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Just curious what you all thought about Mt. Sinai versus Columbia. 
Mt. Sinai/Columbia????
- Thread starter KDMD
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I'm in the same position...A great position to be in...
Seems the majority of people I met chose columbia over sinai.
Only one guy i met chose sinai over columbia.
Seems the majority of people I met chose columbia over sinai.
Only one guy i met chose sinai over columbia.
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Hey scoob nice to see that your attitude has changed...however do you need a trout slap!!!!
Columbia's match list is considerable better particularly with specialties...I personally felt the student body is much more well rounded and interested in other facets of life besides medicine, they seemed probably the most dynamic (ok maybe equal to Yale's students) in terms of diversity and interest (maybe it is just the bunch I meet at both)...Mt sinai also has a slight reputation of not allowing the students to do everything because of some of the patient populations...Columbia also has (according to yes the ungodly usnews) considerable better reputation from residency directors and academics...also columbia has an undergrad campus with a very cool gym, libray and the option to take classes if you want to escape med school hell. It also has other graduate schools (MBA or law) if you are interested...
All that said, however, you all know I am already biased <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
Columbia's match list is considerable better particularly with specialties...I personally felt the student body is much more well rounded and interested in other facets of life besides medicine, they seemed probably the most dynamic (ok maybe equal to Yale's students) in terms of diversity and interest (maybe it is just the bunch I meet at both)...Mt sinai also has a slight reputation of not allowing the students to do everything because of some of the patient populations...Columbia also has (according to yes the ungodly usnews) considerable better reputation from residency directors and academics...also columbia has an undergrad campus with a very cool gym, libray and the option to take classes if you want to escape med school hell. It also has other graduate schools (MBA or law) if you are interested...
All that said, however, you all know I am already biased <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
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scoob keeps posting about these two schools. i just want to make public a bet with scooby that he will never choose mt sinai over columbia. i wager 10 bucks like similar bets with the scoob. so far, we're still even...
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Sir William Osler:
•scoob keeps posting about these two schools. i just want to make public a bet with scooby that he will never choose mt sinai over columbia. i wager 10 bucks like similar bets with the scoob. so far, we're still even...•••••You know that's my leanings:
MR harvard / stanford / jhu / ucsf / penn ...
AKA SIR WILLIAM OSLER
I want to see my money situation. But i called Bard Hall this morning and they told me that I CAN take my pet there! So that's another HUGE incentive for me Cuz I don't want to part with her
•scoob keeps posting about these two schools. i just want to make public a bet with scooby that he will never choose mt sinai over columbia. i wager 10 bucks like similar bets with the scoob. so far, we're still even...•••••You know that's my leanings:
MR harvard / stanford / jhu / ucsf / penn ...
AKA SIR WILLIAM OSLER
I want to see my money situation. But i called Bard Hall this morning and they told me that I CAN take my pet there! So that's another HUGE incentive for me
Cuz I don't want to part with her 
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The Sinai dorms are gorgeous, and it's in a better location in NYC. I also thought the people were much nicer when I visited. Although reputation is important, I'd argue that your happiness is MORE so. Thus if you think, as I do, that the students at Sinai were much more laid back, likeable, non-competitive, collaborative, etc., then perhaps Columbia ISN'T the best choice. Rankings aren't everything, although I agree that going to a top 5 school like Columbia will likely help you match well for your residency. But if you think you'll be unhappy, is it worth it? It seemed to me that the teaching styles at Columbia and Sinai were VERY different. Perhaps you should try to figure out which you'd prefer, and use that in your decision as well (in addition to the financial aid packages you're waiting for).
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KDMD...
Send me a PM...or send me your email...I wanted to chat with you about your decision making process
Send me a PM...or send me your email...I wanted to chat with you about your decision making process
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i have to disagree about one point. i think that making a decision on a school based on the students is a mistake. each year, classes will be different. you may find the 1st years laidback and go out alot, and the 2nd years are more intense and competitive. basically. you will find some cool people who are just like you at nearly all schools in very year. this is a bunch of bs and people say it all the time and i just feel the need to vent about it. and also, this view about being happy is lame. it's not like the school is going to make you happy. happy people are happy. sad people are sad. Some of the only factors that can truly affect happiness is proximity to family (if important) and significant others. Grrrr...just needed to let that off. if i had a nickel for each time someone said choose where the students are happiest.
I do think that you can get a general feel for an institution after visiting or interviewing. By speaking to faculty and adminstrators, you can get a decent evaluation of the overall "atmosphere." This atmosphere is also a function of the students, but just take a grain of salt with the student "happiness" factor.
I do think that you can get a general feel for an institution after visiting or interviewing. By speaking to faculty and adminstrators, you can get a decent evaluation of the overall "atmosphere." This atmosphere is also a function of the students, but just take a grain of salt with the student "happiness" factor.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Scooby Doo:
• i called Bard Hall this morning and they told me that I CAN take my pet there! So that's another HUGE incentive for me Cuz I don't want to part with her •••••Of course you can take your pet to Bard Hall. Nothing your pet could do could possibly make the place worse than it already is!! :wink:
Students at Mt. Sinai seemed to have a slight inferiority complex. (Don't jump all over me, folks, I said slight. ) They all said go to Columbia, except the one who got a big scholarship. While the dorms are nice, if you didn't want to live in a dorm (I, personally, have had it with dorm living!), it would be pretty expensive in that neighborhood.
• i called Bard Hall this morning and they told me that I CAN take my pet there! So that's another HUGE incentive for me
Cuz I don't want to part with her •••••Of course you can take your pet to Bard Hall. Nothing your pet could do could possibly make the place worse than it already is!! :wink: Students at Mt. Sinai seemed to have a slight inferiority complex. (Don't jump all over me, folks, I said slight. ) They all said go to Columbia, except the one who got a big scholarship. While the dorms are nice, if you didn't want to live in a dorm (I, personally, have had it with dorm living!), it would be pretty expensive in that neighborhood.
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SMW,
That's exactly what they all told me!!!!
BUT THAT WAS SO COOL OF THEM, they didn't have any inferiority complex..they were completely laid back and nonchalent about it!
That's exactly what they all told me!!!!
BUT THAT WAS SO COOL OF THEM, they didn't have any inferiority complex..they were completely laid back and nonchalent about it!
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if anyone has any specific questions about sinai, lemme know. i didnt consider columbia so i cant compare. i would say, however, from the other people i've talked to in other med schools in nyc(cornell, nyu etc), sinai is a pretty unique place, and its style is somewhat different than other places. keep in mind sinai was started in the late 60s, i.e. i would say its not as "traditional" as a lot of other places that have been around 100 years or whatnot, NYU and Sinai tried to merge schools and couldn't mainly becuase there were so many fundamental differences in how they taught, viewed sutdents etc, the teaching style _is_ different at sinai, and students are much more involved in the running of the school and decisions that are made there, than many other places that i know of.
true, i agree w/the above statement that being happy at school has alot to do with your own feelings about things that are important to you, i think most of all it has to do with your reasons for being at med school. i know people in years 1-4 at sinai, and i would say that it is a generally really laid back place, and its not really what i pictured med school to be like: students are mostly really friendly and quite diverse/interesting, i havent met one competitive person, most professors at sinai are pretty dynamic and very interested in student feedback, and always available to talk/meet with you. if there is any project/area you are interested in, its really easy to get involved and/or find people interested in helping. columbia has a gym? sinai has central park a block away. theres plenty of opportunity to get away for medicine so to speak, not to mention all sorts of groups students have started.. im not sure if this is true, but someone mentioned recently that columbia only takes paying-patients, which i think is somewhat different than sinai, being in east harlem(and having elmhurst and other places as affiliates), it was really important to me to be able to be working with the underserved in some way...i dont now about the "hands on" stuff mentioned above, certainly people i've talked to said they were able to deliver babies during 3rd year at elmhurst or other places, whereas at sinai for ob/gyn it was more hands off, there are quite a few places to rotate through so it depends what kind of experience you want. im not trying to convince anyone to go to sinai, it doesnt matter to me what you do, but i'd be glad to help w/any sinai insight. sure columbia has a good reputation, and if thats important to you the most, by all means go there. granted imnot interested in derm for examples, but something i realized when appying for undergrad was that to some degree, in the end reputation isn't that important when you are deciding between a few good places, and that "being happy"/liking where you are at makes it so much easier to do well there while actually enjoying the experience. ive had a great year at sinai....
true, i agree w/the above statement that being happy at school has alot to do with your own feelings about things that are important to you, i think most of all it has to do with your reasons for being at med school. i know people in years 1-4 at sinai, and i would say that it is a generally really laid back place, and its not really what i pictured med school to be like: students are mostly really friendly and quite diverse/interesting, i havent met one competitive person, most professors at sinai are pretty dynamic and very interested in student feedback, and always available to talk/meet with you. if there is any project/area you are interested in, its really easy to get involved and/or find people interested in helping. columbia has a gym? sinai has central park a block away. theres plenty of opportunity to get away for medicine so to speak, not to mention all sorts of groups students have started.. im not sure if this is true, but someone mentioned recently that columbia only takes paying-patients, which i think is somewhat different than sinai, being in east harlem(and having elmhurst and other places as affiliates), it was really important to me to be able to be working with the underserved in some way...i dont now about the "hands on" stuff mentioned above, certainly people i've talked to said they were able to deliver babies during 3rd year at elmhurst or other places, whereas at sinai for ob/gyn it was more hands off, there are quite a few places to rotate through so it depends what kind of experience you want. im not trying to convince anyone to go to sinai, it doesnt matter to me what you do, but i'd be glad to help w/any sinai insight. sure columbia has a good reputation, and if thats important to you the most, by all means go there. granted imnot interested in derm for examples, but something i realized when appying for undergrad was that to some degree, in the end reputation isn't that important when you are deciding between a few good places, and that "being happy"/liking where you are at makes it so much easier to do well there while actually enjoying the experience. ive had a great year at sinai....
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Lionel, I am very interested in Sinai but its financial situation worries me. Does Sinai's current situation affect you as a student and would you think it will have an impact in your education??
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by vinsanity:
•Lionel, I am very interested in Sinai but its financial situation worries me. Does Sinai's current situation affect you as a student and would you think it will have an impact in your education??•••••howdy, the current financial situation is a mess, keep in mind also, that most hospitals are in huge debt as well, i think upenn went through a big financial crisis awhile back, and it doesn't seem to have hurt its reputation, might want to ask students about their experience there...
more specifically, sinai hired this consulting group to look over things and straighten out alot of inefficent stuff the hospital was doing(i.e. billing for example), supposedly, every hospital this group has worked for has been improved immensely(i.e. thats why they get hired). anyway, that being said, they are laying off some 500 "non essential" people and had announced that they were raising tuition by 7000$ over the next 2 years, which is alot! but generally speaking, would put sinai on par with other places(bringing it up to 32k).
students,especially 1st years, obviously were upset abot the 7k increase becuase, well, its a big increase, and people had certain expectations and financial considerations and plans coming into sinai. we felt it was unfair/unreasonable for a number reasons. im not sure how things would pan out in other schools, but the deans came and met with the class and we had 2-3hour talk with them, people were passionate of course, but what came out of it was a student committee which drafted a really well thought out letter to the board of trustees and the dean of the school, basically explaining why we thought such a huge increase was unfair, it looks like becuase of this, there wont be a 7k increase afterall, things will be phased in over a longer time etc and something will be worked out, im not sure if incoming students though, will face 32k tuition, they might, but at least they will have known beforehand. anyway, i explained all this just to give you some idea how things work at sinai, faculty and administration generally speaking are _very_ responsive to student concerns....
i really dont know how much of the results of the recommendations of this group, the Hunter Group,i'll see down the line, i really dont think it will affect my education, unless of course professors or physicians at sinai become so disgruntled for some reason that they suddenly become horrible at what they do becuase they are so preoccupied(which i really dont see happening, most professors seem to really like sinai and have been there quite awhile)...sure there was a huge renovation of the educational space(for 1st and 2nd years) planned, which would've made some big improvements(but also wouldve have eliminated the "md-labs" which all students love). im guessing this wont happen for awhile, but i wouldnt want to be in med school while they were renovating the place anyway.
they are definately making people sinai take notice of any waste going on, and things are tightening up, but this has had no other effect on me thus far... im sure faculty and staff are feeling financial situation in some way, i dont think people will be getting raises this year.. but exactly how or if that will translate down to us is pretty unclear, and of course, the administration has insisted it would be negligible.
really, im not concerned based on what they explained to us was going on...
•Lionel, I am very interested in Sinai but its financial situation worries me. Does Sinai's current situation affect you as a student and would you think it will have an impact in your education??•••••howdy, the current financial situation is a mess, keep in mind also, that most hospitals are in huge debt as well, i think upenn went through a big financial crisis awhile back, and it doesn't seem to have hurt its reputation, might want to ask students about their experience there...
more specifically, sinai hired this consulting group to look over things and straighten out alot of inefficent stuff the hospital was doing(i.e. billing for example), supposedly, every hospital this group has worked for has been improved immensely(i.e. thats why they get hired). anyway, that being said, they are laying off some 500 "non essential" people and had announced that they were raising tuition by 7000$ over the next 2 years, which is alot! but generally speaking, would put sinai on par with other places(bringing it up to 32k).
students,especially 1st years, obviously were upset abot the 7k increase becuase, well, its a big increase, and people had certain expectations and financial considerations and plans coming into sinai. we felt it was unfair/unreasonable for a number reasons. im not sure how things would pan out in other schools, but the deans came and met with the class and we had 2-3hour talk with them, people were passionate of course, but what came out of it was a student committee which drafted a really well thought out letter to the board of trustees and the dean of the school, basically explaining why we thought such a huge increase was unfair, it looks like becuase of this, there wont be a 7k increase afterall, things will be phased in over a longer time etc and something will be worked out, im not sure if incoming students though, will face 32k tuition, they might, but at least they will have known beforehand. anyway, i explained all this just to give you some idea how things work at sinai, faculty and administration generally speaking are _very_ responsive to student concerns....
i really dont know how much of the results of the recommendations of this group, the Hunter Group,i'll see down the line, i really dont think it will affect my education, unless of course professors or physicians at sinai become so disgruntled for some reason that they suddenly become horrible at what they do becuase they are so preoccupied(which i really dont see happening, most professors seem to really like sinai and have been there quite awhile)...sure there was a huge renovation of the educational space(for 1st and 2nd years) planned, which would've made some big improvements(but also wouldve have eliminated the "md-labs" which all students love). im guessing this wont happen for awhile, but i wouldnt want to be in med school while they were renovating the place anyway.
they are definately making people sinai take notice of any waste going on, and things are tightening up, but this has had no other effect on me thus far... im sure faculty and staff are feeling financial situation in some way, i dont think people will be getting raises this year.. but exactly how or if that will translate down to us is pretty unclear, and of course, the administration has insisted it would be negligible.
really, im not concerned based on what they explained to us was going on...
