2022-2023 Hackensack Meridian

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E1520 said:
Does anyone here know any current students, or have any more insight on Hackensack than is provided by their website? I'm curious to hear about what current students think of the school, whether they have a good reputation, and if they have access to research. I'd also love to know more about the accelerated three year program.

Also received a II yesterday. LM 71 and complete early August
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You or anyone else can DM me if you want more info. I realize that your comment is months old but I'm posting this in hopes to give people a more transparent idea of the school, since the school has put a lot of money into PR which isn't representative of the experience in earnest. All I will say is that this school does not care about its students very much. Their curriculum feels very rushed in order to get all students "finished" within 3 years, often to the detriment of your learning. The school often wastes students' time with unnecessary assignments and mandatory events that don't help to prepare them for clerkships or boards.

Student culture largely feels very cutthroat, competitive, cliquey and unhelpful. Admissions seems to be pushing harder each year for higher stat applicants and it shows both in academic performance and a lack of helpful or sociable individuals.
 
razorbloom said:
You or anyone else can DM me if you want more info. I realize that your comment is months old but I'm posting this in hopes to give people a more transparent idea of the school, since the school has put a lot of money into PR which isn't representative of the experience in earnest. All I will say is that this school does not care about its students very much. Their curriculum feels very rushed in order to get all students "finished" within 3 years, often to the detriment of your learning. The school often wastes students' time with unnecessary assignments and mandatory events that don't help to prepare them for clerkships or boards.

Student culture largely feels very cutthroat, competitive, cliquey and unhelpful. Admissions seems to be pushing harder each year for higher stat applicants and it shows both in academic performance and a lack of helpful or sociable individuals.
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I ended up declining my invite to interview, but I really appreciate your honesty. We need more transparency about school culture on SDN. Hopefully other aspiring matriculants see this.
 
razorbloom said:
You or anyone else can DM me if you want more info. I realize that your comment is months old but I'm posting this in hopes to give people a more transparent idea of the school, since the school has put a lot of money into PR which isn't representative of the experience in earnest. All I will say is that this school does not care about its students very much. Their curriculum feels very rushed in order to get all students "finished" within 3 years, often to the detriment of your learning. The school often wastes students' time with unnecessary assignments and mandatory events that don't help to prepare them for clerkships or boards.

Student culture largely feels very cutthroat, competitive, cliquey and unhelpful. Admissions seems to be pushing harder each year for higher stat applicants and it shows both in academic performance and a lack of helpful or sociable individuals.
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I think this info comes too late for most of us, since the deadline to drop all acceptances but 1 has passed. I’m curious if anyone else can weigh in - what the students on tour and during the interview told us was the complete opposite - collaborative and helpful culture and pretty chill academics. Maybe as the school rewards more competitive applicants, the culture has shifted in the most recent classes.
 
razorbloom said:
You or anyone else can DM me if you want more info. I realize that your comment is months old but I'm posting this in hopes to give people a more transparent idea of the school, since the school has put a lot of money into PR which isn't representative of the experience in earnest. All I will say is that this school does not care about its students very much. Their curriculum feels very rushed in order to get all students "finished" within 3 years, often to the detriment of your learning. The school often wastes students' time with unnecessary assignments and mandatory events that don't help to prepare them for clerkships or boards.

Student culture largely feels very cutthroat, competitive, cliquey and unhelpful. Admissions seems to be pushing harder each year for higher stat applicants and it shows both in academic performance and a lack of helpful or sociable individuals.
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I'd say my experience at HMSOM was similar to the above comment. The only thing I'd say is different is that I didn't come across the student culture that the OP mentioned. Though I can beleive that changed since I got here given the admin's push for higher stat applicants as time has went on.
 
razorbloom said:
You or anyone else can DM me if you want more info. I realize that your comment is months old but I'm posting this in hopes to give people a more transparent idea of the school, since the school has put a lot of money into PR which isn't representative of the experience in earnest. All I will say is that this school does not care about its students very much. Their curriculum feels very rushed in order to get all students "finished" within 3 years, often to the detriment of your learning. The school often wastes students' time with unnecessary assignments and mandatory events that don't help to prepare them for clerkships or boards.

Student culture largely feels very cutthroat, competitive, cliquey and unhelpful. Admissions seems to be pushing harder each year for higher stat applicants and it shows both in academic performance and a lack of helpful or sociable individuals.
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For the record, I am friends with some M1s at this school, and I’ve heard the total opposite in terms of student culture. From what I’ve heard, curriculum is all P/F and the group activities allow for students to build friendships and community from the get go. They’ve also said the curriculum is fast paced, but nothing you can’t manage. I’m sure it doesn’t feel easy no matter where you go as well.
 
sillygoose59 said:
For the record, I am friends with some M1s at this school, and I’ve heard the total opposite in terms of student culture. From what I’ve heard, curriculum is all P/F and the group activities allow for students to build friendships and community from the get go. They’ve also said the curriculum is fast paced, but nothing you can’t manage. I’m sure it doesn’t feel easy no matter where you go as well.
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You can’t really discredit the voice of two people who actually attend the school, your friends might not feel comfortable telling you all that extra stuff.
 
brickcityboy said:
You can’t really discredit the voice of two people who actually attend the school, your friends might not feel comfortable telling you all that extra stuff.
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My M1 friends are also attending the school to be fair. They say the curriculum does feel rushed at times, but I think that’s something that’s to be expected. The students culture is rlly supportive of each other and friendly from what I’ve seen. Maybe it’s gotten better over the past years, who knows.
 
I'm really happy to see waitlist movement and seeing ppl get in though I am worried as I'm still on the waitlist and have heard nothing :/ hoping for good news soon, mid-Feb interview!
 
My experience is different from some posters above. This school is very chill and very non-cut throat. There are plenty of activities from wine club, jazz club, running club, board game club, latin dancing club, movie club, and more. Outside of clubs, we play tennis, run 5Ks, ping-pong, volleyball, go to museums, movies, see broadway shows, karoakes, AYCE sushi, etc. Every weekend, there are always group activities if one chooses to do something.

And the 3 year curriculum is for those who want to rush it. I'm doing 4 years and although the studying has been intense, it hasn't been overwhelming. A few people have disappeared (1 I know dropped out). I haven't found the school to be cut throat at all since it's not exactly the destination for those destined for T50 schools. The majority of my cohorts are pretty nice and I'm pretty laid back so if there are cut throat behavior, I probably don't even notice or care about it. I'm sure it exists.

Now the school isn't perfect. The administration are still trying to figure things out so they tend to be slow. It did cause some problem the first month cause people weren't getting their loan money but they ended up advancing a small amount so people can pay rent and eat.

Feel free to DM with any questions.
 
For current students here, just out of curiosity - is there a formal? I didn’t go to prom in hs and was very excited to go to a formal in med school but idk if they do it lol
 
keesojd said:
Hackensack ranks #79 usnews. Wow.
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Well, according to NIH data for fiscal year 2022, Hackensack UMC (part of the system that owns the med school) lead the way in NIH awards for NJ entities with 84M. Rutgers second at 64M. Of course there are research funding mechanisms, but you can use this to get a sense that Hackensack ain't that bad. Not as good as JHU that got 10 times as much.

Source: NIH Awards by Location and Organization - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT)

Their 2021 annual report shows some research numbers at 165M.


So yeh, #79 in research might be right.
 
Current M2/rising M3 at HMSOM. Feel free to PM me if you guys have any questions about the school, student life, research, etc.
 
Hi all, this may sound like a dumb question but do admissions test for cannis in the drug test for this school? Considering that it is legal in New Jersey
 
abbyl said:
Hi all, this may sound like a dumb question but do admissions test for cannis in the drug test for this school? Considering that it is legal in New Jersey
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They did not last year. For all of you reading, they do not fool around when it comes to the drug screen. You have been warned.
 

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Any accepted students who can’t access the health forms? I have been trying to call student affairs all day yesterday and this morning and no one’s picking up…
 
Premedmami said:
Any accepted students who can’t access the health forms? I have been trying to call student affairs all day yesterday and this morning and no one’s picking up…
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They’re posted in the groupme and you have to wait a bit for them to give you google access
 
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