Mount Sinai vs. NYU vs. Cornell

BU Medical Sciences
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Which would you go to?

  • Mount Sinai

    Votes: 44 38.6%

  • NYU

    Votes: 18 15.8%

  • Cornell

    Votes: 52 45.6%
  • Total voters
    114
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mdeast

mdeast

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I interviewed at all three, been accepted by two already. Maybe Cornell as well, but I'm assuming waitlist at this point. I'm gonna leave Columbia out of the equation, just because they're in the Top 10 and I think there would be a bias towards them in polling. They're all at least similarly ranked. Cornell is 18, Sinai 22, NYU 35?. About the same range of GPA and MCAT scores ~35, GPA ~3.7. To me, that means differences between them become more about the experience/quality of the institution rather than test scores or rank. Which one would you go to? And why?

Interested to see the responses.
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I'd pick Cornell, because it's more well-known outside of the medical field.
 
I'd pick NYU-I definitely think it has by far the best clinical training of all three
 
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NYU/MSSM are pass/fail first two years:thumbup:, cornell is not:thumbdown:
 
I didn't interview at NYU, but would pick Cornell over Sinai.

I'll be honest though, some stuff concerning a few students and an interviewer at Sinai kinda rubbed me the wrong way and definitely affected my impression of the school. The majority of the students I met were cool and the facilities were nice. But I just had a much more favorable experience at Cornell, although there's stuff that concerns me about that school too. I don't know, I met a ton of students at Cornell and they seemed very chill and normal, but my hosting experience at Sinai showed me a few students who weren't that at all. I know a few other people felt the same way.
 
This thread seems to come up every year, and as a fourth year medical student who did not go to medical school in NYC but is looking to come back to one of these programs for residency, I'll give my opinion.

All three programs are great programs that won't hold you back in whatever you want to go into. They all deal with diverse populations, have equivalent clinical training, match well for residency. However, as an outsider looking in, Cornell and Mount Sinai are more prestigious programs than is NYU. I don't mean in terms of USNWR rankings, but in the academic circles that I encounter at my school, which is a top 10 program. I would say Cornell is a bit more well known outside of NY, so if you're looking to leave NY after then it's probably a better fit, while Mount Sinai is more well known within NY to be a better school. Each school takes a lot of their own for residency so keep that in mind as well.

And if you care about USNWR, I think the general trend over the past few years is that NYU has been pretty stagnant, Cornell creeping downward, and Mount Sinai jumping upward.
 
Steeler7588 said:
I didn't interview at NYU, but would pick Cornell over Sinai.

I'll be honest though, some stuff concerning a few students and an interviewer at Sinai kinda rubbed me the wrong way and definitely affected my impression of the school. The majority of the students I met were cool and the facilities were nice. But I just had a much more favorable experience at Cornell, although there's stuff that concerns me about that school too. I don't know, I met a ton of students at Cornell and they seemed very chill and normal, but my hosting experience at Sinai showed me a few students who weren't that at all. I know a few other people felt the same way.
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Hmmm elaborate on Sinai. I'm curious.
 
Jukebox said:
This thread seems to come up every year, and as a fourth year medical student who did not go to medical school in NYC but is looking to come back to one of these programs for residency, I'll give my opinion.

All three programs are great programs that won't hold you back in whatever you want to go into. They all deal with diverse populations, have equivalent clinical training, match well for residency. However, as an outsider looking in, Cornell and Mount Sinai are more prestigious programs than is NYU. I don't mean in terms of USNWR rankings, but in the academic circles that I encounter at my school, which is a top 10 program. I would say Cornell is a bit more well known outside of NY, so if you're looking to leave NY after then it's probably a better fit, while Mount Sinai is more well known within NY to be a better school. Each school takes a lot of their own for residency so keep that in mind as well.

And if you care about USNWR, I think the general trend over the past few years is that NYU has been pretty stagnant, Cornell creeping downward, and Mount Sinai jumping upward.
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Did you mean better than Cornell? I can't tell from the phrasing...
 
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Sinai was amazing when I interviewed there. Except for one of my host's roommate, he seemd kind of a dick. (My host was complaining, for example, he won't do his dishes and just piled them up in the sink. Felt a lot of tension in the unit. LOL) But then you always have these kinds of weirdos in every school.
 
BlueElmo said:
Sinai was amazing when I interviewed there. Except for one of my host's roommate, he seemd kind of a dick. (My host was complaining, for example, he won't do his dishes and just piled them up in the sink. Felt a lot of tension in the unit. LOL) But then you always have these kinds of weirdos in every school.
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Oooh you interviewed at Sinai BlueElmo? I'm jealous! How was it?

I think I'd pick Cornell because of prestige, being in upper east-side, and also great on-campus housing. NYU is the only one I interviewed at of the three and I liked it a lot. Wasn't too impressed by the dorms but apparently housing will be changed to 26th street so at least there will be apartments (yay for no co-ed bathrooms)
 
Medgirl55 said:
Oooh you interviewed at Sinai BlueElmo? I'm jealous! How was it?

I think I'd pick Cornell because of prestige, being in upper east-side, and also great on-campus housing. NYU is the only one I interviewed at of the three and I liked it a lot. Wasn't too impressed by the dorms but apparently housing will be changed to 26th street so at least there will be apartments (yay for no co-ed bathrooms)
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:thumbdown: cognitively
:thumbup: realistically
:)
 
bannie22 said:
:thumbdown: cognitively
:thumbup: realistically
:)
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Co-ed bathrooms are not a big deal. My undergrad had them in all dorms, and seriously...no one cares after about a week and it's never a problem.
 
Medgirl55 said:
Oooh you interviewed at Sinai BlueElmo? I'm jealous! How was it?

I think I'd pick Cornell because of prestige, being in upper east-side, and also great on-campus housing. NYU is the only one I interviewed at of the three and I liked it a lot. Wasn't too impressed by the dorms but apparently housing will be changed to 26th street so at least there will be apartments (yay for no co-ed bathrooms)
Click to expand...

Sinai was great. Great school and great atmosphere. It's just too bad I was rejected.:laugh:
There's always residency!
 
Jukebox said:
Correct, that is what I meant.
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I'm curious about why you feel that way, if you could elaborate more, I would love to hear it. Does Sinai have better facilities? Cooler students? More relaxed atmosphere? Better student housing? More research opportunities?

Then again, I got rejected by Cornell and interviewed at Sinai :xf:, so it's not like comparing them is really going to be that helpful. :D
 
FluffyRabbit said:
I'm curious about why you feel that way, if you could elaborate more, I would love to hear it. Does Sinai have better facilities? Cooler students? More relaxed atmosphere? Better student housing? More research opportunities?

Then again, I got rejected by Cornell and interviewed at Sinai :xf:, so it's not like comparing them is really going to be that helpful. :D
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I really can't say much more except that this is my opinion based on talking to numerous people both inside and outside of NY and my impression of the places (interviews/away rotations).

I would say Cornell's facilities are nicer than Mount Sinai's. Students seemed about the same to me but Mount Sinai seemed a bit more relaxed. I'm sure research opportunities are similar, with each school better in certain areas.

Cornell gets a lot of its national rep from its merger with Columbia (not the other way around) and its close proximity and affiliations with MSKCC and HSS, although not necessarily from its own school. Not to say that the medical school isn't great - it is. I think Mount Sinai gets lost in the mix because people applying from out-of-state just simply haven't heard of it (doesn't have the name that Cornell does), although program directors/chairs definitely have. But people within NY believe it to be somewhat superior. Overall though, I see the schools as roughly equivalent.
 
I was accepted at Cornell and NYU and waitlisted at Sinai but on my interview day, NYU stood out the most to me...That was because I though that the ppl that were interviewing that day were really chill and it made me want to go there and be their classmates. I did not really fit in with the Cornell interviewees and the Sinai ppl seemed to be nice but not very open. But I guess student body/class dynamics may be more obvious come second look and interview impressions are not something to go based on.

Clinically, I would say they are all strong...Cornell is not that diverse in terms of the main hospital, but a good portion (I think I read 40% somewhere?) of NYPH patients are medicaid eligible. Also, Cornell students can rotate in Lincoln hospital in the Bx which has the largest ER in the country. Sinai has Elmhurst in Queens and students at both school can have access to racially as well as economically diverse patients. NYU is the school where you do not necessarily have to go to an outer borough to be certain of econ/racial diversity in a patient pop as they have Bellevue and Tisch close by. But seriously, if you do a thorough investigation, students at any of these schools can witness many cool procedures and for Sinai and Cornell, if they go to affiliate hospitals, may be allowed to deliver babies/touch ppl/do stuff. (I asked the dean at Sinai if there was a diff in how much med students were allowed to do in Queens vs. Sinai main Hospital and he said it was significant which is y students generally desire rotating there.)

So you can get great clinical exposure at any of these schools.

As far as community service goes, Cornell has an honors program in com service (so they value it) and has a com service committee, and Sinai for what I gathered on my day there after speaking w the dean, does a lot towards enlightening students and giving them access to helping ppl in the area. All schools have free student run clinics and they seem about the same in that aspect too.

housing sux at NYU but I got an e-mail saying that the dorms were gonna be improved/moved...

Cornell may be P/F next cycle but I would not hold my breath on that one. But noone cares if ppl honor and it means nothing...or so they claim.

Classes end at one at Cornell, but I am not sure that that means that we would get more real free time as PBL requires some measure of time to complete research etc and it may be a more independent studying type of school. Students at Sinai appeared to be very happy ( a couple of sullen ppl in the hallways but you get that where ever you go) and NYU students were very friendly. Did not see many Cornell students as I interviewed in the afternoon.

As far as facilities go, all schools seemed great! Sinai seemed a bit drab on some floors and NYU's basement/student lounge was not the cutest. Cornell seemed the most chi-chi.

NYU allows you to rotate in the coroner's office--> great if you want to do surgery later

Cornell gives you access to Memorial, HSS and Rockerfeller--> great if you are into research

Sinai has/had/still has??? a great transplant program? Sinai has a chill exam system and seems to place a lot of value on student diversity in terms of background...the HuMed program is an asset I think.

Cornell is in the worse location in terms of the subway as it is on York. NYU is on 1st and not much better but it's easier to walk to places and delivery is cheaper around there...students can also take the campus bus which gets you around downtown for free. Sinai is best for location as it is very close to the subway and central park...easy to escape and jog/run if you are into that stuff. You can also walk to Harlem and get great food!

Basically these three schools rock and seem to be pretty even to me. What do rankings mean? Maybe go based off of what you think you will be interested in if you have any idea about that. I want to do Rad-Onc or psychiatry so withdrew fr Sinai as it will be great to be at (MSK)Cornell for Rad-onc and NYU for psych and why fight to get off a waitlist when others are trying to get in somewhere and you like your other options. If you have no idea what you may be interested in, go based off of fin aid package. If that's all the same more or less, make of list of what is important to you and then rank the schools based on what you value. But my feeling is that they are all wonderful and relatively equal and at the end of the day you get what you put in...
 
So Ballsbreaker, where are you going then Hopkins?
 
mdeast, I think this thread is somewhat premature because it's not really representative of your choices, since you're still waiting to hear back from some schools post-interview.

But anyways, if I had to choose among the 3 schools presented here, it would come down to mount sinai vs cornell. Second look and financial aid will break the tie. I totally get jukebox's point about the reputation of cornell within nyc. Cornell is definitely more prestigious and has better name recognition outside of the city than Sinai, but oddly enough I've heard my fair share of criticism about the training there. Cornell does offer clinical rotation sites outside of the Upper East Side (as mentioned above) but I get the impression that it cares more for the hospital than for the students. Anyone can correct me on this if I'm wrong. In fact, I HOPE I'm wrong. In any case, that is not the absolute dealbreaker in itself because if you're proactive about your education, it shouldn't matter. Your personal drive will be your biggest asset, not necessarily the school you go to.

But if you're unhappy at a school (for whatever reason), that can affect your drive...that's why only you can decide. Just let second look and financial aid play out.
 
w8ting2exhale said:
mdeast, I think this thread is somewhat premature because it's not really representative of your choices, since you're still waiting to hear back from some schools post-interview.

But anyways, if I had to choose among the 3 schools presented here, it would come down to mount sinai vs cornell. Second look and financial aid will break the tie. I totally get jukebox's point about the reputation of cornell within nyc. Cornell is definitely more prestigious and has better name recognition outside of the city than Sinai, but oddly enough I've heard my fair share of criticism about the training there. Cornell does offer clinical rotation sites outside of the Upper East Side (as mentioned above) but I get the impression that it cares more for the hospital than for the students. Anyone can correct me on this if I'm wrong. In fact, I HOPE I'm wrong. In any case, that is not the absolute dealbreaker in itself because if you're proactive about your education, it shouldn't matter. Your personal drive will be your biggest asset, not necessarily the school you go to.

But if you're unhappy at a school (for whatever reason), that can affect your drive...that's why only you can decide. Just let second look and financial aid play out.
Click to expand...

This thread wasn't meant for me particularly. I was just curious what people thought of these schools compared against each other, because they (at same levels) are very similar. I'm making my choice via careful review, gut feelings from interview day and hopefully the opportunity to see things at re-visit weekend. I'm still waiting back to hear from 6 schools, so there's could be plenty of other conflicts besides Sinai vs. Cornell vs. NYU.
 
i'm also stuck on deciding between mssm and nyu. i like nyu's 1.5/2.5 curriculum but i'm concerned about being a guinea pig since it will be the first year of implementation. any thoughts?
 
Just a reminder that although Cornell says it's going P/F next year they are still internally ranking all their students, making P/F meaningless. Very sneaky. Also, this year 6/101 students went unmatched. My impression of Cornell is that it is a research powerhouse with an excellent reputation, but that most of the faculty could care less about the medical students' opinions. If you're really gung-ho about doing your residency at NY-P or MSKCC, go to Cornell. Otherwise you will have a much better time at Sinai. (Not that you can't match into NY-P or MSKCC from Sinai--in fact this year a Sinai student matched into Rad Onc at MSKCC)
 
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