NYU vs. Penn vs. Stanford vs. Yale

[lurker_futuremd]

Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster haha. Unsure on specialty right now, but want to end up in academic medicine with research as part of my career. Appreciate any input! Thanks!

NYU
Cost - Full COA scholarship

Pros
-Prime NYC location
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Diversity of training sites
-Strong clinical subspecialties
-Small class size (100)

Cons
-Overall reputation?? When talking with my mentors about schools they are generally confused why I am still considering NYU
-Did not like my interview day, have not experienced anything positive to convince me I would enjoy being a student there since then
-Less research opportunities overall in areas of my interest
-Match list heavily NYC, seems less impressive to me overall

Penn
Cost - $~50k/ year 🙁

Pros
-T5 prestige, excellent match list
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Strong research in areas of my interest
-Attention seemed to be placed on medical students and MD education/curriculum
-Great space dedicated for students, new hospital being built right next to SOM
-Best overall feeling on/after interview day

Cons
-Competitive? Internal ranking, AOA
-Although flexibility was emphasized on interview day, since then when talking to students/faculty I haven’t felt as much support for students wanting to pursue extra years/research/etc.
-Larger class size (150)

Stanford
Cost - Full tuition scholarship + $7k living expenses/year (probably $15-20k in loans per year)

Pros
-T5 prestige, excellent match list
-Strong research in areas of my interest
-Have been given guaranteed funding for a research year
-Seems like they have an incredible amount of resources and mentorship per student
-Pass/pass later grading, no AOA, etc
-Strong medical Spanish program to pursue goal of becoming bilingual provider
-TA opportunities to pay down debt
-Weather and the outdoors!

Cons
-2 year pre-clinical
-Known for students being quirky/non-traditional, not sure if I fit in?
-Not into bay area tech/startup culture vibes
-Less breadth of clinical experiences? "boutique hospital"
-Would probably need car eventually

Yale
Cost - Almost full COA scholarship ($3-5k in loans per year)

Pros
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Flexible "Yale System,” low stress
-Mentorship and support for individual students seems very strong, faculty seem very eager to get to know students and take them under their wing
-Students say 5th year of funded research is basically guaranteed for students who want
-Small class size (100)
-Well-known for being low stress environment, true P/F
-Overall prestige of university system

Cons
-Clinical programs not as highly regarded
-Lay prestige > medical prestige
-New Haven difficult to travel to and from
-Too unstructured for my taste?
-Community of students doesn’t seem as tight

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[Lawpy]

can you get penn to match

 

[lurker_futuremd]

can you get penn to match

I already asked and unfortunately they said they can't...

 

[Lawpy]

I already asked and unfortunately they said they can't...

in that case, i'd take it out of the list because cost matters and your other options are just as great while also being a lot cheaper.

can't go wrong with any option for your goals, but if things like prestige matter, Stanford may be the best choice.

 

[DokterMom]

NYU is a great school with a reputation that is improving dramatically as the caliber of students goes up. Free tuition will do that for you... Your mentors are just behind the times. That said --If you don't really like NYC and didn't vibe well, I'd listen to that. NYC is a very 'strong flavor' and it's one people seem to either love or hate. If you hate it, I couldn't really recommend it.

Penn has one of the best match lists in the country. So does Stanford. Either of those schools would be excellent choices, but I certainly couldn't argue that Penn is $30K per year better than Stanford. Do you like Penn $30K more? Are Stanford's suburban hospitals $30K/year less appropriate for your area of interest? Yale's great, but it doesn't seem to be quite as well-regarded as Stanford and Penn, so unless you like it a lot better than Stanford...

Do you know where you want to end up living? While you'll have your choice of locale from any of these schools, if you know you want to live on either coast, a school on that coast could improve your networking opportunities.

 

[TempuraOreos]

I agree with @DokterMom.

Based on your options, the pro/cons, and what seems to matter to you both short-term and long-term, Yale or Stanford seems like where you're leaning towards. Not sure what you're financial situation is like, but extra debt is never worth it in my opinion so Penn might be off the table.


**Side note: I would've said NYU because I'm a current NYU student who's always down to talk about my school and why I like it here. But, it seems you're leaning elsewhere. Fwiw, I had similar choices last year; feel free to DM me! 🙂

 

[lurker_futuremd]

NYU is a great school with a reputation that is improving dramatically as the caliber of students goes up. Free tuition will do that for you... Your mentors are just behind the times. That said --If you don't really like NYC and didn't vibe well, I'd listen to that. NYC is a very 'strong flavor' and it's one people seem to either love or hate. If you hate it, I couldn't really recommend it.

Penn has one of the best match lists in the country. So does Stanford. Either of those schools would be excellent choices, but I certainly couldn't argue that Penn is $30K per year better than Stanford. Do you like Penn $30K more? Are Stanford's suburban hospitals $30K/year less appropriate for your area of interest? Yale's great, but it doesn't seem to be quite as well-regarded as Stanford and Penn, so unless you like it a lot better than Stanford...

Do you know where you want to end up living? While you'll have your choice of locale from any of these schools, if you know you want to live on either coast, a school on that coast could improve your networking opportunities.

All great points, thank you! I'm not quite sure where I want to end up living. If I had to decide now I would like to do residency on the East coast but it doesn't seem like Stanford would get in the way of that?

 

[FatherTime-PhD]

All great points, thank you! I'm not quite sure where I want to end up living. If I had to decide now I would like to do residency on the East coast but it doesn't seem like Stanford would get in the way of that?

No, it wouldn't not.

Just reading your pros and cons, Stanford sounds like the place to be. These are all phenomenal choices and the money you're getting at each of these schools just sweetens the deal. Again, my gut says Stanford, but there is no wrong choice here.

 

[deleted393595]

Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster haha. Unsure on specialty right now, but want to end up in academic medicine with research as part of my career. Appreciate any input! Thanks!

NYU
Cost - Full COA scholarship

Pros
-Prime NYC location
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Diversity of training sites
-Strong clinical subspecialties
-Small class size (100)

Cons
-Overall reputation?? When talking with my mentors about schools they are generally confused why I am still considering NYU
-Did not like my interview day, have not experienced anything positive to convince me I would enjoy being a student there since then
-Less research opportunities overall in areas of my interest
-Match list heavily NYC, seems less impressive to me overall

Penn
Cost - $~50k/ year 🙁

Pros
-T5 prestige, excellent match list
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Strong research in areas of my interest
-Attention seemed to be placed on medical students and MD education/curriculum
-Great space dedicated for students, new hospital being built right next to SOM
-Best overall feeling on/after interview day

Cons
-Competitive? Internal ranking, AOA
-Although flexibility was emphasized on interview day, since then when talking to students/faculty I haven’t felt as much support for students wanting to pursue extra years/research/etc.
-Larger class size (150)

Stanford
Cost - Full tuition scholarship + $7k living expenses/year (probably $15-20k in loans per year)

Pros
-T5 prestige, excellent match list
-Strong research in areas of my interest
-Have been given guaranteed funding for a research year
-Seems like they have an incredible amount of resources and mentorship per student
-Pass/pass later grading, no AOA, etc
-Strong medical Spanish program to pursue goal of becoming bilingual provider
-TA opportunities to pay down debt
-Weather and the outdoors!

Cons
-2 year pre-clinical
-Known for students being quirky/non-traditional, not sure if I fit in?
-Not into bay area tech/startup culture vibes
-Less breadth of clinical experiences? "boutique hospital"
-Would probably need car eventually

Yale
Cost - Almost full COA scholarship ($3-5k in loans per year)

Pros
-1.5 yr pre-clinical
-Flexible "Yale System,” low stress
-Mentorship and support for individual students seems very strong, faculty seem very eager to get to know students and take them under their wing
-Students say 5th year of funded research is basically guaranteed for students who want
-Small class size (100)
-Well-known for being low stress environment, true P/F
-Overall prestige of university system

Cons
-Clinical programs not as highly regarded
-Lay prestige > medical prestige
-New Haven difficult to travel to and from
-Too unstructured for my taste?
-Community of students doesn’t seem as tight

I go to a T5 school. Here's my perspective:

Stanford >>> all.

Incredible match list and opportunities w/ an institutional push for students to get a MD while specializing in an outside interest.

NYU is an up and coming program, but doesn't have anywhere close to the institutional expertise and depth of the other schools. Your mentors are right about it.

Also Stanford matches a significant proportion of their class at MGH, so you'll be fine if you want to return to the East coast

 

[proudofmykids]

Choice order
Stanford>Yale>NYU>Penn