Originally posted by dara678
DEFINITELY NYU. I'm not talking hot air here ... I go to NU for undergrad, and have friends who go to the med school. Yes, Northwestern Med School has the hefty name of the undergrad behind it, which probably brings in some good residencies, but the clinical training sucks. The rich people at Northwestern Memorial refuse to let med students come near them, so basically you're stuck observing rather than actually DOING anything. Also, the research here isn't that great (although I have no idea about NYU). I was actually advised by a Northwestern Med School professor NOT to apply here, because there were other, better places.
Yeah, the med school is in the heart of downtown Chicago, but a couple times down the Magnificent Mile should be enough to satisfy anyone's urges ... NYU is in Manhattan, and, well, being in NYC should speak for itself.
For me, the pros of going to Northwestern would be: good reputation, all PBL, location in downtown Chicago.
Cons: subpar clinical training, horrible weather (especially in downtown, where it just becomes wind tunnels), a third of class funnelled in from the HPME (BA-MD) program.
Pros of NYU: good reputation, NYC (!!), excellent training at bellevue, excellent location in manhattan
Cons: Somewhat older facilities and dorms, not quite as well known as Northwestern (?), and not a lot of PBL.