2018-2019 Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

BU Medical Sciences
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lilyz said:
why is that LM is always the determining factor and question when someone says they received an interview. I would still like to trust that the committee members look at the applications holistically. While i do respect and acknowledge the commitment and dedication needed to achieve a high LM, I also have respect for the physician patient relationship and the trust and honor that comes with that role.


What about clinical/research/community based experience ?
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n=1 but I was fortunate enough to get an acceptance with a fairly low LM. I think that RWJ really values specifically community based activities as their mission has a pretty strong focus on that sort of stuff. Feel free to PM me if you want more info!
 
enterprise said:
What's the evolution of the clinical grading system? lol
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The clinical grading system used to be a 5 point scale in various categories, of which a mixture of 4’s and 5’s would give you honors. They moved it to a 3 point scale, where you need 3’s in almost every category to get honors, and any 1’s means you fail the rotation. This effectively creates a grading scale where an above average student has no place. For each category you are either a 3, which being the highest score you can get, is reserved for exceptional students, or you are a 2, which is the lowest you can get without failing. Even worse, if you read the descriptions of what type of student will fall in the 2 category (which is again, just above failing) you will see a description such as, “Reported information is accurate, up to date, and pertinent. Reportage is logical and well organized”, which to me does not sound like a student who deserves to be in the just above failing group (I.e. pass).

But what is most frustrating...! As opposed to most medical schools where they assign a percentage to your clinical grade and to your clerkship shelf exam grade, so that both combine to give you your final overall clerkship grade...RWJ decided that our overall grade will be 100% determined by whichever grade is lower. So if let’s say you do really well on a shelf exam and get honors, but you end up with mostly 2’s in your clinical grading, your final grade will be a pass and no residency program will have any clue that you honored the shelf exam. Essentially, the only way to actually honor a rotation is to honor your shelf exam and to get almost all 3’s (I.e. honors) on your clinical grading. If you fail to honor either portion, you will not get honors for you final grade.
 
RUScrewatRWJ said:
The clinical grading system used to be a 5 point scale in various categories, of which a mixture of 4’s and 5’s would give you honors. They moved it to a 3 point scale, where you need 3’s in almost every category to get honors, and any 1’s means you fail the rotation. This effectively creates a grading scale where an above average student has no place. For each category you are either a 3, which being the highest score you can get, is reserved for exceptional students, or you are a 2, which is the lowest you can get without failing. Even worse, if you read the descriptions of what type of student will fall in the 2 category (which is again, just above failing) you will see a description such as, “Reported information is accurate, up to date, and pertinent. Reportage is logical and well organized”, which to me does not sound like a student who deserves to be in the just above failing group (I.e. pass).

But what is most frustrating...! As opposed to most medical schools where they assign a percentage to your clinical grade and to your clerkship shelf exam grade, so that both combine to give you your final overall clerkship grade...RWJ decided that our overall grade will be 100% determined by whichever grade is lower. So if let’s say you do really well on a shelf exam and get honors, but you end up with mostly 2’s in your clinical grading, your final grade will be a pass and no residency program will have any clue that you honored the shelf exam. Essentially, the only way to actually honor a rotation is to honor your shelf exam and to get almost all 3’s (I.e. honors) on your clinical grading. If you fail to honor either portion, you will not get honors for you final grade.
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This must be infuriating; sorry you have to deal with that. My impression that this school was not at all a good fit for me seems to have been totally right. That and the fact that medical students were complaining about undergraduates being around when they chose to go to medical school directly adjacent to a huge undergraduate campus...
 
Did anyone get a reply when they emailed about them accepting their offer?
 
It seems like this school has a couple of bad aspects after reading through this thread. Not gonna lie RWJ is one of my top choices. Can any current students talk more about their experiences here (maybe some attractive aspects of the school)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
RUScrewatRWJ said:
The clinical grading system used to be a 5 point scale in various categories, of which a mixture of 4’s and 5’s would give you honors. They moved it to a 3 point scale, where you need 3’s in almost every category to get honors, and any 1’s means you fail the rotation. This effectively creates a grading scale where an above average student has no place. For each category you are either a 3, which being the highest score you can get, is reserved for exceptional students, or you are a 2, which is the lowest you can get without failing. Even worse, if you read the descriptions of what type of student will fall in the 2 category (which is again, just above failing) you will see a description such as, “Reported information is accurate, up to date, and pertinent. Reportage is logical and well organized”, which to me does not sound like a student who deserves to be in the just above failing group (I.e. pass).

But what is most frustrating...! As opposed to most medical schools where they assign a percentage to your clinical grade and to your clerkship shelf exam grade, so that both combine to give you your final overall clerkship grade...RWJ decided that our overall grade will be 100% determined by whichever grade is lower. So if let’s say you do really well on a shelf exam and get honors, but you end up with mostly 2’s in your clinical grading, your final grade will be a pass and no residency program will have any clue that you honored the shelf exam. Essentially, the only way to actually honor a rotation is to honor your shelf exam and to get almost all 3’s (I.e. honors) on your clinical grading. If you fail to honor either portion, you will not get honors for you final grade.
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Dang. That's sort of disappointing. Being that it's so close to my home and my girlfriend, I'll most likely go here. I just hope things will change by the time I'm M3. Please advocate for us and ask them to revert back! Hahaha. Kidding but not really..
 
They are making acceptance calls today (I interviewed in December and got accepted)
 
RWJ is getting rid of accessability for rotations at its hospital just fyi. the administration is really out of touch with the students who are all really upset because it was kept a secret until right before.

If you want to go to a school that you don't want to pay a lot to park at your own institution or won't make students take a shuttle (in NB traffic lol), I would look elsewhere
 
gcuddy said:
RWJ is getting rid of accessability for rotations at its hospital just fyi. the administration is really out of touch with the students who are all really upset because it was kept a secret until right before.

If you want to go to a school that you don't want to pay a lot to park at your own institution or won't make students take a shuttle (in NB traffic lol), I would look elsewhere
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some people don't have the luxury of looking elsewhere
 
gcuddy said:
Buuuuut they do secretly rank and give out scholarships based on that so
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what is the financial aid situation like at RWJ? I was placed on competitive hold and am wondering if 1. there is a lot of movement from this list? 2. if being waitlisted means im out for scholarship consideration?
 
where will you see an update if/when you get one? the portal where I submitted the secondary doesn't have any location to see status updates, and I haven't heard anything from the school since I submitted my secondary in July...
 
premedguy94 said:
where will you see an update if/when you get one? the portal where I submitted the secondary doesn't have any location to see status updates, and I haven't heard anything from the school since I submitted my secondary in July...
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+1
 
Did anyone else have a very negative interview day experience? I really got a bad impression of the school.
 
Current RWJ student here as well. Honestly, my classmates are really happy here and couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. For all accepted and prospective students checking this thread, I would urge you to create your own impressions of the school - going to accepted students day etc, and not letting a handful of M3s upset about parking influence a decision that will impact the rest of your lives. I for one, do believe our administration is extremely receptive to student needs and believe that the parking situation will change in due time as all things eventually do. (No change is immediate!) Additionally, many students do choose to live in New Brunswick during their 3rd and 4th years making this a non-issue.

Create your own opinions and congratulations on getting accepted!!
 
Another current student here! Just wanted to echo some of the others in saying that I have had an extremely positive experience at RWJ. I can't imagine a more collaborative and supportive learning environment, which is so important in medical school. This extends beyond our student body- our faculty and administration are constantly asking for our feedback and very receptive to student recommendations. I hope that some of the above comments do not dampen your excitement about getting a II or acceptance because it is a huge accomplishment! Definitely wait to visit and meet our community before drawing any conclusions from this thread, because the vast majority of us are very happy here.
 
Getting mixed messages from this thread. RWJ is near top of my list as well. Curious to hear if any RWJ students here had to pick between RWJ and NJMS and why they chose RWJ over it.
 
Another current student, while I agree it is right to inform prospective students about what is currently going on, I think the students complaining about parking on this forum are ultimately looking for somewhere to vent their aggravation. This is something that has just happened, and it may not still be a problem when you guys start your rotations 3rd year. The school is very receptive to feedback and often make changes based off of it, so hopefully the parking situation will be worked out in some way. That being said, I’m very happy to be at RWJ, as are many of my classmates. Like Smoothies5 and cands12 mentioned, it’s important to make your own impressions of the school based off of your experiences visiting the school and talking directly to students and faculty! Best of luck everyone!
 
I just had my interview here today. To all my fellow SDNers who are about to interview here, please please please do not create an impression of this school before even visiting it or interviewing. I can say for myself I went to my interview this morning with those negative complaints in my head thinking I have no intention of coming here and afterwards honestly i came out in love with the school seriously. Do not form your opinions on anything except your first hand experience. And one last thing, if you still have doubts about the school, look at its match list (imo its a pretty nice list compared to what I've seen from other schools).
 
Does anyone know the post-interview acceptance rate here? I was also checking last year's thread and some people from earlier interviews were getting acceptances in February. Does anyone know if that's possible that could happen again this year?
 
alwaysonmylaptop said:
Does anyone know the post-interview acceptance rate here? I was also checking last year's thread and some people from earlier interviews were getting acceptances in February. Does anyone know if that's possible that could happen again this year?
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It's about ~50% (source: USNews&World Compass). They'll most likely give out acceptances until pretty late.
 
dentiff said:
Did anyone else get an email from the office of admissions saying that they are “no longer accepting updates” as of January 17th (today)
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Yes- I feel thats a bad sign sadly for those of us who did not get interviews yet
 
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