Penn vs Columbia (WL) vs Cornell (WL)

[RhymesWithFun]

While it may seem like there aren't too many decisions left to make, I wanted to think ahead to potential waitlist movement in the coming week(s). Money is a very significant factor for me and my family, but for these schools, I am not too concerned considering their generous need-based packages.

University of Pennsylvania
Pros

• Total COA: ~$30,000 total debt after 4 year
• Locked in financial aid
• East coast city, as I would like to eventually end up in New York City
• Incredible hospital system, brand new buildings
• Philly is quite affordable (as someone coming from Chicago)
• Strong radiology
• Administration seems very approachable, second look was absolutely fantastic, and the student body seems friendly with a determined work hard/play hard mindset.
• P/F preclinical, AOA after match
• Great opportunities to get involved in West Philadelphia for community health and outreach.
• Great accessibility to Costco and Asian supermarkets assuming you have a bike or friend with a car -- or just pooling an Uber with fellow classmates.

Cons

• Not too sure if they are strong in surgery/plastic surgery/cardiology, which are specialties I'm interested in. I'm not even sure how to gauge this to be frank.
• Philly seems like a bit of a "downgrade" of a city in terms of size. Coming from Chicago, I was concerned about not having much to do, but it seems like a quaint city with lots of history, culture, and pride. Very walkable and rent is quite affordable.
• Not NYC (obviously) - but a somewhat short AMTRAK ride away.
• Lack of a public health school.
• A bit more a tighter academic curriculum

Columbia (Waitlist)
Pros

• COA: Unknown, but I'm assuming this will be good.
• Incredibly well connected to NYC (which is where I want to end up for residency) and will give me a leg in, especially for surgery, which I know Columbia will provide me ample exposure for.
• Great mission for the community, but I'm not sure how real this is.
• Mailman School for Public Health, great focus on narrative medicine
• P/F preclinical, AOA after match
• NYC. I would never be bored here and have the opportunity to be in the city that never sleeps in my early 20s.
• Online/Take home exams with free time afterwards to relax and focus on extracurriculars.

Cons

• Never attended second look, so I am completely unaware of the class environment, the physical environment, as well as how the administration is and the general culture of the school.
• Washington Heights is quaint, not the best area of NYC, but as a pro, gives ample opportunities for community health engagement.

Weill Cornell (Waitlist)
Pros

• COA: Unknown, but I'm assuming this will be good
• Very similar reasons as Columbia, but focus on orthopedic surgery.
• Strong research opportunity with Memorial Sloan Kettering for oncology (and potentially general surgery --> oncology related sub)
• Upper east side
• Subsidized housing
• Seems like school has great funding for its students and allows them to get engaged with the city and the things that it might have to offer.

Cons

• Also unknown student and school vibe as I was not able to attend second look.
• Not many opportunities to get involved with community health considering the upper east side location.

Summary: Overall, I'm conflicted. I didn't really consider Cornell vs Penn, but wanted to throw it out there as my dreams to go to NYC have been quite compelling. I don't think I've had the opportunity to thoroughly explore all of Philly, but I will say, it certainly felt "smaller" than Chicago, and certainly is not the cosmopolitan city that is NYC and the Manhattan area. Columbia, I've heard some gripes about student concerns and voices being dismissed, and I'm not exactly convinced it is the "collaborative" and supportive atmosphere that they might seem to paint -- but this might be something subconscious based on the things I've picked up reading about or hearing about throughout my application cycle.

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[Egg-Benedict]

It seems like you should be in NYC if you can. Assuming cost is the same, I would say it seems like Columbia should be your top choice (Mailman is great, and Columbia is the king of narrative medicine). In your shoes I would probably also pick Cornell over Penn if Columbia didn't come through

 

[RhymesWithFun]

It seems like you should be in NYC if you can. Assuming cost is the same, I would say it seems like Columbia should be your top choice (Mailman is great, and Columbia is the king of narrative medicine). In your shoes I would probably also pick Cornell over Penn if Columbia didn't come through

I guess I'm a little conflicted on whether there's a romanticization I have of NYC and being a medical student in NYC. But I can't imagine a better time to live in NYC with much of the costs paid for through need-based scholarships in my 20s. I do feel like the clinical sites being so closeby, established, and state of the art at Penn will be better for my career and interests, but it's hard to give up the idea of living in NYC.

For sure, the waitlist may not even happen, but I think I am trying to stay ahead so I'm not making rash decisions.