Ok, So I just got back from my long trip to New York City again. Almost got killed by a crazy shuttle driver.
Thoughts on each school AFTER a second visit to most of them.
Columbia: Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to get back to this school as it was too far away. Cornell students talk trash on them and say they are in class all day. I did talk to a friend of a friend who goes there now. They are SWITCHING their grading system from H/P/F to P/F!!! So that's pretty sweet! Location: SUCKS...far away but subway is super easy.
NYU: Interesting class I guess. The students seem semi-happy but fairly busy as well. ALL the students I talked to DID NOT do ANY research for their first 2 to 3 years there. This is the first school where they seem to not put any emphasis on that. My interviewer said most of the class was filled and then started asking me if I was related to anyone at NYU or had a parent who worked there...Guess that's not a great sign..but at the end he said he would recommend me for acceptance (so that was cool 🙂 ) The main claim to fame that they have is Bellevue. People seem to go through a harder first couple years just so they can have the "Bellevue Experience" On the other good side, you have a TON of connections to other NYU graduate programs, the undergrad campus, etc They continuously go out with people in the law program or other programs and have contests and all the fun stuff....they seem fairly traditional in a lot of ways too. Large class size though. Oh, these students are MAJOR $hit talkers on other schools. However, my tour guide was really cool and he was honest about the whole process and really did like the school. Oh, the dorms here absolutely are horrible! shared coed bathrooms with little dinky room and a messy kitchen. NYU library = HORRIBLE! SMALL and they have to share it with dental students...I don't know how they ever study there. NYU versus Sinai? Not sure...that'll be a tough decision!
Cornell: Overrated? Perhaps. The "PBL" system seems interesting. Unfortunately, the computers in the PBL rooms are ALL MACS! YUCK! 😛 The other thing, they have at least 1 lecture a day so it's not complete PBL. This makes it much more appealing. The dorms are ok...better than NYU but still one shared bathroom between two people (not bad at all). Rooms are a little larger than NYU. Location for both NYU and Cornell is great.
Mount Sinai: I saved this one for last 🙂 Sinai would be my top choice in NYC if it weren't for a few reasons. First off, important email was sent to students a couple days ago...tuition at Mount Sinai will be increasing over the course of the next four years!! So basically first year will be 23K, then 27K, then 30K!!! OUCH! They bit off more than they could chew with that NYU merger. ALSO, they are now accepting 120 students rather than the 100 they usually accepted. I am scared of going to this school and getting screwed later on b/c of some bad business deals. HOWEVER, after saying this, I still freaking LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!!!!!! BEAUTIFUL hospital!!! The students are SOOO HAPPY! I was stopping a bunch of them outside the residence hall to talk to them yesterday and they were all commenting how they loved the school and took time to talk to me EVEN THOUGH they had a test the next day. One took me up to her room and their housing is AWESOME! Four people to an apartment style housing. Large common room with kitchenette. BIG rooms (compared to other NYC schools). P/F system and all the students seem to be having a great time. Definitely a better vibe from here. ALSO, these students did NOT talk trash on ANY other schools. Most said, "if you get into Columbia or cornell, you should go there!" which is surprising but it doesn't make me consider those schools more. They were just expressing that those schools have the rep that makes them so great. Sinai is right on the fringe of central park too which makes it a nice place to "get away" from the city.
Oh, and as for gyms...I know Watcha wanted me to look for him and I was interested too.
The best is by far MOUNT SINAI. They have a super clean and nice gym PLUS they give you a free pass to "The Y" (???)...which is a gym nearby that has everything you want.
The next best was Cornell. By "next best", I really should say if Sinai was rated 100, Cornell is rated about a 50 or so. The only reason they got any points was b/c they had a basketball court 🙂 Then NYU and Columbia come in last...
Thoughts on each school AFTER a second visit to most of them.
Columbia: Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to get back to this school as it was too far away. Cornell students talk trash on them and say they are in class all day. I did talk to a friend of a friend who goes there now. They are SWITCHING their grading system from H/P/F to P/F!!! So that's pretty sweet! Location: SUCKS...far away but subway is super easy.
NYU: Interesting class I guess. The students seem semi-happy but fairly busy as well. ALL the students I talked to DID NOT do ANY research for their first 2 to 3 years there. This is the first school where they seem to not put any emphasis on that. My interviewer said most of the class was filled and then started asking me if I was related to anyone at NYU or had a parent who worked there...Guess that's not a great sign..but at the end he said he would recommend me for acceptance (so that was cool 🙂 ) The main claim to fame that they have is Bellevue. People seem to go through a harder first couple years just so they can have the "Bellevue Experience" On the other good side, you have a TON of connections to other NYU graduate programs, the undergrad campus, etc They continuously go out with people in the law program or other programs and have contests and all the fun stuff....they seem fairly traditional in a lot of ways too. Large class size though. Oh, these students are MAJOR $hit talkers on other schools. However, my tour guide was really cool and he was honest about the whole process and really did like the school. Oh, the dorms here absolutely are horrible! shared coed bathrooms with little dinky room and a messy kitchen. NYU library = HORRIBLE! SMALL and they have to share it with dental students...I don't know how they ever study there. NYU versus Sinai? Not sure...that'll be a tough decision!
Cornell: Overrated? Perhaps. The "PBL" system seems interesting. Unfortunately, the computers in the PBL rooms are ALL MACS! YUCK! 😛 The other thing, they have at least 1 lecture a day so it's not complete PBL. This makes it much more appealing. The dorms are ok...better than NYU but still one shared bathroom between two people (not bad at all). Rooms are a little larger than NYU. Location for both NYU and Cornell is great.
Mount Sinai: I saved this one for last 🙂 Sinai would be my top choice in NYC if it weren't for a few reasons. First off, important email was sent to students a couple days ago...tuition at Mount Sinai will be increasing over the course of the next four years!! So basically first year will be 23K, then 27K, then 30K!!! OUCH! They bit off more than they could chew with that NYU merger. ALSO, they are now accepting 120 students rather than the 100 they usually accepted. I am scared of going to this school and getting screwed later on b/c of some bad business deals. HOWEVER, after saying this, I still freaking LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!!!!!! BEAUTIFUL hospital!!! The students are SOOO HAPPY! I was stopping a bunch of them outside the residence hall to talk to them yesterday and they were all commenting how they loved the school and took time to talk to me EVEN THOUGH they had a test the next day. One took me up to her room and their housing is AWESOME! Four people to an apartment style housing. Large common room with kitchenette. BIG rooms (compared to other NYC schools). P/F system and all the students seem to be having a great time. Definitely a better vibe from here. ALSO, these students did NOT talk trash on ANY other schools. Most said, "if you get into Columbia or cornell, you should go there!" which is surprising but it doesn't make me consider those schools more. They were just expressing that those schools have the rep that makes them so great. Sinai is right on the fringe of central park too which makes it a nice place to "get away" from the city.
Oh, and as for gyms...I know Watcha wanted me to look for him and I was interested too.
The best is by far MOUNT SINAI. They have a super clean and nice gym PLUS they give you a free pass to "The Y" (???)...which is a gym nearby that has everything you want.
The next best was Cornell. By "next best", I really should say if Sinai was rated 100, Cornell is rated about a 50 or so. The only reason they got any points was b/c they had a basketball court 🙂 Then NYU and Columbia come in last...
