Feeling really grateful for these options. Despite what the title implies, I actually didn't go into this cycle dead set on NYC, but I'm not complaining at all. I’ve only received my financial aid from Sinai but I’m low income and have an external scholarship, so I’m expecting full COA covered at all three. The schools honestly feel more similar than different, but some differences that stand out to me (mostly sourced from admit.org and website digging) are:

- Cornell has pre-match AOA while Columbia's is post-match and Sinai doesn't have AOA at all

- Sinai has NBME exams while Cornell has in-house exams and Columbia has both

- All have P/F pre-clinicals but for clerkship years, Columbia and Cornell have H/HP/P/F while Sinai has H/P/F. Honestly not sure what to make of this difference. Is fewer tiers better or worse?? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

- Columbia and Sinai guarantee subsidized housing for all years of med school, but Cornell technically doesn't (but I can't tell how often students actually get denied).

- Have heard concerns about admin and competitiveness at Columbia. I’m sure these are overblown and are to be expected at any med school to some extent, but Sinai specifically has a strong reputation for good vibes. Haven’t heard anything in particular about Cornell.

For context, I'm undecided about my specialty but have had growing interests in vascular surgery and ENT. I’m leaning towards something surgical but that's open to change. Regardless of specialty, I want to work in academic medicine. I'd like to match to either the east coast or midwest (I'm originally from the midwest). Definitely open to staying in NYC, but I've never lived there and I've heard mixed reviews about what it's like being a resident in NYC. I know med school will take up most of my time, but it's important to me to make the most of new york's opportunities, so ideally I'd have a good amount of free time for exploration and extracurriculars. I went to a very collaborative undergrad, and I'd like to stay within that same sort of collaborative but motivated atmosphere. I'd like to avoid a research year even if I go into a competitive specialty, but if I end up having to take one, it would be great if there was funding available directly from the school.

Another consideration (but putting less weight on since I’m not set on a specialty) is that Sinai has an in-house program for both integrated vascular and ENT while Columbia and Cornell only have it for ENT. I don't know if this should play a big role in decision making since I'm not 100% set on those specialties but at the same time people are always emphasizing the importance of home programs for competitive specialties.