Emory vs. USC Keck vs. Albert Einstein (AECOM)

[rocco92]

So I have been fortunate to have been accepted to these three schools, and I am really split between the three. Any feedback or input would really be appreciated.

As for my interests, I am generally interested in surgery, but very open-minded at this point. My main ambition is community health and being a strong clinician, which I think all three schools would be strong for.

Here is a pro/con list I have been working on:

Emory:
+ well-ranked, a bit more prestigious than other two
+ Grady is an amazing public hospital that I absolutely loved
+ close to home, parents have Delta freq flyer miles (its convenient lol)
+ very familiar city, I love the South, so I know I would feel comfortable in Atlanta
+1.5 year preclinical curriculum, plus 5-month research block in 4th year (a significant advantage, less preclinical BS and allotted time to do specific research)


-not a lot of diversity in Atlanta (some but still mostly white vs. black)
-I spent a lot of time learning Spanish and it is a big passion of mine, so I feel I would lose this skill or not be able to maintain it as well at Emory than at USC or Einstein
-not as big of a city as LA or NYC


USC Keck:
+ loved the atmosphere and vibes at this school
+ LA County is also an amazing new public hospital that I absolutely loved
+ huge for my Spanish skills, can use my education here to become practically fluent, a lot of opportunities for community outreach
+ LA weather, amazing diverse city, would be a very different urban experience for me


-far from home (4 hour flight to LA, 6 hours back home with time difference)
-have a few friends in LA, but not much experience or connections in Cali
-school is 75% in state
-not sure where I want to end up for residency. while going here will help with Cali residency (which I may end up wanting), not sure if it will help as much if I decide for East Coast or Southern residencies


AECOM:
+very strong global health school
+amazing hospitals (Montefiore, Jacobi, BX Lebanon)
+huge for Spanish skills and community outreach
+I like the Bronx, it seems cool, and its safer than my hometown anyways so not a concern


-interview day was significantly less impressive than other two (important because it may reflect schools attitude towards students)
-bigger class size than other two
-less prestige and not much name recognition outside of medicine (petty issue, but since I have a choice, USC or Emory are clearly household names whereas no layman knows AECOM)
- would have to stay in shared student housing with other students, it has a cheap price, but may feel too much like college

Please don't hesitate to give me some honest feedback, it could really help me learn more about these great schools. Thanks a lot!

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[Dbate]

I would say that it's easy to drop Albert Einstein.

The Bronx is a terrible area and you gain nothing (in terms of career opportunities and potential for residency placement) by going to the AECOM.

For Emory versus USC, it is probably just a personal decision. If the costs are not an issue, I would go for USC.

Mostly because Atlanta doesn't seem that appealing to me.

 

[kittykattat]

I would say that it's easy to drop Albert Einstein.

The Bronx is a terrible area and you gain nothing (in terms of career opportunities and potential for residency placement) by going to the AECOM.

For Emory versus USC, it is probably just a personal decision. If the costs are not an issue, I would go for USC.

Mostly because Atlanta doesn't seem that appealing to me.

In terms of what qualities? The Bronx is a very diverse area ranging from very unsafe to just fine and from less visually appealing to no worse than much of urban America. Also AE is in one of the nicest areas in the bronx - nice italian neighborhood with mostly single family homes (as opposed to projects or whatever you are picturing)

 

[GoPelicans]

These are all good schools that place lots of students into excellent residencies. Do you have a desire to practice in a particular location in the future? Emory seems like it would be a good fit if it's close to your family.

 

[plumazul]

OP, you have three great choices, congrats. I'm sure you will do well in LA or Atlanta, but NYC is special and is much closer to home than LA. If you have spent most of your life in the South, perhaps it's time to try someplace different?

 

[hopefulMD12]

In medicine, as far as I've heard, emory is significantly more prestigious than the other two. I would go to emory.

 

[cyberchicken001]

Can't really speak much about the other two schools, but I really loved Einstein. OP, what was it about the interview day that you didn't like? I thought it was much less structured than the other interviews I went to, but it was nice to not have to sit through 2 hours of the admissions people talking about how great their school is. Einstein just seemed confident tht the place would sell itself if you're a good fit, and they seemed much less "self-conscious" than some of the other schools I visited.

 

[cookiemonsters]

Can't really speak much about the other two schools, but I really loved Einstein. OP, what was it about the interview day that you didn't like? I thought it was much less structured than the other interviews I went to, but it was nice to not have to sit through 2 hours of the admissions people talking about how great their school is. Einstein just seemed confident tht the place would sell itself if you're a good fit, and they seemed much less "self-conscious" than some of the other schools I visited.

I applied lats year but this 1000x, I definitely appreciated not having to sit through ANOTHER boring presentation about why _____ School of Medicine is so great. Einstein was by far my most efficient interview day. I went elsewhere for $$ reasons, but I feel Einstein would've been an excellent fit for me.

 

[rocco92]

Can't really speak much about the other two schools, but I really loved Einstein. OP, what was it about the interview day that you didn't like? I thought it was much less structured than the other interviews I went to, but it was nice to not have to sit through 2 hours of the admissions people talking about how great their school is. Einstein just seemed confident tht the place would sell itself if you're a good fit, and they seemed much less "self-conscious" than some of the other schools I visited.

While it was efficient, at USC, the dean was able to mention specifics from our applications, and at Emory, they gave us a 2 hour extensive tour of the campus and hospital. While such things are tedious and clearly efforts to pitch the school to you, they're very flattering. More importantly, they let you sort of analyze the environment and mentality of the admin through their choice of interview day structure and their choice of admissions dean, and how those deans carry themselves.

At Einstein, while it isn't enough to rule it out whatsoever, I really didn't like the fact that I did not meet one single admissions person the whole day nor sit through any presentation. All I met were the secretaries and the medical students. The lack of a catered lunch where we could all sit in a boardroom together (we ate split up in the cafeteria), the lack of admissions people, and, most importantly, the lack of any tour of the hospital were negatives in my book. They gave us a slip with directions for a self-guided tour of the hospital (which, to me, seemed very unappealing and weird). It's not that I hated the interview day at Einstein, but after interviewing at other schools, I considered it to be very lackluster.

 

[rocco92]

In medicine, as far as I've heard, emory is significantly more prestigious than the other two. I would go to emory.

Can you, or anyone else, add to this? How accurate is this? Is there really a significant difference between USC and Emory? I could see maybe between Emory and Einstein, but why would it be true in comparison with USC?

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

Can you, or anyone else, add to this? How accurate is this? Is there really a significant difference between USC and Emory? I could see maybe between Emory and Einstein, but why would it be true in comparison with USC?

I wouldn't really try to discern the prestige difference between USC and Emory. If you're looking to practice, I believe that most residencies are going to view them pretty much the same way (as very solid schools) with biases being based on their location.

Concerning academic medicine and health policy, where prestige may be a slightly larger (although in my opinion even that can be debated), I still don't think it's enough to really matter. If you want to go into academic medicine, maybe Emory is slightly, slightly better, but you're not comparing Harvard to an unranked school, so I don't think it's anything to hinge your decision on. Concerning health policy, again Emory may have the slight name advantage as being close to the CDC gives it a bit more visibility to the public, but again you're not comparing Harvard to an unranked school.

My only point, in the case of Emory vs. USC, when location, program style/diversity, etc are so much at play, I wouldn't let any minuscule prestige difference weigh on your mind. Good luck!

 

[rocco92]

bump

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

location location location

 

[striker15]

Sorry to break it to you but seeing patients in Spanish doesn't necessarily mean you'll become fluent. The most you'll learn from patients is the basics. Only way to become fluent is to have someone that can talk to you for long periods of time in that language. Thus I don't think foreign language proficiency should be a factor in your decision especially when u have a choice like Emory. That 1.5 year +5 months of research sounds like the best option anyone can have when it comes down to applying for residency.

 

[PingPongPro]

Sorry to break it to you but seeing patients in Spanish doesn't necessarily mean you'll become fluent. The most you'll learn from patients is the basics. Only way to become fluent is to have someone that can talk to you for long periods of time in that language. Thus I don't think foreign language proficiency should be a factor in your decision especially when u have a choice like Emory. That 1.5 year +5 months of research sounds like the best option anyone can have when it comes down to applying for residency.

This is entirely not true. I am a student at Keck and there are a TON of opportunities to develop your Spanish. We have access to so many spanish speaking patients that its very common for people to become fluent in Spanish. I know of many people in my class that have really strived to improve their Spanish, and being at LA county really helped them a ton. Also, we have Spanish elective classes for further developing your spanish.

I don't know what you are really looking for, but I can honestly tell you that Keck does an amazing job at trying to keep the students happy. It might not be the most prestigious, but it is a place that you will definitely enjoy going to school. The weather ain't too bad either

 

[rocco92]

Sorry to break it to you but seeing patients in Spanish doesn't necessarily mean you'll become fluent. The most you'll learn from patients is the basics. Only way to become fluent is to have someone that can talk to you for long periods of time in that language. Thus I don't think foreign language proficiency should be a factor in your decision especially when u have a choice like Emory. That 1.5 year +5 months of research sounds like the best option anyone can have when it comes down to applying for residency.

That's an interesting point, and something I definitely need to look into. To clarify, I have pretty intermediate/advanced skills already (in that I can hold long conversations in Spanish with few errors), so I guess my point was that working and studying in LA, even outside of the hospital, would be prime for pushing my skills more towards fluency, as well as developing it in a medical context. However, I definitely need to learn more about the Spanish opportunities provided by Emory and the diversity in Atlanta, and I agree that the 1.5 year plus the research is a pretty big advantage. Thanks for the input

 

[ClevelandClinic]

if everything else is equal (i.e. debt), emory hands-down, much more prestigious, atlanta is much more diverse than you mentioned especially emory community, atlanta is a great city and much less expensive than LA

 

[MedWonk]

I would go with location in this case. So, Emory.

 

[orthos]

My vote goes for Emory.

The access to support system is vital to your success as a medical student. Having your family close is one of the biggest advantages you can have when times get tough (and trust me, they will). USC and AE are great schools as well, but choose the school where you envision yourself being happiest. Furthermore, cost should be a major factor, certainly more than prestige.

For your situation, Emory fits the bill better than the other places in my opinion.