Yale v Penn

[PacoTaco3]

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[docr3]

Penn

 

[PacoTaco3]

reasons?

 

[Decision18]

Congrats! Both fantastic options. I don't think there's any substantial difference between the schools re. future opportunities and the cost difference isn't really significant.

Yale is a much less stressful environment than almost any other medical school, especially for clinical years where almost every other school has very subjective evaluations and grades. If having a low-stress environment is important for you I'd choose Yale.

If you thrive in a more stressful environment (compared to Yale) and/or are interested in pediatrics, Penn is probably the better choice.

 

[EnterMemberNameHere]

Disclaimer: I'm going to Yale starting this summer.
Warning: wall of text

I think that the main things that differ between these schools are the location and the educational environment/atmosphere/philosophy.

I had some worries about New Haven, but after talking with several students I feel better about it. Is it going to be a vibrant place with tons of stuff going on like a major city? Of course not. But it seems like there is a decent amount of activities and happenings around New Haven, the food seems good, and the Yale community is solid. Also, the demographics are suited for medical education because there is so much variation (in terms of SES, geographical, and race/ethnicity). However, if you’re a city person I won’t lie to you and say you’ll like it more than Philly, but it seems better than the rap it gets.

In terms of the educational environment, I know a few people at Penn and I think that it is pretty different from Yale. Penn just switched to preclinical P/F. While that’s obviously a good move, it says something that they were so slow to make the change compared to peer institutions. My friends who go to Penn are, to be perfectly honest, kinda hardos, and they like the environment because it stresses them out and there is more competitiveness there than peer institutions. That’s totally not for me. Is it for you? It’s so so different than Yale. This seems like the most acute difference.

One more thing: Penn has the better hospital system hands down. I was worried that while Yale-New Haven is very well regarded, it isn’t the same quality of the hospital systems of other schools I got into (esp. Michigan), and I didn’t know how that would affect me as a student. I talked with several students and a former professor/clinician, and they all reassured me that they felt the clinical education was top of the line and described some things about their rotations that made me feel a lot better.

Hope that helps! Feel free to PM for additional questions, etc.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

you are god. I am not worthy of giving a god advice, just go wherever you want my lord

 

[Willy38]

Go where you’ll be happiest for the next 4-5 years and where you will thrive so you can match to an awesome residency. Residency is where you really hone clinical skills anyway. And the clinical hospital training for med students is essentially the same at all major hospitals so I wouldn’t worry about that. Congrats on some awesome choices!!

 

[Willy38]

Congrats on getting off the waitlist both are great schools and you can't go wrong. The cost difference is negligible so that shouldn't be a factor for something this important.

I think something worth considering is the value of the better hospital system. Less so for the value in clinical skills ( you'll get that more from the time you spend volunteering in clinics) but more so for the number of big shot names. These big shot names when vouching for you through letter of recs can make a world of difference when applying to residences.

Additionally, Penn is objectively the stronger medical school and the switch to P/F will make the difference in lifestyle between it and yale negligible. I have friends that go to Penn and absolutely love it (and are not hardos whatever that means).

Also, I assure you that Penn has a research and global health focus as well. I think it's the better choice and I wouldn't have mentioned if you didn't but as far as medical prestige goes Penn wins. If you need validation of that look at both their match lists.

That being said yale is an amazing school so you really can't go wrong either way. Once again Congrats on getting off the waitlist and best of luck which whatever school you choose

Not sure its fair to say penn is objectively better lol, unless you’re citing usnwr (in which case i could cite top universities as an equally arbitrary ranking of medical schools worldwide).

I will concede that they tend to have stronger residency programs in general but this is field specific. Match lists are useful to look at where grads tend to go if you are interested in a certain geographical region and I think Yale’s goes toe to toe with any school in the country in this regard, although we favor Harvard and UCSF programs traditionally more heavily than most. Penn is a larger school so there’s that to consider as well.

All in all, two different places with different cultures. In many respects, I wish I had chosen Penn but that’s personal preference. (Also MD/MBA is stronger at Penn if interested in that).

I agree that big name faculty/ strong home department is a huge consideration and penn may have the edge for undecided students in this regard, but you have to weigh this vs the risk that you are ranked/AOA at Penn and may not end up in the top 1/3 or so of the class.

 

[pilgrampirate86]

Penn, better fit and reputation

 

[EnterMemberNameHere]

Not sure how why you think the impending switch to P/F at Penn will result in a difference in lifestyle compared to Yale that is “negligible”. There are schools that have had P/F for a long time that aren’t considered as non-stressful as Yale. P/F is just a grading system, which only has limited effect on the educational environment. Class schedule, exams, ranking, AOA All determine competitiveness and stress.