Northwestern vs Cornell

[medschoolmunch]

Hey everyone! I am lucky enough to have narrowed it down to two amazing options this cycle, but I am having trouble deciding between the two. The COA of both schools will be about the same, so that will not be a major deciding factor for me. For context, I am interested in matching into ENT/optho/plastics on either the East or West Coast.

Cornell
Pros

• NYC - very exciting city and close to my family
• 1.5 year preclinical curriculum
• Small class size (around 100) - more mentorship/opportunities?
• Bigger name outside of medicine (not sure if this actually matters)

Cons

• Students were nice on interview day, but seemed a bit more stressed than NW students
• Olin Hall dorm
• Weekly quizzes that happen mostly on Mondays

Northwestern
Pros

• Best interview day experience by far - students & staff were super friendly
• Really enjoy the ECMH part of the curriculum/students seem interested in community engagement (+ for me)
• Chicago seems like a great city (have not spent much time there)
• Dream school going into this process

Cons

• 2 year preclinical curriculum
• Do not want to match into the midwest/further from home
• Larger class size (150) - not sure if this is a huge con

Summary:
I am leaning Cornell (closer to home/NYC/1.5 year pre-clinical) but want to hear other opinions on maybe why NW should be considered.

I really appreciate everyone!!! Thank you!!

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[deleted1065184]

Do you prefer NY-style or deep-dish pizza??? Lol. Based on what you've written, there's no wrong answer. They're peer institutions academically, so not prestige from one over the other.

The fact that you want to match on the East or West and Northwestern is in neither of those regions already gives a strong point for Cornell imo. It's clear you've thought this through well and I think your logic is solid, I vote for Cornell.

 

[medschoolmunch]

Do you prefer NY-style or deep-dish pizza??? Lol. Based on what you've written, there's no wrong answer. They're peer institutions academically, so not prestige from one over the other.

The fact that you want to match on the East or West and Northwestern is in neither of those regions already gives a strong point for Cornell imo. It's clear you've thought this through well and I think your logic is solid, I vote for Cornell.

Thank you! I guess i have to do a pizza taste test first and make the decision haha

 

[milesofmedicine]

Also two schools of the schools I am considering. I think the 1.5 year preclinical is great, but in terms of clinical experience, I think you will get the same amount of net time in the first two years because of ECMH. In terms of class size, I too think Cornell will be beneficial in the sense that it is only 105 peers, but ik NU has the colleges that they break down into with 20 people and a mentor. Also, I think you can truly match anywhere with either -- NU seems to have decent amount who go to Cali/NYC, whereas Cornell will obvi give a better guarantee at NYP. Ultimately, the mindset im using -- do I wanna live in NYC or Chicago?

 

[medschoolmunch]

Also two schools of the schools I am considering. I think the 1.5 year preclinical is great, but in terms of clinical experience, I think you will get the same amount of net time in the first two years because of ECMH. In terms of class size, I too think Cornell will be beneficial in the sense that it is only 105 peers, but ik NU has the colleges that they break down into with 20 people and a mentor. Also, I think you can truly match anywhere with either -- NU seems to have decent amount who go to Cali/NYC, whereas Cornell will obvi give a better guarantee at NYP. Ultimately, the mindset im using -- do I wanna live in NYC or Chicago?

thanks for your help! good luck choosing!!

 

[sophop]

Congrats on two amazing choices. Didn't go to Weill-Cornell, so I won't comment (except to say that I know someone there and they're enjoying their experience). I will tell you that all your Feinberg pros are 100% true (esp ECMH). With respect to your concerns, because of AOSC, preclinical is actually only 20 months (so yeah, 2 months more than Cornell). I know of lots who matched into NYP - both Columbia and Weill, as well as NYU and Montefiore (in fact, a lot of folks matched to the coasts) and Feinberg made it easy to do an away to show interest in a particular area. As @milesofmedicine noted (and congrats to you as well!) the 20ish-person colleges at Feinberg do give you a close peer group, while having a larger overall class makes it easier to find someone else who might have the same niche interests that you do. Again, congratulations!

 

[Conics98]

Congratulations on your successes this app cycle! I can't speak to much on the decision between two extremely high caliber schools in a nutshell, but I did notice that one of your cons for Cornell were the weekly quizzes.

At Toledo Med, we have quizzes or group case studies every week. On paper it seems stressful, but in practice it doesn't end up being bad the more you get the hang of it. I think weekly quizzes could be seen as a healthy amount of pressure to stay on top of your material, which might be important for a 15 month preclinical. Our quizzes also happen on Mondays for the most part, but even on weekends you won't see many people at our campus library past 5 pm.

At any med school, an inevitable challenge is going to be learning how to make a balance between work and play. Also, even people who have been fantastic students all their lives may need to start learning how to study differently. I'd argue that weekly quizzes help you learn how to do both a little bit at a time rather than giving an entire semester worth of material in one giant exam.

Tldr there are positives to weekly quizzes in practice even though it sounds stressful on paper. If you value a 15 month preclinical, it might even be essential to make sure you get the most out of the condensed curriculum!

Best of luck!!!

Edit: I mean 1.5 year curriculum, sorry! Still, condensed preclinical logic still applies!

 

[i-doctor]

Matching on the East or West Coast will be equal opportunity from either school. They both have national reputations.

 

[Maximus0703]

I don’t know too much about Cornell but I can help out a bit with Northwestern. The class size is middling compared to other institutions but med students I have spoken too say it isn’t that much of an issue due to in built student groups. Northwestern sorts students into “colleges” of around 20 students with your own faculty mentor. This is in addition to the 4 society groups you join which most colleges have. The vibe that I got from northwestern, from the colleges, AOSC, and ECMH is that they want students to form longitudinal relationships with fellow students and faculty, which wasn’t really reflected in the other schools I interviewed at.

Also, there is virtually no prestige difference between either school. Imo, if you go to a T20, you won’t have a problem matching anywhere in the country (location-wise). It would be prudent to make your own judgement about where you would fit after second-look.

 

[hotcrossbuns]

Disclaimer -- got into Cornell but WL at Northwestern

I would argue those extra 6 months afforded by Cornell's 1.5 yr pre-clinical can make a world of difference in exploring competitive specialties like ENT/plastics if you choose to go that way. Also, Cornell has a great relationship with HSS in case you want to go the ortho route. I heard they reserve research positions for Cornell students. The Tri-I setup in general is a huge asset imo, regardless of what specialty you want to pursue.

 

[medschoolmunch]

I don’t know too much about Cornell but I can help out a bit with Northwestern. The class size is middling compared to other institutions but med students I have spoken too say it isn’t that much of an issue due to in built student groups. Northwestern sorts students into “colleges” of around 20 students with your own faculty mentor. This is in addition to the 4 society groups you join which most colleges have. The vibe that I got from northwestern, from the colleges, AOSC, and ECMH is that they want students to form longitudinal relationships with fellow students and faculty, which wasn’t really reflected in the other schools I interviewed at.

Also, there is virtually no prestige difference between either school. Imo, if you go to a T20, you won’t have a problem matching anywhere in the country (location-wise). It would be prudent to make your own judgement about where you would fit after second-look.

great! do you feel like ECMH lets you explore specialty wise? or mostly gaining clinical experience

 

[Maximus0703]

great! do you feel like ECMH lets you explore specialty wise? or mostly gaining clinical experience

Just to clarify I am an applicant who got into northwestern. Most of my knowledge comes from a med student who graduated from my undergrad and helped me apply. ECMH is primarily assigned so you don’t necessarily get to see a specific area. On the other hand, a lot of ECMH sites are FQHCs which see a variety of cases from a diverse patient population. So you’ll probably get a bit of everything at your ECMH site.

 

[medschoolmunch]

There's no real difference in prestige, name recognition, or ability to match. Research in preclinical is self-driven regardless of how you slice it. If NYC is closer to your family - go Cornell.

great - exactly what i was thinking. most people on this thread have pros about NW but still leaning Cornell! it's harder to get a feel for the school though haha

 

[DZ2106]

Hey I’m an MS1 from Cornell so I’ll just be commenting on that rather than focusing on NW, just giving you some info to help you make your decision

Firstly, I wanna say that I’m overall very happy with my decision. I got a lot of financial aid being first-gen, and I get to live in the UES for very cheap rent. Our match list for the last couple years has been especially stellar (from what I’ve . seen I personally think it’s better than NW, but that’s for you to decide 🤷🏻‍♂️)

Olin hall personally hasn’t been that bad for me, although I was born and raised here so having a smaller more dorm-like space really hasn’t bothered me. I love the communal aspect of it where me and my friends will all be sitting in the kitchen or the first floor lounge doing ankis together or drinking and talking about life. However, tbf you like to cook or keep a lot of clothes or do anything that requires space, you will probably be miserable here. However, one year passes by like nothing when you’re in med school. I still can’t believe it’s almost over honestly.

I’d argue we actually are a bit stressed but that’s a hybrid of Monday exams, living in nyc, and the nature of the students in my class. They’re all very ambitious and are probably juggling multiple research projects on top of studying, school clubs, and partying on the weekends. I do have days where I get annoyed cuz I wake up and just do either school stuff or research for literally the entire day, but I’m aiming for something competitive so I’ve put it on myself. Same with everyone else here. I honestly feel like my class is very surgery-heavy rn.

Anyways, hope this helped. As others have mentioned these 2 schools are honestly amazing and you’ll do great regardless of which one you pick. I think the decision honestly should come down to 1) financial aid and 2) location/culture. Good luck!