Mount Sinai or Wash U ?!

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andybudo

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Looking for a bit of advice:

I got into Mount Sinai off the waitlist recently and now only have two days to decide. For a long time I was convinced that Wash U would be the right place, great reputation, but now I'm not so sure. I had a very good impression of Mount Sinai and it's in NY! Would I be stupid to pass up an acceptance at Wash U for Mount Sinai, also a great school? Any thoughts?
 
this one's easy. go to wash, and do your residency in NY.
 
Aren't they up there like #3 or #4...you must have very nice stats.

I would look at what you value, academia or clinical. A career in research or even part-time research at a school like Wash U is amazing...clinical I think they are even but the location goes to Sinai...wow 2 days is rough, is it at 12 noon and all...

Seriously sit down and think academia vs. clinical...and hurry up lucky dog i want an acceptance too...😀
 
Go where you felt you would be happier based on the short time you got to spend at the two places. I picked WashU over a some other places, some based on reputation, some based on location, but mostly based on how I felt about the school. The rank and all that stuff is not gonna make that much difference in the long run, both are good. If you like New York that much more, it is probably worth it to give up the higher ranked school. At the same time, I love St. Louis and despite having an opportunity to go elsewhere chose to stay here, so I'd pick washU if I were you 🙂 .
good luck, lemme know if you're gonna be my classmate!
siempre
 
feel free to pm me for more info. i had the exact same choice as you to make, got the wash u acceptance in dec and the sinai acceptance a week later. i dragged my heels till may 13th because i was so desperately in love with new york city.

as far as schools go though, to be honest there's really no question as to the "better" school - ranking, reputation, facilities. of course, both schools are excellent and sinai had a really laid back and cool student body as well as awesome location. people are gonna talk about sinai's hospital financial crisis etc, which may or may not have an effect, and is certainly not something wash u seems to have a problem with. what did it for me finally though, were the first year students at wash u. i visited twice and really had a blast with them. yeah, they work hard, but they're also laid back and fun to be with. st. louis is no new york, and like someone once told me, "it doesn't try to be either" and there are benefits to living somewhere more quiet too. it all depends on what matters most to you.

my plan is to get out of st louis for residency, hopefully to either nyc or cali, and i think that wash u will certainly help me in hopefully attaining this goal. so for me, at this point in my life, the draw of nyc wasn't quite enough to pull me away from a school as great as wash u is. there's always taking a visiting rotation there come 4th year...

lab-rat, you're on the sinai waitlist right? good luck and hope it works out for you...

oh, and wash u actually tied with hopkins for #2 this year...however much meaning you can choose to assign to or not assign to rankings, while rankings sure don't mean everything, it certainly doesn't hurt... 🙂

siempre, looking forward to meeting you!
 
yeah man, hurry up!!!

There's a long line waiting behind.

Well, the question is that your need to stay in NYC now is how strong. I think, if you can wait a few years, getting a residency in NY from Wash U is probably more likely to happen. Mt. Sinai's residency placements are good but not better than Wash U. Anyways, also think about where you want to practice. If NY, then it is probably better to do your residency here.

Ultimately, go with gut feeling, man.

That's my 2 cents.
 
Congrats on having such a tough decision to make! When was your Sinai acceptance letter dated/postmarked?
 
It was dated 6/27 probably since they give 14 days to decide i think, so it is consistent with "GoPats" letter too.

I would also like to say that if you love NYC you can do residency here...maybe even match to Cornell/Columbia/NYU. These 3 are my top choices for NY residencies...you are more likely to match there from Wash U than from Sinai, IMO.

But why not also look at student satisfaction or whatever...see the survey thread here...I cannot copy a link. Ether way you already won...good luck.
 
Seems like everyone here favors Wash U, so I'll point out some things about the other side of the argument here.

While rankings are important, it is obviously never the whole picture. I did not apply to Wash U myself, but a good friend of mine faced a similar situation that the OP is in right now. Instead of Sinai, though, my friend had to decide between Wash U and Emory (so there was no NYC factor). Because Wash U in general (student body, location, etc.) made a poor impression on him when he visited, my friend chose to give up the higher ranked school for one in which he felt much more comfortable. None of it mattered in the end, though, when he finally got off the WL at Stanford (lucky bastard 😛).

My point is, don't worry about the difference in rank between Wash U and Mt. Sinai. There IS some difference in reputation here, but it is not worth nearly enough to sacrifice 4 year's worth of comfort and happiness. Because these are two excellent and reputable schools (we are not talking about Wash U vs some low-tiered school here... it's Mt. Sinai!), the OP should just follow his/her heart. Besides, since the OP got accepted at Wash U, he/she will probably do very well at Sinai also... and doing well at Sinai WILL land him/her a great residency anywhere. Not to mention a lot of Sinai students match at Mt. Sinai hospital, as well as other NYC hospitals, so OP can easily stay put for residency if that is his or her goal.

Anyway, just my 2 rambling cents. Hope the OP makes a decision with which he/she is most happy. It's a win-win situation. Good luck.
 
vcmm makes a good point. a lot of the decision making depends on your impression of the schools. for me, i had a good impression at both schools, but the students i met are wash u really went the extra mile for me. i didn't get a chance to meet too many people at sinai, although the tour guide was really nice and laid back, and a couple students dropped in to say hi...it was so laid back it was almost too relaxed for me, but maybe that was just me... 🙂
 
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! it's been really helpful and i'll definitely keep you posted.
 
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