Weill Cornell vs. Columbia PhD in Immunology

[TheCytokineStorm]

Hi all, I have recently been accepted to both Weill Cornell's program in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis as well as Columbia's program in Microbiology and Immunology. I have been having a near impossible time deciding. There are so many faculty that I would be happy working with at each, and cost/stipend is approximately equal. Columbia's location isn't as great as Weill Cornell's, but Columbia does have an undergrad campus to get TA experience. I am stumped. Any advice on which is better for a career in Immunology?

[tm_s]

Go to Weill Cornell. They have fantastic faculty that seems to care not only about the research but the well being of their students. While I got into more prestigious and competitive programs, I haven’t crossed it off my list. 

[DRMF]

If it were me personally I'd go to Weill Cornell, because there are more labs there (well, in MSKCC, to be precise) working on things that I like, plus it has this whole connection with MSK and Rockefeller (plus I know friends there hehe). But this is me and I didn't get interviews at either of these anyway lol - in terms of the general feel of the faculty/student cohort, did you feel more at home during one interview than the other?

If TA/mentorship opportunities are important to you, you should reach out to people (program director or current students) at Weill Cornell and ask about that. For programs without an undergrad population, they sometimes have upperclassmen TA courses for first year grad students, or have student clubs that focus on tutoring high school kids, sciences outreach etc.