NYU Vs. Mt Sinai

[JambaZeus]

Hello Everyone!
Long time lurker, figured I would make an account to help resolve my dilemma!
I was just accepted off the Mt. Sinai waitlist today, and I have to decide between the two before the end of next week.
I am not from NYC, so I don't know anything about the relative pros and cons of each location.
I received a 15000k scholarship from NYU, so the costs are equal (though NYU has offered me slightly more favorable loans; 5% compared to 6.8)
I believe that I prefer the 2 year curriculum at Sinai to the 1.5 year at NYU
I don't think I care too much about the connection to an undergrad institution
I liked Sinai's housing better than NYU's (the limited view I got)
Didn't go to either second look weekend
Kind of like Sinai's smaller class, less thrilled that it's more of a traditional-student school (I graduated in 2012).

Would really, really love any help!

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[gettheleadout]

Moving to the main School-Specific Discussions forum.

 

[PlOkmIjn]

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[aspirantmed]

NYU is in a much more commercial part of New York City, being located right on 34th and 1st. On the bright side, this is a much more social and active part of the city, but you also have the tradeoff of living in a more costly, touristy part of the city. Mount Sinai is more removed, but you can get to the parts of NYC that are more culturally and socially rich in about 15-20min via subway if you need to. It's also a really nice area - the Upper East Side has a pretty high socioeconomic status.

Clinicals are strong for both schools. NYU has Bellevue, which is a very well-known public hospital that serves an incredibly socioeconomically diverse population. At the same time, Mount Sinai has been making lots of serious acquisitions in recent years and now has the biggest clinical network in the city - Sinai, Elmhurst, the Bronx VA, St. Luke's, Beth Israel, as well as some community hospital sites in New Jersey (Englewood, Atlantic Health). You can't really go wrong either way.

If cost and clinical training are comparable, your decision should really consider what you prefer when it comes to (1) educational structure and curriculum, (2) social atmosphere and student life, and (3) location (though I'd argue this isn't such a huge factor because NYC is NYC).

 

[cemeg]

I'm in a similar situation. Was originally accepted to Sinai and now NYU took me off the waitlist. NYU comes out to be cheaper (not sure why, but somehow more generous with aid). For the most part people seem to say Sinai is cheaper but that isn't true for me. NYU comes out to be $15-20 grand cheaper.

One thing that I felt was that the faculty at Sinai were much more approachable and friendlier. They seemed to care the most for their students out of all the schools I interviewed at. However, that said I don't think NYU students ever have trouble finding research & mentors. They also have slightly higher STEP 1 scores, though NYU is on the rise. 231 for NYU vs around 235 for Sinai on the Step 1. NYU has a 1.5 with the STEP 1 AFTER core clerkships while Sinai follows a very traditional structure. Sinai takes tests on the honor system while NYU seems to be more traditional with exams. Both student groups felt pretty similar to me. Sinai housing is superior and closer to the park. NYU housing is alright and closer to midtown/downtown. Clinical experiences will be very similar and largely based upon Elmhurst vs. Bellevue. A slightly advantage does go to NYU because all hopsitals are 5-10 minute walking and I think Bellevue is slightly better. Also, NYU has a higher ranked medical center with better competitive residencies such as ortho, derm and radiology. Considering that many students match back into their schools, this might be a plus if you have an interest. However, Sinai has a few good ones too, one big one being geriatrics. Another thing to keep in mind is that over the past few years, both NYUs hospital and medical school has been on the rise in terms of rankings (however much that means). Maybe this trend will continue? NYU has also been pushing more money into aid and increasing the bar for acceptance (raising MCAT and GPA averages). Their school is also jumping up quickly in the rankings, tieing with sinai on the USNews this year. Sinai seems to be fairly stagnant (though maintaining a top 20 rank). Again, I don't know how much the rankings/numbers really means, but it might be a factor.

A little bit of rambling, but I hope this helps.... I cant decide either, but I think I am leaning towards NYU.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

I'm in a similar situation. Was originally accepted to Sinai and now NYU took me off the waitlist. NYU comes out to be cheaper (not sure why, but somehow more generous with aid). For the most part people seem to say Sinai is cheaper but that isn't true for me. NYU comes out to be $15-20 grand cheaper.

One thing that I felt was that the faculty at Sinai were much more approachable and friendlier. They seemed to care the most for their students out of all the schools I interviewed at. However, that said I don't think NYU students ever have trouble finding research & mentors. They also have slightly higher STEP 1 scores, though NYU is on the rise. 231 for NYU vs around 235 for Sinai on the Step 1. NYU has a 1.5 with the STEP 1 AFTER core clerkships while Sinai follows a very traditional structure. Sinai takes tests on the honor system while NYU seems to be more traditional with exams. Both student groups felt pretty similar to me. Sinai housing is superior and closer to the park. NYU housing is alright and closer to midtown/downtown. Clinical experiences will be very similar and largely based upon Elmhurst vs. Bellevue. A slightly advantage does go to NYU because all hopsitals are 5-10 minute walking and I think Bellevue is slightly better. Also, NYU has a higher ranked medical center with better competitive residencies such as ortho, derm and radiology. Considering that many students match back into their schools, this might be a plus if you have an interest. However, Sinai has a few good ones too, one big one being geriatrics. Another thing to keep in mind is that over the past few years, both NYUs hospital and medical school has been on the rise in terms of rankings (however much that means). Maybe this trend will continue? NYU has also been pushing more money into aid and increasing the bar for acceptance (raising MCAT and GPA averages). Their school is also jumping up quickly in the rankings, tieing with sinai on the USNews this year. Sinai seems to be fairly stagnant (though maintaining a top 20 rank). Again, I don't know how much the rankings/numbers really means, but it might be a factor.

A little bit of rambling, but I hope this helps.... I cant decide either, but I think I am leaning towards NYU.

Similar situation, made the other decision. While I didn't have that big of a $$ difference (NYU might have been 1-2000/yr cheaper, 15-20k might have swayed me...), I really wasn't looking to be in the middle of everything. I liked the more community-oriented feel I got at Sinai, and I was impressed by the growing umbrella of hospitals associated with the school. I preferred the traditional curriculum, and the housing is unbelievable.
There really is no wrong choice here, any difference is nitpicking. See you in Manhattan!

 

[snowflakes]

Congrats on getting off the waitlist! Can I ask why you prefer the 2 year pre-clinical curriculum at Mt. Sinai to the 1.5 year one at NYU? I initially preferred the 2 year curriculum myself, as I thought the 1.5 year would be too fast paced. However, after talking to multiple students with each type of curriculum, it seems that the 1.5 year isn't really more intense or rushed (but this is a different story with the 1 year preclinical curriculum). Plus, the extra 6 months to explore specialties and get your residency application together seems like a huge benefit to me. Same with taking Step 1 after the clinical year--all the students who do this say that seeing clinical scenarios really helped them prepare for Step 1, as did taking all of the shelf exams before step 1. Anyway, just a couple things to think about! Good luck with your decision!!

 

[ace12345]

Congrats on getting off the waitlist! Can I ask why you prefer the 2 year pre-clinical curriculum at Mt. Sinai to the 1.5 year one at NYU? I initially preferred the 2 year curriculum myself, as I thought the 1.5 year would be too fast paced. However, after talking to multiple students with each type of curriculum, it seems that the 1.5 year isn't really more intense or rushed (but this is a different story with the 1 year preclinical curriculum). Plus, the extra 6 months to explore specialties and get your residency application together seems like a huge benefit to me. Same with taking Step 1 after the clinical year--all the students who do this say that seeing clinical scenarios really helped them prepare for Step 1, as did taking all of the shelf exams before step 1. Anyway, just a couple things to think about! Good luck with your decision!!

Yeah I personally would trade a lot to get into the 1.5 year curriculum. This seems like - and I've heard - is a really good way to get into residency exploration and serious research sooner. For those interested in competitive specialities, it really seems like the way to go.

 

[hopefulMD12]

Sinai is massively overrated on SDN. I was very underwhelmed when I went for interviews. NYU.

 

[Patros]

Sinai is massively overrated on SDN. I was very underwhelmed when I went for interviews. NYU.

I've never been to Sinai, so I'm no expert, but what happened in the interview? At least on paper, Sinai is a pretty big deal. Mt Sinai is now the biggest health system in New York (bigger than NYP), has the 2nd most NIH research funding after Columbia, and is in a pretty nice location to boot. Seems like the hype is well-deserved to me.

Anyway, my vote still goes to NYU. Langone's location is incredible, unlike any other hospital I've seen. Many schools like to say "we're in the city, it's exciting here yada yada," but they're usually on the fringes, or outskirts of their respective cities. NYU-Langone and Bellevue are right in the thick of it, walking distance to all the most famous and lively places in NYC. And of course, they have a ton of resources comparable to Sinai.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

I've never been to Sinai, so I'm no expert, but what happened in the interview? At least on paper, Sinai is a pretty big deal. Mt Sinai is now the biggest health system in New York (bigger than NYP), has the 2nd most NIH research funding after Columbia, and is in a pretty nice location to boot. Seems like the hype is well-deserved to me.

Anyway, my vote still goes to NYU. Langone's location is incredible, unlike any other hospital I've seen. Many schools like to say "we're in the city, it's exciting here yada yada," but they're usually on the fringes, or outskirts of their respective cities. NYU-Langone and Bellevue are right in the thick of it, walking distance to all the most famous and lively places in NYC. And of course, they have a ton of resources comparable to Sinai.

Based on location, I'd also go with NYU.

 

[el_duderino]

NYU. You're in the middle of everything. It's all right there. Fantastic location.

 

[Amba]

If costs are roughly equal, NYU for sure.

 

[Purplownz]

Totally depends on what you want to do. If medicine or its sub-specialties (cardiology, GI, etc.) then Sinai all the way. If ENT, ophtho (Sinai just bought NYEE), CT surgery, or anesthesia then I'd also pick Sinai. If ortho, derm, radiology, or plastics I'd probably pick NYU although Sinai kids match NYU rads and ortho as well.

 

[Fabio Lanzoni]

Didn't interview at NYU, but I believe Sinai lives up to its hype. I was ultimately rejected and even with a bad interviewer I still really liked the atmosphere of the school.

 

[mistoffelees]

Totally depends on what you want to do. If medicine or its sub-specialties (cardiology, GI, etc.) then Sinai all the way. If ENT, ophtho (Sinai just bought NYEE), CT surgery, or anesthesia then I'd also pick Sinai. If ortho, derm, radiology, or plastics I'd probably pick NYU although Sinai kids match NYU rads and ortho as well.

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a rising MS-4 at Sinai.

This is correct. Sinai is very strong in internal medicine and its subspecialties and you will get excellent training in these fields. We also traditionally match very well in Medicine-related fields. NYU does have stronger programs in ortho and plastic surgery. One of the biggest factors for me personally that I would advocate for people to come here now is our huge integrated clinical network in the city. We are in the process of merging all of the EMRs and if you think about it, the amount of patient data you have access to to do clinical research is simply phenomenal. I'm actually doing my medicine sub-i later on this year at Beth Israel downtown, as one of the first cohorts to start at the Continuum hospitals. If you're MS-3 and below, they're already integrating all of these sites into the clinical exposure rotations and I feel like if anything, Sinai is on the upswing when it comes to offering stronger clinical experiences.

True, we live on 96th St but the walk to the subway is <5 minutes, and I'm usually down by Union Sq in around 20 minutes. It's really not that much of a hassle and our proximity to Central Park more than makes up for it (I can see Central Park from my balcony in Aron!). I also really love the flexibility in exam-taking that I had during the preclinical years, and also after the revamped the curriculum they actually addressed one of the biggest concerns that I had initially about the preclinical curriculum - the fact that we get little clinical exposure early on. Now, all Sinai students learn history-taking + the entire physical exam during their first year. This is an excellent move in the right direction and I believe our future students will be stronger clinically for that. As for 1.5 curriculum, I really can't say too much about it but I felt like I took Step 1 at the right time for me, and 1.5 would probably be too hectic (I can't imagine having to remember stuff about the urea cycle after having done clinicals). We still do fine on the boards in a traditional curriculum, so I don't really think this is all that necessary. I think it's a very personal thing and there isn't a clear plus/minus.

Also, re: the additional time you have to explore competitive subspecialties with 1.5 -- it's almost an unwritten requirement now that if you want to go into one of the highly competitive surgical specialities + derm +/- rads to take time off to do research and enhance your understanding in the field. I don't think a few months of taking electives will really help you that much if you want to match competitively in the field anyway, so at best your "advantage" is not as significant as it seems.

 

[cemeg]

It was great reading through the advice in this thread. I have to say it is interesting to see more support for NYU. Threads in the past seem to overwhelmingly favor Mt Sinai.

Thanks everyone for the advice! My decision ultimately was NYU. Hope to see some of you there.