Duke vs Cornell (plz help me)

[aspiringMD47]

Hey everyone! I am so so fortunate to have acceptances to these two schools and I finally received my financial aid packages from both of them. I am really torn between my choices and can really use some advice when deciding between the two. I’m not sure what I want to go into for residency, but there’s a chance I may want to go into a competitive residency so I want to go to a school that can help make my application competitive. My family is located on Long Island, NY.

Duke:

Pros:

• Loved the people at second look – students are very social which was awesome
• Competitiveness in residency
• North Carolina is gorgeous
• COL is much cheaper than NY
• Teaching style (really like CSF and TBL)
• 3rd year dedicated to research and making application competitive
• 1 year pre clerkship
• Non-competitive student community
• Received a grant that covers 85% of tuition

Cons:

• Further away from home (more money to travel home)
• Would need to lease a car
• Would be about 80k in debt upon graduation (not counting interest rate)
• Interest rate for loan is higher than that offered by Cornell (about 6.6%)

Cornell:

Pros:

• Loved my interview day here and will be attending second look this weekend
• Competitiveness in residency
• Teaching style (like PBL and TBL)
• 1.5 year pre clerkship
• Close to home
• Jumped in ranking this year
• Wouldn’t need to get a car or spend a lot of money to go home
• Received a grant that covers 90% of tuition
• Interest rate for loan is a lot lower than that offered by Duke (about 4%)

Cons:

• Would be 58k in debt upon graduation (not counting interest)
• Idk if Cornell is seen as “less prestigious” than Duke
• COL is expensive
• NYC is very hectic and not as clean as North Carolina

Sorry for the extremely long post, but I am really torn. I know that if I went to Duke, I would probably stay at Duke for residency; I wouldn’t want to stay in NYC for residency if I went to Cornell. I think this situation is messing with me because Cornell is offering me a better package, but Duke is in a more attractive location and could set me up for going to Duke for residency. I really appreciate any advice you can give. Thank you so much in advance!

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[rball]

I would go to where you liked best. Reputation and outcomes from each are almost identical and I dont think Duke gives you an edge in that regard. I do think Duke’s research year is a luxury that helps tremendously, so if you are interested in competitive specialty I think that could really help. But otherwise cant go wrong either way. I dont think $$ should be the deciding factor in this decision given that both schools are giving you generous offers that are very similar.

 

[Rachapkis]

I don't think that the prestige or the cost difference between these schools is material. I would base my decision on fit, which sounds like Cornell (by a hair) to me.

 

[Rachapkis]

Thank you for your input! Yeah I’ve felt great at both schools and so many other things are pretty equal, that’s why I’m having a hard time deciding

If this indecision persists, you might have to get uber technical. Might I suggest a coin flip or having your right hand play rock, paper, scissors against your left hand?

 

[aspiringMD47]

I would go to where you liked best. Reputation and outcomes from each are almost identical and I dont think Duke gives you an edge in that regard. I do think Duke’s research year is a luxury that helps tremendously, so if you are interested in competitive specialty I think that could really help. But otherwise cant go wrong either way. I dont think $$ should be the deciding factor in this decision given that both schools are giving you generous offers that are very similar.

I don't think that the prestige or the cost difference between these schools is material. I would base my decision on fit, which sounds like Cornell (by a hair) to me.

Thank you for your guys’ input! Yeah I’ve felt great at both schools and so many other things are pretty equal, that’s why I’m having a hard time deciding

 

[aspiringMD47]

If this indecision persists, you might have to get uber technical. Might I suggest a coin flip or having your right hand play rock, paper, scissors against your left hand?

Lol I might have to do a coin flip and see if the result makes me relieved or disappointed

 

[bertistheword]

My vote goes to Duke. You say you would like to stay in Duke for residency if you went there, but the same would not apply if you went to Cornell. Looking at Duke's match list, it looks like about a third of their graduating class chooses to stay. This would set you up very well to do so if you went there. Also, you may be able to bring your average debt down quite a bit if you take advantage of the low COL in Durham, and also keep in mind that a good chunk of students receive research scholarships during their third year (I believe ranging from ~10k up to ~35k).

 

[lalalallala]

I would go with Duke. Just living in NC and not dealing with the extreme COL of Cornell and the fuss of the city would be enough for me to pick Duke. I think their match list and options for 3rd year just make it a really strong choice but both are great

 

[katd1595]

The 1.5 year clerkship at Cornell would be more appealing to me, still abbreviated but not jam-packed and maybe as stressful as Duke’s might be. Both great options but I do believe you wouldn’t have a problem matching to Duke (or an equally good residency) from Cornell

 

[DokterMom]

Lol I might have to do a coin flip and see if the result makes me relieved or disappointed

By your own evaluation criterea, they're so close that the coin-flip method probably makes sense. I'd suggest you wait until after Cornell's second look, then flip that coin.

 

[aspiringMD47]

My vote goes to Duke. You say you would like to stay in Duke for residency if you went there, but the same would not apply if you went to Cornell. Looking at Duke's match list, it looks like about a third of their graduating class chooses to stay. This would set you up very well to do so if you went there. Also, you may be able to bring your average debt down quite a bit if you take advantage of the low COL in Durham, and also keep in mind that a good chunk of students receive research scholarships during their third year (I believe ranging from ~10k up to ~35k).

I would go with Duke. Just living in NC and not dealing with the extreme COL of Cornell and the fuss of the city would be enough for me to pick Duke. I think their match list and options for 3rd year just make it a really strong choice but both are great

Yeah the COL in NC really is so nice, I’m just not sure if it’ll balance out with having to pay for flights back home and a monthly lease payment for a car. I’m also nervous with Duke’s loan interest rate during school which could result in me owing a lot more money upon graduation than I take out

 

[aspiringMD47]

The 1.5 year clerkship at Cornell would be more appealing to me, still abbreviated but not jam-packed and maybe as stressful as Duke’s might be. Both great options but I do believe you wouldn’t have a problem matching to Duke (or an equally good residency) from Cornell

Yeah I also like the fact that pre clerkship is 1.5 years, my concern is if I’ll be able to really match anywhere from Cornell (with good grades, STEP 1 score, research etc)

 

[Gurby]

Yeah I also like the fact that pre clerkship is 1.5 years, my concern is if I’ll be able to really match anywhere from Cornell (with good grades, STEP 1 score, research etc)

Better go to Duke unless you want to do Family Medicine in North Dakota

https://library.weill.cornell.edu/s...tch_list_by_specialty_deidentified_2018_2.pdf

 

[aspiringMD47]

Better go to Duke unless you want to do Family Medicine in North Dakota

https://library.weill.cornell.edu/s...tch_list_by_specialty_deidentified_2018_2.pdf

Thanks for your helpful response !

 

[Avada Cadaver]

Yeah I also like the fact that pre clerkship is 1.5 years, my concern is if I’ll be able to really match anywhere from Cornell (with good grades, STEP 1 score, research etc)

Hiyo, I think I briefly met you today lol, but incase it wasn't you:

You really can't go wrong with either schools (kudos to you btw, I couldn't even finish Duke's herculean secondary lol). We have 6 months of protected research time in third-year (Area of scholarly concentration) in addition to summer between M1-M2 for research. I actually matriculated here (for the NYC experience lol), intent on not staying in NYC for residency and we seem to match pretty well: https://library.weill.cornell.edu/s...tch_list_by_specialty_deidentified_2019_1.pdf

There should be 3rd and 4th years out and about throughout the weekend, who can give you a better idea/answers to your questions. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have!

 

[aspiringMD47]

Hiyo, I think I briefly met you today lol, but incase it wasn't you:

You really can't go wrong with either schools (kudos to you btw, I couldn't even finish Duke's herculean secondary lol). We have 6 months of protected research time in third-year (Area of scholarly concentration) in addition to summer between M1-M2 for research. I actually matriculated here (for the NYC experience lol), intent on not staying in NYC for residency and we seem to match pretty well: https://library.weill.cornell.edu/s...tch_list_by_specialty_deidentified_2019_1.pdf

There should be 3rd and 4th years out and about throughout the weekend, who can give you a better idea/answers to your questions. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have!

Thank you for your insight! Yeah I really like the AOC aspect of the program and I know Cornell has been coming out with super awesome match lists which makes me very excited! It’s hard for me to compare match lists, however, because I am unsure of how many people get their first choice match and what not... also yes the duke secondary was an absolute monster lol but it ultimately helped me out when writing my other secondaries

 

[wontonsoup]

I feel like your 20s is a great time to live in NYC. For me, that counts a lot. It is unbeatable for culture for med school cities.

 

[puahate]

Cornell. Research wise they are on the up with MSK. New York is great too

 

[aspiringMD47]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update you all: I went to both second looks and ultimately fell in love with Cornell. I really love how tight-knit the student community is, how responsive and helpful the faculty is for students, it's location on the UES, the many hospitals associated with Cornell (especially MSK), the financial aid package I received, the curriculum (in particular, the 1.5 pre clinical year rather than 1 year), the several student groups, and its proximity to friends and family (only takes about an 1.5 hours to get home). I'm not super stoked about Cornell having so many awards and honor societies (since I feel like this can lead to competition amongst students), but to me, the pros definitely outweighs the cons for attending Cornell over Duke so I’m going to choose Cornell! Thank you for all of your guys' inputs

 

[stephthelorax]

Congrats!!! As someone who's choosing between Cornell and another school similarly ranked but potentially more 'chill', can you elaborate on what you mean by "so many awards and honor societies"? I didn't get a sense of this at Cornell's Second Look.

 

[aspiringMD47]

Congrats!!! As someone who's choosing between Cornell and another school similarly ranked but potentially more 'chill', can you elaborate on what you mean by "so many awards and honor societies"? I didn't get a sense of this at Cornell's Second Look.

I just saw on the website that they have a lot of awards and honors that are given to students who are nominated by the faculty or students who are in the top of their class which I thought would make it a little competitive, but I could be completely wrong cause when I was there no one even mentioned these awards/honors or suggested there was any type of competition between students

 

[stephthelorax]

I just saw on the website that they have a lot of awards and honors that are given to students who are nominated by the faculty or students who are in the top of their class which I thought would make it a little competitive, but I could be completely wrong cause when I was there no one even mentioned these awards/honors or suggested there was any type of competition between students

Ah okay, thanks! I will also be matriculating to Cornell, so see you in the fall!

 

[aspiringMD47]

Ah okay, thanks! I will also be matriculating to Cornell, so see you in the fall!

Yay that's so exciting! See you in the fall

 

[FatherTime-PhD]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update you all: I went to both second looks and ultimately fell in love with Cornell. I really love how tight-knit the student community is, how responsive and helpful the faculty is for students, it's location on the UES, the many hospitals associated with Cornell (especially MSK), the financial aid package I received, the curriculum (in particular, the 1.5 pre clinical year rather than 1 year), the several student groups, and its proximity to friends and family (only takes about an 1.5 hours to get home). I'm not super stoked about Cornell having so many awards and honor societies (since I feel like this can lead to competition amongst students), but to me, the pros definitely outweighs the cons for attending Cornell over Duke so I’m going to choose Cornell! Thank you for all of your guys' inputs

Hey can you send me a DM?

 

[deleted996731]

Hey can you send me a DM?

Yo add me into the dm if you don’t mind