Yale vs. Cornell

[chipaev]

I was recently admitted off of the waitlist at Yale and am currently agonizing over this decision as I like certain things about both schools.

Cornell:
I love NYC

I like the fact that I will have the opportunity to do research at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Rockefeller, or the Hospital for Special Surgery.

I feel I will really enjoy PBL from what I saw during revisit weekend although obviously I cannot be sure.

I think the clinical training at NYP may be slightly better than that of Yale's Hospital due to the location of the hospital as well as its US news rankings although I realize this is fairly subjective.

Yale:

Love the Yale System, no grades, low stress, lots of free time, etc.

New Haven may be easier to study in due to lack of distractions.


As you can see from these descriptions I should be heavily leaning towards Cornell yet the difficulty I am having stems from my inability to compare match lists due to the fact that I do not know what to look for exactly. How much of an advantage will Yale give me in the match (knowing that Yale is higher ranked)? I know the conventional wisdom is that where you go has little effect on where you match however I can't help but notice that competitive residency slots are taken up by HMS students quite often. Now I realize that the difference between HMS and Cornell is larger than the difference between Yale and Cornell but what I was wondering is by how much? Do you guys think a Yale degree will put me at a significant advantage over a Cornell one seeing as what I eventually see myself going into is academic medicine? Or do the superior research opportunities offered by Cornell and its affiliates trump that if I take advantage of them effectively? Thank you for the replies and I realize how annoying these threads are. To be honest, before now, I really never saw myself making one.

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[jbz24]

Go to Cornell...seriously.

 

[mdeast]

Go to Cornell...seriously.

I concur. If location is really important to you...you seriously won't care if your school is ranked #6 or #16 once you get there. Any Top 20 school will get you anywhere you want to go.

Go where you'll be happiest. Which sounds like Cornell.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Do not go to Yale out of hope for match advantage. Even in academic medicine, the strength of NYP training is going to get you just as many places as Yale name. I personally would prefer the low stress Yale system, but I definitely think you should go with your gut feeling (which seems to be Big Red).

 

[NYankees]

Yale's match list is insane..and Yale's name goes a long way

Cornell is in NYC but Yale is 40 minutes away from NYC

Yale has no grades while Cornell is H/P/F with ranking

I personally would choose Yale..tough decision but go with the money!

 

[chipaev]

Thanks for all the replies. As I said before, I'm leaning towards Cornell.

 

[naijaboi]

Echoing what others have said, go to Cornell. It sounds like you will be happiest there. NYP is a great hospital and you can match there from Cornell easier than Yale.

 

[whew]

Lack of distractions in New Haven is not a good thing! With so little free time, its nice to have so many diversions at your doorstep, not hours away: Cornell for the win.

 

[aarm08]

Yale's match list is insane..and Yale's name goes a long way

Cornell is in NYC but Yale is 40 minutes away from NYC

Yale has no grades while Cornell is H/P/F with ranking

I personally would choose Yale..tough decision but go with the money!

It's actually more like 1.5-2 hrs via Metro-North, not an insignificant trip.

I'd still also personally choose Yale, but that's my personal preference...I also think New Haven is a better city that most make it out to be, but again that's just my opinion. I agree with most other people here...since you feel like you'd be happier at Cornell, then you should go there. Don't just try to follow the match list.