Harvard, Yale, Stanford med students: please respond

[periodic]

Are you happy?

Is there a sense of community at your school - among students, among faculty, in the institution as a whole?

I'm fortunate to have these choices (a maybe on Yale, but a good chance), and I am trying to figure out where I would be happiest. I know happiness is subjective. I know med school is full of students and and faculty with their own interests in research, patient care, whatever. But at the end of the day, do you feel like you're a part of a place you believe in and care about? That's what I'm looking for, as it's served me well in the past.

The Harvard revisit seemed to highlight some fragmentation among people - students seemed a little cliquish and isolated. I met a lot of folks I really liked, but current students seemed overly happy to find other people they thought were cool. A lot of current students seemed too preoccupied to spend much time with us, also. I don't know whether this was a function of a limited sample (ie, my short experience) or indicative.

I couldn't go to the Yale or Stanford revisits (waitlist on the first, accepted too late on the second), so I'm desperate for input. I don't mean to irk anyone with the tone or subject of my post, I'm just really stuck and could use insight from people who are at these places.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Xmulder]

Funny, i got the same impression from Harvard. It was clear to me that students were almostly cleaned divided into cliques, with their own 'kind', such as a WASPy group, an asian group, african american group, international folks group, etc. It was really a shame to see. What was more surprising was that those outside my ethnic group were openly ignoring me and acted like I didn't exist. Some to whom I introduced myself completely brushed me off. It was messed up. Particularly the Waspy girls, who i observed were very stuck-up. Did you get this impression as well?

So it was disappointing that despite the reputation, in a school where you would expect all the best minds to mingle, it was not a true melting pot at all. Many current students I spoke with confirmed that this was the case, but did not seem to mind.

 

[periodic]

bump...any help would be really appreciated

 

[blz]

flip a coin...you won't lose.

 

[Fritz]

I'd go with Stanford, it is really cool and their fin aid is very good, BUT Palo Alto is EXPENSIVE. Plus it will probably take you 5 years to finish. Most people do one year of research, but for the 5th year the cost is reduced a lot as far as I know.

Good luck,

Fritz.

 

[ice_23]

Of those three, I'd probably choose yale, but that's just me. I went to Stanford undergrad, and never really got a positive feel for the med students there. I didn't like Harvard, and Yale seemed to have the most cohesive and open-minded group of people that I've met anywhere, aside from Vanderbilt and UMich. But take my anecdotal experiences with a grain of salt; going to a harvard would make you as close to a sure thing for a great residency as you an get, numbers and matchlist-wise.

-Ice

 

[Tezzie]

Hehe i was about to post the exact same thing as ice_23!

Out of the 3 schools i would have chosen Yale as well.

I will follow up this post with my impressions from my interview day.

 

[mdmike24]

see this thread for impressions of yale's second look. i couldn't attend either but heard good things.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=119984

i just released my spot at stanford. too much classtime, the facilities are too old, and it seems as though a fifth year is all but required unless you can manage to do three terms of research during your first two years of med school.

students at yale are happy, facilities are brand new, match list is second to none, great international oppurtunities, and yale inc. is pumping a lot of money into the medical school right now. so if i were you, i would go to yale.

harvard's a great school but one thing to consider is that despite having 6,500 med school faculty, they can never find enough of them who are willing to teach med students:

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=356576

 

[periodic]

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your replies. I was a Yale undergrad, so I know the area/facilities and some about the community there. My friends there are definitely very happy and fulfilled - I am trying to figure out how important going someplace new is to me. I'm considering internal med, neuro, or psych, and the thin matches of this past year from Yale in psych and neuro concern me a little. I also have a strong interest in policy, and the MD/MBA program is awesome there, although Stanford and Harvard have more depth in the health policy arena. I would only want to take a 5th year to pursue another degree, so thanks for pointing that out as a consideration.

Anyway, Tezzie, if you get a chance to share impressions, I'd love to read them. Thanks again everyone.

 

[ice_23]

Well periodic, I changed my mind. You should DEFINITELY attend stanford or harvard....

(so that i can get off of the waitlist! )

-Ice

 

[gramcracker]

Yes, the first years are happy here at Stanford. Besides just getting our asses kicked on a test this morning, we're all very friendly and as happy as you can be, studying pharm/path/phys all week long.

 

[banannie]

forget all these schools and go to DUKE!