Harvard vs. Penn vs. Yale vs. Columbia

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musicalmango

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Okay, so I have been WILDLY fortunate this application cycle and now need to choose from these options. If anyone could give me advice on choosing among these schools (all of which, arguably, could get me wherever I needed to go after residency, so essentially equivalent resources), that would be really helpful!

A couple things about me that might help:
  1. I don't really care about the difference in total clinical year time.
  2. I'm not looking for a competitive environment, and that's probably my top concern for Harvard.
  3. As for potential residency, I'm interested in neurology or oncology, but am not really sure.
  4. I, sadly, won't qualify for any financial aid.
  5. A close-knit academic community would be great!
Also, I've had a hard time finding what people dislike about these schools, so any common cons of these places would be cool to hear. Thanks so much in advance!

Edit: Harvard is the Pathways program.

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Congratulations, that's amazing!! I'm sure you are not just fortunate but must be an exceptional applicant :)

In terms of overall reputation, among residency directors especially, I would say Harvard and Penn are in the top category, followed by Columbia, and Yale is at the bottom. More information can be found in this post: Historical US News Rankings.

I also wouldn't say that Harvard is competitive. In fact, I believe their shift to pass/fail essentially ALL 4 YEARS makes them the least competitive of all these schools! (Technically, they do have grades for the clerkship year but based on what I've heard from the current students, only grades relevant to the specialty you will be applying to get released to residency programs - make of that what you will).

Pretty much all top 20 schools are great at neurology and oncology, as these are research-heavy departments - hard to distinguish just based on your interest in these fields. Do keep in mind that Harvard's affiliates are among the top no matter which field you end up going into, so it would be a great choice if you want to keep your options open. Penn is pretty big on immunotherapy these days (specifically CAR T cells) if that's of interest to you. Columbia is known for neurosurgery but I'm not quite sure about neurology.

Also, Penn is known for offering very generous merit scholarships; the other schools offer only financial aid, I believe.

All in all, I would pick either Harvard or Penn. If Penn offers you a big scholarship, I would go with Penn.
 
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If you don't have a strong preference for any of the other three, choose Harvard, as it will open up the most doors for you. And congrats! What are your stats and ECs?
 
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The hardest decision I made this week was deciding whether or not I should even attend my morning classes. Meanwhile you're here deciding between Harvard, Penn, Columbia, and Yale lol
 
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I would say definitely Yale. I've heard there is just about zero competition. It's super relaxed. No AOA either. If I recall I don't think they have shelf exams either.
 
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Congratulations, that's amazing!! I'm sure you are not just fortunate but must be an exceptional applicant :)

In terms of overall reputation, among residency directors especially, I would say Harvard and Penn are in the top category, followed by Columbia, and Yale is at the bottom. More information can be found in this post: Historical US News Rankings.

I also wouldn't say that Harvard is competitive. In fact, I believe their shift to pass/fail essentially ALL 4 YEARS makes them the least competitive of all these schools! (Technically, they do have grades for the clerkship year but based on what I've heard from the current students, only grades relevant to the specialty you will be applying to get released to residency programs - make of that what you will).

Pretty much all top 20 schools are great at neurology and oncology, as these are research-heavy departments - hard to distinguish just based on your interest in these fields. Do keep in mind that Harvard's affiliates are among the top no matter which field you end up going into, so it would be a great choice if you want to keep your options open. Penn is pretty big on immunotherapy these days (specifically CAR T cells) if that's of interest to you. Columbia is known for neurosurgery but I'm not quite sure about neurology.

Also, Penn is known for offering very generous merit scholarships; the other schools offer only financial aid, I believe.

All in all, I would pick either Harvard or Penn. If Penn offers you a big scholarship, I would go with Penn.

Wow, I appreciate the thought you put into this! Thanks so much!
 
Okay, so I have been WILDLY fortunate this application cycle and now need to choose from these options. If anyone could give me advice on choosing among these schools (all of which, arguably, could get me wherever I needed to go after residency, so essentially equivalent resources), that would be really helpful!

A couple things about me that might help:
  1. I don't really care about the difference in total clinical year time.
  2. I'm not looking for a competitive environment, and that's probably my top concern for Harvard.
  3. As for potential residency, I'm interested in neurology or oncology, but am not really sure.
  4. I, sadly, won't qualify for any financial aid.
  5. A close-knit academic community would be great!
Also, I've had a hard time finding what people dislike about these schools, so any common cons of these places would be cool to hear. Thanks so much in advance!

Edit: Harvard is the Pathways program.
If I were you I’d go Harvard. It’s the biggest name and you’d likely have no regrets graduating from there. More intense/competitive for sure but so are penn and Columbia. Yale’s pull would be not having grades and potentially enjoying your time in med school more. Penn and Columbia (have friends here who love it) are both excellent as well but I think they are less unique when compared to Yale’s chill atmosphere or Harvard’s brand unless you have a specific reason for wanting to be in philly or nyc. Subjectively of course id go with where you feel you fit best and would excel. For what it’s worth, I thought the penn students on interview day (this is a few years ago now) were super chill. Having said that I love it at Yale and have had so much fun here so you really can’t go wrong wherever you choose. It all works out in the end either way. Congrats on some cool choices!
 
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A friend of mine had a similar choice to make last year: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and UMich. She ended up going with Yale and hasn't regretted her decision for a second.
 
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Choosing any other school other than Harvard would be a huge mistake. The name carries significant weight in and outside of academia, and you will reap its benefits for the rest of your life.
 
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WOW okay the support for Harvard coming in strong. I'm curious if there's anything people have heard that's bad about HMS.
 
WOW okay the support for Harvard coming in strong. I'm curious if there's anything people have heard that's bad about HMS.
I'm honestly not sure what help anyone here can provide. You probably already know there isn't a wrong choice here. If dropping the H-bomb is important to you, go to Harvard. The opportunities at all of these schools will be the same. You are literally choosing from four ivy league powerhouse medical schools.

If a non-competitive environment is important to you, the clear choice is Yale. Penn and Columbia have a reputation for being competitive. Harvard probably isn't super competitive, but I have never heard that it's super collaborative either. Yale prides itself on the Yale System with anonymous exams, no rankings, a high honors rate, and no AOA.
 
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WOW okay the support for Harvard coming in strong. I'm curious if there's anything people have heard that's bad about HMS.
If you feel like you fit at Harvard, I would go. Only bad thing I’ve heard about it is just from a couple graduates in residency here. Nothing specific they just said it was more competitive than they would have liked but I think they still would choose it again based on it being Harvard.
 
Harvard for sure. Harvard isn't more competitive than Yale at all, when we're at this level, you're really splitting hairs. The "competitiveness" of an environment will depend on the individual people you surround yourself with, the individual people you talk to, etc. There are competitive and non-competitive people at both schools. If anything, Harvard is actually less competitive because people know that they're at Harvard, and they know that they already have the best name recognition in the country.
 
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