NYU rankings

[hopefulcardiologist]

Hi everybody,

Long time lurker and first time poster here.
I'm currently deciding between NYU and another top 20 school. I'm sure it's well known that NYU has gone up significantly in terms of its rank these years. However, the USnews 2018 rankings were just released and it looks like NYU has dropped slightly. I'm concerned about whether the rank will continue to drop over the time I'm in medical school and how that would affect my chances of getting a competitive residency.

How much do you think it would affect my residency applications if NYU drops back to around 30 in 4 years? What are the chances that it can fall even farther than that? Would it be prudent to go with the other school just to play it safe?

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[Incomparable]

How much do you think it would affect my residency applications if NYU drops back to around 30 in 4 years? What are the chances that it can fall even farther than that? Would it be prudent to go with the other school just to play it safe?

This is highly unlikely to happen. You are seriously over thinking this. NYU is a fantastic school. You will not be barred from any opportunities if you go there.

For background: NYU dropped 1 spot. From 11 to 12 lol. Relax

 

[alex.jl1994]

I agree with the above poster that you won't be barred from any opportunities if you go to NYU.

That said, I read some post on this forum earlier this week about PD rankings of schools, which might be more relevant for gauging the "prestige" of a medical school for residency apps than USNews rankings are. I think it's somewhere in the thread about the new USNews 2018 rankings, if you're interested.

 

[Toutie]

Hi everybody,

Long time lurker and first time poster here.
I'm currently deciding between NYU and another top 20 school. I'm sure it's well known that NYU has gone up significantly in terms of its rank these years. However, the USnews 2018 rankings were just released and it looks like NYU has dropped slightly. I'm concerned about whether the rank will continue to drop over the time I'm in medical school and how that would affect my chances of getting a competitive residency.

How much do you think it would affect my residency applications if NYU drops back to around 30 in 4 years? What are the chances that it can fall even farther than that? Would it be prudent to go with the other school just to play it safe?

If you are so concerned about the (very slight) drop NYU had this year in the rankings...then you should be MORE concerned about the reason it had gone up so significantly in recent years. It had less to do with NYU all of a sudden being a significantly better school, and more to to do with the massive influx of $$$ due to Sandy.

NYU is and has been consistently a well regarded school...a slight increase or decrease in their ranking will have no impact on your chances at a competitive residency. That is ALL on you!

 

[AAAmeds]

I agree with the above poster that you won't be barred from any opportunities if you go to NYU.

That said, I read some post on this forum earlier this week about PD rankings of schools, which might be more relevant for gauging the "prestige" of a medical school for residency apps than USNews rankings are. I think it's somewhere in the thread about the new USNews 2018 rankings, if you're interested.

Can you or somebody please link me/us to the PD rankings?

 

[Goro]

The only people interested in rankings are pre-meds and med school deans.

PDs already know the quality of NYU-trained grads. You'll be in demand.

Hi everybody,

Long time lurker and first time poster here.
I'm currently deciding between NYU and another top 20 school. I'm sure it's well known that NYU has gone up significantly in terms of its rank these years. However, the USnews 2018 rankings were just released and it looks like NYU has dropped slightly. I'm concerned about whether the rank will continue to drop over the time I'm in medical school and how that would affect my chances of getting a competitive residency.

How much do you think it would affect my residency applications if NYU drops back to around 30 in 4 years? What are the chances that it can fall even farther than that? Would it be prudent to go with the other school just to play it safe?

 

[md-2020]

The only people interested in rankings are pre-meds and med school deans.

PDs already know the quality of NYU-trained grads. You'll be in demand.

I think OP agrees that both schools are great, but as with anyone wants to choose the marginally "better" of the two for future career purposes.

Whether it's prudent to choose your other option depends entirely on what school that is. Post it here and we can sound off.

 

[piii]

Your post is insufferable

 

[alex.jl1994]

Can you or somebody please link me/us to the PD rankings?

As posted by efle in the thread I mentioned:

Yeah it's a very straightforward survey where PDs are asked to rate programs on a 5-point scale (or mark that they are not familiar enough with a program to score it). Same deal for the peer scores.

There's not much fluctuation between years. For example this is last year, and it now looks like this for the PD first 20:

Harvard, Hopkins, UCSF, Penn
WashU, Stanford
Duke, Michigan, Columbia, UCLA
Cornell
Yale, Vandy, Northwestern
U Washington, Chicago, Pitt, Emory, Baylor
Mayo

 

[efle]

Is this thread satire ?

If not what is the other school you're worried about skipping for NYU?

 

[Psai]

If you are so concerned about the (very slight) drop NYU had this year in the rankings...then you should be MORE concerned about the reason it had gone up so significantly in recent years. It had less to do with NYU all of a sudden being a significantly better school, and more to to do with the massive influx of $$$ due to Sandy.

NYU is and has been consistently a well regarded school...a slight increase or decrease in their ranking will have no impact on your chances at a competitive residency. That is ALL on you!

You know hurricane sandy was 5 years ago? Do you really still think it's relevant lmao

 

[longhaul3]

You know hurricane sandy was 5 years ago? Do you really still think it's relevant lmao

This is a silly comment. NYU Langone got over a billion-dollar lump sum from FEMA after Sandy. They basically replaced all their clinical and research facilities.

NYU aside, Sandy is still hugely relevant in NYC and the nearby coastal areas. Subway repairs are going on every weekend and some projects still haven't started because the damage was so profound.

 

[hopefulcardiologist]

Thanks for the input everybody. I know that rankings can be overrated sometimes but there are some people who do care about them. Can anybody highlight the main reasons that one would care for rankings?
Also, it's hard for one to predict how likely NYU may drop in rankings over the next few years and by how much. But the main reason that NYU increased in ranking was due to the lump sum from hurricane Sandy. Since that was a lump sum, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that their rankings would go back down to 20-30 when the lump sum gets used up?

 

[Lucca]

Thanks for the input everybody. I know that rankings can be overrated sometimes but there are some people who do care about them. Can anybody highlight the main reasons that one would care for rankings?
Also, it's hard for one to predict how likely NYU may drop in rankings over the next few years and by how much. But the main reason that NYU increased in ranking was due to the lump sum from hurricane Sandy. Since that was a lump sum, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that their rankings would go back down to 20-30 when the lump sum gets used up?

Rankings are a proxy for reputation, which matters for a variety of reasons. The degree to which it matters will depend greatly on the individual and their goals/priorities.

The thrust of this thread is that reputation is unlikely to change over a short period of time, even if rankings do.

NYU has a good reputation.

 

[efle]

Can anybody highlight the main reasons that one would care for rankings?

You might care about research funding levels if you want to go into academic med. Most of the time though, as above, people care about reputation not the literal "research rank." NYU's reputation remains good (though not as good as the equivalently ranked programs) just as it has been for many years.

My understanding is that the lump sum doesn't boost them directly, there is no FEMA aid component to the US News rankings. It just allows them to set up all the infrastructure that then leads to many PIs + their NIH funding buoying NYU's rank. I don't think their research funding received per year is likely to drop precipitously any time soon. My personal guess is that they will continue to sit around where they were the last couple years in the ranks, and maybe in the long term they will gain in reputation as well.

If you can share the alternative you're considering you will get plenty of advice about how NYU's reputation compares

Edit: Alternatively if you prefer not to share, see the bottom half of this post if you're concerned about the reputation of NYU vs a different T20

 

[hopefulcardiologist]

You might care about research funding levels if you want to go into academic med. Most of the time though, as above, people care about reputation not the literal "research rank." NYU's reputation remains good (though not as good as the equivalently ranked programs) just as it has been for many years.

My understanding is that the lump sum doesn't boost them directly, there is no FEMA aid component to the US News rankings. It just allows them to set up all the infrastructure that then leads to many PIs + their NIH funding buoying NYU's rank. I don't think their research funding received per year is likely to drop precipitously any time soon. My personal guess is that they will continue to sit around where they were the last couple years in the ranks, and maybe in the long term they will gain in reputation as well.

If you can share the alternative you're considering you will get plenty of advice about how NYU's reputation compares

Edit: Alternatively if you prefer not to share, see the bottom half of this post if you're concerned about the reputation of NYU vs a different T20

Thanks, the alternative is Cornell. The fact that it's Ivey league is also appealing though I understand that shouldn't factor into my decision too much.

 

[Lucca]

Thanks, the alternative is Cornell. The fact that it's Ivey league is also appealing though I understand that shouldn't factor into my decision too much.

The "ivy" distinction doesnt mean anything for medical school, so youre right on that account.

 

[efle]

Thanks, the alternative is Cornell. The fact that it's Ivey league is also appealing though I understand that shouldn't factor into my decision too much.

Cornell is the stronger reputation, but they are similar enough (and will both have the same ability to establish regional ties if you want to match NYC) that you should decide on other factors for sure

 

[GnothiSeauton]

This is all quite speculative, but if I were you I would narrow down what my goals in medicine are, and choose the school based on the strength of their in-house programs. Your ability to match either inside or outside NYC is going to be comparable at either NYU or Cornell. However, if you are gunning for plastic surgery, neurosurgery, dermatology, or EM I would prioritize NYU just for the possibility of matching in-house. If you are interested in radiation oncology, ortho, internal medicine, psychiatry, or down the line rheumatology, oncology, or cardiology I would prioritize Cornell. Ultimately you can't really count on any of those things panning out the way you expect, or that your interests won't change. Overall I think it's pretty much a coin-flip for you, all else being equal.

 

[efle]

This is all quite speculative, but if I were you I would narrow down what my goals in medicine are, and choose the school based on the strength of their in-house programs. Your ability to match either inside or outside NYC is going to be comparable at either NYU or Cornell. However, if you are gunning for plastic surgery, neurosurgery, dermatology, or EM I would prioritize NYU just for the possibility of matching in-house. If you are interested in radiation oncology, ortho, internal medicine, psychiatry, or down the line rheumatology, oncology, or cardiology I would prioritize Cornell. Ultimately you can't really count on any of those things panning out the way you expect, or that your interests won't change. Overall I think it's pretty much a coin-flip for you, all else being equal.

Is the inbreeding effect that significant when the two schools in question are next to each other? Like you could walk down the street to a Sub-I lol

 

[GnothiSeauton]

Is the inbreeding effect that significant when the two schools in question are next to each other? Like you could walk down the street to a Sub-I lol

You're the stats guru, type it up! Anecdotally I've spoken to several students from both Columbia and Cornell and they all report that they have little cross-over even sharing the same teaching hospital, so I imagine there's even less between Cornell and NYU. If you're really motivated you could apply for away rotations, but my impression is most students still spend all their time in-house or with their particular hospital affiliates.

 

[EaglesontheWarpath]

Hi everybody,

Long time lurker and first time poster here.
I'm currently deciding between NYU and another top 20 school. I'm sure it's well known that NYU has gone up significantly in terms of its rank these years. However, the USnews 2018 rankings were just released and it looks like NYU has dropped slightly. I'm concerned about whether the rank will continue to drop over the time I'm in medical school and how that would affect my chances of getting a competitive residency.

How much do you think it would affect my residency applications if NYU drops back to around 30 in 4 years? What are the chances that it can fall even farther than that? Would it be prudent to go with the other school just to play it safe?

With the rankings, honestly nobody cares. A much more important consideration you should make is "does NYU have a really strong department/residency program for the type of medicine I was to go into?". Also, for residencies the school reputation (as previously said above) matters way more-if some program (lets say Princeton Med) had a kid from NYU rotate on their neurology service for an away rotation and he was a complete jerk, do you think they're ever going to want to take kids for their residency program from NYU? Generally, no. But if your school has a reputation of developing great applicants, that matters.

*I just saw @GnothiSeauton's post- I reiterate

 

[citykid92]

While OP is coming off as a bit overly focused on rankings, I think the question is interesting. Saying NYU has a good reputation isn't very helpful, that was true when it was ranked in the 30s and will remain true whether NYU stays near 10 or drops back down. However, that doesn't mean that its reputation is as strong as the other schools that have been in the top 20 for a long time. I'm not sure what the answer is in regards to what the national reputation of NYU is, but as someone who is interested in academic medicine I think it's a fair question.