I am so torn between these two schools. I know they're very similar (Vandy will have the new 1 yr pre-clinicals while Emory has the 1.5 yr hybrid), but that's why this is such a difficult decision for me. Are their match lists, research opportunities/reputations, and step scores comparable? Are they similar enough that I should just make the decision based on aid packages/overall cost? I'm from the south so neither of these would be a huge change for me location-wise.
Vanderbilt vs. Emory?
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Moving thread to School Specific Discussions
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both schools are great...go to whichever school gives you more money..
i personally would choose Emory > Vandy
plus ATL > Nashville
i personally would choose Emory > Vandy
plus ATL > Nashville
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deleted127837
You interested in academics at all? Go Vandy.
How did you feel about Grady? Did you love it? Go Emory. Are you undecided? Go Vandy.
Do you want to do a residency outside of the south? Probably better to go Vandy.
Do rankings matter do you? Go Vandy.
Do you like football? Go Vandy.
Do you like white marble? Go Emory.
Do you hate traffic? Go Vandy.
Are all your frequent flier miles with Delta? Go Emory.
My verdict: Is Emory substantially cheaper than Vandy, and you want to go into primary care or a less-lucrative specialty (nobody should worry about 100k in debt if they're going to be a neurosurgeon)? Go Emory. Otherwise, Vandy.
How did you feel about Grady? Did you love it? Go Emory. Are you undecided? Go Vandy.
Do you want to do a residency outside of the south? Probably better to go Vandy.
Do rankings matter do you? Go Vandy.
Do you like football? Go Vandy.
Do you like white marble? Go Emory.
Do you hate traffic? Go Vandy.
Are all your frequent flier miles with Delta? Go Emory.
My verdict: Is Emory substantially cheaper than Vandy, and you want to go into primary care or a less-lucrative specialty (nobody should worry about 100k in debt if they're going to be a neurosurgeon)? Go Emory. Otherwise, Vandy.
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I have trouble believing that the doors to competitive specialties or academics will be open to Vandy grads but closed to similarly qualified applicants from Emory.
Maybe it's because I'm from the south but I always thought of Vanderbilt and Emory as having the same reputation in academic circles in other geographic regions. Is that not true? I assumed the experience I'd get at either of the two would look the same when applying to residency programs.
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I think he was saying that if you want to go into a competitive speciality than the 100K difference between Emory and Vandy doesn't matter(and to therefore go Vandy). My opinion: Don't make a decision based on speciality choice because what happens if you go to the more expensive school because you are planning to be a neurosurgeon and then decide to go into primary care. If finances are important then I would consider them independently of your specialty choice.
I interviewed at Emory and Vandy and would choose Vanderbilt hands down. I was more impressed with Vanderbilt's match list(though admittedly this is hard to gauge), location, student body and facilities. One of the my big turn offs from Emory was the location and the fact Grady was so far from the school. Good luck, I don't think you can make a bad decision.
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yes they are regarded the same in terms of academic reputation..and whoever said to choose Vandy for academics clearly does not know that Emory is a powerhouse in terms of basic science research..traditionally top 15 in NIH as is Vandy...and once again both Vandy and Emory are traditionally top 20 schools (Emory was 17-18 just a couple of years ago), Vandy also hovers around 14-15th so not much of a difference..such minor differences are not compelling enough reasons to choose one over the other...point is they're essentially the same so go to whichever school gives you more money (while you should never let money alone dictate your career, $100,000+ plus interest is significant whether you're a neurosurgeon or a primary care internist, keep in mind neurosurgery training is significantly longer than primary care and that interest is adding up to the point where that $100,000+ has become >$200,000+...) so yes money should be one of the factors when deciding..now if they both offer the same amount of money then just go with your gut feeling because you can't go wrong with either one and can get into any specialty in any location from those schools (assuming you do well on Step 1)...the only other clear difference will be location: Atlanta or Nashville..
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deleted127837
Match lists at Vandy are more interregional than Emory. This could easily reflect a bias in the student body, but there it is. As topsurgeon implies, Emory is falling in the rankings (now 21 - no longer in that "top 20" tier), while Vanderbilt appears to be improving. Emory does quality basic science research, but Vanderbilt has a better reputation for research both nationally and internationally, while Emory is more regionally focused. My personal experience: a number of my west-coast friends (not involved in the med school application process) had never heard of Emory, but knew well Vanderbilt's reputation.
They are not the same. Their focuses (just look at Grady, the CDC, and Emory's global health program) are not the same. While Vanderbilt may do better in a research ranking, it doesn't make it a better overall school.
A neurosurgeon isn't going to be struggling to make payments even if that debt grows to 300k, nevermind they could do an academic program for 3 years following their significantly longer residencies and have most of it forgiven. Suspected specialty can play a role if you know what type of person you are - but, as Tots mentioned, you should be aware that you may decide you want to do family medicine someday, and thus consider that when looking at financial aid packages. Overall, though, it's easy, obvious, natural, etc., to wish you didn't have the debt while in residency, but, speaking in the long term, I wouldn't make it a dictating factor over other personal interests (unless you're die-hard primary care. Accruing 300k in debt to go to a noncompetitive residency wouldn't be your best move).
Other people may have different experiences, but those are the ideas that educate me. This is mostly irrelevant, and assumes the decider has no bias one way or the other. If you feel a stronger affinity for Emory than Vanderbilt (I know a number of people who feel this way) then you should choose Emory.
TL;DR: Feeling comfortable and happy with your choice is worth far more than status - that's why every year a number people turn down Harvard for other schools.
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FWIW, I am from the NW, and none of my friends know anything about Emory or Vandy.
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deleted127837
You should. Wear black pants, a white shirt with a black tie, a serious, almost concerned expression, and carry a clipboard.
And, to be fair, Emory has a beautiful campus.
In your experience, what are the major differences between the two that people cite as why they feel a greater affinity towards one or the other? I'm honestly not leaning towards one at this point. They both seem to have good research opps and happy students. I'm not familiar enough with residency programs to discern whether one historically has a better match list than the other. I wonder if 1 yr vs. 1.5 yr pre-clinicals would better suit preparation for step scores...
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deleted127837
People usually know which school they like better after visiting both for interviews. All else being equal, Vanderbilt has the better stats right now, though Grady will have a more diverse caseload. Both will be more than adequate for a career in anything - if you have specific interests, you may want to research their residency programs and see if they have a decent/strong program in what you like.
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the average person outside of the south may have only heard of Vandy because of division 1 sports which Emory doesn't have (division 3?)...but yeah that does not equate to quality of medical school
look up Harvard-affiliated hospitals, you will see a lot of Emory and Vandy graduates (Chief of Surgery at Beth Israel was a surgeon at Emory, and their program often accepts Emory med students)..Harvard and it's hospitals usually chooses students from Duke, Vandy and Emory students when they want to ensure they have distribution from the South so you can't go wrong by going to any of those schools
there will always be a plus or minus 2-3 spot variation for US News every year, that's the only way they're going to sell the magazines every year, if it was a huge difference between the two (like one was top 3 and the other not even in top 50, then I can see you using US News as a convincing parameter)
anyways i dont go to either school, my only point was that such minor differences should not be factors..we're not talking about a unknown med school vs. Hopkins here..when it comes down to it they're both the pretty much equivalent in terms of academic reputation..these are top 20-25 schools we're talking about, these are damn good schools no matter what parameter you want to use
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Definitely--I know I'm fortunate to have this choice to make. It's just tough to identify a way to pick between the two!
On the note of academic diversification--would it possibly help my chances more when applying to residency programs beyond the south if I were to matriculate to a school up north (ie BU or Tufts) instead? I just felt like Vandy/Emory better suited my research interests.
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there does tend to be regional bias for residencies but that does not mean you can't get residencies in northeast..if you want a residency in northeast, do away rotations there etc and that will help
BU or Tufts are good schools but much more expensive...can't go wrong with either Vandy or Emory, they're both powerhouses in academia and basic science research and will be able to get residencies in the northeast from those schools
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This is the map of the 2012 Vanderbilt match. And here is the 2011 match. I don't see a whole lot of Southern bias.
Also, the full lists going back until 2006 or so can be found here if you want to look for yourself: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/events/match-day
Emory may have a similar situation, but I'm not sure.
Also, the full lists going back until 2006 or so can be found here if you want to look for yourself: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/events/match-day
Emory may have a similar situation, but I'm not sure.
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Emory MS3 weighing in here.
There's no use analyzing the rankings in this much detail. The truth is that schools ranked 10-30 by USNWR will provide essentially the same med school experience and match opportunities.
I'm from the northeast and the same could be said about U Washington, Wash U, Pitt, etc... yet everyone knows of Brown and Dartmouth. Lay person prestige is far different from medical prestige. Once you start researching residency programs, you'll see that the top programs are disproportionately clustered at hospitals affiliated with the top 30 med schools. So IMO, USNWR is accurate in identifying the most influential institutions as a group but not precise enough to split hairs over.
To OP: I love Emory and would strongly recommend it, but Vandy is obviously a kick ass school too. I know many students at Emory who chose it over Vandy, and I'm sure there are many at Vandy who chose it over Emory.
I think the biggest strength of both schools is that their residency programs are uniformly solid. So my suggestion is to pick the school where you could see yourself spending 7+ years of your life, as there's a good chance you'll want to take advantage of the strong home residency programs, especially if you apply to a competitive field like derm, ortho, urology, nsurg, etc...
As someone from the northeast, i don't find the traffic to be very bad here. It's far better than Boston, DC, NY, or Philly in my experience. Also, Grady is amazing. Just had to throw that out there.
GL with your decision, I'm sure you'll be happy & successful at either school.
There's no use analyzing the rankings in this much detail. The truth is that schools ranked 10-30 by USNWR will provide essentially the same med school experience and match opportunities.
I'm from the northeast and the same could be said about U Washington, Wash U, Pitt, etc... yet everyone knows of Brown and Dartmouth. Lay person prestige is far different from medical prestige. Once you start researching residency programs, you'll see that the top programs are disproportionately clustered at hospitals affiliated with the top 30 med schools. So IMO, USNWR is accurate in identifying the most influential institutions as a group but not precise enough to split hairs over.
To OP: I love Emory and would strongly recommend it, but Vandy is obviously a kick ass school too. I know many students at Emory who chose it over Vandy, and I'm sure there are many at Vandy who chose it over Emory.
I think the biggest strength of both schools is that their residency programs are uniformly solid. So my suggestion is to pick the school where you could see yourself spending 7+ years of your life, as there's a good chance you'll want to take advantage of the strong home residency programs, especially if you apply to a competitive field like derm, ortho, urology, nsurg, etc...
As someone from the northeast, i don't find the traffic to be very bad here. It's far better than Boston, DC, NY, or Philly in my experience. Also, Grady is amazing. Just had to throw that out there.
GL with your decision, I'm sure you'll be happy & successful at either school.
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deleted127837
This is terrific advice. It's actually my biggest hesitation with committing 100% to a school right now - I'm not sure about their residencies.
I honestly think it is a tie between the two. I have to disagree with the previous posts. I think Emory and Vandy are about equal in terms of reputation in academic medicine and nationally. Vandy is a D1 school with a fairly wellknown football team. That is probably why more people have heard of it. However, being a southerner who went to school in the NE, people have generally heard of both. And honestly anyone who hasn't heard of both probably isn't going to matter. Residency directors will respect both and both get students matched into top programs.
Furthermore, the idea that a school increasing/decreasing 2-3spots in the USNews rankings means it is falling/rising makes no sense. I guarrantee most residency directors and doctors don't follow the year to year movement on the list. Especially, since the rankings have changed a lot since they were medical students. Furthermore, to actually improve substantially the medical/research opportunities at a University it is a long winded and convoluted process. It would happen over a period of 5-10years minimum not year to year.
They both draw many students from across the country. Although I don't know about medical school, the class profiles for the two schools are about the in terms of undergrad class, with Emory actually having slightly more students not from the south. They both have amazing opportunities, and the CDC/Whitehead Biomed Institute at Emory are amazing.
I would def say after Duke Vandy and Emory are tied for second. Go where you would be happy. I would personally pick Emory b/c Atlanta>>Nashville. But IMHO you really can't go wrong with either.
Southern schools often get shafted and are underrated due to the opinion of the layman in Cali or New England. Who in the south has heard of UCSD or Mt. Sinai? But no one would say they aren't top schools.
Furthermore, the idea that a school increasing/decreasing 2-3spots in the USNews rankings means it is falling/rising makes no sense. I guarrantee most residency directors and doctors don't follow the year to year movement on the list. Especially, since the rankings have changed a lot since they were medical students. Furthermore, to actually improve substantially the medical/research opportunities at a University it is a long winded and convoluted process. It would happen over a period of 5-10years minimum not year to year.
They both draw many students from across the country. Although I don't know about medical school, the class profiles for the two schools are about the in terms of undergrad class, with Emory actually having slightly more students not from the south. They both have amazing opportunities, and the CDC/Whitehead Biomed Institute at Emory are amazing.
I would def say after Duke Vandy and Emory are tied for second. Go where you would be happy. I would personally pick Emory b/c Atlanta>>Nashville. But IMHO you really can't go wrong with either.
Southern schools often get shafted and are underrated due to the opinion of the layman in Cali or New England. Who in the south has heard of UCSD or Mt. Sinai? But no one would say they aren't top schools.
That's a good point to consider the residency programs at each school. Does anyone have any input as far as what specialties may be notably better at one vs. the other? Also, if anyone has access to the full rankings...how do their residency director and average step scores tend to compare?
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