I've been accepted to MSTP at all three schools. I'm interested in neuroscience but I am also looking for a program with a good integration between medical and graduate training. WashU and Upenn are very similar in their size and neuroscience is pretty good at both. The worst part: revisits overlap!!!! If you have some helpful comments regarding these two as well as Columbia, I would REALLY appreciate hearing from you!
Help!! WashU/ UPenn/ or Columbia???
- Thread starter piratka
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Congrats.
All 3 are great programs. My advice is pick your favorite city/location out of those and go to that program. You will be spending upwards of 8-9 years there so location should weigh heavily in your decision, based on how much of a life you plan on having outside school/lab.
All 3 are great programs. My advice is pick your favorite city/location out of those and go to that program. You will be spending upwards of 8-9 years there so location should weigh heavily in your decision, based on how much of a life you plan on having outside school/lab.
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I was really really impressed with the Neuroscience group at Columbia, and I thought WashU was pretty strong too. If you are really unsure about where you want to go, I would revisit all of them and talk to as many professors/students as you can and get a feel for each place. A school might feel very different at a revisit than on an interview. In the end, it'll probably be a gut decision, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices. Good luck.
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Agreed with gstrub. Location would be my biggest factor since all three are very strong programs.
This notion of "integration" is kind of moot the way you're probably thinking of it. Grad school stuff during your first two years of med school is helpful to get course requirements out of the way, but only if they fit into your med school schedule. Correct me if I'm wrong, but any of these programs offer that possibility. Grad school after the PhD is totally optional and probably discouraged due to need for high clinical grades. Any med school during the PhD is a complete waste of time unless it shortens your total time in attendance.
You can have the option to shadow physicians to think about specialty choice during your PhD at any program, some just force that on you. But this only detracts from your research and doesn't help you on the clinical side. It only helps you make up your mind for specialty and can help you keep your focus if you need it.
These schools will typically arrange separate revisits for you if necessary. You might want to ask about this option at each if it will help you make up your mind.
This notion of "integration" is kind of moot the way you're probably thinking of it. Grad school stuff during your first two years of med school is helpful to get course requirements out of the way, but only if they fit into your med school schedule. Correct me if I'm wrong, but any of these programs offer that possibility. Grad school after the PhD is totally optional and probably discouraged due to need for high clinical grades. Any med school during the PhD is a complete waste of time unless it shortens your total time in attendance.
You can have the option to shadow physicians to think about specialty choice during your PhD at any program, some just force that on you. But this only detracts from your research and doesn't help you on the clinical side. It only helps you make up your mind for specialty and can help you keep your focus if you need it.
These schools will typically arrange separate revisits for you if necessary. You might want to ask about this option at each if it will help you make up your mind.
thanks for the comments. I am planning on going for revisits to meet my potential classmates and faculty mentors. I've never lived in a big city so it's going to be a big change for sure. The most important things for me as far as location are safety (living close to campus & being able to safely walk at night from/to school) and opportunities for outdoors recreation (running trails, bike paths). Do any of you have any comments on these aspects of NYC, St. Louis, or Philly close to school campuses?
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You should pick one that is not Wash U, so I can get in 😉.
Seriously though, Wash U is awesome. I live literally 2 blocks from the Medical Campus and I will admit it is sort of a bubble. The immediate surrounding area is ok but a few more blocks is not that great of a neighborhood at all.
Outdoor recreation can't be beat though. Forest Park is the country's largest municipal park and it's literally right right between the medical campus and the undergrad campus.
Seriously though, Wash U is awesome. I live literally 2 blocks from the Medical Campus and I will admit it is sort of a bubble. The immediate surrounding area is ok but a few more blocks is not that great of a neighborhood at all.
Outdoor recreation can't be beat though. Forest Park is the country's largest municipal park and it's literally right right between the medical campus and the undergrad campus.
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re:columbia
central park is about 20 minutes away by subway, and it has bike paths, running paths, etc. as for the neighborhood itself, there's the armory track and field center across the street from the school and a bike lane that runs along the street our dorm is on. washington heights is not unsafe if you're reasonably cautious. the dorms/apartments are no more than 2 blocks away, if you choose to live there. its an inexpensive neighborhood here, but its a lot livelier downtown (30 mins or so by subway). i usually spend the week in the cumc neighborhood, then spend the weekend elsewhere. i wish i could comment on st. louis and philly, but i've never spent more than a day in either of them. try to spend a few days in each of these cities to see if they feel right. 7-8 years is a long time!
oh, and congrats!
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As far as Philly is concerned it depends where you live. A common place to live is the west side of Center City, which is where I live when I'm in Philly. I'm 1.5 blocks of a walk from a running trail which extends into Fairmount Park.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuylkill_River_Trail
My location: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...9.950091,-75.18455&spn=0.007271,0.015492&z=17
The trail is extremely popular for running and biking. I think it gets too crowded during peak hours for anything on wheels personally, and I tend to do those things on off hours (late at night).
That puts me at a 20 minute walk to the medical school and 3 blocks from the start of one of the most happening areas of town, Rittenhouse Square. I do find Rittenhouse Square district to be a bit too residential for me. I used to live further east in the middle of the city and ride the subway over to Penn campus, which is a less commonly chosen option. A previously common option was to live a little more south by the South St bridge, but the South St bridge is closed for rebuilding so I don't know what the deal down there is currently.
On Philly Center City neighborhoods, see this map:
http://www.solorealty.com/neighborhoods/default.htm
People debate just how safe the walk to and from campus is. I used to walk home every night very late (midnight to 6AM) because of lab requirements and found it just fine. There are also evening shuttles that run to the areas closer to campus. There are a bunch of different bus routes and the green and blue line subways as well. These city busses and subway lines run pretty much 24 hours with a pretty high frequency until it gets very late.
Some students do live in West Philly as well. West Philly is one of the previously very ghetto areas of the city that is rapidly gentrifying. How "nice" you find the various areas depends on the exact location and your own tolerance. It is definitely cheaper and one is able to own a car. The area around Clark Park (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou....947895,-75.208046&spn=0.007271,0.015492&z=17) is a common one in which to live for example, and that park provides trails for running. That area is considerably more residential, though one can get into a bit of college town feel if they choose to live very close to campus (University City this part is called).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuylkill_River_Trail
My location: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...9.950091,-75.18455&spn=0.007271,0.015492&z=17
The trail is extremely popular for running and biking. I think it gets too crowded during peak hours for anything on wheels personally, and I tend to do those things on off hours (late at night).
That puts me at a 20 minute walk to the medical school and 3 blocks from the start of one of the most happening areas of town, Rittenhouse Square. I do find Rittenhouse Square district to be a bit too residential for me. I used to live further east in the middle of the city and ride the subway over to Penn campus, which is a less commonly chosen option. A previously common option was to live a little more south by the South St bridge, but the South St bridge is closed for rebuilding so I don't know what the deal down there is currently.
On Philly Center City neighborhoods, see this map:
http://www.solorealty.com/neighborhoods/default.htm
People debate just how safe the walk to and from campus is. I used to walk home every night very late (midnight to 6AM) because of lab requirements and found it just fine. There are also evening shuttles that run to the areas closer to campus. There are a bunch of different bus routes and the green and blue line subways as well. These city busses and subway lines run pretty much 24 hours with a pretty high frequency until it gets very late.
Some students do live in West Philly as well. West Philly is one of the previously very ghetto areas of the city that is rapidly gentrifying. How "nice" you find the various areas depends on the exact location and your own tolerance. It is definitely cheaper and one is able to own a car. The area around Clark Park (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou....947895,-75.208046&spn=0.007271,0.015492&z=17) is a common one in which to live for example, and that park provides trails for running. That area is considerably more residential, though one can get into a bit of college town feel if they choose to live very close to campus (University City this part is called).
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Neuronix, how much does parking run a month? Do most apartments offer a free parking spot along with the apartment rent? Could you elaborate on that?
Also, of the 2375 a month stipend, how much is left after taxes for a single, independent adult? Is it safe to assume I will have an even 2000left a month?
Thanks.
so obviously not penn
Where'd you get 2375 from? I think the stipend is a nice 2333 a month....and they don't withhold taxes so you get the full amount each month but have to set aside for taxes yourself.....
think what you will.
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Depends where in the city you live. NOTHING comes with a free parking spot. Prices range anywhere from $90/mo to $300/mo and up depending on whether it's lot or garage and where in the city you are.
Some parts of the city have city permit parking. You'll need to register and insure your car there. Philly car insurance is very expensive. Those permits are a license to hunt and in some parts of town parking is extremely difficult. The further you get into the ghetto the easier parking becomes and in some cases you don't need a permit, though safety of you and your car become a major issue. Generally parking is easier in West Philly and in SW CC (south of south st, say west of 18th). Plan on having your car broken into or randomly vandalized about once a year as a rule of thumb. Parking is extremely difficult and/or expensive as heck anywhere in Center City.
If you don't like this, all I can say is welcome to one of the densest urban areas in the USA.
The stipend isn't taxed like normal income. It used to work out to about 13% for me if I recall correctly, plus you're supposed to pay tax on your provided health insurance benefit. So it's a smidge over $2000 if I've done the math right. When you get into grad school your stipend becomes automagically taxed (at a slightly higher rate too), so I forget this stuff. Well, except when it turns out they only taxed 2/3 of my stipend this year without telling me and now I owe $690 in taxes $@%@$#%@$#%@$#%.
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The stipend increases by 500 in the fall to 28500 a year!! And you are right on the tax thing.
haha. I don't like it one bit 😛 I live in the south and apartments come with free parking and a year-long parking permit on campus is 100 dollars.
But it seems that it will be very difficult to afford one in Philly considering the car insurance/parking costs. And I honestly don't feel like having to deal with the vandalism/theft problems...I would much rather use the money to rent a nice, clean apartment near campus.
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This is what most students choose to do.
sarcasm, geeze
Seeing how this thread is now the new Penn MSTP thread, I was wondering if anyone knows if Penn reimburse revisit airfare; so far I haven't heard anything, the revisit website is the same as the MD revisit with student housing and no mentioning of reimbursement. Thanks
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Terrible song. Is that on the radio?
Anyway, I live on 10th street right in the middle of the city. I park my car on the street for free and I have enough money to pop bottles every weekend and throw onez at the ladies in the cliznub. Let's see the columbia peeps do that in NYC...
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haha. the song is a parody of rap, done by samberg et al on saturday night live. its awful which is what makes it funny...
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You find out on your Dean's Letter/ERAS. There's the dean's letter adjective and there's a thing on ERAS that sort of separates you out into 1/6ths. Top 1/6th is AOA basically.
So it's there, but you never really think about it or know in concrete terms until the end.
