Mt Sinai- worth the interview expense

[lynn42]

I have an interview at Mt. Sinai next week. However, I was just accepted to Med College of Wisconsin. I'm not sure if I want to spend the money and visit Mt. Sinai. I already have to donate a kidney to pay for the med application expenses. What are your thoughts about the school? I also don't think I want to live in NYC. Any advice would be extremely helpful. Thank you so much.

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[minnie2240]

If you dont want to be in NY dont go there!!!!! Its not fair to take interview spots from ppl like me whod love to interview and go there. Seriously dont

 

[Minion677]

yeah i mean.. if you will go to MCW over Sinai then dont waste your money and another persons interview spot by going there. if i get into one of my higher choices im planning on doing the same.

both are really strong schools and ive heard good things about each one...

 

[Daichi Katase]

Heh, I am in the same boat. I don't think i want to go to NY, and probably will decline the interview.

 

[humuhumu]

I was scheduled for an interview too, but canceled when I realized I would never choose living in NYC over the acceptance I'm currently holding. But I've heard great things about Mount Sinai, which is why I applied in the first place.

 

[TracksuitsRock]

I have a different take. You didn't say "I will never live in NYC" just that you don't think you would want to. This is about creating as many opportunities for yourself as possible. Mount Sinai is truly an incredible school and you might find that it strikes a chord with you that you hadn't expected. I understand that money is an issue and hopefully you can swing it to visit this school because it would be a shame to never really know what you think of such an amazing place firsthand...

by the way I don't go to Mount Sinai but I interviewed there a month ago and was so impressed, and also surprised by how liveable it made NYC seem.

Good luck, congrats and let us know what you decide!

 

[funshine]

I have an interview at Mt. Sinai next week. However, I was just accepted to Med College of Wisconsin. I'm not sure if I want to spend the money and visit Mt. Sinai. I already have to donate a kidney to pay for the med application expenses. What are your thoughts about the school? I also don't think I want to live in NYC. Any advice would be extremely helpful. Thank you so much.

Donate a kidney?!!
Are you serious or is that some sort of expression?
I would definitely not go...I just went to my last few simply because I already booked the flights. I was tired, really not interested in the schools, and it showed. Congrats on MCW--that's a great school and Wisconsin is a beautiful place to live .

 

[lynn42]

Donate a kidney?!!
Are you serious or is that some sort of expression?
I would definitely not go...I just went to my last few simply because I already booked the flights. I was tired, really not interested in the schools, and it showed. Congrats on MCW--that's a great school and Wisconsin is a beautiful place to live .

Oh no- I am totally joking!!! I guess that subject is not something to joke about. Thank you so much for your kind comments. I have visited NYC and it was so loud. The city is constantly busy. I'm nervous to live there by myself ( I don't want a roommate. .. bad experiences). Milwaukee seems like a wonderful place to live. I'm not sure what to do. I guess I will sleep on it.

 

[jbone]

Congrats...Go MCW. You can't go wrong.
p.s.-don't sell the other kidney. (you might need it later)

 

[kalenakai]

I'm in the same boat as the OP. Sitting on my MSSM interview set for 1/15/06. I've been to NY before, and I certainly like big cities, but I'm not sure if NY is a good fit for me for four years. This is coming from a Hawaii guy, btw. I'm certainly interested in checking out the school and area--I've heard great things so far--but the cost of travel/time and having other interview offers are both deterring me from going. Hmm, what to do, what to do...

 

[lynn42]

Congrats...Go MCW. You can't go wrong.
p.s.-don't sell the other kidney. (you might need it later)

Hahaha- You are too funny!! I'll be sure not to sell my other kidney. Thanks for the advice.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

Oh no- I am totally joking!!! I guess that subject is not something to joke about. Thank you so much for your kind comments. I have visited NYC and it was so loud. The city is constantly busy. I'm nervous to live there by myself ( I don't want a roommate. .. bad experiences). Milwaukee seems like a wonderful place to live. I'm not sure what to do. I guess I will sleep on it.

you're coming from Utah, right? milwaukee should be a colder city than NYC. if you look at weather stats, chicago is usually 10 degrees colder that NYC in any given month, and i don't think that includes windchill. milwaukee is 80 miles north of chicago and also on the lake. and it is not like the dry cold you get out west. it's true that west of milwaukee in wisconsin is some unglaciated territory that is pretty beautiful by midwestern standards, but it still has nothing on utah. i think the naturally rolling territory of the NYC area is prettier than that of the milwaukee/chicago area. finally, it's possible that milwaukee has a higher crime rate than NYC (ESPECIALLY compared to manhattan, which is what's relevant here), since i know it's considered to be a rustbelt city. and while i don't know enough about milwaukeeans, my personal overall observation that chicagoans are less friendly than new yorkers (less likely to publicly insult you, maybe, but less likely to want to interact with strangers in the first place. nothing but scowls in the winter.).

i'm obviously biased toward nyc (i'm not applying anywhere this cycle, so that isn't a source of my bias unlike others in here). The city itself has better weather and natural terrain compared to milwaukee itself and i would firmly guess that the crime rate of manhattan is lower than milwaukee. combine that with the subsidized housing i believe MSSM offers and no need for a car, and you MAY even save money by living in nyc!

 

[minnie2240]

you're coming from Utah, right? milwaukee should be a colder city than NYC. if you look at weather stats, chicago is usually 10 degrees colder that NYC in any given month, and i don't think that includes windchill. milwaukee is 80 miles north of chicago and also on the lake. and it is not like the dry cold you get out west. it's true that west of milwaukee in wisconsin is some unglaciated territory that is pretty beautiful by midwestern standards, but it still has nothing on utah. i think the naturally rolling territory of the NYC area is prettier than that of the milwaukee/chicago area. finally, it's possible that milwaukee has a higher crime rate than NYC (ESPECIALLY compared to manhattan, which is what's relevant here), since i know it's considered to be a rustbelt city. and while i don't know enough about milwaukeeans, my personal overall observation that chicagoans are less friendly than new yorkers (less likely to publicly insult you, maybe, but less likely to want to interact with strangers in the first place. nothing but scowls in the winter.).

i'm obviously biased toward nyc (i'm not applying anywhere this cycle, so that isn't a source of my bias unlike others in here). The city itself has better weather and natural terrain compared to milwaukee itself and i would firmly guess that the crime rate of manhattan is lower than milwaukee. combine that with the subsidized housing i believe MSSM offers and no need for a car, and you MAY even save money by living in nyc!

Are you joking? I really hope so because manhattan one of the most expensive cities in the country. It has one of the higest costs of living out of any city and is definately loud, obnoxious and probably scary for people who are not used to it. What natural rolling territory are you talking about ? Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but I don't want to give someone the wrong picture of New York. Its a city, its dirty, expensive, but it is the best city in the world in terms of food and culture.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

Okay, so it's no longer a guess. From bestplaces.net :


CRIME Milwaukee, Wisconsin New York, New York National Avg.
Violent Crime 1043.4 1063.1 446.1
Property Crime 6885.9 2968.5 4162.2
CATEGORIES crimes per 100,000 pop.
Murder 21.3 9 3.9
Rape 46.8 22.9 32.8
Robbery 539.5 485.9 116.3
Assault 435.7 545.3 293
Burglary 1112.4 544.7 761.4
Larceny 4497.2 1889.5 3037.8
Auto Theft 1276.3 534.3 361.8

 

[lynn42]

Okay, so it's no longer a guess. From bestplaces.net :


CRIME Milwaukee, Wisconsin New York, New York National Avg.
Violent Crime 1043.4 1063.1 446.1
Property Crime 6885.9 2968.5 4162.2
CATEGORIES crimes per 100,000 pop.
Murder 21.3 9 3.9
Rape 46.8 22.9 32.8
Robbery 539.5 485.9 116.3
Assault 435.7 545.3 293
Burglary 1112.4 544.7 761.4
Larceny 4497.2 1889.5 3037.8
Auto Theft 1276.3 534.3 361.8

WOW!!! Thank you so much for the stats. I 've decided to go ahead with the interview. I am shocked that NYC seems like a safer place to live.
Who would have thought? Well, I'll look at it this way, maybe I won't have to make a decision. Maybe I won't be accepted to Mt Sinai ! Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

Are you joking? I really hope so because manhattan one of the most expensive cities in the country. It has one of the higest costs of living out of any city and is definately loud, obnoxious and probably scary for people who are not used to it. What natural rolling territory are you talking about ? Sorry don't mean to sound harsh but I don't want to give someone the wrong picture of New York. Its a city, its dirty, expensive, but it is the best city in the world in terms of food and culture.

sorry, minnie, but i'm using my personal perspective to help the op make her decision, not help you get into mssm by discouraging the op. the biggest drawback to my statement is that i don't know anything about mcw. is it a private school? is the tuition comparable to mssm? i don't know. but i do know that mssm states in its FAQ

"Are students guaranteed housing?
Yes. Housing is available for single students in the Jane B. Aron Residence Hall on 98th Street. Aron Hall's furnished suites accommodate more than 600 residents. Housing is available for married couples, domestic partners, and families in other Mount Sinai-owned buildings in the neighborhood."

and also gives this cost estimate

"Other Expenses (estimated)
Room and board (average per year).........$10,500"

to me, this points to a pretty well subsidized manhattan rent.

as far as the "naturally rolling territory" goes, i really was speaking relative to the area of the midwest that contains milwaukee, which is basically flat. i had in mind central park (which was in part landscaped to be that way, to be fair), areas of midtown that i recall, and areas of brooklyn that i recall. never been to queens, bronx, or staten island.

nyc is relatively dirty. but chicago isn't clean either, and i don't think milwaukee is pristine.

 

[gluon999]

All you guys are fighting over whether to attend the MSSM interview... and here I am still waiting to hear anything from MSSM.

 

[minnie2240]

sorry, minnie, but i'm using my personal perspective to help the op make her decision, not help you get into mssm by discouraging the op. the biggest drawback to my statement is that i don't know anything about mcw. is it a private school? is the tuition comparable to mssm? i don't know. but i do know that mssm states in its FAQ

"Are students guaranteed housing?
Yes. Housing is available for single students in the Jane B. Aron Residence Hall on 98th Street. Aron Hall's furnished suites accommodate more than 600 residents. Housing is available for married couples, domestic partners, and families in other Mount Sinai-owned buildings in the neighborhood."

and also gives this cost estimate

"Other Expenses (estimated)
Room and board (average per year).........$10,500"

to me, this points to a pretty well subsidized manhattan rent.

as far as the "naturally rolling territory" goes, i really was speaking relative to the area of the midwest that contains milwaukee, which is basically flat. i had in mind central park (which was in part landscaped to be that way, to be fair), areas of midtown that i recall, and areas of brooklyn that i recall. never been to queens, bronx, or staten island.

nyc is relatively dirty. but chicago isn't clean either, and i don't think milwaukee is pristine.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from going to Mt. Sinai just because I haven't heard. But I just don't think you are painting an accurate picture of NY as safer. My point of view comes from the fact that I know a lot of people from the west who have moved to New York and found it extremely overwhleming, intimidating and pricey. Obviously not everyone feels this way, but its very difficult for a non-East coasters to take.

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from going to Mt. Sinai just because I haven't heard. But I just don't think you are painting an accurate picture of NY as safer. My point of view comes from the fact that I know a lot of people from the west who have moved to New York and found it extremely overwhleming, intimidating and pricey. Obviously not everyone feels this way, but its very difficult for a non-East coasters to take.

but it is safer than milwaukee, based on the stats. i doubt either place is safer than anywhere in utah or many other western areas, but that's not what I was comparing in my statement.

sure, nyc is going to be more overwhelming and intimidating than milwaukee in terms of the sheer numbers of people, but in manhattan the overwhelming majority of those people are not out to commit crimes against anybody (and those people in fact include many of the richest people in america). Dealing with crowds can add stress (as well as excitement), but it's something i got used to in chicago and was certainly nothing that got my attention when i made another visit to nyc after living here. the crowds and their noise to some extent fall into the background after a while.

what can still intimidate me at times (but has never yet overwhelmed me) is the threat of crime in certain parts of chicago (like milwaukee, chicago's crime rate is substantially higher than nyc's). after being in chicago i felt ridiculously safe in nyc, esp. manhattan. like SF, manhattan has been transforming into a high-housing-price playground for the well-off for decades. if you can live there as a student with substantially subsidized housing, i and many others say go for it!

when it comes to price, safety, intimidation, and being overwhelming, many places in the west are going to win out over milwaukee or nyc. definitely. but that's not the issue. the relevant comparison here is between nyc and milwaukee, and i think that for a student with a nyc subsidized housing option who can save a lot of money by not having a car, manhattan is the clear winner. the throngs of out-of-state students eager to apply to the nyc schools every year (compared to those who apply to mcw or schools in other rustbelt cities--heck, even in chicago) attest to this.

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

Good on you for going, I don't know that I would have. If you have somewhere you like better, I can't see spending any more money on this hellacious process.

 

[lynn42]

I figure now what is a few extra hundred dollars for one more interview. That is nothing compared to how much debt I have due to this process. I applied to a TON of schools. I will let you all know my thoughts about the school. I'll be sure to take good notes for those of you in the same boat I am in. Starting this thread, I was almost certainly going to cancel the trip. Thanks for all the advice everyone gave me. I think I had better open doors, not close them at this point. PS- What is this random spam icon????????

 

[nrddct]

I think its ridiculous that others are telling you not to go just so someone more willing can have the spot. You worked your butt off and deserve what has been offered to you. Life is about experiences and maybe you'll change your mind once you see MS in person. The application process is one time in life where you have to be selfish because its about YOU. Good luck.

 

[pallcare]

I think its ridiculous that others are telling you not to go just so someone more willing can have the spot. You worked your butt off and deserve what has been offered to you. Life is about experiences and maybe you'll change your mind once you see MS in person. The application process is one time in life where you have to be selfish because its about YOU. Good luck.

ditto

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

I think its ridiculous that others are telling you not to go just so someone more willing can have the spot. You worked your butt off and deserve what has been offered to you. Life is about experiences and maybe you'll change your mind once you see MS in person. The application process is one time in life where you have to be selfish because its about YOU. Good luck.

Plus, if the OP goes and doesn't like it or doesn't get in, the spot will go to someone else anyway. Just might take a little more time.

 

[minnie2240]

Ok I never meant it to come out that I was discouraging anyone from taking an interview spot. My feeling is that if you definately would not chose a school over one you already got in then it makes sense monetarily and in terms of other applicants to withdraw. Im a hardcore New Yorker so I always feel the need to make sure that my favorite city is portrayed accurately.

But if your going to take the interview, then great for you. I hope it goes well!