Mayo Clinic MN vs NYU Long Island vs Quinnipiac

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delicious_guineapig

delicious_guineapig

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Hi everyone, I am tremendously grateful to be in this position to choose between these amazing schools. I have been going back and forth between these places. An outsider's perspective would definitely help. Thank you beforehand!

Edit: Currently on Yale and Brown Waitlist.

Quinnipiac (Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine)
Financial Aid: Full Tuition Scholarship, no living stipend.

Pros:

  • Environment: The best interview day I had. Second look day was also amazing. Everyone seemed caring and students were genuinely happy to be there. I felt that I could have a beer with them and just chillax haha. This was the only school I visited that allowed me to bring one guest, which I find very considerate and understanding.
  • Curriculum: This school seems to be definitely student-centered. Unlike other medical schools, professors are hired full-time to teach rather than the other way around (e.g. full-time researcher or clinician with a teaching side gig.)
  • SO: My SO will have to travel 30 minutes to her school, we can live together.
  • MeSH: Students are paired with a community physician. They actively recruit Spanish-speaking students to their class to support nearby communities. I find this very interesting.
  • 4-year curriculum: I will have the opportunity to explore as much as I want. Contrary to an accelerated 3 yr program.
Cons:
  • Ranking: Currently Quinnipiac does not fare too well in terms of ranking and overall prestige. The match though is still great.
  • Research: This school is not too into research, which I am not either. Perhaps this may be a pro for me? I am still thinking of doing research anyways.
  • Class size: ~95 students. Compared to other medical schools on my list, this may be a bit too much, or not. Especially when it comes to faculty-student interactions? Personalized education?

Mayo Clinic (4-year track Minnesota)
Financial Aid (48k scholarship)

Pros:
  • It's Mayo Clinic!!
  • Selectives: Having the opportunity to learn medicine via many avenues of enrichment.
  • Clinical Rotations can also be done at other campuses: Arizona and Florida.
  • Research: No doubt a research powerhouse much like other top-ranked schools.
  • Class size: ~50 students (greater faculty to student interactions)
  • Room and board: From what I have gathered, living in Rochester Minnesota is relatively inexpensive.
  • Location: I do not mind being away from big city-like environments. I prefer suburban to rural areas.
Cons:
  • Distance from family: I am from the northeast. This medical school will be the furthest away from family.
  • Weather: I have heard that winters are brutal, this is a slight turnoff.
  • I do not think I "vibe" well with the students. I think there is a specific type of person that goes to Mayo. Compared to other schools, it seems much more serious than laid-back. (Low key, I think wearing a suit and tie to see patients will be more intimidating to a patient than wearing a white coat. As a patient, I would feel under-dressed and out of place. Sorry, lol)
  • I have not heard good things about Mayo, especially in the areas of student burnout along with Mayo's consistent quest for ranking - rubs me the wrong way. (During my interview day, Mayo was the only medical school to put rankings on their slides, along with being the only school constantly fishing for letters of interest/intent). I felt pressured. Will this environment later translate to a Mayo medical education?
NYU Long Island (Internal Medicine Track)
Financial Aid: Full Tuition Scholarship + 18k living stipend

Pros:
  • NYU's overall prestige.
  • Class size: ~24 students (Very small school with a nice personalized education)
  • More on personalized education: Since the school is so small, it seems that there is a tight-knit community between faculty, students, and leadership.
  • Environment: I "vibed" really well with the students, and could see myself studying with these students along with other applicants I met on second-look day.
  • Close to NYC: Many opportunities and things to do.

Cons:
  • Three-year accelerated program: I think this is too "fast" for me. Like other applicants, I have prepared for years to get into medical school. I would not want to "accelerate" my stay lol.
  • Internal Medicine - Primary Focus: Although I am interested in IM and Primary Care, I am not 100% sure this is for me. I would like the option to explore other careers (even though I might end up back in IM). Speaking with students, many are actually planning on doing fellowships. They also mentioned that a 3-year vs. 4-year medical school, in the long run, will not hurt if you end up taking an IM to Fellowship route (which I believe I will end up doing.)
  • SO: My SO will have to travel 2 hours to her own academic program.
  • Cons: Close to NYC. I do not like urban environments, I prefer suburban, rural or very spacious areas.

In summary:
Mayo $48k: Prestige, 4-year, but not the "vibe". (SO will tag along, but she will not be able to study at her program)
NYULISOM Near $full COA: Prestige, "vibe", but not a 4-year. (SO will tag along, but she will need to commute 2 hours)
Quinnipiac $Full tuition: "Vibe", 4-year, but not the prestige. (SO will tag along, she will commute 30 minutes)
SO is in it for the ride as you can see lol.


Thank you all for reading!!
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Based on your personal pros/cons, I think NYU LI or Quinnipiac would be the best fit! You mentioned fitting in with students at both programs, and there seem to be strong pros for the academic environments as well. Both are within driving distance to your SO at their preferred school, and it's hard to pass up on full tuition scholarships!

If I were making the decision, the small size, advising structure, great match, and full tuition scholarship would lead me to NYU LI! Regardless, it sounds like this is a difficult decision for you, and you really can't go wrong with any of them.
 
At Quinnipiac you could live with your SO, huge support system and less burden on them to travel. It also seems like the community and type of area you would like to live in. You sound like an exceptional student and I’m sure you will thrive at any of these schools regardless of ranking.
 
queenofoverthinking said:
Based on your personal pros/cons, I think NYU LI or Quinnipiac would be the best fit! You mentioned fitting in with students at both programs, and there seem to be strong pros for the academic environments as well. Both are within driving distance to your SO at their preferred school, and it's hard to pass up on full tuition scholarships!

If I were making the decision, the small size, advising structure, great match, and full tuition scholarship would lead me to NYU LI! Regardless, it sounds like this is a difficult decision for you, and you really can't go wrong with any of them.
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Thank you for replying! Do you find NYULISOM's three year accelerated program or IM-focused track a bit of a turn off? I would love to hear your thoughts on that.
 
orangeapple123 said:
At Quinnipiac you could live with your SO, huge support system and less burden on them to travel. It also seems like the community and type of area you would like to live in. You sound like an exceptional student and I’m sure you will thrive at any of these schools regardless of ranking.
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Thank you, I appreciate your time responding. Quinnipiac seems like a great opportunity. I know we aren't really to focus much on USWNR rankings, but I sometimes can't help it lol. Netter currently ranks 94-125 both for research and primary care. Would you say this might close doors or affect my journey as I move forward in medicine? If you have any thoughts on that, I would love to hear them. Thank you!
 
delicious_guineapig said:
Thank you for replying. Is there a reason why you did not consider Quinnipiac in your analysis?
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Everybody has different preferences, so I’m just going based on what I would do in your situation. Take it with a grain of salt because everybody has different weighting.

Quinnipiac will close doors compared to the other two. For example, this year there was a handful of matches in surgical sub specialties

Mayo had

5 each in neurosurgery, ophthalmology and orthopedic surgery. Plus 2 ENT, 2 plastics.

Even if you do IM, mayo sends a lot more people into top IM programs


Again, maybe this isn’t that important to you which is fine but if you suddenly find a love for optho or ortho or some other specialty, things will be much easier from Mayo
 
I vote Mayo. If you're not fully committed to internal med for NYULI, then it would be hard to end up in a career you don't enjoy.

The difference in opportunity cost between Quinnipiac and Mayo is very significant. I would choose between those two due to family/SO/vibe vs opportunity/value/reputation. Quinnipiac being a newer school with far less resources makes the "ability to match into anything, anywhere" very hard. Mayo will easily match you back to the east coast (in virtually any specialty if you work hard) if you desire. And if you're from the northeast you'll be fine in MN winters lol. Maybe slightly colder but nothing you haven't seen at some point
 
I think they are all fantastic options, but I think SDN doesn’t often take into account life outside of your future career (which is understandable as this is a forum specifically for those looking for a career in medicine). Quinnipiac has historically a primary care focus, so recent match lists might reflect this and are not necessarily a representation of the resources available to students. I have heard that the faculty are incredibly caring which is a breath of fresh air in this hyper competitive world of medicine. Pretty sure NYU med just hired some guy who was kicked out of multiple institutions for sexual misconduct. Quinnipiac is a relatively newer school but much of Quinnipiac faculty were faculty at Yale prior to coming to Quinnipiac, meaning the school has those connections. And a large portion of students at Quinnipiac do research and have relationships with Yale as well. I am not saying that you will have more opportunities than Mayo or NYULI, Mayo particularly has the strongest name and is incredibly prestigious. I just think there is a bit more than prestige to consider, but that’s my opinion.
 
voxveritatisetlucis said:
I just realized that NYU LI is significantly cheaper. Can you match outside of IM? If so I would go for that.
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In short, yes I can match outside of IM. Speaking with students at second-look day, there are many people who swap between specialties (e.g. IM to Peds, IM to ObGyn). The only downside with that is there is no guaranteed residency at NYU Long Island. However, there have been instances where people seek different specialties altogether: two incoming general surgery students eventually picked urology and interventional radiology. They had to bust their buttocks off but they made it lol. There are no strings attached with this school. The NYULISOM community is very supportive and understanding of this. However, with being a 3 year accelerated program that is primary-care focused, they also make it clear that it will be difficult to match into something like anesthesia or opthalmology. According to NYULISOM students and my providers at work, if I decide on an IM fellowship, I would be fine.
 
orangeapple123 said:
I think they are all fantastic options, but I think SDN doesn’t often take into account life outside of your future career (which is understandable as this is a forum specifically for those looking for a career in medicine). Quinnipiac has historically a primary care focus, so recent match lists might reflect this and are not necessarily a representation of the resources available to students. I have heard that the faculty are incredibly caring which is a breath of fresh air in this hyper competitive world of medicine. Pretty sure NYU med just hired some guy who was kicked out of multiple institutions for sexual misconduct. Quinnipiac is a relatively newer school but much of Quinnipiac faculty were faculty at Yale prior to coming to Quinnipiac, meaning the school has those connections. And a large portion of students at Quinnipiac do research and have relationships with Yale as well. I am not saying that you will have more opportunities than Mayo or NYULI, Mayo particularly has the strongest name and is incredibly prestigious. I just think there is a bit more than prestige to consider, but that’s my opinion.
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Thank you, this is why Netter is in my top three. It seems to have a nice balance overall. In addition, I am on the Yale waitlist (Brown waitlist too), which I will update this thread. So, if I stay with Netter and get accepted later to Yale, I will most likely stay in the area anyways.
 
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Maybe rep has changed, but I'd always heard Mayo was a very humane place to be a medical student (selective, team assistants, almost guaranteed Mayo match). Price difference is obviously huge, but I wouldn't sleep on Mayo if you can handle the winters and have any interest in doing a non-primary care career
 
Yes, my personal experience with Mayo has not been the greatest. Especially in the sense of "vibing" with the people there. However, I am aware that my sampling size is probably small and therefore, my personal experiences may not portray an accurate depiction of the Mayo community in general. If there is someone from Mayo or someone who has some knowledge about their environment/culture please let me/us know. Thank you!
 
delicious_guineapig said:
Yes, my personal experience with Mayo has not been the greatest. Especially in the sense of "vibing" with the people there. However, I am aware that my sampling size is probably small and therefore, my personal experiences may not portray an accurate depiction of the Mayo community in general. If there is someone from Mayo or someone who has some knowledge about their environment/culture please let me/us know. Thank you!
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I gotchu. Current Mayo M1 here. I've found our community to actually be awesome! The M2s really went out of their way to make us feel welcome from day 1 and I really like the people in our class. It's generally super collaborative.

Also, as an aside, the winters are rough, but they're not unbearable. I grew up in a pretty warm place, and after surviving my first Rochester winter, I'd say that it's not worth turning the school down for. Granted, I heard that this one may have been milder...
 
Do more research on Mayo before you make decision. The benefits are too great to disregard. If the SO is the deciding factor, find a point in location where the commute is mutually beneficial.
 
Thank you FluffyCat1212 for sharing your positive experience at Mayo! Would you be able to share some cons that you might have experienced while at Mayo? I have read a lot about the program and it sounds really good on paper. Additionally, is there someone in this forum that has had negative experiences with or at the medical school. I am trying to develop a better picture about this school. Name, prestige, opportunity is all amazing. But is there something else that I don't know? I have a hunch that is making me think about this deeply. I would like to know what people think. Thank you!
 
Based on your personal pro/con lists, this is actually a very tough decision. I think you would be fine taking any of these choices. Mayo for prestige. NYU LI for $$$ and some prestige. Quinnipiac for fit and $$.
 
delicious_guineapig said:
Thank you FluffyCat1212 for sharing your positive experience at Mayo! Would you be able to share some cons that you might have experienced while at Mayo? I have read a lot about the program and it sounds really good on paper. Additionally, is there someone in this forum that has had negative experiences with or at the medical school. I am trying to develop a better picture about this school. Name, prestige, opportunity is all amazing. But is there something else that I don't know? I have a hunch that is making me think about this deeply. I would like to know what people think. Thank you!
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Lol sure. There are pros and cons to being a super tiny program. You know everyone in your class, and will inevitably be put in a small group with them at some point, so getting on bad terms with anybody can produce a situation that maybe isn't ideal.

Rochester also isn't for everyone. If you're coming from a bigger city, it can be a bit of an adjustment. It definitely doesn't have a big city vibe...at all. Nightlife isn't amazing. If you want to date, you may end up having to look as far as the twin cities, western Wisconsin, or northern Iowa.

The FRAMES curriculum can be a little hit-or-miss. There are some lectures that are really amazing and informative, and others that are maybe not the best uses of our time. The scheduling can be a little chaotic sometimes too. To be fair, though, they recently switched to an outlook-based scheduling system and it has been an adjustment. This will likely improve with time. There's a FRAMES calendar online so that you usually won't be caught totally off-guard, but it can be a little painful to read, so I avoid it whenever possible lol. I'll maybe check it if a week seems suspiciously quiet.

The block system can also be a pro or con. I'm not sure about the other schools on your list, but we have a block system for our pre-clerkship years. While I personally like it, it does involve having to adjust to a whole new course format and sometimes switching up your studying methods every 2-7wks which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Our clerkships are also graded and there is a kinda funky ranking system (they assign you an adjective based on where you "quartile"-wise, but I think there's a funky algorithm that they use where a "quartile" can literally even have just one person in it). I've heard that the clerkships are tough from prospective students on SDN, but not from actual students I know, so I'm not sure what to tell ya about that.

Our anatomy block is intense. It's 7wks long and you learn pretty much all of the basics of med school anatomy during that time- along with some basic radiology. You also have to self-teach embryology, and are tested on it for the final. But again, I wouldn't turn down Mayo for something like that. The majority of people pass every year on the first attempt, but it's a very stressful few weeks.

And I'm not admin or being paid to sing their praises- I promise. Actually, I wish they'd pay me lol. But yeah, pretty much everyone I've talked to is pretty content here, and I personally don't have a whole lot of complaints. I'm also just a first-year though, so perhaps one of my seniors can offer more!
 
Rule out Q, because you don't want your education to be all based on community hospitals. Between NYULI and Mayo, I would go with Mayo, since you are really not that committed to IM at this point. Should you change your mind, it will be incredibly difficult to go from a 3 year program to a competitive specialty. "vibes" are overrated. Once you are in school, you will be so busy with stuff and you will always find people you like.
 
Thank you to everyone who replied on this forum, I appreciate your time helping me make decisions. After talking with people and thinking about these medical schools, I finally decided to go with Netter. Medicine will be without doubt a challenging process, and wherever we go in the U.S., I believe we will receive an outstanding medical school education. Prestige was definitely factored in my decision-making process, but it was not everything. Family, friends, SO, support systems in and out of school, 4-year med school system, location, finances, and overall opportunities by staying in the northeast brought me to the conclusion that I fit well with the Netter community. Brown and Yale seem great fits too and I will remain on their waitlists. Ultimately I want to be in a place where I feel great and supported, especially with medical school being the very beginning of a lifelong journey. It was a difficult decision to make, but I think it was the best one for me. I wish everyone the best of luck in their decision-making process and am looking forward to starting this journey together. Stay well and take care my future colleagues!
 
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delicious_guineapig said:
Thank you to everyone who replied on this forum, I appreciate your time helping me make decisions. After talking with people and thinking about these medical schools, I finally decided to go with Netter. Medicine will be without doubt a challenging process, and wherever we go in the U.S., I believe we will receive an outstanding medical school education. Prestige was definitely factored in my decision-making process, but it was not everything. Family, friends, SO, support systems in and out of school, 4-year med school system, location, finances, and overall opportunities by staying in the northeast brought me to the conclusion that I fit well with the Netter community. Brown and Yale seem great fits too and I will remain on their waitlists. Ultimately I want to be in a place where I feel great and supported, especially with medical school being the very beginning of a lifelong journey. It was a difficult decision to make, but I think it was the best one for me. I wish everyone the best of luck in their decision-making process and am looking forward to starting this journey together. Stay well and take care my future colleagues!
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See you at Netter!
 
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