Which med schools have the HAPPIEST students????

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
B

banannie

Senior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
368
Reaction score
0
I'm not very concerned w/ prestige, ranking, residency match lists, etc.

All I want to know is: which schools tend to have the happiest students? Which schools have the least happy students? I don't even want to waste money applying to places where students are unhappy, unfriendly, ultra-competitive, cutthroat, etc.

I spent 4 years as an undergrad at a school where happiness was not a widely embraced priority. So I'm more than ready to be around some happy people for once!
Members don't see this ad.
 
I met a girl (2yr) from NYU medical about a month ago. From what I gathered from her, she pretty much hated NYU. She wished she had attended another school that wasn't soo filled with snobs (professors and students). I use to work at NYU (for 1 1/2yr) and I agreed with her when she said the professors are cocky, most of them are about 500yrs old, and speak a language that's often mistaken for english but in reality it's gibirish(sp?).

That's just one girl's opinion, but I heard similar stories from my friends at NYU bizness school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I also attended a school for 4 years where happiness was not a priority....hm, did you go to my school banannie? :wink:

I have heard that Tulane has happy students, and I have seen the happy studets at U Florida.

I have heard that BU and Finch have unhappy students. Damn! :wink:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
vanderbilt claims to have the happiest students based on some exit survey by 4th years just graduating... but I've never been able to pin them down on a source for it. I thought students were happy there, but only go if you REALLY want the traditional curriculum, it's super-traditional.

In general from my interview experience:

generally happy students:
Pritzker! yay, where I'll be next year
Pittsburgh
Vanderbilt
Case Western

some happy, some not so much:
duke
ucsf
ucla
u maryland

jaded, unhappy students:
johns hopkins

This is one guy's experience, don't base much on it, but if lots of people post their impressions it could be more interesting.
 
Stanford students are the happiest I've seen...
 
As an M1, I am not unhappy at NYU med but I gotta agree with the previous poster who said many students and professors here are snobby. That is one negative aspect for this school. It's very cliquish much like high school where some people think they are all that and others try to kiss up to those they perceive "cool." I'm more laid back and mellow so I don't necessarily enjoy the superficiality of it all. There are definitely some genuinely friendly students but I have to say most are annoying.
 
What about Texas Schools?
 
Does anyone know if students at GW are happy and/or snobby?
 
U of Michigan Med has some REALLY happy students.

I've heard that b4 1991, Michigan students weren't too thrilled about the school, but in 1991 or 1992 U of M flat out overhauled the whole school and its curriculum - w/ many faculty getting fired as well - and students seem to really like the new setup.

From what I gather, b4 the change the medschool's attitude was "take it or leave it" but now students have a lot of input in what is taught and how it is taught and other things.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by rjhtamu:
•What about Texas Schools?•••••I interveiwed at UT-Houston, UTMB Galveston, UT Southwestern, and UT San-Antonio. The happiest students (or most laid back :cool: ) I saw were at UTMB. They couldn't get over being by the beach and having half-day classess. However, I will be attending Southwestern :clap: . The school just seemed to be a better fit (and I was kinda sucked in by the whole prestige bit even though every school in Texas will give you a high-quality education).
 
Cornell students are pretty happy...

How can you not be, with classes ending at 1 pm???

My class (just finished 2nd year) is overall very laid back and non-competetive, too.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by glacierdropsy:
•Does anyone know if students at GW are happy and/or snobby?•••••When I was there, I noticed that many of the students are really good-looking. Maybe that makes them happier! <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />

ok, I was there during exam time and some students still came by to say hi and were friendly and joking around.

Unfortunately, I think it's really hard to judge happiness based on interview day because it's hard to meet a lot of students. So don't believe anything I say. :wink:

Happiness depends on the person, and if you only get into one school like me, I'm sure you'll make the best of it. :D That's what I plan to do anyway. :)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
i agree with stanford students being super happy. i also thought harvard students were very happy.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by banannie:
•

All I want to know is: which schools tend to have the happiest students? Which schools have the least happy students?•••••I met the happiest, most laid-back students at Penn, Sinai, Pitt and Cornell. I wasn't a huge fan of the Columbia students I met. But you meet so few students when you interview that it's not likely that they're necessarily representative of the student population, which of course changes with each class as well. Out of all the schools I saw though, Pitt and Sinai definitely had the most laid-back and well-balanced students.
 
Best way to be assured of attending a medical school where the students are happy is to attend an osteopathic school of medicine. Student body as a whole is more mature, more well-rounded, and less cut throat. Philadehia College of Osteopathic Medicine has an excellent reputation for happy students. :clap: :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Tulane students seem to think they're the happiest. Most that I met really liked the school and New Orleans.
 
i met lots of happy students at UCLA when i went there last week for an intervew
 
rush is full of happy students--it's just one big happy family there.
 
Penn students are all chill...a definite reflection of the support they receive from the faculty.
Stanford students are EXTREMELY laid back, but I think it's because a lot of them are on the five year plan---guess the weather doesn't hurt either though
 
Well, we all know which school has the happiest undergrad students :D
<a href="http://www.review.com/college/rankingsmultipleresults.cfm?TopicID=18&highlightColor=colbbhightlight&pagetype=qualityoflife&menuID=0&search=1&ProConRefNum=19" target="_blank">Ah yes, serenity</a>
 
My .02. I'd say it would be fairly safe to say that schools that have a P/F grading system are happier than schools with a Honors/Pass/Fail.
From my personal experience, the students at Tulane was the happiest I saw out of all of them.
As for unhappy, Jefferson my interviewer says he hates the pre-clinical curriculum and it doesn't prepare them for the boards because the professors write all the tests. USC everybody seemed to love it there. Michigan, I don't think the people I met wsa to enthusiastic about it. Some said they were pulling for about 3 other schools, but it fell through. That's about it.
 
I met the most laid-back students at Dartmouth.
They seemed to have nothing to worry about.
Beautiful mountains, etc... :wink:
 
Of the 12 schools I interviewed at, students at Columbia, OHSU, Tulane, and UW seemed the happiest. Of these, I would have to say that the students at OHSU seemed the happiest.
 
When I was interviewing I used to think that p/f was the secret to happiness but now that I've experienced h/p/f I've seen that that's not necessarily the case. The way they grade at Pitt honors means that you were 1 SD above the mean. After the first couple of tests everyone figures out where they fall and most people stop worrying about trying to get honors and start trying to learn as much as they can. I'm not sure if the prevailing cooperative attitude of students is a function of that or if its related to the fact that students have a big say in who gets in.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Legi:
•I met the most laid-back students at Dartmouth.
They seemed to have nothing to worry about.
Beautiful mountains, etc... :wink: •••••I second that! Ditto for Mt. Sinai students - they all said that the curriculum is do-able and laid back (Just pass/fail the first two years) and that having a life such as going out each weekend and having a PT job (up to 10 hours/week) is certainly do-able.
 
The two schools that I noticed students SIGNIFICANTLY happier than the other schools I visited were Univ of Pittsburgh and Univ of Michigan.

I think posts like this can be misleading though because with such a small sample size on 2 levels (1) SDN people versus all applicants AND 2) people who you see during the interview day versus the entire student body) can lead to a totally inaccurate perspective of a school based on a single post.

I got a little too technical there huh?

Anyway... my perspective.... UMich and Pitt = happy students!!
 
Of the schools I interviewed at, I would say that the students at OHSU were the happiest, followed by Hopkins and Tulane. The students at Penn State and Univ of Vermont didn't seem quite as content, but not terribly unhappy either... I think they were mostly overworked. The one class at a time/ get out of class by noon programs that OHSU and Hopkins have are probably most responsible for the high level of happiness at those schools. I think Tulane simply selects the happiest and most outgoing students they can find, but there program isn't set up quite as nicely to foster happiness. Anyways, that's just my opinion based on my interview experiences at each school.
 
of the schools i went to...

indiana students weren't all thrilled about their school, but i wouldn't necessarily say they were UNhappy. tulane and wake forest students seemed fairly happy, and UF and USF students LOVED their school.

my dad keeps telling me that in some national survey USF had the happiest med students in the nation, but he also wants me nearby and i was rejected by UF. then again, he's in gainesville and he was telling me that before i even interviewed anywhere... i've heard the same thing from a few other people, but i don't know what survey it was or how to verify it. sorry!
 
I was impressed with how happy the students at Cornell and NYMC seemed to be. For some reason I was really surprised by this impression at NYMC, pleasantly so of course. I also interviewed at Kansas. Lets just say that of the 20-30 people that I talked to, most said they hated it and the rest said they didn't mind going to school there.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by coop:
•

generally happy students:
Pritzker! yay, where I'll be next year
•••••Yes I agree that Pritzker students seem happy. When I interviewed there it seemed like one big party the entire time.
 
Tufts Medical School. Anyone who had gone to their interviews would most likely agree with me.

---------------
Darkmatter Premed Comics
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/31/2549931.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/31/2549931.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/36/2549936.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/36/2549936.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/41/2549941.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/41/2549941.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/71/2549971.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/71/2549971.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/78/2549978.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/78/2549978.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/88/2549988.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/88/2549988.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/98/2549998.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/98/2549998.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/34/2546234.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/34/2546234.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/74/2552674.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/74/2552674.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/99/2552699.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/99/2552699.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/83/2553383.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/83/2553383.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/06/2553406.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/06/2553406.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/27/2558127.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/27/2558127.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/42/2558142.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/42/2558142.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/61/2570861.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/61/2570861.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/90/2582790.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/90/2582790.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/92/2582792.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/92/2582792.jpg</a>
<a href="http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/71/2587071.jpg" target="_blank">http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/71/2587071.jpg</a>

Darkmatter's Music Corner
<a href="http://sound_academy.tripod.com/shout.mp3" target="_blank">http://sound_academy.tripod.com/shout.mp3</a>
<a href="http://sound_academy.tripod.com/return.mp3" target="_blank">http://sound_academy.tripod.com/return.mp3</a>
<a href="http://sound_academy.tripod.com/Catch.mp3" target="_blank">http://sound_academy.tripod.com/Catch.mp3</a>
 
Students at Univ. or Rochester, seemed extremely happy and relaxed!
 
USF students seemed extremely happy to be there. They are super nice and helpful. Definitely no cutthroat atmosphere. :D
 
i think someone made a really important comment up there...
and that all these "answers" really depend on the person.

personally, i used to worry a lot about "oh where will i be happy? where will i have the coolest friendlist nicest classmates?" etc.
but anywhere you go, you'll meet people you like and dislike, people who are happy and unhappy, etc.

i've learned from my college experience that i can pretty much MAKE my own happiness. it's about your friends and what you DO that will make you happier at a place. it's NOT the place.
 
Vivian :wink: ,
That's definitely true. The place itself doesn't play much of a role, but the people at the place are a factor; and it's hard to separate the people at the place from the place. The buildings and stuff would certainly play almost no role in one's happiness. The fellow students however, will play a huge role in how easy (or not) it is to catch fun.
 
I agree with previous posters that it's pretty subjective, but I have to say that Case Western students were exceptionally happy. Happy in a very objective way, as in they were smiling, laughing, singing, dancing (okay so I happened to see one of their talent shows) But, still...very happy people.
 
original... I kind of have the opposite reasoning as you. I think that I could find students that I could click with and be friends with at any school, there will be some cool people anywhere, but if the school is clearly working for the students, and responsive to their input it makes people happier and more satisfied with their experience. But these factors play off each other. The people who these issues are important to flock to such schools, and it's self-perpetuating.
 
I can think of very few people in my class who are unhappy, and we are in the middle of three weeks of finals right now.

UT-Houston: Where people are happy, even when neuro kicks their asses.
 
I'm sorry..happiness is a facade....

You really need to get over going to a place where everyone is "happy"....differences in perceptions on the day that you happen to go will change anyone's mind about a school!

Wherever you go, some people will love it..others will hate it..just depends who you meet that day and how good some are at faking it.

If you ask a student what they dislike most about the school and they say "nothing" - they are LYING!

Figure out what makes YOU happy. Weather? location? family?

Then go from there!
 
The students at Mount Sinai seem pretty happy to me.
 
Happy Medical Student?

Jumbo Shrimp
Deafening Silence
Military Inteligence

These other oxymorons come to mind . . .
 
I do somewhat agree that happiness is a facade. I think it's hard to tell the difference between someone who is really happy and someone is is doing ok. Most people cannot hide it when they are truly unhappy, so I think you can get a pretty good sense if people are unhappy. In grad school, this prospective student sat down with my friends and I and wanted to talk about the program. We weren't exactly thrilled with it, and I know it was apparent even though we tried not to trash talk it too much. As long as the people aren't extremely fake/sicky sweet, I think you can tell whether or not they dislike the school.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by coop:
•original... I kind of have the opposite reasoning as you. I think that I could find students that I could click with and be friends with at any school, there will be some cool people anywhere, but if the school is clearly working for the students, and responsive to their input it makes people happier and more satisfied with their experience. But these factors play off each other. The people who these issues are important to flock to such schools, and it's self-perpetuating.•••••coop,
I wouldn't go as far as saying I could click and be friends with students at ANY school. Imagine if you were dropped in the middle of a Taliban-run militia school in Afghanistan...it ain't gonna be pretty. 'Nuff said. <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> . More seriously, I agree that one can pretty much find one's niche at any given school. Pretty quick it becomes apparent who's a 2 min "hey what's up?" buddy; and whose in the core circle you hang with. Cliques? unfortunately yes.
 
OHSU and Loyola students all seem quite happy. Mebbe it has something to do with the class schedule they are on.
 
Hey everyone,

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Now I can add "Student Happiness" as a column to my excel spreadsheet!

JUST KIDDING!!! :wink:

Seriously, though, I know you all are trying to be helpful when you lecture me about picking a school where I personally would be happy. But see, I already know this! Notice, I didn't ask you all to tell me where I'd be happy, I just want to know if there were schools that you all felt generally had happier students.

Anyway, I think that my question was a valid one (if a bit on the frivolous side). The way I see it, considering a school's residency matches, for instance, is no more useful, b/c it doesn't have all that much to do with whether or not a specific person will get the specific residency she wants. That depends more on the individual.

Furthermore, when I think about spending 4 years seeing the same 100-200 people every single day, I'd really prefer to be in an environment where people are not miserable, super-competitive, or mean. Sure, it's possible to find a niche anywhere, but I'd like my niche to be within a subset already pre-selected for "happiness" than just the few sorta-happy souls among the generally miserable.

Thanks again for your advice! :)
 
Happy to see Tulane is known as one of the happy schools. Here's a portion of a post I put on the allopathic forum, which is worth repeating here:

I'm a 3rd year at Tulane. I cannot emphasize how much I hear my fellow students say how happy they are they made this choice and how much more fun they have compared to friends at other med schools. First off, we are generally nice, not-so-competetive(for med students), and even the faculty encourages us to be well-rounded people. Faculty members actually participate in our music and art shows and some even in our intramural sports teams. Our Dean has a History of Medicine Wine and Cheese party at his own home every year!

And, location does mean something. In January when you are already bummed out about studying so hard, would you rather trudge through snow from your car every day, or wear a light jacket and sunglasses? Plus, there is just so much to do in New Orleans all the time. For example, last weekend, when we finished up one of our two-month clinical rotations and had a weekend off: Friday afternoon I played golf. Friday night, class party at a bar on Bourbon street. Saturday all day spent at Jazzfest, where you can see over 60 bands on 10 stages(EACH DAY of the 2-weekend/7 day festival), eat from a variety of food booths, including about 20 ways to eat crawfish, all for just $18 admission plus food and drink costs. Sunday went to the campus gym and lifted weights with friends, followed by a bike ride on the Lakefront of Lake Ponchartrain. I challenge any other non-New Orlenas med student to describe such a fun-filled weekend without leaving their med school's city. And this is NOT an unusual weekend for this city. It is truly important to feel you can relax when you have the time to during med school and if you go to a place that has so much social life opportunities built in, it's much easier. Plus your out-of-town friends are very likely to visit. Med school is hard work, enjoying your life when you can is majorly important to your mental well-being.
 
i think original and coop are not disagreeing as much as they might think...
i agree with both but i lean toward original's reasoning bc i think even within an administration/school that may not be perfect and wonderfully fostering, etc., as long as you find your niche and your friends, you can be happy.
 
Of the ten schools that I interviewed at, I'd say that the happiest students were at Stanford, Yale, and Harvard with Penn following pretty closely. I also felt like JHU students seemed exhausted and not so so happy -- they reminded me a lot of students from my undergrad!
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by dlbruch:
•Happy Medical Student?

Jumbo Shrimp
Deafening Silence
Military Inteligence

These other oxymorons come to mind . . .•••••<img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> LOL

On a side note, which books did you guys find the most useful in determining what a particular med school is really like?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

PreMedMissteps
Which med schools like students who’ve reinvented themselves but have lower GPA due to OLD grades?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
P
Which schools have stopped sending Interviews?
Replies
3
Views
846
cranberrylimeade
cranberrylimeade
C
Happiest MD schools?
Replies
14
Views
5K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
I
Which schools have specific trends in admitted students (high numbers, service, etc)?
Replies
1
Views
557
chilly_md
chilly_md
F
Which schools like letters of interest?
Replies
11
Views
2K
justlikehoney
justlikehoney
Top