UMich vs. CUSOM vs. Mount Sinai

[justforthisq]

I am in the fortunate situation that I am deciding between University of Colorado, University of Michigan, and Mount Sinai for medical school next year. Currently, I am leaning toward Mount Sinai, but I feel really torn by the other schools. I am from the Northeast, and am finishing up my undergrad at my state university as a non-traditional student.

Icahn- Mount Sinai

Pros:

• Close to family and friends
• NYC has tons to do
• Slightly cheaper than Michigan (by 2k)
• Located right next to Central Park
• Great outdoors opportunities in NY state
• Family house nearby for getting away
• Online Testing
• Aron Hall living situation is incredible
• Great school vibes
• Loved second look
• Great clinical and research experiences

Cons:

• New York City can be a bit overwhelming for me
• Told that people that stay close to home for residencies can have difficulty placing in other cities for residency- not sure where I want to go, but would like to leave my options open
• High cost of living
• Grew up around NYC- could be a good opportunity to see someplace new
• Less reputable than Michigan?
• Older curriculum- not sure if this is a con

Michigan

Pros:

• Liked the one-year curriculum
• M-home seems really nice
• Nice students
• Ann Arbor is super livable
• More national prestige than Sinai and Colorado
• Loved my interview day
• Flex-quizzing
• STEP1 after clinical year

Cons:

• Far from home and networks (don’t know anybody in AA)
• Worried that I want to live somewhere larger/more interesting than AA
• I like school spirit, but it seemed a bit like Ann Arbor and UMich overemphasize sports

Colorado

Pros:

• Loved the school’s vibes
• Beautiful facilities
• Students seemed similar to me (maybe more than the other 2 schools)
• Location, location, location- Denver is an awesome city and my favorite things to do are to climb, hike, and ski
• Interesting clinical opportunities
• Clinical preceptorships seem like a good mentorship opportunity

Cons:

• Cost- Most expensive of all 3 by around 10K because I am OOS
• Most students live a bit from campus- would need a car and the student community is not as central
• Far from home, and know few people in Denver
• Lowest reputation of the 3?

If there are other things I have missed, let me know. All in all, I think Sinai might make the most sense from a holistic perspective because of it's prestige, quality of life, and proximity to my friends and family. However, I loved Michigan when I visited and have definitely heard people say it is a school you can't really turn down. That said, I don't think Ann Arbor would be my ideal location to live for the next four years. (Also, Michigan's second look is April 20, so if I wait until SLW to form a better opinion, I will be cutting my decision close to the deadline) CUSOM had the nicest facilities and what I consider the best location. I think that theoretically my lifestyle in Denver might be the best of all 3. But after living abroad for 3 years before undergrad, I appreciate proximity to my friends and family in the NYC area.

Finally, I don't know what or where I want to practice medicine. So in an ideal world, I would leave my options open to be figured out once I am finally in medical school. While I think prestige is important, my end-goal is not to pursue opportunities based purely on ambition.

All input is appreciated. Thanks.

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[libertyyne]

stay in ny. michigan is a better school , but icahn wont close any doors.

 

[LaPola19_MD]

Hey, you and I are in the same predicament. I'm torn between Sinai and UMich as well and I'm also from the NorthEast. You mentioned that you loved Sinai's second look, I was there as well but I was not impressed at all, can you tell me what impressed you about Sinai?

 

[justforthisq]

Interestingly, one of the admissions team said that people often seem to get caught in the UMich vs. Sinai decision.
What stood out to me most during the weekend were the values that the school cares about. For example, Dr. Muller said the school's 2 big priorities right now were addressing bias and racism, and caring for student wellness. Sinai has research and clinical opportunities, and it would not have really interested me to hear that much about them since that is common to many medical schools. But in my eyes, those fundamental values (at least on paper) set them apart.

It is possible that Michigan holds a similar value set, and I am sure their SLW will be amazing. But it is also really close to the decision date....

Also, the other students at Sinai's SLW seemed friendly, genuine, and enthusiastic for what was being talked about.

 

[letmeinplox]

Sinai. What you lost in rank from umich you more than gain from having the resources of 3 other manhattan powerhouses next to you.

 

[LaPola19_MD]

Sinai. What you lost in rank from umich you more than gain from having the resources of 3 other manhattan powerhouses next to you.

Can you elaborate more on this point?

 

[carrots28]

I feel that Mount Sinai has a better reputation in the Northeast. It may be better if you intend to do residency there. I would consider how much cost is an issue, if that tips the balance.

 

[BombsAway]

Climbing, hiking, skiing = CUSOM hands down.

Paraphrasing dumbledore: it does not do to dwell on prestige and forget to live, Harry. And above all, pity those that live without shredding deep pow.

 

[justforthisq]

Thanks for the replies so far. I honestly keep swinging back in forth in how I feel. When I first posted this, I felt like I was leaning heavily towards Sinai, followed by Michigan, then Colorado. Now, I think like Sinai makes the most sense, but for whatever reason I FEEL drawn towards Colorado (the people literally posting on the admitted students FB page about climbing, skiing, and hiking has not helped clarify anything for me.)

 

[justforthisq]

Climbing, hiking, skiing = CUSOM hands down.

Paraphrasing dumbledore: it does not do to dwell on prestige and forget to live, Harry. And above all, pity those that live without shredding deep pow.

First of all, love the Dumbledore quote. Second, I agree that it's not good to dwell too much on prestige. But do you think the differences in the schools is negligible enough that it won't affect me in the long run? (assuming I am not aiming for something super competitive)

 

[BombsAway]

First of all, love the Dumbledore quote. Second, I agree that it's not good to dwell too much on prestige. But do you think the differences in the schools is negligible enough that it won't affect me in the long run? (assuming I am not aiming for something super competitive)

it might matter a little if you're gunning for some ivory tower academic jobs. The top few institutions seem to care about "pedigree". But you would probably already know if you're that person or not by now. Anyway, look at CU's 2018 match list; you can still get anywhere from there.

The good news is there's no wrong choice here. They're all rock solid schools. Just figure out where you're gonna be the most successful.

Pretty good chance you have more fun along the way at CU though.

 

[TRT7]

Aurora is really not the best place to live and work Colorado. When I moved to Denver, I didn't really understand that the closest ski resorts (and climbing) were hours away, and Summit County was a much longer drive with weekend ski traffic.

I'd flip a coin between Michigan and Sinai. Generally, Ann Arbor may not be as exciting as Manhattan, but you'll be plenty busy with studies and all your new friends.

I certainly wouldn't pay extra for a lesser med school.

 

[SinaiStudent]

Thanks for the replies so far. I honestly keep swinging back in forth in how I feel. When I first posted this, I felt like I was leaning heavily towards Sinai, followed by Michigan, then Colorado. Now, I think like Sinai makes the most sense, but for whatever reason I FEEL drawn towards Colorado (the people literally posting on the admitted students FB page about climbing, skiing, and hiking has not helped clarify anything for me.)

I know of several instances where my Sinai classmates went on a weekend trip out into the wilderness to either rock climb, hike, or ski. Our campus is reasonably close to many different train routes which can take you far away from the city if that's what you're into. I don't know about Colorado's assessment schedule, but Sinai's weekend quizzes/exams mean that you can plan ahead of time to take a quiz early on Friday and have the rest of the weekend off to do whatever you want.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I know of several instances where my Sinai classmates went on a weekend trip out into the wilderness to either rock climb, hike, or ski. Our campus is reasonably close to many different train routes which can take you far away from the city if that's what you're into. I don't know about Colorado's assessment schedule, but Sinai's weekend quizzes/exams mean that you can plan ahead of time to take a quiz early on Friday and have the rest of the weekend off to do whatever you want.

CUSOM exams are either Friday or Monday and time between exams varies on the block. I think it's 2-3 weeks or so though. When people just have regular class days, they could download the lectures and go hang in a hammock in the rockies if they wanted to. However, I think most feel more productive at campus.

Not really sure if this info helps anyone out lol

 

[justforthisq]

Thanks for all the replies. A lot to think about. Also, just a quick update: can't attend Michigan second-look in the end, so I am going to take it off my list. It was probably my last choice of the three, and now I won't have a great chance to get a better sense of the school or meet my fellow prospective students. So.... yeah.

I just revisited Colorado, and I loved it. Everybody I met was awesome, and I could really see myself there. I also really enjoyed Denver, and even my time in Aurora. So because of the people, place, and school vibes I now I sorta feel like I'm actually leaning towards CU. My big considerations right now are the price difference, and whether or not I will be hurting my future prospects by choosing CU over Sinai.

My thoughts are that I might be able to decrease the price difference by being a little thrifty with rent and expenses. (also, depending on the price difference, it might even still be worthwhile) And I also think that going to CU will not actually be that different than Sinai. Am I totally off on this?

 

[justforthisq]

Hey y'all, April 30th is approaching, and I'm still leaning towards Colorado. Would love some feedback on this thinking. I want to make the leap, but I also don't want to regret it down the road.
Thanks.

 

[SinaiStudent]

It really depends on where you want to spend the next 4+ years. If you feel comfortable at CU and think that you'll be engaged both in the classroom and out of the classroom (city/surroundings) then choose that. However, in my opinion I think that the diversity and breadth of patients that you will encounter while at Sinai will be much greater than at CU. The curriculum at Sinai is designed to give you a lot of flexibility so that you can set aside time to do things outside of school that interest you. If you're interested in research, Sinai has one of the highest funding rates per-PI in the country. It is also incredibly easy to get far away from campus and immerse yourself in nature, which seems like an important factor for you.

Which school is going to be more expensive for you?

 

[BombsAway]

Hey y'all, April 30th is approaching, and I'm still leaning towards Colorado. Would love some feedback on this thinking. I want to make the leap, but I also don't want to regret it down the road.
Thanks.

Do it!

 

[justforthisq]

It really depends on where you want to spend the next 4+ years. If you feel comfortable at CU and think that you'll be engaged both in the classroom and out of the classroom (city/surroundings) then choose that. However, in my opinion I think that the diversity and breadth of patients that you will encounter while at Sinai will be much greater than at CU. The curriculum at Sinai is designed to give you a lot of flexibility so that you can set aside time to do things outside of school that interest you. If you're interested in research, Sinai has one of the highest funding rates per-PI in the country. It is also incredibly easy to get far away from campus and immerse yourself in nature, which seems like an important factor for you.

Which school is going to be more expensive for you?

Colorado will actually be a bit more expensive, though not as big a difference as I first thought (I estimate around 7K difference per year). I did feel like I could be engaged there, and I certainly felt more comfortable with the Denver pace of life than the NYC one. I really liked the clinical opportunities at Sinai, but people say CU has interesting clinical experiences as well since they have a wide regional net. I think that both schools have flexibility, though I sorta see New York as having the cultural advantage while CU has the natural one. But you're right that New York has amazing outdoors stuff. It's something I definitely think about.

Do it!

I love the enthusiasm

 

[BombsAway]

But you're right that New York has amazing outdoors stuff. It's something I definitely think about.

Not compared to what you're used to in CO. By the time you made it far enough into the adirondacks to consider it outdoorsy, you could've flown back to denver.