Einstein vs Cincinnati

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FamousLinen

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Hey everyone, super lucky to be accepted to these two schools, looking for some perspective. Any comments appreciated. Both schools do recorded non-mandatory lecture jazz, so nothing going on there between them.

Cincinnati
-Pros
  • Amazing STEP scores, average around 240. Probably the biggest pull to here for me.
  • Cincinnati seems like a decent city. Coming from a rural/small town especially. German culture seems cool, downtown area seems decent, area around the school not bad either.
  • Brand new facilities are all super nice. Everything seemed pristine and super nice. Pretty nice gym for all professional health students, and a decent medical school student only gym which they said is never used. Nice study areas, etc. etc. Probably second in line for wanting to go here. I feel like things like this effect my happiness a good bit. Having awesome study areas/gym/everything being nice would be a bonus.
  • Students seemed like people I would get along with.
  • An upper mid tier, ranked around 40.
  • Research seemed like it was easy to obtain. Also, only medical school in the city which seems nice.
  • A top ranked Peds hospital and program. Not interested in Peds, but still cool.
  • Only 3 hours from home. Reason number 3 for liking Cinci.
  • Cheaper stuff to do/easier access to do stuff. I feel it'd be a lot easier to go to a Bengals game than a Giants/Jets game, go to museums downtown, etc etc.
  • Emails/website/instructions on things seems a lot more put together. Would probably be a nice quality of life thing during school.
-Cons
  • P/F with quartile ranking for M1/M2
  • Not looking to stay in Midwest for residency, seems they match a lot there (probably a lot of Midwesterners going here though... kind of a chicken and egg scenario)
  • Faculty seemed very superficial during interview. Very "this is the best school ever" type vibe. Although my student tour guide was more grounded and honest it seemed. But not sure I'd like the whole "we love our school more than anything and you can't criticize it" ideals.
  • Big promoters of their diversity, even though they don't seem to really practice it. Majority white class, and while I'm white I prefer diversity.
  • I feel like there isn't much of a name for it outside the Midwest. It's definitely respected but not overly so, and I feel this compounds on the coasts/outside of the Midwest.
  • Have to have a car
  • I read that half of the students in the classes are married? Not sure if this is reliable but if so not really exactly awesome for me. Will be 22 entering, so younger than a lot and looking for more my crowd.

Einstein
-Pros
  • Faculty seemed so down to earth and just exactly who I'd want to work with and under and learn from. Big plus for me here. Also meshed well with interviewer, but this doesn't mean much.
  • NYC seems like somewhere I'd like to live. To me the Bronx alone would be awesome, let alone living a short ride from Manhattan and everything else. I don't really have to talk much about this point lol.
  • No need for a car. All sites are set up near the school/in the city and transportation is set up for you before hand. Metro/walking/ride sharing seem like the way to go. Would save thousands a year on no car, though I'm sure a large majority of that would be eaten up with transportation. A bit of a con if you want a car as the cost would be ****ed and I doubt the city is very fun to drive/park lol.
  • True P/F.
  • Good average STEP score. Doesn't compare to Cinci, but still solid.
  • Higher ranking, but not by a ton. Butttt, I feel like Einstein carries a lot more of a name places, especially along the east coast in NYC/Philly/etc which are places I could see myself living. Match list more aligns with what I'm looking for. I want to go for the best residency (that will also make me happy) that I can obtain, which is also in a good location for me. I think Einstein would be more help here.
  • Relatedly, a research powerhouse. Seems like research would be super easy to get involved in something you're interested in. Also, (a con to some) a scholarly project is required. Will probably not be the funnest, but will help (I think) for match.
  • Felt more like I'd get along with my fellow interviewers here.
  • The Bronx would be a great population to serve during my time here.
  • Rent would only be ~500 a month in their student housing. Also, living with all of my classmates and other students seems like a good thing, I would like the community feel and being closer to people. Got to tour our interviewer's apartment and it seemed nice enough.
  • Good rec center and gym attached. Gym isn't the best though, but serviceable. Also another gym right next door that offers $10 a month membership to students, so that's always there.
  • I like the idea of living right on campus. Walk to main hospital, classes, gym, library, etc is all less than 5 minutes WALK. Pretty awesome.
  • Probably most importantly, I just feel like I'll be happier here, not really sure how much fact that is based in though vs wanting to move to NYC and go to the higher ranked school and feel like I'm doing something different lol.
  • Brand new research building on campus, didn't get to tour it though.
  • Can get a year off to do research or global health. Don't remember if you get a stipend (probably for research, no idea about global health and I'm less interested in it anyways) but it is tuition free that year.
  • Jewish holidays off. Not religious myself, but I don't think that aspect of the school would bother me really.
-Cons
  • Like a 7-8 hour drive from home. The $40 in tolls each way doesn't help either haha. Not that I'd be going home that often, I live 2 hours now and only go every other month. Also, flights may be an option if saving money from no car costs. Distance is biggest con. Not really a huge deal to me though (at least I think so now).
  • Never lived in a city before, so the jump to NYC would probably be pretty big. Might be hard to adjust to it and learning transportation and etc etc while starting school. Probably not a huge con, I think I could adapt quick, but wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world.
  • Cost of living will definitely be a bit higher. A lot more options of things to do but will probably be able to do less stuff? Idk. I feel like I can make do on a budget though.
  • Emails/website/etc don't seem the best put together. Some stuff on the website hasn't been updated since almost a decade ago lol.
  • Pretty outdated facilities and buildings. Especially compared to Cinci.
-Cost-
Cinci would run on average 68k per year, while Einstein would be closer to 80k per year. So after graduation about 40k more for Einstein, probably 60k more by the time I get it paid off. Not enough to make me choose Cinci over it because of it, but definitely something to keep in mind. No financial aid packages yet, but doubt I'll get much aid or any scholarship from either.

Sorry for the wall of text haha.
 
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If you want to practice on the East Coast, Einstein is the way to go. I agree that Cinci’s rep is more regional, and I don’t think that the STEP scores really say anything other than their individual students studied hard. You’ll learn the foundations needed for STEP just as well at Einstein. The cost difference between the two is fairly negligible.
 
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Not sure if you considered this, but after your first year at an Ohio school you can establish an Ohio residency which then grants you in-state tuition for your remaining three years. Cost of living alone in the Midwest would make up for the car/transportation cost, and Cincinnati Children's is a research powerhouse. Cincy isn't a vibrant metropolis like New York, but if you enjoy hanging out at cheap bars and watching mediocre football/baseball, this is the place for you.
 
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Housekeeping_Gene said:
Not sure if you considered this, but after your first year at an Ohio school you can establish an Ohio residency which then grants you in-state tuition for your remaining three years. Cost of living alone in the Midwest would make up for the car/transportation cost, and Cincinnati Children's is a research powerhouse. Cincy isn't a vibrant metropolis like New York, but if you enjoy hanging out at cheap bars and watching mediocre football/baseball, this is the place for you.
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Thanks for the comment. Yeah, cost of attendance took that into account. Cincinnati averages 68k per year if you're OOS M1 and IS the rest
 
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Whoops, didn't realize that. Anyways, grew up in the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky-Dayton area and absolutely loved it, I don't think you can go wrong with either.
 
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Being from a small town myself, I would say Cinci is probably the better "next step" if that makes any sense (easier transition IMO).

Being close to home can be a lot more important than you think. There will be days when you just want to go home and visit family.

You'll find out during med school that your performance on STEP has very little to do with lectures, PBLs, and whatever else the schools do. People do well on STEP because they use the outside resources effectively. I find it funny that schools use the avg STEP score as a part of their "advertisement."
 
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TxC said:
Being from a small town myself, I would say Cinci is probably the better "next step" if that makes any sense (easier transition IMO).

Being close to home can be a lot more important than you think. There will be days when you just want to go home and visit family.

You'll find out during med school that your performance on STEP has very little to do with lectures, PBLs, and whatever else the schools do. People do well on STEP because they use the outside resources effectively. I find it funny that schools use the avg STEP score as a part of their "advertisement."
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Cinci would definitely be an easier transition. And I agree with the step part but you've got to wonder how they consistently score around 240. They talked about having a dedicated faculty to help with learning to take exams and using nbme style questions for things so that probably helps. Also both school's average mcat is 515 so I don't think it has to do with higher scoring students. But I do agree with you that I'll likely do similar regardless of where I go.
 
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I am in a similar position as you but am choosing Cinci. Costs are lower, especially for IS and they also have lots of resources available for STEP 1 prep (like student-led review sessions, dedicated STEP 1 prep faculty). I think the fact that many match in the midwest is more because half the class comes from Ohio and neighboring states and would like to stay there. Facilities at UC is definitely newer and the med school is literally in the middle of the medical campus surrounded by ~7 hospitals.

Einstein does have a bit more name-recognition on the East Coast but I doubt attending either school will hurt your chances for residency.
 
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Can any current students comment if half of their UCCOM class is married? Idk why it would be so high compared to other schools
 
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Frogger27 said:
UCCOM student. We probably have about 10 married people (out of 175) in our class.

Also the lack of diversity is completely false. >20% of our class is URM and >50% of the class is female
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Thanks for clearing things up. The married thing just didn't seem right.
 
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Also UCCOM student. You don't need to scramble for a car right away, you can get away without having one for the first semester at least.

P/F with quartile system is actually nice in my opinion, if you want to try really hard you can have something to show for it. In my experience, students are not super competitive with each other, it's more of a collaborative environment. Our class also had a 242 Step 1 average, to be specific 😉

I'd say the majority of students in my class joined straight out of college or after a gap year or two. Not sure where that 50% married statistic is coming from. As far as med schools go with diversity, I'd say UCCOM does a pretty good job. Our Office of Diversity and Inclusion is very active.

Another pro that I would add is that UCCOM genuinely cares about student wellbeing and is very understanding of personal health needs. It's super easy to get help with financial, psychiatric, or academic concerns.

Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have more! :happy:
 
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I don't think you should be too worried about the average step score. Yes - you want to know that the school prepares you well, but also it will have a lot to do with how well you study, prepare yourself, and test. I do think Einstein is a well respected name in the NYC/East Coast area if that matters to you. Einstein has a very large Jewish population or at least it felt like that at my interview day and from the people that I know that go there. Many people observing Shabbat.
 
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lalalallala said:
I don't think you should be too worried about the average step score. Yes - you want to know that the school prepares you well, but also it will have a lot to do with how well you study, prepare yourself, and test. I do think Einstein is a well respected name in the NYC/East Coast area if that matters to you. Einstein has a very large Jewish population or at least it felt like that at my interview day and from the people that I know that go there. Many people observing Shabbat.
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Yeah I'm coming to the idea that the STEP thing isn't a huge deal. Also I noticed the Jewish thing too, but like I said that isn't really a pro or con to me, just how it is.
 
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FamousLinen said:
Any reason you say Einstein even though you go to Cincinnati?
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Cincy isn't true P/F-Einstein is, at least pre-clinically.
Here, students are ranked into quartiles. I hear everyone stressing over this. When we take exams, the chatter before/after exams will show you that people care less about knowledge acquisition, but rather about beating the average-which can be intense considering the students here are cream of the crop. So yes, this means even as Step 1 is approaching we must focus on memorizing obscure details not relevant to Step 1-because of exams and class rank. We have so much lecture material that isn't really relevant to Step. Maybe Einstein does too, not sure-wouldn't know-but it doesn't contribute to class rank.
Also, we get a lot of extra work here-extra assignments, extra exams from non-science classes, etc.
 
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