Pitt vs. Cornell

[peluche124]

Accepted off of Cornell’s waitlist last night and now torn as to what to do. To be honest, I didn’t have a “gut feeling” at either of these schools so emotionally I’m confused where to go. Any advice/knowledge on these two schools would be really helpful as I make my decision!! Thanks in advance

Pitt:
Pros:

• Have a sister I’m super close to who goes there, would be such a good emotional support
• Amazing hospital system
• Exams every few weeks line up with the way I learn
• Cheap cost of living - like 400-500/month corn living in a fairly large city as well as easy access to a lot of grocery stores (I love to cook and eat)
• Great school gym right next to the med school
• Great reputation in the med community

Cons:

• Far from home and from boyfriend who’s doing dental school in CT :/ (I’m from Mass) - after living abroad for a few years I also miss my family a lot, tbh, and the ability to go home for a weekend would mean a lot
• Not as good of a layman’s reputation as Cornell? I know this doesn’t matter as much though, just throwing this out there
• I wasn’t crazy about the school when I visited - like nothing overtly bad, but nothing particularly good either
• Not a lot of Spanish speakers - I learned Spanish with the goal of working with Spanish speaking underserved patients, but Pitt is a pretty black/white community

Cornell:
Pros:

• Have always wanted to live in NYC, and it’s like 2 hours from my house (so close to family and boyfriend) - also NYC is such a cool place to live in your twenties and has so much diversity
• Amazing hospital system as well, as well as Sloan Kettering and Rockefeller that are nearby
• Seems like they have a lot of money to throw at students (got the vibe from interview day)
• Subsidized housing

Cons:

• Cornell does weekly quizzes that fall on Mondays....that sounds so so stressful to me and friends in med school with that system say it sucks
• The vibe at Cornell for me was also really pretentious...I was the only person in my interview group who was from a public school and my interviewer straight up asked me why I chose to go to my state school (umm, because not everyone is rich?) my student host also didn’t seem too happy about her experience, I’m going to reach out to her again to see if her opinion has changed.
• Housing is dorm style, with every floor sharing one kitchen (I love to cook/eat and I want to stay healthy in med school and I feel like this would be a lot harder)
• I’ve always wanted to live in NYC, but it’s expensive and I don’t know if that would give me more stress

Ugh, writing this out it seems like Pitt makes more sense but NYC/close to home is so tempting. Any thoughts at all? Anything anybody can add to my lists? I’m waiting on financial aid at Cornell. Thank you SO much.

Sincerely, A pre med who can’t believe this cycle still isn’t over after starting this application over a year ago

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[docr3]

Hi potential future classmate(at pitt). I think this is a very tough decision, in terms of quality of school/research I think they are very equal. I would ask yourself what will ultimately make you happier, your life inside med school(vibe of the class, weekley quizzes) or your family and SO. I think at both schools you have to make a sacrifice in terms of happiness. To me, family and SO would mean more to me and I’d be willing to put up with the ivy personalities and weekly quizzes in order to be near family, but that’s just me. You have to decide which is more important. Good luck and congrats !!

 

[flyingeagle]

Just to offer some insight about the quizzes here at Cornell, the weekly exams are only for the first semester and yes they can be annoying. Sometimes they’re on Friday though so you get a couple completely free weekends. I liked them because anatomy is so much info and I can’t imagine having two weeks of anatomy material tested at once. Despite this, me and some classmates were able to work super hard during the week so we could take some weekends mostly off (takes a lot of discipline though). I left the city about 4 weekends last semester, and I did completely fine on quizzes.

Also, in the second and third semester the quizzes are every other week, usually on Fridays, so lifestyle is a lot better!

 

[peluche124]

Just to offer some insight about the quizzes here at Cornell, the weekly exams are only for the first semester and yes they can be annoying. Sometimes they’re on Friday though so you get a couple completely free weekends. I liked them because anatomy is so much info and I can’t imagine having two weeks of anatomy material tested at once. Despite this, me and some classmates were able to work super hard during the week so we could take some weekends mostly off (takes a lot of discipline though). I left the city about 4 weekends last semester, and I did completely fine on quizzes.

Also, in the second and third semester the quizzes are every other week, usually on Fridays, so lifestyle is a lot better!

Hi, that's awesome to hear!! Can I message you to talk a little more about this curriculum stuff?

 

[flyingeagle]

Hi, that's awesome to hear!! Can I message you to talk a little more about this curriculum stuff?

Yes of course!

 

[neuroresearchguy23]

Hi! Congrats on both acceptances. I was just curious if you had made a decision? (Disclosure I'm on one of those WLs ).

 

[peluche124]

Hi! Congrats on both acceptances. I was just curious if you had made a decision? (Disclosure I'm on one of those WLs ).

Haha, currently waiting on financial aid from Cornell but I'll let you know when I make a decision!

 

[neuroresearchguy23]

Haha, currently waiting on financial aid from Cornell but I'll let you know when I make a decision!

Awesome, thank you!!! Hope you get what you want