Pritzker vs. Mt. Sinai vs. NYU

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Please help.
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Pritzker is by far the best as a school.

NYU, MSSM have the better location.

I would go with Pritzker. But I am biased.
 
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MSSM! or NYU - not Pritzker
 
Towelie said:
Why? These schools are ranked lower and more expensive.
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Manhattanophiles, like their cousins the Californiaphiles, do not understand the concept of moving away from their affluent habitats.
 
i think it depends on just how much you really want to be in nyc, cause in other categories i can think of pritzker wins. thriving academic environment. more age diversity (and hence life background diversity) in the student body. facilities are a lot nicer. next door to the main campus, which has some of the best programs in the country open for med student enrollment. the same amount you pay for nyu's college-style dorm will get you a very nice 2 bedroom 1 bath in chicago. my impression is that the clinicals are just as hands-on at pritzker's hospital, and although it is not a county hospital its location delivers a huge indigent pt population.

so what are you willing to give up in order to be in nyc?
 
modelslashactor said:
Manhattanophiles, like their cousins the Californiaphiles, do not understand the concept of moving away from their affluent habitats.
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comparing manhattan and california is as enormous a waste of time as comparing a bulldozer with tricycle, your comparison of a dense city to an entire state (apples vs. oranges a priori) notwithstanding.
 
Towelie said:
Why? These schools are ranked lower and more expensive.
Click to expand...

Well, the OP asked for opinions, that's mine (totally personal). I had the opp to interview at all 3 (maybe the OP should ask pp to clarify where they interviewed?)

Yes, Pritzker is slightly better ranked (Research: 17 vs. 30 & 32).

To me, this doesn't make up for the experience I had during my interview day, which culminated in my running into an old friend whos a current student at Pritzker who told me how that student regeted choosing Pritzker, doesn't like it & can't wait to leave. I thought they did a poor job of treating applicants well (for example, we didn't get to see the lecture halls &/or labs because the doors were locked & our guide didn't have a key, for the hospitals we were essentially walked through the lobbies, my admissions interviewer was the most offensive person I've interviewed with to date, etc.)

I just left with a sour taste in my mouth - but that's my own opinion.

MSSM and NYU had much nicer interview days. NYU has Bellevue - which seemed great - but almost everyone lives in a traditional dorm - I'm married, so my husband & I would be on our own for housing - a real feat in NYC.

MSSM has married student housing - much nicer. I like the location of MSSM better within NY (close proximity to the park, Upper East side), though some like NYUs location better (more central). MSSM just seemed to go out of their way - contacting me post acceptance to answer questions, etc. When I declined my acceptance, they had a form that they asked me to fill out about why I was declining - I guess it made me feel that they were very receptive.

I have more thoughts, but I'll just stop there ;)

Last thought: I would prefer to move to Chicago than NYC. I like the set up of the city, the people, the family I have there, etc far more than NYC. NYC is "exciting" but it's dirty, busy, crowded, etc. I like my space & Chicago offers that. My husband & I were really excited about Pritkzer, and the interview experience was a true let down...
 
modelslashactor said:
Manhattanophiles, like their cousins the Californiaphiles, do not understand the concept of moving away from their affluent habitats.
Click to expand...

TheCybermen said:
comparing manhattan and california is as enormous a waste of time as comparing a bulldozer with tricycle, your comparison of a dense city to an entire state (apples vs. oranges a priori) notwithstanding.
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Yes, but modelslashactor wasn't comparing the locations, he was comparing the people who live there....both groups have unusually strong attachments to their location to the point of questionable insanity.

For instance: I was at this alum-premed event, and there was a girl (life-long New Yorker) who was seriously and truly torn about whether to go to Einstein or Yale for med school (she had been accepted to both). But it wasn't at all because of money or anything, only due to location. Her family...and this girl....were anti-Yale on the grounds that Yale was too far away (2 hours by the slow train). Not to knock Einstein....but come on, it's Yale! It's only 2 hours! Everyone who wasn't a native NYer thought the girl was insane, and all the native NYers thought it was a terrible decision to have to make.
 
foofish said:
Yes, but modelslashactor wasn't comparing the locations, he was comparing the people who live there....both groups have unusually strong attachments to their location to the point of questionable insanity.

For instance: I was at this alum-premed event, and there was a girl (life-long New Yorker) who was seriously and truly torn about whether to go to Einstein or Yale for med school (she had been accepted to both). But it wasn't at all because of money or anything, only due to location. Her family...and this girl....were anti-Yale on the grounds that Yale was too far away (2 hours by the slow train). Not to knock Einstein....but come on.
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i see your point. frankly, based on what i've seen throughout this procees, the location and atmosphere of einstein and those of of new haven are comparable. einstein is so terribly removed from anything that people know and understand new york city to be that the mass transit system doesn't even have a direct line to its campus, and travelling into manhattan sucks up a good forty minutes. if it came down to einstein's location vs. yale's, i'd not hesitate.

on the OTHER hand, if you asked me to choose between the quality of life suggested by the area of MSSM and NYU vs that of Yale, i'd not hesitate it picking either of the two ny schools.

i grew up in and was exposed to some pretty insane parts of the city, and i can say with some degree of certainty that new haven is a bad place to be for even a night, let alone four years. :thumbdown:
 
swtiepie711 said:
Well, the OP asked for opinions, that's mine (totally personal). I had the opp to interview at all 3 (maybe the OP should ask pp to clarify where they interviewed?)

Yes, Pritzker is slightly better ranked (Research: 17 vs. 30 & 32).

To me, this doesn't make up for the experience I had during my interview day, which culminated in my running into an old friend whos a current student at Pritzker who told me how that student regeted choosing Pritzker, doesn't like it & can't wait to leave. I thought they did a poor job of treating applicants well (for example, we didn't get to see the lecture halls &/or labs because the doors were locked & our guide didn't have a key, for the hospitals we were essentially walked through the lobbies, my admissions interviewer was the most offensive person I've interviewed with to date, etc.)

I just left with a sour taste in my mouth - but that's my own opinion.

MSSM and NYU had much nicer interview days. NYU has Bellevue - which seemed great - but almost everyone lives in a traditional dorm - I'm married, so my husband & I would be on our own for housing - a real feat in NYC.

MSSM has married student housing - much nicer. I like the location of MSSM better within NY (close proximity to the park, Upper East side), though some like NYUs location better (more central). MSSM just seemed to go out of their way - contacting me post acceptance to answer questions, etc. When I declined my acceptance, they had a form that they asked me to fill out about why I was declining - I guess it made me feel that they were very receptive.

I have more thoughts, but I'll just stop there ;)

Last thought: I would prefer to move to Chicago than NYC. I like the set up of the city, the people, the family I have there, etc far more than NYC. NYC is "exciting" but it's dirty, busy, crowded, etc. I like my space & Chicago offers that. My husband & I were really excited about Pritkzer, and the interview experience was a true let down...
Click to expand...

maybe you could help out the op by telling her what your friend at pritzker didn't like about the school, and the choices they turned down that caused regret. otherwise, experiences particular to the interview day/application process and not the school as a whole seem like odd grounds for dismissing one school and embracing another . . .
 
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swtiepie711 said:
Well, the OP asked for opinions, that's mine (totally personal). I had the opp to interview at all 3 (maybe the OP should ask pp to clarify where they interviewed?)

Yes, Pritzker is slightly better ranked (Research: 17 vs. 30 & 32).

To me, this doesn't make up for the experience I had during my interview day, which culminated in my running into an old friend whos a current student at Pritzker who told me how that student regeted choosing Pritzker, doesn't like it & can't wait to leave. I thought they did a poor job of treating applicants well (for example, we didn't get to see the lecture halls &/or labs because the doors were locked & our guide didn't have a key, for the hospitals we were essentially walked through the lobbies, my admissions interviewer was the most offensive person I've interviewed with to date, etc.)

I just left with a sour taste in my mouth - but that's my own opinion.

MSSM and NYU had much nicer interview days. NYU has Bellevue - which seemed great - but almost everyone lives in a traditional dorm - I'm married, so my husband & I would be on our own for housing - a real feat in NYC.

MSSM has married student housing - much nicer. I like the location of MSSM better within NY (close proximity to the park, Upper East side), though some like NYUs location better (more central). MSSM just seemed to go out of their way - contacting me post acceptance to answer questions, etc. When I declined my acceptance, they had a form that they asked me to fill out about why I was declining - I guess it made me feel that they were very receptive.

I have more thoughts, but I'll just stop there ;)

Last thought: I would prefer to move to Chicago than NYC. I like the set up of the city, the people, the family I have there, etc far more than NYC. NYC is "exciting" but it's dirty, busy, crowded, etc. I like my space & Chicago offers that. My husband & I were really excited about Pritkzer, and the interview experience was a true let down...
Click to expand...

That sucks.

So where are you planning on going?
 
DKMsguide.jpg
 
Doctor~Detroit said:
experiences particular to the interview day/application process and not the school as a whole seem like odd grounds for dismissing one school and embracing another . . .
Click to expand...

I completely disagree! My knowledge of Pritzker prior to my interview was from a website - sure, I spent a lot of time on the website, but it is an entirely different experience to be on campus, interact with students/staff/faculty, etc. Of course, one should consider interview experiences carefully. For example, I had a slightly abrasive interviewer at MSSM who conducted the most stressful interview I had, but it wasn't BAD interview experience - maybe it put me on my toes, but I didn't leave with negative feelings for him. It was his style, I accepted that, and I didn't judge MSSM for it.

Nevertheless, if you have an interview experience like this:

Unenthusiastic welcome speech, good interview with first interviewer, insulted by random med student in the hallway of the hospital while walking back to admissions, student interviewer was unethusiastic/unhappy/borderline depressed and attacked my word choice in my PS, student couldn't answer what she likes about Pritzker, back to admissions, interview with admissions member who nearly accuses me of cheating on the MCAT because I improved my score so dramatically, lunch of pizza, talk with apathetic 4th year during lunch about her experience, tour where we walked to the lecture halls & labs but couldn't get in - she forgot her key, tour continued through lobbies of hospitals, day concludes, walking out I run into former classmate who spends 30+ minutes talking to me about how she doesn't enjoy her classmates, class time (lecture/small group/lab) is not well balanced, etc. Then head on home.

I'm sorry, but I cannot just disregard this experience, throw it out as just bad luck & continue to choose this medical school over others with far better & more positive experiences. Maybe it was just a bad day for all involved. But I don't have much to judge on, and interview day is a big part of what we as applicants have to base our decisions on. We put on our Sunday best to interview for these positions; in my opinion, so should the schools. We will be investing a lot of time, money, energy into these institutions. If I don't feel I was treated even semi decently as an applicant (at a time when they should be trying to impress), how could I expect to be treated better as a student?

EDIT: I might add that I withdrew from Pritzker post the above interview experience. It didn't seem to be a good place for me. I'm sure everyone has different experiences, different needs, different pressures - mine directed me to not pursure admission at Pritzker.


Towelie said:
So where are you planning on going?
Click to expand...

Not sure... waiting on one more decision before I buckle down to decide.
 
swtiepie711 said:
I completely disagree! My knowledge of Pritzker prior to my interview was from a website - sure, I spent a lot of time on the website, but it is an entirely different experience to be on campus, interact with students/staff/faculty, etc. Of course, one should consider interview experiences carefully. For example, I had a slightly abrasive interviewer at MSSM who conducted the most stressful interview I had, but it wasn't BAD interview experience - maybe it put me on my toes, but I didn't leave with negative feelings for him. It was his style, I accepted that, and I didn't judge MSSM for it.

Nevertheless, if you have an interview experience like this:

Unenthusiastic welcome speech, good interview with first interviewer, insulted by random med student in the hallway of the hospital while walking back to admissions, student interviewer was unethusiastic/unhappy/borderline depressed and attacked my word choice in my PS, student couldn't answer what she likes about Pritzker, back to admissions, interview with admissions member who nearly accuses me of cheating on the MCAT because I improved my score so dramatically, lunch of pizza, talk with apathetic 4th year during lunch about her experience, tour where we walked to the lecture halls & labs but couldn't get in - she forgot her key, tour continued through lobbies of hospitals, day concludes, walking out I run into former classmate who spends 30+ minutes talking to me about how she doesn't enjoy her classmates, class time (lecture/small group/lab) is not well balanced, etc. Then head on home.

I'm sorry, but I cannot just disregard this experience, throw it out as just bad luck & continue to choose this medical school over others with far better & more positive experiences. Maybe it was just a bad day for all involved. But I don't have much to judge on, and interview day is a big part of what we as applicants have to base our decisions on. We put on our Sunday best to interview for these positions; in my opinion, so should the schools. We will be investing a lot of time, money, energy into these institutions. If I don't feel I was treated even semi decently as an applicant (at a time when they should be trying to impress), how could I expect to be treated better as a student?

EDIT: I might add that I withdrew from Pritzker post the above interview experience. It didn't seem to be a good place for me. I'm sure everyone has different experiences, different needs, different pressures - mine directed me to not pursure admission at Pritzker.




Not sure... waiting on one more decision before I buckle down to decide.
Click to expand...


fair enough. but to me this points to what is so unfortunate about the whole admissions process. my interview day experience was almost the *complete opposite* of what you describe, and the other interviewees I talked to that day were still happy to be there at the end of the day. it really sucks that we all have to make these decisions with relatively limited information and from completely different experience samples. ugh.
 
Doctor~Detroit said:
fair enough. but to me this points to what is so unfortunate about the whole admissions process. my interview day experience was almost the *complete opposite* of what you describe, and the other interviewees I talked to that day were still happy to be there at the end of the day. it really sucks that we all have to make these decisions with relatively limited information and from completely different experience samples. ugh.
Click to expand...

I wholeheartedly agree! Much of this is a crapshoot. I mean, I don't believe that entirely where we do/don't get interviews is a crapshoot - I believe that there's method to the madness. But it is a crapshoot for who you get to interview you, which students you get to talk with, etc. If you get to meet many people who you have much in common with, you'll likely hit it off. If not, it may be a less pleasant time.

I wish I had many old pre-med friends who went to a variety of schools so that I could pick their brains and here their experiences. But, alas, I do not, and so I'll just continue trying to find the best place for me....

GL all with making your decisions!!!
 
IceMan0824 said:
Looks like DKM pretty much told you to go to NYU.

Enjoy. NY is a great city.
Click to expand...
Remember to factor in cost of living into determining which school would be cheaper. ;)
 
i work at U of C and the med school is boring(to me) and the hospital as well(tried volunteering at the ER-very boring compared to my experience at U of Washington)also the campus is in hyde park. granted downtown is only 15 min car ride. i didnt even apply to Pritzker . ive been here over 2years now and i wanted to change the scenery.Rankings up there .
 
congrats getting in to three very good schools
 
I personally had a great time at my interview day at Pritzker...the students all were very down to earth...I have heard the first quarter the students are really stressed because it has the most work and most in class time..thus the people with bad experiences may have been there then...after the first semester it really lightens up quarter by quarter...I really love the school personally...the other schools are great too...go with your gut...
 
to the OP,

personally, i would choose either mt. sinai or nyu. i have interviewed at both pritzker and sinai and can say that my experiences at both were extremely different.

Pritzker:
i went into my pritzker interview being in love with the school and everything that i read on the website. :love: however after my visit, i was sad to find out that i didn't think the school was the best fit for me for the following reasons. first, i met a large number of students while i was interviewing. i try to be very sociable during interviews, talking to as many students as possible about their experiences at the school, etc. an overwhelming majority of the students didn't seem very excited about their school. i heard different reasons such as:
1) they did not think the pritzker curriculum was preparing them for their boards. rather that pritzker focuses a great deal on training their students to go into research. while i am interested in research, i think i would like a more balanced curriculum that places more of an emphasis on clinical education.
2) schedule of classes- they are in class a majority of the day
3) little time for extra curricular activities- it's possible that i met students who don't represent the majority but NONE did extracurricular activities-no sports, no dancing, nothing...this depressed me b/c i know i will need something outside of school to help me keep my sanity. my student interviewer said that he watches TV in his spare time, that's it :(

in general, the students i met at pritzker seemed unenthusiastic about the school, generally seemed stressed out (to my knowledge, there wasn't an upcoming exam the day i visited) and didn't seem to have time for much else with all of the classroom time. NO ONE seemed to have the attitude that you HAVE to come to pritzker. i thought this was strange since every other school i visited had students pretty much swearing up and down that their school was the best and that if i wanted to be happy, i should swear allegiance to their school. pritzker students to me seemed very ho hum, like "yeah, pritzker is cool..." :sleep:

additionally, i've been in regular contact with a physician who attended pritzker (he's fairly young, in his 30s) and he was happy to have attended pritzker but told me flat out that unless i was 100% confident that i wanted to do academic medicine and research, i could get a wonderful medical education at any other school and did not necessarily need to atttend pritzker. basically stressing that pritzker is strong at training physicians who go into academic medicine. for me, this is not something i think i might want to do.

i don't think pritzker is a terrible school, i bet it's a great school, but for me i don't think they were the best fit because they don't seem to value the things that i do. mount sinai in almost every sense was the complete opposite of pritzker and i loved it.

i hope this helps you, OP. PM me if you want to hear more about Mount Sinai
 
Seems WitchDoctor got a similar vibe to me, which makes me really think that the OP should go with what they felt through interview day & what type of med they want to pursure, etc.

Falco it seems really clicked with Pritzker - to him/her it seems like a great place. WitchDoctor & I didn't click - not that that's a poor reflection on Pritzker (heck, maybe it's just us ;) ) and would rather be elsewhere.

It's funny,too, WitchDoctor, how we both liked MSSM :) Hope alls going well w/ your apps! :D

GL OP with making the decision & let me know if there's any thing else you'd like to know about my experiences or clarifications from above :luck:
 
swtiepie711 said:
Seems WitchDoctor got a similar vibe to me, which makes me really think that the OP should go with what they felt through interview day & what type of med they want to pursure, etc.

Falco it seems really clicked with Pritzker - to him/her it seems like a great place. WitchDoctor & I didn't click - not that that's a poor reflection on Pritzker (heck, maybe it's just us ;) ) and would rather be elsewhere.

It's funny,too, WitchDoctor, how we both liked MSSM :) Hope alls going well w/ your apps! :D

GL OP with making the decision & let me know if there's any thing else you'd like to know about my experiences or clarifications from above :luck:
Click to expand...

I have come to the conclusion that different schools have different personalities...for me Pritzker fits...I have heard people loving it or hating it...this is why I suggest going with your gut...see which one you think feels like a good fit for you
 
listen to Falco, do what you want and understand that different people like different things. also, consider going to second looks, because you can talk to many more students and will then understand that all med schools/students are pretty similar and anecdotal experiences tend to be inconsistent.
 
I agree with Falco and modelslashactor. Choose based on which school fits your personality. I got a great vibe from both Pritzker and NYU, and have heard great things about MSSM. You can't go wrong.

You also might want to consider cost. I believe the annual budget for the NYC schools is about $60K per year. And Pritzker isn't exactly cheap without financial aid either (they have a very high average student debt), although they do have a big endowment and a lot of scholarship money.
 
Your call, really. Go wherever you think you'll be happiest at, because you can't go wrong with any of those three stellar med schools.

Pritzker has a slightly better ranking/reputation, but not everyone wants to move out to the mid-west.

NYU has the best location, but some people don't like the vibe there. Personally, I LOVED NYU when I interviewed there.

Mount Sinai has a great location, reputation, and everyone who interviews or goes there rave about it. Of all the schools I interviewed at, the students there seemed the happiest and most enthusiastic about their school.

Go to the revisist weekends and see. It might be hard since they're all Pass/Fail :)thumbup: ) and non-PBL :)thumbup: :thumbup: ). If I had that decision, I would reluctantly withdraw from Chicago, and flip a coin between NYU and Mount Sinai. I admit that i'm biased towards the the northeast :)
 
For the record, I didn't get into all 3, at least not yet anyways.
 
i agree with the different "vibes" sentiment, based on my personal sampling. pritzker definitely felt more academically oriented and serious, while nyu students seemed a bit more interested in getting by and having fun outside of class. it probably has something to do with the research/academic medicine focus at pritzker and its location on the main campus, and the overall younger class at nyu.
 
Doctor~Detroit said:
i agree with the different "vibes" sentiment, based on my personal sampling. pritzker definitely felt more academically oriented and serious, while nyu students seemed a bit more interested in getting by and having fun outside of class. it probably has something to do with the research/academic medicine focus at pritzker and its location on the main campus, and the overall younger class at nyu.
Click to expand...

i'm not sure i agree with that at all. most schools in new york -- columbia/cornell/mssm to name perhaps the three most cited -- are not only built around a focus of academic and research medicine but also (and perhaps by extension) seek above all else to train leaders of the academe. "getting by" is woefully off-target insofar as the motives of studenst who attend these institutions. :rolleyes:
 
TheCybermen said:
i'm not sure i agree with that at all. most schools in new york -- columbia/cornell/mssm to name perhaps the three most cited -- are not only built around a focus of academic and research medicine but also (and perhaps by extension) seek above all else to train leaders of the academe. "getting by" is woefully off-target insofar as the motives of studenst who attend these institutions. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

yeah, "getting by" is too strong and connotes that it's necessarily a bad thing, which i don't think it is. but what i mean is that, *compared to pritzker students*, they *seemed* less focused on med school and doing research and more interested in having a fun social life. it's my impression from my limited experience.

plus, you're generalizing to all nyc schools, and i definitely only stated this for nyu. if you disagree with this for nyu in particular, then please tell us what experience your impression is based on.
 
Doctor~Detroit said:
yeah, "getting by" is too strong and connotes that it's necessarily a bad thing, which i don't think it is. but what i mean is that, *compared to pritzker students*, they *seemed* less focused on med school and doing research and more interested in having a fun social life. it's my impression from my limited experience.

plus, you're generalizing to all nyc schools, and i definitely only stated this for nyu. if you disagree with this for nyu in particular, then please tell us what experience your impression is based on.
Click to expand...


no you're absolutely right -- on a more exhaustive reading of your post, i see that you were indeed referring to nyu specifically, not to "ny" as i had initially understood it.

more in line with what you were saying above, i specifically excluded nyu, downstate, aecom, and nymc from my post. the impression i picked from *these* schools' students -- from both seeing them on my own during interviews and knowing individuals (all of whom are most respectable in person and intellect) -- was very much like that which you underscored in your previous posts. there is a less-palpable research focus, and students spend a fair share of their time out on the local scene. moreoever, the schools themselves (particularly aecom and downstate) appear to focus their curricula and undergraduate medical training toward a grossly clinical career -- that is, more in line with preparing expert clinicians over clinical investigators. now that isn't to say that these schools don't have their share of future clinical investigators, it's simply to say that the "culture" (to encapsulate all that comes before a prospective applicant on their interview date and beyond) doesn't protray them as being bent on that kind of breeding.

i singled out columbia, cornell, and mssm because these institutions really do highlight ad nauseam their research focus, despite what their graduates may elect to pursue (e.g. private physicians vs. academic physicians). their respectives cultures all seemed to bear in common the desire to produce as many academicians as they do physicians. pritzker is among the very brightest of beacons in this regard as well, it goes almost without saying. :thumbup:

ultimately, then, we come full circle. deciding between schools is a matter of carefully-crafted questions, some to be answered by the applicant, perhaps more to be strewn before current students and faculty in an attempt to 1)decide what kind of preparation -- not simply academic, but cultural -- one wants from his or her medical school years and 2)select those institutions that can best satisfy these wants and goals.
 
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