Okay, I'll give you my feedback 🙂.
Personally, I would choose CWRU over NYU. I've interviewed at both, and given those two choices, CWRU would be my honest choice-- I've realized I prefer a smaller/middle sized class, more community focus, happy/satisfied students, and less debt. Yeah, Manhattan is nice, but personally I can't justify living in the big apple on borrowed money. I like CWRU's community sealant program, I actually like having some PBL, and I really liked the practice management course concept. Plus, it seems like both places have a decent patient pool, except you're scheduled your patients at CWRU -- so you're not working double duty as an office manager. And if I remember correctly, CWRU gives you your own chair.
NYU seemed significantly more expensive for less perks. For example, students at CWRU talked about paying $300-500 per month for a nice room -- students at NYU said three of them shared a converted 1 bedroom (yes, a 1 bedroom apt), and each paid $1400. Yeah, those were just the student interviewers -- but it made me really hesitant about NYU. Lastly, all CWRU students I contacted said they were happy -- and not all NYU students said they were happy. It's not a significant sample size (that would be crazy of me), but it made me think about the schools differently.
As for specialization... It seems like specialization is dependent on the student, and not necessarily the location. Locations that are more established, and locations with high stats (ex: UCLA, Harvard, Columbia) attract the sort of student that will more easily specialize any way. Plus, those schools seem to focus more on the science than the clinic (unlike either CWRU and NYU -- though both give you the opportunity to do research).
