this is my first post in a long time (this only comes out of procrastination for my neuropathology exam on Friday)...let me just add that over here at Columbia everyone is riding high on the stipend. Our pay this year is $25,000 and is going up $1,000 a year until it hits $30k (this contract has already been agreed upon until the 2009-10 academic year), and at that point future increases will be negotiated. Every MD-PhD (regardless of class year) receives the same stipend. (I especially understand that things are a little tougher over at Cornell when everything in the neighborhood is way more expensive, plus some of y'all are former I-Bankers...)

You get this payment in three lump sums: One Sept., one Jan., one June. By this method, you are not living paycheck-to-paycheck. It does take a little budgeting, but in all likelihood you will not go broke (and will have the money to make big purchases when you need to...not having to carry over large debts on your credit card, causing you to waste more money in interest payments). Also, your first and second years are when you are going to have the most free time to enjoy the city...it would definitely be annoying to be so financially constrained that you can't even do anything in New York.

My rent is $480 a month and I live in an awesome three bedroom apartment that I love. School is amazing. I go out in the city all the time. I travel a lot. I am saving money this year on my stipend. Life is good at Columbia.

OK enough of that. Back to neuropath.

 

[Habari]

for those interested/concerned about cornell's stipend, we just got this e-mail from ruthie:

Dear MD-PhD Students:

There will be a significant change to the 2004-2005 stipends.

The new stipends will be announced just prior to the Alumni Speaker Presentation:
Thursday, April 15, 2004
6:30 PM
Weill Auditorium

this is by no coincidence, a revisit day - just giving you the heads about about it [should be a substantial raise].

 

[Maebea]

Originally posted by Habari
for those interested/concerned about cornell's stipend, we just got this e-mail from ruthie:



this is by no coincidence, a revisit day - just giving you the heads about about it [should be a substantial raise].

Gotta keep up with that disorganized program on the Upper West Side 😉

 

[arey!]

word.

The cornell tri-i stipend, until maybe soon, is a joke. Darkchild, you make some key points, and im surprised that you even goto the tri-i program cause you sound chill as hell.

Most of the students that i met during interviews were so incredibly obsessed with the structure and organization of the mstp and in general, and the logistics of how $100 here and there might be allocated, and about how the administrators there were so warm hearted and on top of stuff. During dinner they talked for hours about how you could petition for this, or apply for __ funding. Now, being well informed and making calculated decisions is fine and dandy, but i felt like this program was a little too obsessed with about inconquential structural issues. Wow!-the grad students get a $3000 bonus every year!?" said the applicant-when really they suffered a yearly $5000 deprivation. why do we need tricky ways to hide the fact that the students are not really receiving the money that they need?

The proof of a sweet school is in the publication and fine science. Tri-i has some of that, but you can get equal caliber research at hopkins or columbia with a great breed of kids. Bc theyre better funded too, theyre less insecure and have to spend less time convincing others that their school is really worth it! BTW, i got the impression the students at columbia were much happier and really laid back. no offense to those of you that do goto the tri-i, (and habari, i know ur probably doing great monetarily, but once you get used to that pimp juice!!), but maybe this is just a call for petitioning for more funding, so that you can liberate your thoughts and the ponderings of your heart from dwelling on administrative issues.

Personally, id like to see people asking questions like "how good is life around tri-i?" and " how -chill as hell- are the kids?"


alas. the search for that mstp kid without the sucka flava continues...

 

[Habari]

word.

The cornell tri-i stipend, until maybe soon, is a joke. Darkchild, you make some key points, and im surprised that you even goto the tri-i program cause you sound chill as hell.
...
The proof is the publication and fine science. Tri-i has some of that, but you can get equal caliber research at hopkins or columbia with a great breed of kids. Bc theyre better funded too, theyre less insecure and have to spend less time convincing others that their school is really worth it! BTW, i got the impression the students at columbia were much happier and really laid back. no offense to those of you that do goto the tri-i, (and habari, i know ur probably doing great monetarily, but once you get used to that pimp juice!!), but maybe this is just a call for petitioning for more funding, so that you can liberate your thoughts and the ponderings of your heart from dwelling on administrative issues.

Personally, id like to see people asking questions like "how good is life around tri-i?" and " how -chill as hell- are the kids?"


alas. the search for that mstp kid without the sucka flava continues...

*shrug*

last i recall, you don't know any of us - you're welcome to swing by anytime though.

my post about the sufficiency of our stipend earlier in the year was wrong exactly because they were front loaded. they certainly aren't now - going out/enjoying the city does take it's toll on the wallet. despite having plenty of institutional funds for the mstp, cornell has concentrated it in 'administrative nick-nacks' [will remain] like you mention - which you're right - doesn't matter if we have 3k to spend in the lab when you need $200 for a 'hard' weekend. they weren't even aware of the other mstp's stipends in the area, and once it was brought to their attention - they responded.

i'll agree i've been been a bit annoyed with columbia in general - mostly as a function of hearing how upset my gf is with her experience there on a day to day basis[med-only]. see how 'chill' all the kids were during the last block/block in december. it only makes me appreciate where i am now more. but don't get me wrong - i'm friends with quite a few 1st year md and md/phds there, and was almost ready to go there on the basis of how great the current 2nd year mstp's are [people like ATLien1224]. the research in many areas is phenomenal [the lab i'm rotating in - Charles Rice@Rock has been collaborating with Steve Goff on some stuff - he's an amazing scientist]. the people that come to nyc for school often have social reasons in mind, it's a great place to be regardless of where you are in the city [yale, for instance, is a hell of a lot 'chiller' than any of these places, if that's what you're looking for].

i wouldn't so easily confuse a school that is going for a 'hard sell' with one that cares about seemingly 'trivial' aspects of ones experience, and subsequently cares to explain them.

look - my posts aren't designed to convince anyone to come to tri-i; i'm not interested in others validating my choice etc... hah - go where you want man; if that's in the neighborhood, i look forward to you showing us how to be -chill as hell- 😉

 

[pathdr2b]

Nice to see "healthy" discussions of 2 really good programs!😉

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by Habari
last i recall, you don't know any of us - you're welcome to swing by anytime though.

His IP and his first account make me assume that he has swung by before, though I don't know how many of you he knows...

 

[Habari]

His IP and his first account make me assume that he has swung by before, though I don't know how many of you he knows...

oh - now i know who it is. interviewed here in the fall; choosing between mstp and waitlist 'md-prestige'. and nope, despite our friendly waves every now and again on campus, still doesn't know us. good luck with your decision man, we should catch lunch sometime while you're still around.

 

[arey!]

Originally posted by Habari
oh - now i know who it is. interviewed here in the fall; choosing between mstp and waitlist 'md-prestige'. and nope, despite our friendly waves every now and again on campus, still doesn't know us. good luck with your decision man, we should catch lunch sometime while you're still around.

Yo kids,

dont take what i wrote as a personal insult- esp u habari. the first years weren't the problem so much as some upperclassmen in particular

I've been kind of disappointed lately in some mstp kids, both friends and online strangers from other threads who've so gotten so bogged down with such administrative issues. in the end, i know theyre gonna be fine, and the range of monies will make scant difference in the course of their study. I think that its so much more important that a school values its own mstp program, and will be supportive of its students. im sure tri-i does, but i got that impression especially at hopkins and columbia. this support was evidenced by the extra monetary support.

At columbia, the students do seem very happy, as they do from yale and on the west coast. And OK, i dont know all of u, but there were some upperclassmen (4th years? maybe 5th?) who are consistenly cocky, and - and that kinda turned me off. My description is vague yes, but thats the nature of first impressions no? maybe i just have encountered a bad sample in the labs
or
perhaps im finally coming to terms with the reality that the kids who fill the halls of these programs are the same kids that were once 'premed'..... the nice guys are far and few, but ur right, they def are a few if you look.


in any case, glad to hear that the did something about it.and im sure itll help all you guys out!! and habari, goodluck dude - if u wanna do lunch id be down. hit me a PM!
and dont fear the pimp juice. its worth every cent!

 

[noy]

You mentioned some examples of how kids at Columbia were happy - but what about Hopkins? Their stipend is in the $20 range as well (goes up a bit in 3rd year), but how does the school lend extra support? This isnt something I have seen in any program descriptions, other than small ($500) travel grants here and there...

 

[Habari]

i hear what you're saying - totally fair. i still wouldn't necessarily equate stipend level with institutional support. for example, hopkins doesn't have a very high stipend, but is absolutely behind their mstp program. this is a function of administrative issues, staying on pace with other competitive mstp's [locally/nationally] and how much private money is available. some schools like washU and cornell [i'm sure many others do too] have seperate endowments for the program - washU probably has the largest, but that doesn't mean they spend all of it on stipends!

i'm still def up for lunch arey!- didn't take anything personally🙂

 

[DarkChild]

Noy - Just pointing out that the cost of living in Baltimore isnt nearly comparable to the cost of living in NYC...
location and the associated costs of living should always factor in when trying to compare stipends
*shrug*

 

[bailey39]

So did Cornell announce a stipend increase? And to what? Thanks!

 

[DarkChild]

First years - $23K
Second years -$24K
>=3rd years - $24.5K
also if you get outside funding i.e. a research grant that covers most of your stipend, you get $4K extra a year.
Sounds good to me!!! 😍

 

[ATLien1224]

Yo I'm glad that they're going to finally give you guys a living wage. Perhaps they were influenced by the anti-sweatshop labor movement.

Just a reminder (because you know I was going to do it): next year Columbia is $26k for everyone, regardless of class year. And for the many that get research grants/other fellowships, the amount that it boosts the stipend is decided on an individual basis but is generally in the $3-4k range.

Hey and while we are on the subject of money, does anyone out there know about any creative ways to file taxes under your stipend? This year I just put in a normal 1040 but I hear there are some interesting approaches out there...however, this could all just be in the realm of rumor/hearsay/illegality.