Mount Sinai vs. Columbia

[sydneysigns16]

Hey guys, I'm not entirely sure if this is the right thread for this (first time posting), so please bear with me!

I've been fortunate enough to be accepted to both Mount Sinai and Columbia. Financial aid is slightly better at Sinai, but not a huge enough difference that it'll really impact my decision. I should disclose I'm currently a senior in Columbia undergrad, so on any given day that can make me want to go there more or less.

I'm interested in family medicine/primary care, and I've been accepted to the primary care program at Sinai. The impression I got from visiting both schools is that they both have really happy students who are very social justice minded. However, I feel that the administration at Sinai is a bit more primary care-driven than at Columbia.

I thought I would like Sinai a lot, but at revisit I found myself thinking about how their buildings are a little out dated. I know this is very knit picky, but I'm not sure how important environment will be to me in medical school. Columbia is building a brand-new building that will be ready for the incoming 2016 class, and it looks to be a really beautiful space. But on the other hand, I guess I shouldn't base my decision entirely on a building, and I suspect part of me may just be having trouble giving up the prestige of Columbia.

What are you guys' thoughts on this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[longleat11]

Well, this is interesting -- I have been weighing the two schools myself (I may have even met you this past weekend at Sinai, so hi!). To me, Sinai's focus to the underserved of East Harlem came across as much more sincere than Columbia's emphasis on Washington Heights. I also found the students at Sinai to be more serious about solving things like health inequities, provider biases, etc. To me, if you're confident about pursuing a career in primary care, Sinai would be a more nurturing place. I agree that Columbia looks shinier than Sinai in terms of facilities, but I felt that Sinai folks were more down-to-earth and I simply connected better with them, so I think I'll be at Sinai in the fall. Plus, though folks outside of the health professions might see these schools as having a significant disparity in prestige, I don't think this is the case when it comes to residency directors and other people in the healthcare field. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong either way. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk about the two programs!

 

[WedgeDawg]

While it is very dubious whether the NYP top dogs care much about primary care, I can assure you that the students have quite the opposite view. The reason that the family medicine residency at NYP was saved was because most of the first and second year classes banded together with the current FM residents and attendings to petition that it not be shut down - and it worked!

I would agree that certain aspects of Columbia's curriculum are geared towards specialization, there are many people in my class who are interested in primary care (through any of the available routes, not just FM). I think that the students have a sincere interest in serving their community (5 student run free clinics that are always jam packed with applicants to staff them), though again, I don't really know how much impetus there is from the top level administration driving students to go into PC or FM.

I don't think you will be limited in your pursuits by either school and I would advise you to make the decision based off of fit (provided finances are, as you said, not different enough to be a determining factor). I would echo above that you can't go wrong either way.

I'm happy to answer specific questions about Columbia either here or via PM.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Flip a coin. If you don't like fate's call, then go to the other school.

 

[atp6nd5]

You can't go wrong, but I'd gladly take your spot at Mount Sinai if you go to Columbia 🙂 waitlist struggs

 

[RadOnc16]

I made this same choice between Sinai and Columbia a few years ago and ultimately chose to go with Sinai. Primary care wasn't my thing, but I think either school will serve you very well if that's your ultimate goal. The two schools are really pretty similar in most respects: both schools are highly regarded in the medical community, both are embedded in an underserved neighborhood of NYC, both have true pass-fail preclinical years (huge deal), both emphasize attracting interesting and unique individuals to diversify their classes. I can't speak much beyond that about Columbia since I chose not to attend there and I don't want to speculate, but I can share some of what I think makes Sinai great and, specifically, what makes it different from Columbia.

Sinai sits on the border of Carnegie Hill and East Harlem, resulting in a really unique patient mix. It also abuts Central Park, the value of which in NYC cannot be overstated. The surround area has a far greater diversity of dining and bar options that Columbia as Washington Heights is an almost exclusively Dominican neighborhood (which is great if you love Dominican food, bad if you want anything else).

Another thing to consider is affiliated rotation sites. The truth of the matter is that no matter where you go to medical school in the country, the vast majority of students end up using the same group of study resources during their preclinical years (pathoma, first aid for the usmle step 1, costanzo physiology, etc.). Much more significant is the quality of the training hospitals/sites available. It's becoming somewhat old news at this point, but Sinai recently merged with continuum health and now has a far greater array of clinical sites than probably any other school in NYC. This means that no matter what you are interested in, Sinai will have a fantastic clinical opportunity for you in that field. For example, if you decide you are interested in HIV medicine St. Lukes has world class faculty, if you decide ophtho is your thing you have NYEE at your disposal, if you want to play House MD and treat infectious diseases from around the world there is nowhere better than Elmhurst. All I'm saying is that even though your preclinical years are right around the corner, do not discount the importance of considering the diversity and strengths of MS3 and MS4 offerings. Not all clerkships are created equal.

Lastly, don't discount the importance of cutting down on your student loans. While it's easy to think that there is no expense too great for a top notch medical education (and there is definitely an argument to be made), if the difference between the schools is minimal in your mind and one costs several thousand a year less than the other, realize that several thousand a year x 4 years + interest is a BIG deal.

Again, I did not attend Columbia and cannot speak to what makes it great, and I will freely admit that I am certainly biased by my great experience at Sinai. As others have emphasized, both are fantastic and you are in the privileged position where you cannot make a bad choice. In the end for me I just decided to go with my gut and have been very happy with my choice.

 

[sydneysigns16]

Thank you all very much for your reply! I'd finally decided that I wanted to attend Sinai, and even started telling everyone that's where I was going. But this afternoon, Columbia came back with a revised financial aid package and they are now offering a lot more money than Sinai is. I just wrote to Sinai to see if they're willing to match, so hopefully I still get a chance to go there!

 

[winterwonderland]

Hello! I am applying this summer and my dream would be to go to mt. sinai, but I do not know if I would be considered a competitive applicant. If you don't mind could you share your stats? gpa, mcat, extracurricular, etc?

 

[Mansamusa]

Hello! I am applying this summer and my dream would be to go to mt. sinai, but I do not know if I would be considered a competitive applicant. If you don't mind could you share your stats? gpa, mcat, extracurricular, etc?

Can you tell me how many shades of blue there are? The MSAR has the 10th-90th percentile ranges for MCAT and GPAs. Extracurriculars can vary incredibly between applicants. And applicant X may get in one year, but then applicant Y who is almost exactly the same may get rejected the next year.

If you want to go to Sinai, apply and see what happens