Columbia vs. NYU (should this be posted somewhere else?)

[sixleggedinsect]

greetings from a SDN newbie.

i will most likely be choosing between NYU and Columbia this month. I suspect id be delighted in either spot, but launched into my undergrad without the appropriate amount of thinking and regreted it ever since. i dont want to do it again.

my ideal med school is columbia (with the truncated pre-clinicals, and high-end reputation, etc) with NYU´s dreamy hospital: bellevue.

i very much want to be able to be very involved in patient care, as early as possible, and then whatever i can get in 3-4th years. i have heard that bellevue´s pt population, overworked status, etc, made that a likely bet, whereas columbia´s private high end status made it less likely.

can anyone speak to this? is there a forum where i can attract 3rd and 4th years in these schools to chip in? would anyone be willing to drop me a line in person?

good luck to everyone in this suspenseful couple of weeks,
anthony

email : ant (at) electricant (dot) net

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[Crickter]

I would go for Columbia, you can find enough clinical experience in Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Good problem to have.

 

[Dannycakes]

I'm a 4th year at P&S. While there are some private patients, mostly it's Northern Manhattan. You need to know Spanish here. You can volunteer at either a student clinic or a hopeless clinic in Harlem. I did my surgery upstate, spent 3 months at Harlem Hospital and a fair amount of time at Roosevelt/St. Luke's. The Hospitals are pretty solid and not the private, narrow patient population some might think. Come visit and take a look at the neighborhood and hospital.

 

[ar2388]

I'm a 4th year at P&S. While there are some private patients, mostly it's Northern Manhattan. You need to know Spanish here. You can volunteer at either a student clinic or a hopeless clinic in Harlem. I did my surgery upstate, spent 3 months at Harlem Hospital and a fair amount of time at Roosevelt/St. Luke's. The Hospitals are pretty solid and not the private, narrow patient population some might think. Come visit and take a look at the neighborhood and hospital.

im sorry.. "hopeless clinic?"

 

[Dannycakes]

im sorry.. "hopeless clinic?"

haha. homeless. but you already knew that...

 

[ar2388]

haha. homeless. but you already knew that...

haha couldnt resist... i mean a "hopeless" clinic is something else.. and maybe our society really could use one or two of those. lol

 

[drbueller]

i don't know if you've already decided, but i'd say NYU for sure. columbia might as well be in a different city its so far north and as you said, bellevue speaks for itself. also, and i don't know this for fact, but i hear that columbia is really old fashioned and intense. nyu is really laid back and they're about to roll out a brand new curriculum for the class of 2013. i wouldn't let usnews make the decision for you. think long and hard about what you want and where you'll be happier and have the better experience. with access to bellevue 3rd and 4th year and ability to get involved in outreach clinics like the NYC Free Clinic and other programs, NYU has a lot to offer someone who really wants to take advantage of nyc.

 

[dynezxice]

i don't know if you've already decided, but i'd say NYU for sure. columbia might as well be in a different city its so far north and as you said, bellevue speaks for itself. also, and i don't know this for fact, but i hear that columbia is really old fashioned and intense. nyu is really laid back and they're about to roll out a brand new curriculum for the class of 2013. i wouldn't let usnews make the decision for you. think long and hard about what you want and where you'll be happier and have the better experience. with access to bellevue 3rd and 4th year and ability to get involved in outreach clinics like the NYC Free Clinic and other programs, NYU has a lot to offer someone who really wants to take advantage of nyc.

while that may be so, Columbia Presbyterian also speaks volumes and has as much unique clinical experiences if not more compared to Bellevue. Also Columbia has just revised their curriculum.

Follow your gut OP and also take finaid into account. But in the end, it's a win-win situation for you.

 

[mweiss]

Apparently drbueller has something against cornell and columbia--resurrecting these threads from months ago in order to trash talk.

For anyone wondering what a P&S student thinks about this:
1) I'm not sure what he means by old fashioned and intense, but having fun and keeping the non-medicine parts of your life strong are pretty high priority here. If you interviewed here or came to second look, I don't have to tell you that.
2) I'd say the clinical education is the strongest part of the academic experience here. As far as full access to patients goes, I haven't had any problems, and I haven't heard of any.