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Anyone have any thoughts on this decision?
Yale vs. Stanford vs. Columbia
- Thread starter qetuo
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Without going to details, I would go to Columbia.
That is if I had the chance to choose among these three great schools.
Where I work in an ortho. clinin, there is a Yale graduate. He hates Yale so much. He said the competition was so severe. He said "the competition was not healthy, many times, you could not get any help".
But this doc graduated in 1980. It may be very different now...
Good luck any way,
Gebe
That is if I had the chance to choose among these three great schools.
Where I work in an ortho. clinin, there is a Yale graduate. He hates Yale so much. He said the competition was so severe. He said "the competition was not healthy, many times, you could not get any help".
But this doc graduated in 1980. It may be very different now...
Good luck any way,
Gebe
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You are looking at which place you would like to live...they are equivalently ranked schools, slightly different learning curriculums....all good choices. I will be going to columbia so that would be my choice.....
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like trout, i'm biased cause i've alredy made my decision to go to columbia, but here are my thoughts because it came down to the wire between these schools (more just stanford and columbia, but that's cause i went to yale undergrad).
i think that the curricula are more similar at stanford and yale - they are both really flexible and many people graduate in four years. there is a lot of money for going out in your own direction. the curriculum at columbia is far more traditional, but has perhaps the best hospitals. also, with that tradition comes an enthusiastic support of the medical school that gives columbia a different feel than any other school i visited. somehow, everyone there seems convinced that columbia is THE BEST. which makes a whole lot of talented people feel driven to do their own best. the energy is tremendous, and i anticipate the opportunities being limitless as well.
in terms of quality-of-life stuff, you are dealing with three different places as well. all three schools have reputations for having really happy students. but that's partly because the people who attend generally chose the schools they want to attend. so you have to wonder about things like class size (stanford - 86, columbia-150, yale somewhere in between), location (suburbs, small city(but new haven is awesome - don't turn your nose up without going!!) or the greatest city on earth.)
basically, this is a decision that you are LUCKY to be making, so take your time with it.
i think that the curricula are more similar at stanford and yale - they are both really flexible and many people graduate in four years. there is a lot of money for going out in your own direction. the curriculum at columbia is far more traditional, but has perhaps the best hospitals. also, with that tradition comes an enthusiastic support of the medical school that gives columbia a different feel than any other school i visited. somehow, everyone there seems convinced that columbia is THE BEST. which makes a whole lot of talented people feel driven to do their own best. the energy is tremendous, and i anticipate the opportunities being limitless as well.
in terms of quality-of-life stuff, you are dealing with three different places as well. all three schools have reputations for having really happy students. but that's partly because the people who attend generally chose the schools they want to attend. so you have to wonder about things like class size (stanford - 86, columbia-150, yale somewhere in between), location (suburbs, small city(but new haven is awesome - don't turn your nose up without going!!) or the greatest city on earth.)
basically, this is a decision that you are LUCKY to be making, so take your time with it.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by drlion06:
•somehow, everyone there seems convinced that columbia is THE BEST. which makes a whole lot of talented people feel driven to do their own best.•••••You know, this is so true, and not to be taken lightly. I decided not to go to Columbia for various other reasons (primarily financial), but the enthusiasm of the students was a huge pro in its favor. They were all so psyched to be there.
Yale is a wonderful school but I realized I would find it hard to stay on track. As much as I like to think of myself as self-motivated, the truth is that I do kind of need regular exams and quite a lot of guidance and so forth. That's why I decided against it.
I'm on the waitlist at Stanford and still undecided if I would go there if the planets align and I'm actually offered a spot. The Stanford attitude annoys me a bit but there are great opportunities to do (and get paid for doing) your own thing. The weather is pretty nice and you can easily hop over to the coast or go hiking.
I don't know where you're from, but maybe you can make the decision based on where you've spent the least time - I think everyone should take the opportunity to live on both coasts (and, ideally, somewhere in between) if they can.
Best of luck to you. Sorry for the long and probably unhelpful post. Let us know what you decide! (Incidentally, how is that you are still deciding? Did the schools grant you an extension?)
•somehow, everyone there seems convinced that columbia is THE BEST. which makes a whole lot of talented people feel driven to do their own best.•••••You know, this is so true, and not to be taken lightly. I decided not to go to Columbia for various other reasons (primarily financial), but the enthusiasm of the students was a huge pro in its favor. They were all so psyched to be there.
Yale is a wonderful school but I realized I would find it hard to stay on track. As much as I like to think of myself as self-motivated, the truth is that I do kind of need regular exams and quite a lot of guidance and so forth. That's why I decided against it.
I'm on the waitlist at Stanford and still undecided if I would go there if the planets align and I'm actually offered a spot. The Stanford attitude annoys me a bit but there are great opportunities to do (and get paid for doing) your own thing. The weather is pretty nice and you can easily hop over to the coast or go hiking.
I don't know where you're from, but maybe you can make the decision based on where you've spent the least time - I think everyone should take the opportunity to live on both coasts (and, ideally, somewhere in between) if they can.
Best of luck to you. Sorry for the long and probably unhelpful post. Let us know what you decide! (Incidentally, how is that you are still deciding? Did the schools grant you an extension?)
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yale's curriculum is quite different than how it was pre 1980, gebe
it's p/f for one thing, and from what i hear it's a great place to go to school. but stanford and columbia are nice too, so good luck in deciding.
i'd make the decision between those two based off location. If you want to spend your time in an exciting and intense location, or enjoy a more laid back californian environment with nice weather, make your decision accordingly.
it's p/f for one thing, and from what i hear it's a great place to go to school. but stanford and columbia are nice too, so good luck in deciding.
i'd make the decision between those two based off location. If you want to spend your time in an exciting and intense location, or enjoy a more laid back californian environment with nice weather, make your decision accordingly.
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yale's thesis requirement is a big part of it's curriculum, so make sure that's something you actually want to do. stanford and yale both have the option of the 5th year for free or very little tuition, which is nice. i believe stanford is also modifying their curriculum to include a "major" of sorts, so you would be required to have a concentration in a particular area (such as biotech, health policy, etc.). personally, i think that you will find much more diversity in the patient bases of new haven and new york, although you could probably do some work in east palo alto if you went to stanford.
hope that helps. best of luck!
hope that helps. best of luck!
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My few cents will go to Columbia- always! I did not mean to keep the Columbia drum beating but the location CU offers is hard to overlook. New York is just filled with everything you would want to do- it is not overrated by any measure. Also Columbia's atmosphere is very much so in the "work hard, play hard" mentatlity. But Stanford is nice- if you are West coast- and Yale is great if like the environment a bit more quiet. Good luck! By the way are u applying or did you get in?
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by dr. momo:
•stanford and yale both have the option of the 5th year for free or very little tuition, which is nice.•••••Wow, I've never heard of that. What's the purpose of taking a 5th year, research?
•stanford and yale both have the option of the 5th year for free or very little tuition, which is nice.•••••Wow, I've never heard of that. What's the purpose of taking a 5th year, research?
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Crazy Carl:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by dr. momo:
•stanford and yale both have the option of the 5th year for free or very little tuition, which is nice.•••••Wow, I've never heard of that. What's the purpose of taking a 5th year, research?•••••at yale all the med students are required to do a thesis, so a lot of people use the fifth year to work on it. (and i think it's free.)
at stanford for every quarter after the 13th quarter you pay only about 10% tuition. i think they just encourage you to pursue broad interests, like research or study abroad.
pretty cool.
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by dr. momo:
•stanford and yale both have the option of the 5th year for free or very little tuition, which is nice.•••••Wow, I've never heard of that. What's the purpose of taking a 5th year, research?•••••at yale all the med students are required to do a thesis, so a lot of people use the fifth year to work on it. (and i think it's free.)
at stanford for every quarter after the 13th quarter you pay only about 10% tuition. i think they just encourage you to pursue broad interests, like research or study abroad.
pretty cool.
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