Penn vs. Cornell

Pick based on the area you want to live in. Both are fantastic schools. Cornell has an excellent program and if you went to second look, you know they're a great school and your classmates next year are going to be a lot of fun. Penn also has an obviously fantastic program, including shortened classtime/lengthened clinical time. I saw a lot of similarities between the schools and the students who go there. The big difference is NYC vs Philly. I love both cities but New York scares me. I'll go there if I don't get off the Penn waitlist, but I'd prefer Philly.

Also, go to Philly this weekend and see how the Penn preview goes, that might make up your mind.

In short:
Philly vs NYC
Fin Aid??
Roll the dice, you can't lose


PS - Go to Cornell and give your Penn spot to me!

 

lets face it cant go wrong at either school, but when you put it on paper (regardless of what US News says) Cornell seems to have a strong case

Cornell PROS -
smaller class size (100 vs 145)
unbelievable facilities (med school and hospital) - arguably the new med school builidng is the best teaching building at any med school right now
arguably in the nicest location in Manhattan, and has great subsidized housing
Manhattan, esp east side near Cornell , is much safer than Philly
no need for a car

Penn PROS
arguably the best place in world to train in pediatrics
great combined degree (masters) programs
location on an undergrad campus (I think this is a pro ??)
students required to do a "research" project (I think this is a pro if you want to do research, BUT obviously a negative if you dont)


I know Penn gets more research dollars than Cornell Med school, but when you add in Cornell's related facilities next door (Sloan Kettering and Rockefeller) its hard to maintain Penn a superior research environment..
restaurant scene is obviously more diverse at Cornell, but Penn/Philly ahve a very good dining scene as well..culturally there is more happening right next to penn campus, but when you factor in Manhattan as a whole, hard to deny that is a pro for Cornell...Cornell is a bit more PBL oriented than Penn, Cornell give sstudents more time to prep for part 1 USMLE

 

Personally, I was going to Penn if I got in, so that's where I'd lean. Cornell is heavy on PBL, while Penn is more traditional. Penn also has you in the clinics starting Jan. of year 2, which was the huge draw for me.