Mount Sinai vs Feinberg

[AQPremed66]

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Long time lurker, but first post. I've been lucky to get in some great schools, but making a final choice is proving hard. Narrowed it down to Mount Sinai and Feinberg. The schools seem similar in a lot of aspects: big city, pass/fail pre-clinical, only 1 number difference in ranking, etc. My cost in terms of tuition would be similar for both schools. I'm not sure about cost of living in Chicago vs NYC.

Mount Sinai is closer to friends and family (friends in the city, family a bit out of the city), but I'm not sure how big a difference that would make.

Any current students at Mount Sinai/Feinberg want to chime in on things they love/hate about their school? Other differences between the schools I haven't thought of?

Also, bonus question, I was also accepted into a top 10 school that I'm not hot on attending for various reasons. But I'm wondering if I should just get over myself and suck it up for that top-10 ranking, since I (at least now) have plans of trying to match into a more sought-after residency.

 

[URMD]

tough choice.
maybe the financial aid packages of the schools would help you to make a decision.
Having a support system close to where your studying is always nice don't underestimate that.

4 Top 10 school, if you don't like it there, you won't perform well there, and you won't land that more sought residency your after. Your medical school performance comes first, then the 'prestige' of the school

ALso just FYI, they only differ by 1-2 points in research ranking but on primary care ranking they differ by over 40 points. (this shouldn't influence your decision either way though)

 

[ridethecliche]

They're comparable enough that you should go where you like better or to the cheaper school if there's a difference.

 

[Goro]

This is what it really boils down to:

Real pizza in NY

or this casserole they call pizza in Chicago

Long time lurker, but first post. I've been lucky to get in some great schools, but making a final choice is proving hard. Narrowed it down to Mount Sinai and Feinberg. The schools seem similar in a lot of aspects: big city, pass/fail pre-clinical, only 1 number difference in ranking, etc. My cost in terms of tuition would be similar for both schools. I'm not sure about cost of living in Chicago vs NYC.

Mount Sinai is closer to friends and family (friends in the city, family a bit out of the city), but I'm not sure how big a difference that would make.

Any current students at Mount Sinai/Feinberg want to chime in on things they love/hate about their school? Other differences between the schools I haven't thought of?

Also, bonus question, I was also accepted into a top 10 school that I'm not hot on attending for various reasons. But I'm wondering if I should just get over myself and suck it up for that top-10 ranking, since I (at least now) have plans of trying to match into a more sought-after residency.

 

[breakintheroof]

Long time lurker, but first post. I've been lucky to get in some great schools, but making a final choice is proving hard. Narrowed it down to Mount Sinai and Feinberg. The schools seem similar in a lot of aspects: big city, pass/fail pre-clinical, only 1 number difference in ranking, etc.

Mount Sinai vs. Feinberg? I would choose Feinberg, not even close.

But if it were Icahn vs. Northwestern? I'd go with Icahn.

Icahn vs. Feinberg...that is a really tough call.

For the bonus question, tell us which top 10 school it is and why you ruled it out! If it's UChicago, you should think twice. If it's Pritzker? No way.

 

[soccerusa]

I vote Sinai. They had by far the happiest students anywhere I interviewed.

 

[WingedOx]

This is what it really boils down to:

Real pizza in NY

or this casserole they call pizza in Chicago

Is the top picture before or after the gross NY habit of "blotting with a napkin"?

 

[caffeinemia]

Having lived in both Chicago and NYC, I'd say Feinberg's location is unparalleled in terms of nice PLUS affordable. Trying to find the equivalent in NYC would be tough.

As for thin crust versus deep dish, it depends on your personal preference. I could have it either way because both are uniquely delicious.

 

[Ismet]

Moving to SSD forum

 

[mistoffelees]

Chicago is SO cold. I interviewed there this January and was shocked by Midwestern winter (granted, maybe I was just unlucky since they actually shut down the public school system due to extreme cold). Many people own cars in Chicago though vs. close to impossible in Manhattan...depending on what your current situation is this may be a significant factor to consider.

Sinai is great and is on the upswing still esp with the integration of all the new clinical sites with the large hospital merger that happened 2 years ago - also, rent can't get cheaper than this in NYC (we have the cheapest student housing in Manhattan +/- Columbia but they are in Washington Heights and where we are >>>> Wash Heights haha). If you want to experience NYC in your mid-twenties, I would come to Sinai in a heartbeat. (obviously there are numerous other reasons to come to Sinai but you can just read the school-specific threads for the last few years, they've been enumerated pretty well there)

 

[AQPremed66]

Seems a pretty even split in opinion...especially since I will eat all kinds of pizza 😉

 

[Juldarus]

Seems a pretty even split in opinion...especially since I will eat all kinds of pizza 😉

They are both great schools. Factor in costs, location, gut feelings. I can't imagine you not loving either place.

I would suggest making sure you don't mind living in a dorm. A nice dorm, sure. But Sinai struck me as pretty insular despite its location in NYC.

 

[WingedOx]

Chicago is SO cold. I interviewed there this January and was shocked by Midwestern winter (granted, maybe I was just unlucky since they actually shut down the public school system due to extreme cold). Many people own cars in Chicago though vs. close to impossible in Manhattan...depending on what your current situation is this may be a significant factor to consider.

Sinai is great and is on the upswing still esp with the integration of all the new clinical sites with the large hospital merger that happened 2 years ago - also, rent can't get cheaper than this in NYC (we have the cheapest student housing in Manhattan +/- Columbia but they are in Washington Heights and where we are >>>> Wash Heights haha). If you want to experience NYC in your mid-twenties, I would come to Sinai in a heartbeat. (obviously there are numerous other reasons to come to Sinai but you can just read the school-specific threads for the last few years, they've been enumerated pretty well there)

Niether school is in a car-friendly area, really.

 

[AQPremed66]

They are both great schools. Factor in costs, location, gut feelings. I can't imagine you not loving either place.

I would suggest making sure you don't mind living in a dorm. A nice dorm, sure. But Sinai struck me as pretty insular despite its location in NYC.

Honestly, the dorm-living situation is one of my minuses for Sinai. After college, I'm sick of dorms. On the other hand...that sort of pricing for that area... Can't say it's not a steal.

 

[DouglasFir]

FWIW, I have a friend who was faced with this exact decision last year, and she had a really tough time deciding, but in the end she picked Feinberg. She says that she's been really happy at Feinberg and thinks that she made the right decision, but a big part of why she's so happy at Feinberg is that she has a number of close friends from college (who are not med students) who are also living in Chicago or the nearby region. She wouldn't have known anyone outside of her classmates in NYC, so she has a support system in Chicago that she wouldn't have otherwise had and she said that has turned out to be a big positive.

Since you said you have friends and family in NYC, I do think you should really consider how important a support system outside med school might be to you.

 

[mistoffelees]

I would suggest making sure you don't mind living in a dorm. A nice dorm, sure. But Sinai struck me as pretty insular despite its location in NYC.

I don't think a 4-person or 6-person suite with a private room and full sized bed qualifies as my college dorm, but sure, YMMV. Also, how are other Manhattan med schools really that different? Even in the med schools in Manhattan that have studios and 1BRs for student housing, most of that is limited to upperclassmen.

And I don't consider a 20-min subway ride to Grand Central to be insular at all...the location was genuinely one of my concerns before I came to Sinai, but I realized now that it actually can't get better than where we are now in Manhattan with our location next to the park and the cheaper housing compared to living at where Cornell and NYU are. The only thing I would change about the location is that it would be nice to be 10 blocks south where Whole Foods, Fairway, Chipotle, and Shake Shack is, but that's already being very picky.

Not trying to defend Sinai, but just trying to offer a different viewpoint.

 

[AQPremed66]

@mistoffelees, it seems you're a current student at Sinai? I'm curious about the structure for classes. Some schools seem to be much more "mandatory class" heavy than others. I've heard Feinberg students complain on SDN about the "fluff" classes they feel they take. Can you address that for Sinai?

 

[Juldarus]

I don't think a 4-person or 6-person suite with a private room and full sized bed qualifies as my college dorm, but sure, YMMV. Also, how are other Manhattan med schools really that different? Even in the med schools in Manhattan that have studios and 1BRs for student housing, most of that is limited to upperclassmen.

And I don't consider a 20-min subway ride to Grand Central to be insular at all...the location was genuinely one of my concerns before I came to Sinai, but I realized now that it actually can't get better than where we are now in Manhattan with our location next to the park and the cheaper housing compared to living at where Cornell and NYU are. The only thing I would change about the location is that it would be nice to be 10 blocks south where Whole Foods, Fairway, Chipotle, and Shake Shack is, but that's already being very picky.

Not trying to defend Sinai, but just trying to offer a different viewpoint.

By dorms I guess I meant living with other classmates, not so much what the units were like.

Definitely agree that Sinai had the best housing in NYC! NYU living arrangements were decent (but $$ compared to Aron), while Bard and Olin did not seem like places I would want to be. I remember my tour guide at Cornell saying he often would just eat ramen he had made in a hotpot because there was no kitchen.

Not knocking on Sinai at all, but I do think housing has to be considered. While Sinai definitely beats out the other Manhattan med schools in terms of housing, OP is trying to decide between Sinai and Feinberg. FWIW I declined my Feinberg interview after my Sinai acceptance.

 

[WingedOx]

By dorms I guess I meant living with other classmates, not so much what the units were like.

Definitely agree that Sinai had the best housing in NYC! NYU living arrangements were decent (but $$ compared to Aron), while Bard and Olin did not seem like places I would want to be. I remember my tour guide at Cornell saying he often would just eat ramen he had made in a hotpot because there was no kitchen.

Not knocking on Sinai at all, but I do think housing has to be considered. While Sinai definitely beats out the other Manhattan med schools in terms of housing, OP is trying to decide between Sinai and Feinberg. FWIW I declined my Feinberg interview after my Sinai acceptance.

At least with Feinberg you could easily live just about anywhere on the red line. (or blue or brown if you can manage multiple slow trains). The area around the school is actually annoyingly touristy.

 

[Juldarus]

Also, bonus question, I was also accepted into a top 10 school that I'm not hot on attending for various reasons. But I'm wondering if I should just get over myself and suck it up for that top-10 ranking, since I (at least now) have plans of trying to match into a more sought-after residency.

If "getting over yourself" means sacrificing your happiness + four years of your life at a place you don't seem too happy about, please don't do it!

 

[mistoffelees]

@mistoffelees, it seems you're a current student at Sinai? I'm curious about the structure for classes. Some schools seem to be much more "mandatory class" heavy than others. I've heard Feinberg students complain on SDN about the "fluff" classes they feel they take. Can you address that for Sinai?

I'm a 4th year so I don't know what the preclinical schedules are like any more (especially since they changed the curriculum after I went on to 3rd year). When I did the preclinical courses though, I thought we were light-moderate on required small group sessions and labs. My SO is also in med school and they had way more small groups and other required activities than we did, something like 5-9 sessions a week. We were closer to 3-5. Not sure if it's still true. Also, having remote exams is HUGE is freeing up numerous Fridays because you didn't have to be stuck in an auditorium taking tests (you could be off and away as early as Thursday night if you can organize yourself to take the exam as soon as it opens usually late Thursday afternoon).

 

[AQPremed66]

@mistoffelees Ok, thank you!

 

[Dracunculus]

This is what it really boils down to:

Real pizza in NY

or this casserole they call pizza in Chicago

I know this is old, but it's been a while since I laughed this hard. Thanks!

Casserole...