Pritzker vs. Columbia P&S

[Tiare208]

To continue the Columbia vs. other schools threads that are popping up. The only thread I could find was one from 2001, and both schools have changed their curricula and other such important things since then. Also, I know I can't direct discussion, but I'd love to hear about the schools themselves, not about Chicago versus NYC.

Thanks for any help!

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[thegetupkid]

I've heard many times from Pritzker students that Pritzker is where "fun goes to die." I know that isn't really informative but just saying...

No one will be able to comment on P&S's curriculum because it is brand new for this upcoming year...

 

[copingmethods]

I've heard many times from Pritzker students that Pritzker is where "fun goes to die." I know that isn't really informative but just saying...

No one will be able to comment on P&S's curriculum because it is brand new for this upcoming year...

That phrase is actually referring to University of Chicago in general, not specifically Pritzker. From what I could tell staying w/ a student host when I interviewed, it's not true (at least it wasn't for my host and his friends).

edit: I'd still choose Columbia though for NYC/NYP

 

[WaterBird]

I've heard many times from Pritzker students that Pritzker is where "fun goes to die." I know that isn't really informative but just saying...

Wow, that was not my impression! I know that the U of Chicago undergrad has a rep for being pretty intense, but I did not get the sense that students at the med school had less fun than their counterparts at other schools. (edited to add: copingmethods got here before me )

The schools have a lot in common - both are tweaking their curricula next year, both are p/f, and both are in more affordable (and less exciting) neighborhoods of big cities. Both are big into student activities (columbia has the p&s club and chicago has as many clubs as they have students). Both are in cities with scads of other medical schools.

I am making a similar choice and here are some of the differences I observed:
Class size: Columbia is nearly double the size (which I see as a pro and a con)
Student body: Columbia students seemed a bit "cooler" and maybe a bit preppier to me, Chicago students seemed quirkier. (this is just my impression).
Neighborhood: I think I would like living in both of these neighborhoods, but Hyde park wins for cost of living
Student housing: most of the class lives in dorms for Columbia 1st year, which qualifies you to live in their sweet towers after that (but only if you suck it up in the dorm for a year IIRC). pretty much no one lives in dorms at Pritzker since Hyde park is not expensive.
Undergrad institution: I haven't looked this up, but it seemed like a LOT of students at Columbia went to Ivies undergrad, versus a bigger range of undergrad schools at Pritzker
Relationship to its own undergrad inst: Columbia is 70 blocks ( a quick train ride) away from the main campus, Pritzker is right on the main campus (pros and cons to this too, i think).
Non-trads: Don't know if this matters to you, but I met more non-trads at Pritzker vs. Columbia. Neither of their websites are good enough for me to quickly verify this
Diversity: Again, don't know if this matters to you, and I find their numbers hard to compare since Columbia lumps together all "minority" (which I would guess includes AA, latino and s. asian) while Pritzker divides it up into AA, latin american and asian (combining e. asian and s.asian) Bottom line - similar rates (i think?) but columbia's minority community is bigger since it's a bigger school.
Research and Community Service: Both do plenty of both, but Columbia students seemed a bit more research-oriented and Pritzker students seemed a bit more CS oriented (but a very marginal difference).

Again this is just my impression of all of this - feel free to PM me if you want to talk more about these two schools

 

[doc1354]

I made this choice a few weeks ago and determined that Pritzker was the clear winner for me. It is of course a personal choice but these were my reasons for choosing u. chicago:

1) stronger undergraduate campus on the medical school campus (gives rise to a community of academics I found truly valuable). nearly every med student I met at u. chicago had taken advantage of this in someway through classes, research, combined degrees, intramural sports, lectures and study areas among others. At Columbia, most students I spoke with rarely used the undergraduate campus.
2) the admissions office/faculty at u.chicago we much more student focused. they made GREAT efforts to sell their school whereas Columbia had the shortest and least informative interview day I went to. I believe this is a good indicator for the quality medical education since Pritzker seems open to change and suggestion while Columbia not so much.
3) my student host at Columbia even mentioned to me that most of the students are from ivy league schools (he was from a small public school) and that he noticed a lot pretentiousness in the student body. I noticed some of that too when I introduced myself as a kid from a small public school. perhaps this was just an isolated event.
4) the smaller class size is a huge plus in my mind. less people means more resources in faculty, financial aid, global health etc. i think it will also help in the clinical years since less people means more experiences on the floors.
5) facilities at u. chicago seemed superior in my mind. more so in the teaching facilities than the hospitals.
6) columbia's campus is in a very boring area. hyde park is not much better but still better in my opinion. although i would give NYC in general the edge over chicago.
7) in response to the "where fun goes to die" comment--this is completely inaccurate for u. chicago's graduate schools. each time i have visited the school, i have gone out with the students and had a great time. this is an important factor for me since I am a very social individual (social chair for my fraternity) and I do not see a problem at Pritzker. Don't consider stereotypes like this in your decision.
8) although i personally would have still picked u. chicago over columbia even if financial aid packages were equivalent, u. chicago gave me a much better deal.

Both schools are great but these are just a few of my thoughts. Columbia was not the place for me but it might be for you and others reading this. Good luck in making your decision!

 

[kuhlguy]

I had the choice of Pritzker vs. Columbia last year ... as did some ohter people in my class

And i choose Pritzker ...

Best choice of my life!!

Granted I'm sure Columbia is an amazing place as well .. and def was considering it .... but here are my reasons

1) Amazing class/faculty ... everyone here is so chill and really gets along
2) P/F - I know Columbia just switched so both schools have this so you can't go wrong ... but at pritzker its not P/F its really pass now pass later ... if you fail a test, which happens to the best of em, you just go in, talk to the prof, schedule a retake, learn the material better, pass, and move on with your life
3) New Curriculum is amazing!! Anatomy by itself in summer makes the rest of the year a piece of cake ... no joke ... this year was way easier than my first two years of undergrad ....
4) College Campus .... it's great being on teh campus ... and yes "where fun comes to die" is for the undergrads .. seriously sometimes they scare me ... I would not have wanted to come here for undergrad ... they study a lot .... haha ... but all the grad schools are chill ... the med students, law students, buisness students, grad students all have socials and we all comment how much we love our programs and are glad not to be an undegrad here ... our programs rock
5) Flexibility - you can do whatever you want ... want to take a year off to go write a book - go to it! want to get married ... take a year or two to get settled ... want to buy a house ... take a year off ... want to go take a year to study art ... go do it ... why not get a scholarhsip to study art in italy while you're at it ... take a year off to do extra reserach ... sure! .
All of those are true stories ... if you have a passion/anything you can do it and be supported!
6) Small Class size ... it's amazing ... not too small, just right
7) Population - being in Hyde Park we get a great patient population for learning
8) Studnet Groups - amazing free clinics, interest groups, etc where you actually get to practice being a doc
9) MONEY - they are loaded here ... almost everyone is on a 1/2 ride to full ride

Honeslty here's my opinion ... I love Pritzker ... and I'm sure I would have loved Columbia ... but Columbia doens't really give scholarships ... Pritzker gives $$$$ like no ohter .... why go into debt when you can avoid it and still go to an amazing school like Pritzker ... Not saying to come to Pritzker bc of the money ... just saying it makes the decision easier ...

o yea ... if you're not completely satisfied with your scholarship ... email the fin aid office and they'll most likely up it for you .....

hoep that helps!!

 

[danto45]

I was wondering if someone could expand a little more on the student bodies of these two places. Do the kids at P&S try to be too hip or cool (when we know they are med students and therefore can't be either)? Are the pritzker kids a little too off center (nice way of saying weird)? Any more info on debating these two schools would be great!

Also, any info on how the facilities of the two compare?

Thanks!

 

[mmmcdowe]

It was a fit thing for me and Columbia. I liked the student body, they seemed to have their fingers in more pies than any other school. I'm a big Arts guy, so NYC and Club P&S seemed like good places for me. I'm going to argue against the whole admissions thing. First of all, the book they give you is loaded anyways, but Columbia's tour was really informative for me. I personally think that formal admissions info sessions are pretty propaganda ridden anyways (I believe there was an optional meeting with finaid though...). The thing that really was the deal maker for me was the fact that probably fifty Columbia student came up to me to talk about their school. I never saw anything near the enthusiasm that I saw at Columbia. Happiness? In medical school? Whaaaat?

Even though Columbia and U of Chicago are pretty evenly ranked, I think most people would say that you get more name recognition from Columbia. Not the most important thing in the world, but as one friend told me "you get mad hookups." I hated Chicago, honestly. Really bad experience when I visited. Plus you have access to some of the best hospitals and research institutions in the world.