NYU vs Duke vs Cornell

[bamboy192]

<p>This month has been a rollercoaster for me. First I got a likely letter to Duke and I was set on going but then I got a Presidential Scholarship to NYU which would give me a full tuition scholarship and then a few days ago I got a likely letter from Cornell. I want to do pre-med at each of these schools but I'm not sure which one would be the best fit. I guess I'm asking is it better to suck up my pride and go to a "lesser" school such as NYU or will status and prestige make a difference by going to a "better" school. If anyone has any insight into these three schools I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

[kwu]

<p>lol, NYU isn’t a “lesser” school. NYU is among the world’s most well-known and respected institutions.</p>

<p>If you’re being offered a full ride to a great school like NYU, which costs $54,000 to attend, it’s a no-brainer, especially if you would have to pay full freight to attend either Duke or Cornell–both world-renowned and prestigious schools, but not so far ahead of NYU as to merit shelling out 200,000k.</p>

<p>You’ll be proud once you behold the looks of envy and despair on the faces of other kids your age who would kill their own mothers for the opportunity to attend NYU on a full ride.</p>

[country_day]

<p>You’d be a fool if you didn’t take the money and go to a great school like NYU.</p>

[monydad]

<p>Room, board, living and entertainment expenses in NYC will likely be more costly than at the other schools, and you haven’t seen the other financial offers yet.</p>

<p>You might also give some consideration to which environment will best promote your social well-being, happiness, and academic achievement.
The experience as a student at NYU is a lot different than a traditional campus-based college experience.</p>

[samoanattorney]

<p>Obviously you should wait to see what the financial aid offers are from Duke and Cornell. I don’t know what your financial circumstances are, but both institutions offer substantial need-based aid. If you don’t really qualify for need-based aid, however, they’re probably not going to approach what you’ve been offered at NYU.</p>

<p>Congratulations, btw.</p>

[collegehelp]

<p>Cornell recently pumped $400 million into their life sciences programs including a new biology building. Cornell has a well-developed pre-med advising program. Despite the NYU scholarship, the net cost to you at these institutions may not be that different.</p>

[schrizto]

<p>Are you waiting on any other schools? If you got likelies from Duke and Cornell and got full tuition from NYU, you could probably get into a ton more good schools.</p>

[eatsalot]

<p>Wait until you get financial aid offers from Duke and Cornell.</p>

<p>Since you’re premed, here’s my two cents about being premed at Duke. Keep in mind that being premed at Duke I advantageous in that the medical school is ON campus whereas it is FARRR away from Cornell’s campus and probably not that close to NYU. </p>

<p>

@bluedevilmike

Hi,</p>

<p>I can without reservation (but also without proof, heh) state that for the majority of premed students, Duke is hands down the best place to be.</p>

<p>First the statistics, then the reasons.</p>

<p>85% of our premeds get into a medical school; this compares to a national number of around 50%, sometimes lower. (Yes, that does mean that half of all students who apply to medical school will be admitted nowhere whatsoever.) Most comparable schools boast rates that are noticeably lower than that. I can’t guarantee this, but I believe people on these boards have been mentioning that Stanford’s percentage is about 75%. Of course, Stanford also has to deal with the UC system, so the comparison isn’t exact, but I frankly can’t imagine anybody preparing us for the process better than Dean Kay Singer and her office.</p>

<p>Second, if you look, you’ll notice that the average GPA among our accepted premeds at a given medical school is lower than the national GPA among accepted premeds, and lower than the GPA at some “peer” institutions. This tells you that students from Duke who have WORSE grades are getting into the SAME medical schools as others. Why?</p>

<p>A few reasons.</p>

<p>1.) We have access to a world-class medical center. It’s close and we’re actually allowed - and helped! - to do stuff in it. Some schools like Columbia don’t have their hospitals nearby, so it’s difficult for students to volunteer or do reseach there. Not only is it literally like two minutes from the dorms to the hospital (walking), but Duke has programs explicitly set up (HCIP) to get undergraduates volunteering in the hospital.</p>

<p>2.) Astonishingly wonderful advising systems. We have famous premedical advisors. I’ve ranted about this a little bit on a thread relating to UCB in the Premed topics forum (Berkeley is a good place to pursue pre-med?) but the bottom line is that advising is both key and really wonderful here. They’ve earned their reputation as being among the best in the country.</p>

<p>This is reflected in their numbers.</p>

<p>3.) World-class faculty in small classes. Duke’s philosophy in hiring faculty is that we want absolutely brilliant faculty on the cutting edge of their fields, and we will put up with almost anything to get them. The one thing we will not put up with, however, is an unwillingness to make teaching their absolute top priority. That means that the faculty we have here love students and will go far out of their way to make sure we learn. This means partly that we learn better, which helps us once we actually get into med school, but it also means that we get better letters of recommendation, which are huge.</p>

<p>This to me is the most important point: Yes, there are schools with similarly or perhaps even more qualified faculty as leaders in their fields. But at what other school do undergraduates have real, worthwhile access to those leaders on a routine basis? Where else will a health economist who is cited repeatedly in every textbook hold multiple review sessions, some of them on Sunday evenings, just to make sure we really learn the stuff? Where else will a world famous chemist respond to freshmen questions via e-mail during his Thanksgiving day? Some schools have wonderful faculty who will do this - but I don’t think any of them will top us in the access we have to brilliance.</p>

<p>4.) An encouragement to pursue co-curricular activites. And yes, I did just call them co-curriculars rather than extra-curriculars. Duke understands that we’re training young men and women here, not just scholars, and so I’ve never heard of a student here who had anything short of astonishing extracurriculars. I’m a tour guide, and I make it a habit when I’m on my tours to mention the accomplishments of the various students I run into - I can afford to do this because Duke students are simply astonishing. Friends of mine have discovered new chemical structures, signed up for internships with the bioterrorism department of the government - it seems everybody has something incredible that they view as normal because that’s what Duke students do.</p>

<p>We have a department entirely for the purpose of helping students arrange interesting, educational, or service-oriented (but usually all three) summer projects.</p>

<p>This is crucial - medical schools need good qualifications, yes, but they are also looking for people who will make good doctors. People who have shown themselves to be committed to helping others, who can dive into the intellectualism known as research, and who have proven that their interest in health is more than just “hypothetical” are standout candidates.</p>

<p>5.) Warmth. Premeds here - knowing that we will all do well in the process - learn together. You won’t hear of us stealing each other’s notes or sabotaging projects. We study together. We encourage each other. Frankly speaking, we take care of each other. Duke students are warm, and we will support each other through rough times along the premedical track. Is this a stereotype? Absolutely. Has it proven true for me? Also absolutely.</p>

<p>6.) Location in the research triangle. This is one of the more minor points, but our location amongst the high-powered pharmaceutical companies does make it easier to attract biotechnology-oriented professors, faculty, companies, internships, etc. Duke Medical Center attracts a lot of exciting research for this purpose, and that may impact the premedical experience somewhat.</p>

<p>That doesn’t even begin to talk about reputation, courses that prepare you for the MCAT, a pre-professional slant at Duke (which is good for pre-professional students like pre-meds), really world class science buildings like the French Science Building and CIEMAS, a commitment to genomics and science as a future, the interdisciplinary focus of most of our science programs, including medical humanities classes and the excellence of our biomedical engineering… I could go on and on but it’s late and I’m getting sleepy.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any questions - I should be pretty good about checking my private messages in the near future.</p>

<p>-Mike

</p>

<p>If you get NO money from Duke, Cornell, or others, be sensible. Go to NYU.</p>

[monydad]

<p>Cornell’s med school is indeed five hours away, yet boatloads of its undergrads get admitted to med school every year. One might conclude location of med school is not a severe impediment to accomplish this objective.</p>

<p>A conclusion reinforced by CC poster, and current med student, norcalguy,who says that biology research opportunities are ample and this is what is needed for the purpose at hand. If I recall his post on the subject correctly.</p>

[DunninLA]

<p>Does “full ride” mean full tuition (about $38,000), -or- Tuition+Fees+Books+Room/Board (about $53,000)?</p>

[eatsalot]

<p>

Cornell’s med school is indeed five hours away, yet boatloads of its undergrads get admitted to med school every year. One might conclude location of med school is not a severe impediment to accomplish this objective.

</p>

<p>But having Duke hospital on campus is advantageous and exposes students to medicine directly in undergrad. Of course Cornell students get into med school - the lack of a medical school on campus doesn’t hinder students. But having that resource would be better.</p>

[blademaster2]

<p>Cornell FTW!</p>

[monydad]

<p>As far as exposure to medicine, I am far from an expert on this but in my day there were opportunities ( of some type, don’t know what) for Cornell students at nearby Tompkins County hospital, interested applicants should investigate.</p>

[bamboy192]

<p>thanks for all the replies and since I dont qualify for need-based financial aid, I won’t be expecting any money I just don’t want to have any regrets</p>

[TuningFork]

<p>This might be slightly off-subject, for which I apologize. If a school sends out “likely” letters, and an applicant does not receive one, does that mean that the applicant is no longer being considered for admission?</p>

[eatsalot]

<p>

This might be slightly off-subject, for which I apologize. If a school sends out “likely” letters, and an applicant does not receive one, does that mean that the applicant is no longer being considered for admission?

</p>

<p>Nope. Liklies are only sent to those who the school is trying to pull away from
other institutions.</p>

[TuningFork]

<p>Thanks very much for your prompt reply, Eatsalot. In a time of frayed nerves, it’s good to get some clear information.</p>

[bamboy192]

<p>bump any more opinions?/</p>

[john82192]

<p>To TuningFork: No, people are still admitted that do not receive a likely letter. Most admission decisions are sent out in the first week of April. Very few people get likely letters. To bamboy192: you, of course, need to see the other financial aid offers and decide how much you are willing to pay and how much debt you are willing to take on. All three schools are amazing. I only applied to Duke out of the three, so I would encourage you to go there, but all three will end up giving you a great education.</p>

[glassesarechic]

<p>TuningFork: To echo what others have said, don’t fret! The vast majority of accepted students never received a likely letter.</p>

<p>OP: Are you in the running for a Duke merit scholarship? One of my friends received a likely to Duke because he was competitive for a scholarship and they let him know so they could interview him for it. Perhaps your situation is similar. If not, despite my personal reservations about NYU, you should consider money very heavily in this equation. A full ride to NYU, assuming the cost of living expenses isn’t astronomical, is an incredibly financial deal.</p>