Duke vs. NJMS

[tortoise11]

Hi y’all! I am having trouble deciding which school to attend and would love help weighing the pros and cons. For some context, Duke Med has always been my top choice and I was the most excited when I got into Duke Med. Speaking with current Duke Med students, exploring Durham, and meeting other Duke admitted students solidified my love for the school. However, recently, I learned that I would be able to attend NJMS and incur $0 debt, which is huge. I’m torn about what to do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend NJMS’s second look, so I can’t comment on the “vibes” of the school/student body. For additional context, I’m not sure what specialty I would be interested in. I always thought I leaned more toward primary care. However, during my gap year, I’ve learned more about different specialties/sub-specialties and those pique my interest as well.


Duke Pros

• 1-year preclinical
• P/F pre-clinical and P/F clinical
• Close to family and friends (2.5-hour drive away)
• 3rd-year research: I did research during my gap year and I loved it! I'd love to continue doing that in medical school. I also like how research is built into the curriculum.
• Non-mandatory lectures
• Prestige? (T5)
• It felt like they had such a strong student community, especially with the SNMA
• Seemed like a chill/non-competitive environment
• Students spoke very highly of the support they received from the faculty

Duke Cons

• Cost (AT LEAST 100k+ in debt)
• Students find ways to serve underserved communities in Durham but it isn’t part of the big mission of the med school.

NJMS Pros

• Cost ($0 debt) – I know that when I get older, not having debt would be quite important
• Non-mandatory lectures
• The faculty seem so sweet and supportive
• Strong determination to serve the underserved
• I love the focus on humanism in medicine
• Though I lived in NJ a long time ago, it’d be nice to explore the area again and be a 30-minute train ride to NYC.

NJMS Cons

• H/HP/P/F for most of preclinical + H/HP/P/F clinical
• Not as “prestigious” (T70ish)
• Internal rankings, AOA, Gold Humanism
• Farther away from family and friends in NC (although I do have some family in the Northeast)
• Will have to find research to do during the school year or during the summer
• Matches mostly in the Northeast (this could also be a neutral or a pro too. If I decide to attend NJMS, I could learn that I love the Northeast)

Overall: I think I could be happy at both schools. However, to be truly honest, before last week, I honestly thought that I’d be staying in the South. It has been a quick change of events for me lol! Thanks in advance for the advice!

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[luckycharms!]

I would honestly suggest Duke. Their curriculum (P/F, 1 yr pre clinical, “free” third year) is huge. The prestige is obviously undeniable but regardless, the curriculum and opportunities speak for themselves imo. I have friends who attend NJMS and they do say that the students are chill, but the grading (esp for pre-clinical) and internal ranking sucks. I might be wrong but I think they might also have an 2 year pre-clinical, which isn’t ideal. Also, the Newark area is awesome if you’re interested in serving the underserved etc, but it’s not great if you like being outdoors / exploring around. My friends end up going out of Newark anytime they’re free, which isn’t a big deal since NYC is right there but still. I definitely understand that the money is a big factor and it can be very important based on your personal circumstances, but if the difference is around 100k-150k in debt then I would still suggest Duke.

 

[Egg-Benedict]

This is certainly a difficult choice, but as someone who paid way too much to go to Harvard, my advice is not to worry about the prestige. I know people from Rutgers who ended up matching into top derm residencies, including Harvard and Penn. If I could go back, I definitely would have chosen one of the schools where I could have gone out of it with no debt, and I think that's what I would do in your case, too.

 

[YodaPineapple]

Duke and it’s not close

 

[muramasa]

Being close to your support system of family/friends, P/F everything, and the connections of a T5 are worth paying for imo.

 

[ByThe+C]

Duke and this is from someone on their WL who has a vested interest to tell you to turn them down.

 

[sparky21]

Duke. My friends at NJMS are among the most stressed out of anyone I know at any medical school. Not even talking prestige but the NJMS curriculum does not set you up well to be relaxed and pursue your other interests in medical school. Coming from NC and being far from family will feel even harder at NJMS as well because I’d say 80-90% of students are from NJ and go home or see friends/family fairly often. I remember my student interviewer was from OOS and spoke on how hard it was for her being from oos in a school where it’s overwhelmingly locals

 

[simplyfunny]

Duke and its not even close. Duke is your dream school, and cost seems like the main concern here. If it was a difference of $300k, then the pros of Duke and the cons of NJMS may not be worth the price. But given the cost difference hovers in the $100k-150k I would say go to your top choice without even hesitating!