Cornell vs Ohio State

[bbybear]

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Hi everyone!

I received my acceptance from Cornell this morning and am still in shock!! Cornell and Ohio State are my top picks, and I was wondering if anyone has insight into what will help me decide. I am interviewing at Ohio State on 2/7, but if Cornell is a better fit, I want to give up my interview spot to someone else.

I am interested in pursuing pathology and plan to complete an anatomic pathology residency. My background is wildlife and ecology-focused. I am particularly interested in infectious diseases. I think my biggest unknown and deciding factor is the research and hands-on pathology opportunities each school offers. I am extremely excited about Cornell's OneHealth expertise and opportunities, but from looking at the course options, Ohio State offers more path electives. I am really curious about how you all see the curriculum and opportunities while in years 1-3. If anyone at Cornell has thoughts on the special projects course, that would be super helpful!

My biggest holdback on Cornell is the comparative cost, and how OSU allows students to become residents. Any insight into financial aid and repayment would be much appreciated. However, given that I plan to enter a higher-paying specialty, I am less concerned about cost. But if anyone has insight on how much a pathologist makes vs. repayment, that would also be hugely helpful!!

Any thoughts on living in Columbus vs Ithaca are also really important! Any minor things that make one or the other better or worse (parking, food, vibe etc) is also really helpful 🙂

Thank you so much in advance!!!

 

[JaynaAli]

Pathologist here, though I’m clinical not anatomic. But both Cornell and Ohio have reputations of being very research focused pathology programs, so I’m sure you’ll find plenty of opportunities at either place. I would make cost your main priority and go to whichever is cheapest. Pathology is lower paying specialty, and going to the cheapest place you can will benefit you in the long run.

A lot of path residency prep is self-driven, like seeking out externships, making connections with faculty, and going to conference and that sort of stuff. Either school should prepare you well for residency, especially if you stay focused and keep your grades high.

I will say that I think there’s maybe more exotics exposure at Cornell than at Ohio, but I wouldn’t pay more for Cornell just for that. Especially in pathology, a lot of that wildlife path training will come from your residency, so one random exotics course in vet school probably won’t change things much. For residency I’d say choose a program that has high exotics caseload if you’re interested in wildlife, but I truly don’t think vet school will affect you much in that regard.

 

[bbybear]

Pathologist here, though I’m clinical not anatomic. But both Cornell and Ohio have reputations of being very research focused pathology programs, so I’m sure you’ll find plenty of opportunities at either place. I would make cost your main priority and go to whichever is cheapest. Pathology is lower paying specialty, and going to the cheapest place you can will benefit you in the long run.

A lot of path residency prep is self-driven, like seeking out externships, making connections with faculty, and going to conference and that sort of stuff. Either school should prepare you well for residency, especially if you stay focused and keep your grades high.

I will say that I think there’s maybe more exotics exposure at Cornell than at Ohio, but I wouldn’t pay more for Cornell just for that. Especially in pathology, a lot of that wildlife path training will come from your residency, so one random exotics course in vet school probably won’t change things much. For residency I’d say choose a program that has high exotics caseload if you’re interested in wildlife, but I truly don’t think vet school will affect you much in that regard.

Thank you so much!! This was super helpful, hopefully my interview goes well!

 

[mw1356]

Any thoughts on living in Columbus vs Ithaca are also really important! Any minor things that make one or the other better or worse (parking, food, vibe etc) is also really helpful 🙂

part of the reason i chose ohio state over cornell (other than it being slightly cheaper) was because i preferred columbus over ithaca. i grew up in a city and went to undergrad in a college town, and i couldn’t do 4 more years in a college town. having easy access to a functional airport with direct flights home has been huge for me.

 

[pathfinder94]

I cannot speak for Cornell, but I am an anatomic pathology resident at a different university. We had an 4th year from Ohio come here to our school as a rotation and from what it sounds like they start clinical rotations early (so more than 1 calendar year) and they were tracking pathology and were able to visit a variety of programs.