harvard v. cornell/columbia

[techstock]

My fiancee just checked her email and found out she got into Harvard NP. She was planning on going to Cornell/Columbia because I'm going to law school in New York. Should I encourage her to go to Harvard? Will she be seriously disadvantaging herself by choosing cornell or columbia over H-bomb? I know rankings matter a lot for law school, are they as important for med school?

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[fuzzywuz]

Going to Harvard is great. But going to Cornell/Columbia is equally great.

It's just how you take advantage of what the school has to offer. There's just so many variables to consider.

 

[fisko82]

Should I encourage her to go to Harvard?

Only if she gets really clingy and annoying, then yea tell her to live in another city or else...

Will she be seriously disadvantaging herself by choosing cornell or columbia over H-bomb?

Not a chance.

I know rankings matter a lot for law school, are they as important for med school?

No. It just sounds cool to tell people you're going to Harvard. Other than that, a lot of the perceived "top" med schools all have similar opportunities, so it really doesn't matter which one you attend (at least in my opinion). However, if she's smart enough to get into those schools, I suspect she already knows this. Encourage her to go wherever she wants. If that's in NY to be with you, great. If it's "H-bomb" to be with me, well then that's even better

 

[Adiel]

Going to Harvard is great. But going to Cornell/Columbia is equally great.

It's just how you take advantage of what the school has to offer. There's just so many variables to consider.

Ignoring for the moment that I'm waitlisted by Columbia and have a vested interest in your fiancee going elsewhere... 🙄

I wouldn't say that going to Cornell/Columbia is equally great to going to Harvard. All three are top schools, but Harvard is arguably the best in the country (people will argue about Hopkins, UCSF, etc.). Poke around SDN for a while and you'll hear people in the allo and residency forums using (often unconsciously) HMS grads' placements as the gold standard for whatever is a desirable residency/fellowship position.

Graduates from Cornell and Columbia do well, but there is a difference when compared to HMS if you take an aggregate viewpoint. Is it due to the Harvard name, or the intrinsic abilities of the students admitted to HMS? Who knows... there's no definitive answer.

What most everyone would admit: Harvard has better hospitals (taken AS A WHOLE, not with regards to specific specialties), more money, more accomplished faculty, a sick alumni list, true pass/fail, and a sterling reputation.


Columbia has Bard Hall, Washington Heights, honors/pass/fail starting second year, and Lee Bollinger [personal note: I am fine with all of these 😀]. Cornell has heavy PBL (though HMS NP has some, as well), honors/pass/fail all four years, and a Gossip Girl location.

There's always Fung-Wah and Greyhound... You and your fiancee have an important choice to make. Remember what Spiderman's uncle said: With great power comes great responsibility.

 

[TarHeel55]

I know rankings matter a lot for law school, are they as important for med school?

It is my understanding, based on conversations with friends in law, that certain corporate law firms in major U.S. cities simply won't consider applicants who didn't attend law school at Yale, Harvard, or [insert status equivalent law school(s) here].

The significance of "rankings" for medical school will be debated on this forum endlessly. I put "rankings" in scare quotes because the methodology of the even most commonly cited source, U.S. News, is controversial.

However, it is possible to say at least this much confidently. If you look at the top residency programs in any given specialty, you will find physicians who graduated from a wide array of U.S. medical schools -- private and public, large and small, well-known and not known by the general public. In this respect, it seems to me that medicine, at least at the level of M.D. education/residency, is not characterized by what I understand to be the very rigid status heirarchy that defines some areas of law.

I can't begin to suggest what you should advise your fiancee to do. That depends on many factors that only the two of you can personally evaluate.

 

[DulyNoted]

It is my understanding, based on conversations with friends in law, that certain corporate law firms in major U.S. cities simply won't consider applicants who didn't attend law school at Yale, Harvard, or [insert status equivalent law school(s) here].

The significance of "rankings" for medical school will be debated on this forum endlessly. I put "rankings" in scare quotes because the methodology of the even most commonly cited source, U.S. News, is controversial.

However, it is possible to say at least this much confidently. If you look at the top residency programs in any given specialty, you will find physicians who graduated from a wide array of U.S. medical schools -- private and public, large and small, well-known and not known by the general public. In this respect, it seems to me that medicine, at least at the level of M.D. education/residency, is not characterized by what I understand to be the very rigid status heirarchy that defines some areas of law.

I can't begin to suggest what you should advise your fiancee to do. That depends on many factors that only the two of you can personally evaluate.

Best post that any of the numerous iterations of this topic will ever see. 👍

OP, advise her to go to Harvard if you want gamble with your chance of being or staying married. You will both be extremely busy professional students and the cost, both opportunity and immediate, to sustain a healthy relationship will be enormous.

 

[TheRealMD]

Do law schools have an equalizing test like the USMLE? If not, then it's pretty understandable that the law school itself would act as a gatekeeper into more lucrative paths within law. However, a student getting a 260-270 on their Step 1, even from whatever med school is ranked number 126, will be going places.

 

[techstock]

Do law schools have an equalizing test like the USMLE? If not, then it's pretty understandable that the law school itself would act as a gatekeeper into more lucrative paths within law. However, a student getting a 260-270 on their Step 1, even from whatever med school is ranked number 126, will be going places.

nope--everyone takes the bar exam, but scores aren't released, so as long as you pass everything is fine.

 

[Drogba]

A doctor and a lawyer. You guys are the cosbys in the making

Congrats.

 

[techstock]

A doctor and a lawyer. You guys are the cosbys in the making

Congrats.

Well thank you. I'm very proud of her, and it bothers me somewhat that she is going to miss out on this opportunity to be with me, but in the end things will probably work out much better this way.

 

[BurnEmUpBears]

The peer and residency director scores for Harvard are 4.8, 4.7 respectively, totalling 9.5

Columbia and Cornell total 8.6 and 8.4, respectively.

Harvard's definitely on a different level in terms of prestige. How much that matters is really up to you; I feel like Harvard will probably give an edge in terms of residency and job seeking (esp. academic positions and public health/policy leadership). But, there are so so many other factors to consider outside prestige.

Cornell has a lot going for it: perfect location in NYC (>Boston), Hospital for Special Surgery, better housing, Tri-Institute research. I think having loved ones in the city would be enough to keep me there.

I interviewed at all three, but I'm a Cali guy staying in Cali, so mine's just a visitor's point of view pretty much.

 

[jpro]

Honestly all three are about equal once you are in med school. When applying to residency people will be impressed with all three. I would stay in NYC.