Yale vs. Mt Sinai

[Slink1688]

Hi all,

I was recently accepted to Yale and was waitlisted at Mount Sinai awhile back, and I am trying to decide which I'd prefer, and if Sinai, I'll probably send a letter of commitment to increase my chances of getting in off the waitlist.

My feelings about Yale are torn -- As a school, it feels like it would be the best fit, I absolutely love the Yale System, and the reputation is superb. That being said, I'm certain I will either be going into psychiatry or primary care, which are less competitive residency programs. My thoughts on academic medicine are torn -- I'm not sure whether I want to go into academia.

As for Sinai -- I absolutely loved the school as wwell, and feel as though it is as close to the Yale system as any medical school out there (p/f and no rankings the first two years, exams taken on a computer on the honor system). Its reputation is less stellar, but still amazing. Location is PERFECT for me. I grew up in NYC and absolutely love it there. I worry that New Haven might make me unhappy. As a single, soon-to-be medical student, I'm worried that my social life in New Haven may be a bit limited (i.e. only to the Yale's graduate population), and worry about things like dating and finding a partner, having friends outside of my program, etc. However, Yale has a huge graduate student population, whereas Mount Sinai is a freestanding medical school without a graduate student community like Yale's.

Any thoughts? I'd really appreciate some advice

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[NickNaylor]

Seems to me you're struggling more with the thought of giving up "the Yale experience" rather than being unsure about which school you want to attend.

 

[mdeast]

I think it's very important to consider location when choosing a medical school. NYC will afford a lifestyle and opportunities that New Haven will not. In those weekends you have off from studying or clerkships, it sounds like you might appreciate the city life. If you want balance between outside life and medical school, also consider post-medical school. Would you rather go to Yale or Sinai/NYC for residency? Would you be OK moving to a new city to complete residency, or would you prefer to make home connections and root yourself in one location or institution? As you go through medical school, you get older, form connections, etc. that might change your viewpoint about whether you want to be uprooting your life every 4 years for a new path in your career. In other words, choose a place that you don't think you'd mind "getting stuck at" for residency too.

Having said that, medical school flies by much quicker than you'd expect. It's really a 3 year program, where by the end of your first year of clerkships, you largely are already looking towards the next step in your medical career (i.e. ERAS, matching). The final year is just meant for applications, finishing up requirements, and making sure you continue to advance as a clinician and/or academic. You won't necessarily have a whole ton of time for dating (especially 3rd year).

Just need to look at your personal priorities and find the location that balances life and career the best. I will say, the quicker you start making choices in your medical career that take into account both social and professional concerns....the quicker you'll find happiness as a clinician in a profession with many unhappy people.

 

[you2tambien]

New Haven isn't really that great of a city, but it's what you make of it: there are some good things to do, but the area immediately around the hospital isn't so great. There are tons of grad students down on the medical campus though, and the undergrad campus is only five minutes away.

A current YSM student told me that med students can take classes in any of Yale's schools and get any kind of dual degree (virtually) so if you're at all interdisciplinary, Yale might be a good choice-- not sure if Sinai would have this kind of breadth of opportunity. Perhaps make another visit to NH and see if you could see yourself there?

 

[neurotroph]

Keep in mind that you won't have to totally give up the NYC experience if you go to Yale. Mt. Sinai would obviously make it more accessible, but New York could definitely still be a part of your social life if you went to Yale, especially if you already have connections there since it's where you grew up. It's only about a 1.5-2 hour train ride away from New Haven, so it's easy to get to if you have the weekend off or if you want make a day trip. Off-peak train tickets are about $14 one way. Hopefully Megabus will start a route between New Haven and NYC soon so that the trip is cheaper.

 

[UCSFdreamin]

full disclosure: im waitlisted at Yale and really want to go there. However, I can try to be objective because I had a similar debate on this topic.

I come from Chicago and am not as attracted to NYC. If you are---lets be honest---New Haven could never compare. Don't forget that Mount Sinai students do very very well in the match and the personality and culture there is great from what I can tell. I'm sure you saw this in your interviews. There are tons of research opportunities such that you could quickly replicate the research experience of being in the Yale System. The grading system similarities were already mentioned.

The marginal difference seems to be really small, in truth. While the idea of taking a bus to NYC sounds like a good backup if you're in New Haven, consider what a pain in the butt that really is. And if you're out with friends, where are you going to stay? Going out on the town in NYC and then going to sleep in your own bed (or a local bed at least) is a significant difference in quality of life and cost, relative to getting a hotel or taking a bus back.

Beyond the difference in city life, the big difference that I saw in Mount Sinai's favor if that there will be significantly more opportunities to meet people who are not students. In my experience --this is hugely enriching. Being surrounded by students all the time kind of skews your perspective of things. Maybe I underestimate New Haven's recreational value as being largely associated with the university, but if not, NYC is a handsdown winner.

The differences between schools seem insufficient to justify giving up the social element that seems so important to you.

 

[Long Way to Go]

Is there a significant financial cost difference between the two? I feel like living in New Haven would be far less expensive than living in New York City.

 

[DRymcmb]

Grow up. Anyone who has these choices and is soliciting advice from people they do not know is just being a narcissist. How about you be thankful for what you have and move on.

 

[protonate]

Grow up. Anyone who has these choices and is soliciting advice from people they do not know is just being a narcissist. How about you be thankful for what you have and move on.

At the end of the day, he's going to bear the consequences of his decision. The reason why people post these threads is to get input from others, maybe get a new perspective that they never thought of. To the OP, I would wait until I get the financial aid information from both schools-this should help in the decision making process.

 

[pp77]

I'd pick Yale.

 

[whoMD]

mount sinai has subsidized housing so its relatively cheap compared to other new york apartments

 

[sharpie1006]

My feelings about Yale are torn -- As a school, it feels like it would be the best fit, I absolutely love the Yale System, and the reputation is superb. That being said, I'm certain I will either be going into psychiatry or primary care, which are less competitive residency programs. My thoughts on academic medicine are torn -- I'm not sure whether I want to go into academia.

FYI, The psychiatry department and residency program are a major strong point at Yale. Go to the residency forum and check the Psych interview feedback/"what is school X's rank?" threads to see what I mean.

As for Sinai -- I absolutely loved the school as wwell, and feel as though it is as close to the Yale system as any medical school out there (p/f and no rankings the first two years, exams taken on a computer on the honor system). Its reputation is less stellar, but still amazing. Location is PERFECT for me. I grew up in NYC and absolutely love it there. I worry that New Haven might make me unhappy. As a single, soon-to-be medical student, I'm worried that my social life in New Haven may be a bit limited (i.e. only to the Yale's graduate population), and worry about things like dating and finding a partner, having friends outside of my program, etc. However, Yale has a huge graduate student population, whereas Mount Sinai is a freestanding medical school without a graduate student community like Yale's.

As an undergrad, I've been very happy in New Haven and have gotten to know quite a few medical/graduate students over the years. They are some of the happiest, most well-balanced people I've seen in professional/grad school, and they tend to get really cross-involved with all the stuff that goes on around campus. I don't mean to say New Haven = New York in all facets of social life - just saying that as a person who's been around New Haven + Yale students for a few years, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be as worried about making friends and having social opportunities.

Of course, if you know you absolutely need a big-city lifestyle (going to different parts of town, going to different clubs and bars every week, getting to know lots of non-students, being in a really high-energy place most of the time, etc.), New York would definitely satisfy that better than New Haven. I've lived in the city a bit so I understand the difference. It really winds up being your preference; I'd be happy either way!

 

[eHombre]

May I simply point out that what the OP has in hand is an *acceptance* at Yale.

OP is really only weighing whether to send either a letter of commitment or a letter of strong interest to get off the *waitlist* at Mount Sinai.

These aren't two competing offers and, according to SDN reconnaissance efforts, OP won't be hearing back from Sinai until after May 15 in any event.

 

[mistoffelees]

Hey, I'm a current MS-1 at Mount Sinai.

I don't want to rehash the whole "why Mount Sinai is awesome" speech, since I'm sure you've heard it when you were here. I am really happy to be here, and I just want to highlight a few things that made my time awesome.

-Our testing system is awesome. I really think we are 2nd only to the Yale System (which I sometimes covet, but then I realize that I'm not that far away myself). We do well on the boards - 235 is last year's average, so obviously the system isn't broken.

-I pay $551 per month for my rent. Rents in comparable nearby apartments (which aren't even as nice as our dorm) run at least $700-800.

-I'm doing a MD/MPH, and I will be done with the didactic part of my MPH (save the thesis) by the end of this academic year. I think a dual MD/MPH in four years is really awesome because you save a whole year of your life, and it balances out the MD program nicely - I always knew that I wanted to do a joint degree in med school, and in retrospect, this is one of the best ways it would have worked out.

-The administration here is SUPER receptive to what we want. Earlier in the year, we complained that we would have to go to the Med Ed office to view the exam answers when they were available - one semester later, they are available for viewing the day after the exam window closes online for 24 hours.

-Living in Manhattan is worth it. I've never lived in a place with less than a million people in my whole life, and I went to college in Boston - I would say that NYC is a step up from Boston, and I love it here.

-Given everything I'm doing, I have the flexibility (we often have 3 or 4 day weekends in our schedule, due to very few classes on Fridays and Mondays) to visit my SO in California every 3-4 weeks or so during term. I often just take my exams and quizzes there.

I think my QOL in med school is pretty awesome - Sinai turned out better than I thought.