Tufts vs Icahn at Mount Sinai

[Blaze0322]

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Hi everyone! I’m currently deciding between Tufts and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and I’d love to hear some outside perspectives. Here’s how I’m thinking through it:

Tufts University School of Medicine
Pros:

• My girlfriend lives in Boston, and a solid number of my close friends are here too, so I’d have a stronger support system.
• I went to undergrad in Boston and have done research at Tufts, so I’m very familiar with the school and already have great connections with its faculty/physicians and current med students.
• Solid research opportunities
• Students there are generally pretty chill
• Tufts has a great reputation, especially in New England.

Cons:

• It’s significantly more expensive.
• Less national recognition
• Patient population won't be as diverse and there are fewer clinical sites

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Pros:

• The hospital system and clinical rotations look amazing. I’d get exposure to a wide range of patient populations across NYC.
• It’s slightly higher ranked, and has a strong national reputation, which could help with my goal of pursuing orthopedic surgery.
• Great research opportunities and it seems easy to break into research early on
• Affordable on-campus housing in NYC
• Also new curriculum seems more flexible
• It’s less expensive than Tufts (around a 15K difference)

Cons:

• Boston > NYC (Boston is a slower paced city which is nice)
• While I have a few friends in NYC, my main social/support system (and my girlfriend) will still be in Boston.
• I’ll have to rebuild my network and start fresh with connections at Sinai — which could be exciting, but still something to consider.

Overall:
They are both close to home since I am from CT. However, I feel more comfortable and settled with Tufts, but it’s hard to justify choosing it over a more affordable, better-ranked school with such strong clinical opportunities and a new curriculum that I like. It’s been a tough call. Would love to hear how others might approach this! Thanks so much in advance.

 

[truthwarrior]

It sounds like you'd be more settled at tufts. support system and location fit are huge. 15k price diff atp is negligible so i would say focus on other factors more. that being said, sinai is an amazing school and def something to consider. i might be a bit biased also bc also admitted into tufts and heavily considering, but from what i've seen the work/life balance is very sound and the match was solid at tufts. sinai ofc is ranked above and if ny is somewhere u can see urself at then certainly could be a good experience, but the city is not for everyone. think ab how u felt at ASD for both assuming u went. overall i'd say dont underestimate the benefit of having a support system but genuinely two amazing choices cant go wrong with either! congrats!

 

[newkungfukenny]

based on your pros and cons it does sound like you are more settled at Tufts on paper. but just for my perspective if i were to make this decision:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Tufts has always seemed to me like a rather competitive environment. MSPE adjectives, a 5-tiered grading system, and internal rank seem a little stressful. i think having social support nearby is nice, but it doesn't make Tufts itself less stressful than it would need to be.

sinai on the other hand 1)has a h/p/f clinical grading system (many students said most get honors, there's no cap or anything). this is huge for your ortho aspirations, a specialty that seems to value grades pretty highly. 2) Upper East Side is very slow-paced (it is akin to Boston imo) seated right by the park and 3) Sinai overall has a huge focus on wellness and a very responsive administration--has a "chill" med school reputation. 4) the money you save on housing and tuition you can put toward Amtrak trips for you and your gf to visit each other. 5) i think Sinai may have better research opportunities--not that Tufts is strongly lacking in this department--but Sinai may just leave a few more doors open (another impt factor for Ortho)!

At the end of the day, the decision you make is gonna be the right decision! you can't go wrong here, but i think there are some hidden pros present for Sinai that I thought maybe I'd consider (or maybe, frankly you just don't care about them which is also fair lol)

 

[truthwarrior]

based on your pros and cons it does sound like you are more settled at Tufts on paper. but just for my perspective if i were to make this decision:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Tufts has always seemed to me like a rather competitive environment. MSPE adjectives, a 5-tiered grading system, and internal rank seem a little stressful. i think having social support nearby is nice, but it doesn't make Tufts itself less stressful than it would need to be.

sinai on the other hand 1)has a h/p/f clinical grading system (many students said most get honors, there's no cap or anything). this is huge for your ortho aspirations, a specialty that seems to value grades pretty highly. 2) Upper East Side is very slow-paced (it is akin to Boston imo) seated right by the park and 3) Sinai overall has a huge focus on wellness and a very responsive administration--has a "chill" med school reputation. 4) the money you save on housing and tuition you can put toward Amtrak trips for you and your gf to visit each other. 5) i think Sinai may have better research opportunities--not that Tufts is strongly lacking in this department--but Sinai may just leave a few more doors open (another impt factor for Ortho)!

At the end of the day, the decision you make is gonna be the right decision! you can't go wrong here, but i think there are some hidden pros present for Sinai that I thought maybe I'd consider (or maybe, frankly you just don't care about them which is also fair lol)

i believe tufts also doesnt have internal rank and clinical grading system is HP/P/LP/F. students spoke of support / stress being one of the things they felt most supported on. out of all the second looks i went to tufts by far emphasizes student wellness the most. but im not disagreeing with the points u made at all tho the rest r great points and im sure sinai has great support, just wanted to clear that up