Yale vs. Penn

[stumyers]

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Yale vs. Penn . . . what do you think? I've only been to each once and would really appreciate feedback on what each is like . . .

Here are the differences I can see . . .

Yale vs. Penn
New Haven vs. Philly
Thesis Required vs. No required thesis
No grades vs. H/P/F
No exams vs. Exams

5th year option at both

Can you help me think of more differences?

Thanks.

 

[Gleevec]

Wow, seems to be a flurry of first posters asking crap like this.

I might answer if you had a couple posts, but it seems to me like you're here for other reasons.

So,

NO SOUP FOR YOU

 

[jonathan19103]

Hi I am an MS2 at Penn and I was once in your shoes. I was an undergrad at Yale and had many friends in the med school. I basically think that you can't go wrong at either.

I really liked Yale's no-grades policy for the first two years. At Penn, we have p/f for the first semester and then h/p/f for spring of MS1 and fall of MS2. Both schools probably have similar clinical policies (which if you ask anyone, are the only ones that really mean anything). Penn is not competitive, but I think a p/f system for the whole pre-clinical thing would be nice.

Location wise, Penn clearly wins out. Yale is a great great place to be an undergrad, but I think that the city is not fantastic for grad students. Rent is cheap but New Haven honestly doesn't have much to offer. Philadelphia is more of a prototypical city with young people doing all sorts of things- going to grad/prof school, working, etc. There are many more bars, attractions, etc.

Your first year, you will probably live in a dorm at Yale and eat dining hall food. This is nice for meeting your classmates, but honestly, you will see a lot of them no matter what. At Penn, almost everyone finds an apartment off-campus. I do not think that we missed out by not living in a dorm together. I think this is especially true for those who are not coming directly from college and are used to "real life."

You will get an excellent education at either school. Both schools have a good amount of school spirit and a warm and receptive faculty. Both have nice facilities. People from both schools match at very good institutions in the fields that they desire. I think Penn historically has been a bit more specialty driven (more kids going into rads, ophtho, ent, etc.)

Yale requires a thesis, but Penn kind of requires one too. We have a "scholarly pursuit" that must occupy at least 3 months. Most people end up doing some sort of clinical or lab research. One difference is that because we enter clinics a semester earlier, we have more time in our fourth year for this requirement (or for travel, lounging around and doing nothing, etc.)

-Jonathan

 

[stumyers]

Thanks so much for the info . . .

Is there a fifth year option at Penn? If so, do many people take advantage of it? Also, do you have much interaction with other professional students from Penn?

Thanks!

 

[UCLA2000]

You can't go wrong with either school. Just go where you feel most comfortable.

 

[Bonds756]

Originally posted by stumyers
Thanks so much for the info . . .

Is there a fifth year option at Penn? If so, do many people take advantage of it? Also, do you have much interaction with other professional students from Penn?

Thanks!

Yeah, same option. About 1/4 of the each class ends of getting another degree with in med school, and many others do a year of research or gain international experience for a year in between MS3 and MS4.
There is a good deal of interaction with other grad students simply because the med school is right on the the main undergrad campus. All the schools are near each other and there are plenty of mixers to meet other grads (esp. from law, vet, nursing, business). Yale, however, is similar to this in that the have grad mixers pretty often (esp. with law, mph, PhD).