Any NY Medical students here?

[megkudos]

Hi I know that pre-meds probably post stuff like this all the time---but I was hopoing you could help me!!

I am looking to decide between NY Med and my state school (UMDNJ-NJMS) and I was hoping I could get some of your opinions. I know it is a personal decision but any input would be greatly appreciated...thanks!

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[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

I am not a NY med student but interviewed at NYMC and just wanted to give my opinion. Assuming UMDNJs tuition is much lower than NYMC, which is a private school, I would definitely choose UMDNJ. This especially applies if you are going to take out loans for med school. Despite people saying you will have no problems paying off 200K loans, it is a stressor in your life (I will be 180K in debt when I graduate).

NYMC is a good school but I do not believe it is better than UMDNJ in any regard and you will get a comparable education. If your choice was to go into debt at Johns Hopkins or less debt at your state school, my advice might be different.

Good luck.

 

[turtleboard]

I would go to UMDNJ over NYMC for several reasons.

Tuition at UMDNJ for you, a state resident, would be lower than at NYMC. This ranslates into lower student debt and while you don't think it's important, let me be the first to pull your head out of the clouds. I realize that in your post-acceptance state that you're in this euphoric daze, but the reality is that no matter where you go to med school you'll have debt to pay back -- how much debt is the main difference.

UMDNJ's affiliations are stronger than NYMC's, so you should get a better clinical education there.

I don't believe their match lists are all that different from each other, so there's no harm to your career if that's what you're worried about.

Good luck.

 

[megkudos]

THanks DoctorB19 and turtleboard I really appreciate your help

 

[Voxel]

I interviewed at both, know both well, and knew people at both schools, but wound up going to another school. Go to UMDNJ-Newark, it is a better value, if you are a NJ state resident. It's like choosing between a toyota camary and ford taurus, and the taurus's sticker price is 2-3x as much. Which car/education would you buy? No reason to carry around so much debt on your back. If you are talking about Columbia, Cornell, Einstein, Mt. Sinai or NYU vs UMDNJ-NJMS, then it is a different story and the decision process gets tougher.

UMDNJ-NJMS is cheaper and has strong affiliated hospitals. I actually think it has a better reputation than NYMC in terms of residencies/specialties as well. It will be tough @UMDNJ because of some of the scut you will have to put up with. You will get a good education at a much better price. At Newark you will see all kinds of crazy pathology. You won't regret this one bit. NYMC is a decent school, but not worth the dough, unless it's your only admission or you want to live in the village (St. Vincents) during 3 and 4th year and pay lots of $ to do it.

One more thought. Ask for a copy of the match list of the class of 2001 at both schools and make sure they include both the specialty and the associated hospital at which those people match. Look at the quality of hospitals matched. Less important but still worth a look, see how many people matched into difficult to match into specialties (v.high unmatched rate) such as Dermatology, Orthopaedics, ENT (it's official names is Otolaryngology), Plastic Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Radiology and Opthamology. Also make sure you take into account class size for the above calculation.