Harvard (OK Financial Aid) vs. Penn (Full COA) vs. NYU (Full COA)

[MDintheageofcorona]

Background: Hello! I have been so lucky this cycle to receive 3 amazing offers, but I'm having a hard time deciding between them. I've laid out my pros and cons here, but for some background: I am coming to medical school with my significant other, I really value a non-competitive environment after busting my butt in undergrad the last 4 years, I would love to graduate with as little debt as possible, and I have an inkling that I'd like to match into a competitive specialty.

Harvard
Pros

• Amazing prestige both in and out of medicine
• True P/F with no AOA chapter or clinical grades reported (excluding those specific to your specialty)
• Flipped classroom learning style
• Boston is a pretty cool city
• Couples housing possibly available?
• Harvard has a program for significant others to access their resources

Cons

• Lowest stipend for a high cost-of-living area (17500, likely won't even cover rent)
  • Not full COA and is need-based (have to reapply every year)
• Dual degree in bioethics requires an additional year
  • No financial aid to support it
• Dorm-style living for 1st years
• Classes are required attendance

Penn
Pros

• Full, merit-based, COA scholarship
  • Locked for all years
  • Largest stipend (20,000)
• West Philly has a low cost of living
  • Only 2 hours from NYC
• No dorm-style living – easy to come with a partner
• High historical prestige in the medical community
• Very good clinical education
• Can do a Bioethics MA in 4 years
• Liked my interview day, vibed well with the students and faculty that I talked to

Cons

• AOA and fairly competitive environment
  • Graded clinicals
  • Capped number of “honors” on rotations
• Philadelphia is probably the least exciting of the 3 cities

NYU
Pros

• Full, merit-based COA scholarship
  • Locked for all years
  • Stipend is 19000
• Possibility of subsidized couples housing?
• Location is great in NYC
  • We have many friends in and around the city
  • Has always been a pipe dream to get to live in New York
• Smaller class size (~100)
• Option for 3-year graduation
• Scholarly concentration model with a strong medical ethics program
• Noncumulative biweekly testing
  • A free weekend after tests with funded activities

Cons

• Possibly prestige? Newcomer to the T-5 and a relatively low Program Director ranking (19)
• NYC will be expensive if we need to find our own housing
• I was very sick for most of my interview day so I couldn’t really get any sense of the vibe
• Has an AOA chapter/graded clinicals
  • Preclinical performance factors in
• Can’t get a masters in 4 years
• Dorm-style living for 1st years

Summary: Sorry for such a long post. I am essentially trying to balance finances, competitiveness, location, and support for my partner. Just looking for some objective feedback, especially with the lack of in-person revisits. Thank you in advance!

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[Yhwach]

The only thing I hate about Penn is the AOA and competition. That enough makes me hesitant.

 

[9blade]

Damn...yall some ballers on this site. Congrats on your success. If it were me, I would choose Penn. I see no point in paying extra at Harvard when the other 2 schools can also get you into competitive specialties for free. Now between Penn and NYU, both have AOA and somewhat have a reputation of having gunners. However, Penn gives you more money and you live in a cheaper cost of living city without having to be in the dorms. Although you love NYC, keep in mind that roughly 1500/month in NYC with a significant other(SO), is not a lot of money. If your SO finds a job, it will be manageable. Philly is also not that far from NYC for a wknd getaway. For all of this, I would choose Penn. Congrats on your success. This is impressive.

 

[MDintheageofcorona]

Damn...yall some ballers on this site. Congrats on your success. If it were me, I would choose Penn. I see no point in paying extra at Harvard when the other 2 schools can also get you into competitive specialties for free. Now between Penn and NYU, both have AOA and somewhat have a reputation of having gunners. However, Penn gives you more money and you live in a cheaper cost of living city without having to be in the dorms. Although you love NYC, keep in mind that roughly 1500/month in NYC with a significant other(SO), is not a lot of money. If your SO finds a job, it will be manageable. Philly is also not that far from NYC for a wknd getaway. For all of this, I would choose Penn. Congrats on your success. This is impressive.

No matter where we end up my SO will have a job. I should have mentioned that Harvard and NYU are a bit better for the work they want to do.

 

[birdred23]

Congrats on those acceptances— a truly impressive feat. I don’t think you can go wrong here. That being said if I were you I would lean towards NYU. You mention it has been a dream of yours to go to NYC, I think their culture is more relaxed than penn and Harvard, your partner would have an easy time with their work, the prestige is roughly the same as the other too, and you have the entire COA taken care of, as well as the possibly to graduate in 3 years. That being said if you are looking to go into a highly competitive specialty maybe consider I think Harvard is another god option as their match list is unparalleled. If debt is your main concern, Penn is obviously the cheapest option but I would be cognizant of the competitive environment, which it sounds like you are trying to avoid.

 

[9blade]

No matter where we end up my SO will have a job. I should have mentioned that Harvard and NYU are a bit better for the work they want to do.

well, in that case, since it's always been your dream to be in NYC, you should do it. Try it out for a bit for these 4 years. You might regret it later if you don't. In that case, I would go NYU

 

[MammothMD_2024]

Congrats on all of your success! My vote goes to Penn—all the money plus the prestige (comparable to HMS) puts it over NYU in my book. Also, I don’t think NYU is considered a T5 by those that actually matter (i.e. residency program directors). Given that NYU was in the 30s on USNWR only a couple of years ago, I would say go with the shiny, and consistent, T5 glitter that Penn comes with. This will keep all doors open for you in the future.

 

[proudofmykids]

THe cost difference of the three is quite negligible and imho shouldn’t factor into your decision, even if another $10k/yr difference than you indicate for any of them.
I would think you could get similar exposure at Harvard for Bioethics without requiring the extra year and forego the MA like you would at NYU.
Def choose Harvard or Penn, look at their match lists, and you’ll see what a huge difference there is in prevalence of T10 program matches between them and NYU’s.

 

[Frogger27]

Penn

 

[Grapesurgery]

.

 

[blurb_123]

Harvard or Penn. Can't go wrong with either!

 

[marcosma]

Ok, that is not “OK Financial Aid” at Harvard, that’s amazing financial aid. 17500 will almost def cover rent (like, $1200 a month at the highest?). There are people turning down full COA at Penn to pay like 200k in loans for HMS!

Anyways, wow, all of these financial offers are insanely good. Go where you have vibed with students the best. Go for HMS if you’re attracted to the prestige!

 

[marcosma]

Also, from my understanding, there really is NOT a competitive atmosphere at Penn. I’ve spoken to so many students about it and they really have not felt it. There is a lot of interclass camaraderie (which I think in part comes from the 1.5 year curriculum) and nobody expressed any sort of competition for AOA or anything like that. It seems like the “Penn is cutthroat” idea is mostly a myth, and maybe comes from the fact that they were graded preclinical until a few years ago.

Students were incredibly pleasant and collaborative at Penn in my experience of talking with so many of them and sitting in on small-group case-based learning sessions.

 

[blurb_123]

Also, from my understanding, there really is NOT a competitive atmosphere at Penn. I’ve spoken to so many students about it and they really have not felt it. There is a lot of interclass camaraderie (which I think in part comes from the 1.5 year curriculum) and nobody expressed any sort of competition for AOA or anything like that. It seems like the “Penn is cutthroat” idea is mostly a myth, and maybe comes from the fact that they were graded preclinical until a few years ago.

Students were incredibly pleasant and collaborative at Penn in my experience of talking with so many of them and sitting in on small-group case-based learning sessions.

I also highly doubt that not receiving AOA at Penn will do anything to your match prospects, just looking at how phenomenal their match is seemingly ever year.

 

[Nerdanese]

I think your choice should be between Penn and Harvard. If you like one more than the other, go for it!

Something really important to think about: living with your SO in Boston will make your life so much easier. Based on your post, I'm assuming your partner is not in medical school, and is going where you are going to medical school? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Knowing Boston and looking at Craigslist, you can find a 2-3 bedroom for under <$1500 month per room. Split that room with your SO and now your rent is $750. Personally, I would see if you could use your 17k for living expenses, your partner covers the rest (I am assuming your partner will have a job in Boston), and then your partner uses the money they would've used that was spent by the 17k to spend it on something that the both of you would benefit from (i.e. retirement, paying off student loans). This plan only works if you guys are planning on spending the rest of your lives together.

 

[GearedUp]

This doesn't seem to be a major consideration for you, but you do not need to apply to HMS financial aid every year-- your tuition aid is locked all four years and is automatically adjusted as tuition increases.