Hey, current M1 at RWJ here- I was skimming through this thread out of boredom and thought I'd answer some questions/ clarify some stuff I've seen. First, there is a highest priority HPWL- last year, the students who were told that in their email were the top 10 ranked students on the HPWL. RWJ usually does see quite a bit of waitlist movement (except for last year where I think only like ~5 students got off the HPWL, all of whom were told they were in the highest priority) but in previous years, being told you were on the HPWL meant you had a very strong chance of acceptance.
As for COA, take the costs you see on the website with a grain of salt. The only thing there you need to pay for is the tuition. Everything else will depend on your rent and living habits. People pay roughly 650-1200 for rent (living with roommates will be like $650-$900, living alone will be like $1200-1500) a month, + personal expenses. If you want to save money, you could always commute from home (which I strongly recommend against unless you live closer than 15 minutes from campus).
Hope this helps! Feel free to DM if anybody has other questions.
Edit: looking at the COA site again, some things:
- Books and supplies- $2985: The only supplies I've spent money on are a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff- this cost me less than $100.
- Fees- $1883: If this is what I'm thinking it is, then you do need to pay for this.
- Room & board- $18580: No way will you spend this much unless you're living in some super boujee apartment complex. Expect this to be closer to $10k.
- Personal- $7380: This looks about right- In total, I spend about $700 a month including food.
- Transportation- $4050: The only transportation costs I have are getting gas about once every 2 weeks. Being incredibly generous, that's around $100 a month.
