NYU v. Einstein scholarship

[theinlines]

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I'd been all set to go to NYU in August when Einstein took me off the WL the other day and offered a $25k/year merit scholarship. NYU will not budge in terms of offering me anything. I have no idea what to do!

The money offered is significant enough that it makes me seriously question going to fantastic NYU but not so significant that this is a no-brainer 😕

 

[e8ter]

those are both fantastic programs and a total of 100K is pretty significant, but def go with your gut

 

[theinlines]

blehh my gut is too stressed/confused to have a clear answer 🙁

 

[MDPhDJourney]

I would choose NYU, but only because I plan on doing a surgical sub-specialty in private practice. If I was interested in being a FP or pediatric hospitalist I'd choose Einstein and save myself 100K.

Congrats on both acceptances. You should bring Einstein's scholarship offer to the attention of the NYU admissions/FA committee and see if they'll match it; I know some schools do that.

 

[NYFan]

Congrats, i know its stressful but those are really exciting choices to have! i'm a lifer in NY and can tell you that both schools are very highly regarded, especially in research (I was even told on my intv elsewhere that for research, Einstein was one of the best). I'd think about where you want to live after school too and how much saving that money will help in the long run. you really can't go wrong regarding the school so if the money helps, i say go with einstein!

 

[theinlines]

Thanks, all! I definitely do not want to live/work in the Bronx after med school (I say this from experience as my parent is a physician that works at one of Einstein's clinical training hospitals). But..there's no question that taking Einstein's offer would cut my debt in half....so where does that leave me? sigh

 

[NYFan]

I worked at NYU and most of the staff had gone to Einstein--definitely does not limit you to staying in the bronx! being in the NY circuit will open doors for residency all over NY, but you definitely have to be ok up there for the 4 years during school.

 

[rappingdoc]

This question actually convinced me to register, because I have quite the interest in medical school finances. First of all in addition to the 25k, base NYU tuition is 4-6k more so look at it almost like 30k/year. Furthermore, housing at Einstein is very well priced and, iirc, is like 5,000-7,000/year, whereas NYU is like 10-12,000/year (very good for heart of the city but still much more), and Einstein apartments are on the whole much better especially compared to Greenberg Hall(?) where most first year (and maybe even second year but not sure) students are assigned. In total, I would say that Einstein, will on basic fees (tuition, fees, room/board) be around 35-40k cheaper per year.

I would choose NYU, but only because I plan on doing a surgical sub-specialty in private practice. If I was interested in being a FP or pediatric hospitalist I'd choose Einstein and save myself 100K.

I'm not sure how a desire to go into private practice would affect this decision. NYU is nominally higher ranked but both schools have similar levels of 'prestige', especially in the NY area. There are many residency programs in which Einstein has been considered 'stronger' than NYU, and the students of each school match into the top competitive programs regularly in New York and nationwide. If you are considering that the extra money made as a private practitioner would render the extra money trivial, I have to say I would definitely disagree, and in fact argue the opposite especially. Private practice is where I have seen the absolute least correlation between clinical reputation/financial success and medschool 'prestige', so saving that 150k is a no brainer and in fact would go a long way towards helping pursue your goal (opening a practice, buying equipment, etc.)

Honestly, no matter what you want to pursue, 150k in total savings makes Einstein a no-brainer decision, especially considering that Einstein has a good deal of positives relative to NYU.

 

[occipital2013]

Congratulations on your acceptances!

Last month, I was in a similar dilemma between UCSF and UCSD with a scholarship (reverse though, I first got into UCSD and then into UCSF off the waitlist; interesting how Einstein took you from the waitlist and then gave you $25k/year; they must've decided they really like you!).

Anyway, I ultimately chose UCSF. While both match similarly well into California and have excellent research, community involvement, teaching, etc, I went to visit both schools to see which was a better "fit" for me.

What did fit involve? The most important part, for me, was moving to a new environment. I'd been born and raised in SoCal and thought that moving to NorCal would encourage some personal growth that I wouldn't get in my home area (I've already felt the challenge of the new environment while searching long and hard for housing in SF, which wasn't easy!). Other stuff, such as better global health opportunities and arguably more innovation at UCSF, also figured into my decision, and ultimately, I found that I preferred UCSF in the things that mattered most to me.

Go with your gut. I knew I'd be so happy at both places (and probably happier in terms of chill, sunny, laid-back quality of life in SoCal), but I just felt that UCSF was where I should go.

Of course, do your whole pros/cons list. Here's a resource I found through UCSF that looks pretty self-explanatory and campy but seems actually really helpful: https://decisionaid.ohri.ca/docs/das/OPDG.pdf

How important is it for you to try out a new environment? Are you interested in academic medicine, research, private practice, policy, etc? What about the clinical training at both hospitals? Ask the questions you think are most important, and you'll figure something out.

Good luck with your decision! You can't go wrong with either 👍

 

[gmcguitar4]

You will pay back the debt regardless of where you go. Both are great schools. Their rankings are based off of research, so if you are interested in research then goto the better ranked. Just goto the school where you think you will be happiest. You will probably perform the best there.

 

[rappingdoc]

Yes, you'll pay back the debt regardless. The question is how long it will take and how much of your hard-earned money you will be parted from (or if your parent's are footing the bill, what the sticker price is). 150k by itself is what someone starting in a sub-specialty might net after taxes.

 

[theinlines]

Thanks, everyone, for your input! At the end of the day and after many long discussions with my family, I have to go with my heart- NYU. It's just not quite enough money to dissuade me from my dream school.

 

[devinakbv]

those are both fantastic programs and a total of 100K is pretty significant