Help me pick a school

[Deepa100]

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Hi all,
LECOM-B, DMU and UMDNJ are the finalists for me. Please help me pick a school.🙂


LECOM-B:
Pros:
1. All PBL.
2. Minimal class.
3. Low tuition
4. Bradenton is really nice small town.
5. Weather is nice most of the time.
6. My kid will dig the beach.
7. Good board pass rates.
Cons:
1. Their labs seem kinda' light weight. I am not sure if I will be happy with just 10 wks of prosected anatomy.
2. I am afraid of not having enough interaction with the other students. I am older than their average student and it will not be easy to make friends. In my UG classes, I only found others to work with me after I 'proved' myself by doing real well.
3. If husband loses his telecommuting job, he may have to drive an hour to Tampa to find work. Not so nice.
4. Move can get expensive.
5. Will have to sell my house.
6. May not be able to see our extended family much.
7. Need to complete 6 credits of Psychology.

DMU:
Pros:
1. Mid-sized midwestern town.
2. Cost of living is cheap.
3. I am used to living in the midwest and comfortable dealing with the locals.
4. I can leave after 3 years.
5. I had a real good interview there.
6. Good labs.
7. Husband can easily telecommute and ccassionally go back and forth between Des Moines and Minneapolis. Only 3.5 hrs. drive.
8. No need to worry if we can't sell the house. We can rent it out and still keep an eye on it.
9. Ten degrees warmers than MN.
10. We are confident that we can find good day care (goes back to knowing the midwesterners).
11. Closer to Colorado which is where I want to end up for residency.
12. Good name recognition (DMU is older and well known).
Cons:
1. May have to move around in 3 rd. year.
2. Step 2. pass rates were lower till a year ago.
3. 2nd yr. classes taught by clinicians.
4. Classes are not video taped. Only Audio tape is available.
5. Only ten degrees warmer than Mn.
6. Tuition is about 10K higher than LECOM-B.
7. Only one semester of Anatomy.

UMDNJ SOM:
Pros:
1. Grading system is P/F.
2. Students said the professors are real family-friendly.
3. Excellent labs and facilities.
4. Won't have to move for 4 years and possibly more. i.e, Can do the residency there as well.
5. State-funded and well known.
6. Good board pass rates.
7. Friendly and happy students.
8. Cheaper than Minneapolis and warmer too.
9. Husband can land a job in Philly easily.
10. Trains to Philly are available.
11. Cheap tuition (36K first yr. and then 26K each year after that).
12. Two semesters of anatomy and disection.
Cons:
1. Stratford looked like well, not that great. I can't see putting my kid in a day care near the school.
2. I don't know the South NJ that well. I hear North is prettier.
3. I will have to sell the house.
4 Moving could get expensive.
5. Won't be able to see the extended family much.
6. Need to complete 3 cr. of Psychology.
Thanks!!
Deepa

 

[princekc]

...you got to be kidding!

 

[mdofn14]

The path to follow can only be chosen by you.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hi all,
LECOM-B, DMU and UMDNJ are the finalists for me. Please help me pick a school.🙂


LECOM-B:
Pros:
1. All PBL.
2. Minimal class.
3. Low tuition
4. Bradenton is really nice small town.
5. Weather is nice most of the time.
6. My kid will dig the beach.
7. Good board pass rates.
Cons:
1. Their labs seem kinda' light weight. I am not sure if I will be happy with just 10 wks of prosected anatomy.
2. I am afraid of not having enough interaction with the other students. I am older than their average student and it will not be easy to make friends. In my UG classes, I only found others to work with me after I 'proved' myself by doing real well.
3. If husband loses his telecommuting job, he may have to drive an hour to Tampa to find work. Not so nice.
4. Move can get expensive.
5. Will have to sell my house.
6. May not be able to see our extended family much.
7. Need to complete 6 credits of Psychology.

DMU:
Pros:
1. Mid-sized midwestern town.
2. Cost of living is cheap.
3. I am used to living in the midwest and comfortable dealing with the locals.
4. I can leave after 3 years.
5. I had a real good interview there.
6. Good labs.
7. Husband can easily telecommute and ccassionally go back and forth between Des Moines and Minneapolis. Only 3.5 hrs. drive.
8. No need to worry if we can't sell the house. We can rent it out and still keep an eye on it.
9. Ten degrees warmers than MN.
10. We are confident that we can find good day care (goes back to knowing the midwesterners).
11. Closer to Colorado which is where I want to end up for residency.
12. Good name recognition (DMU is older and well known).
Cons:
1. May have to move around in 3 rd. year.
2. Step 2. pass rates were lower till a year ago.
3. 2nd yr. classes taught by clinicians.
4. Classes are not video taped. Only Audio tape is available.
5. Only ten degrees warmer than Mn.
6. Tuition is about 10K higher than LECOM-B.
7. Only one semester of Anatomy.

UMDNJ SOM:
Pros:
1. Grading system is P/F.
2. Students said the professors are real family-friendly.
3. Excellent labs and facilities.
4. Won't have to move for 4 years and possibly more. i.e, Can do the residency there as well.
5. State-funded and well known.
6. Good board pass rates.
7. Friendly and happy students.
8. Cheaper than Minneapolis and warmer too.
9. Husband can land a job in Philly easily.
10. Trains to Philly are available.
11. Cheap tuition (36K first yr. and then 26K each year after that).
12. Two semesters of anatomy and disection.
Cons:
1. Stratford looked like well, not that great. I can't see putting my kid in a day care near the school.
2. I don't know the South NJ that well. I hear North is prettier.
3. I will have to sell the house.
4 Moving could get expensive.
5. Won't be able to see the extended family much.
6. Need to complete 3 cr. of Psychology.
Thanks!!
Deepa

Congratulation on winning these interviews. I know as an international, it has been a hard slog. The stuff I have bolded, in my humble opinion, are really not important in the grand scale of things. Yes, it's nice to have fancy facilities and more MDs in the preclinical years, but they have such little importance in the grand scale of things. Also, comparing board scores and residency match lists is like splitting hairs - schools of similar caliber all get you to the same place and board scores are usually marginally different. The work that you put into medical school will determine where you end up. Same thing for the city: as long as your family is happy, who cares about the temperature or size of the city? You'll never interact with it as a medical student.

This decision is actually more intuitive than your mammoth list suggests. I can tell you when I was deciding on where to go four years ago, a strong support network for my spouse and daughter ranked extremely high on my list. If your family is unhappy, this will be a rough four years. You're not going to have time to focus on them as much as you'd like, and so it's critical that they are happy. I can't emphasize that enough. Second on my list was cost. All U.S. medical schools get you to where you need to be. They would not have accreditation otherwise. If you're 100 grand more in the red after graduating from one school, that will translate to 200 grand extra debt after years of compounding interest.

I 'went against the grain' and ignored advice from people who said I should be going to the school with a "better reputation" and "fancier facilities" because I felt they were such trivial issues; smartest thing I did. I went to a place that I felt cared about their students and in a city where my family was going to be happier. I worked hard and gained a top quality medical education, winning residency interviews at all of the most competitive places I applied to in the U.S. I consider myself to be a pretty average student, but I like my field and I think it shows.

I hope that helps. Congrats again for having a choice, and good luck!

 

[Deepa100]

Scottishcap,
Thanks for taking time to reply. I understand that only I can choose my path. I am just looking for input from people like you who have done it before. It certainly was helpful to read your perspective. I got 9 interviews, went to 5 and got into 5. I was able to rule out 2 of them fairly quickly. My husband is leaving it up to me and I know he will not like NJ. Hopefully, I will figure it out soon.
Thanks again!
Deepa

Congratulation on winning these interviews. I know as an international, it has been a hard slog. The stuff I have bolded, in my humble opinion, are really not important in the grand scale of things. Yes, it's nice to have fancy facilities and more MDs in the preclinical years, but they have such little importance in the grand scale of things. Also, comparing board scores and residency match lists is like splitting hairs - schools of similar caliber all get you to the same place and board scores are usually marginally different. The work that you put into medical school will determine where you end up. Same thing for the city: as long as your family is happy, who cares about the temperature or size of the city? You'll never interact with it as a medical student.

This decision is actually more intuitive than your mammoth list suggests. I can tell you when I was deciding on where to go four years ago, a strong support network for my spouse and daughter ranked extremely high on my list. If your family is unhappy, this will be a rough four years. You're not going to have time to focus on them as much as you'd like, and so it's critical that they are happy. I can't emphasize that enough. Second on my list was cost. All U.S. medical schools get you to where you need to be. They would not have accreditation otherwise. If you're 100 grand more in the red after graduating from one school, that will translate to 200 grand extra debt after years of compounding interest.

I 'went against the grain' and ignored advice from people who said I should be going to the school with a "better reputation" and "fancier facilities" because I felt they were such trivial issues; smartest thing I did. I went to a place that I felt cared about their students and in a city where my family was going to be happier. I worked hard and gained a top quality medical education, winning residency interviews at all of the most competitive places I applied to in the U.S. I consider myself to be a pretty average student, but I like my field and I think it shows.

I hope that helps. Congrats again for having a choice, and good luck!

 

[NontradICUdoc]

*South Jersey is prettier than north jersey, looks more like the midwest and way less crowded.
*You can live in PA, but have to pay OOS tuition
*You do not have to go to Stratford for Day Care. You can take your kids to Voorhees which is the next town over.
*Your husband can commute to Phildelphia, Delaware, or NYC (by train)
*You do not have to live in Stratford. There are plenty of towns nearby where people live. Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Collingswood, etc.

If you have specific questions, email me. We met right before you left and you never PM's me with questions. Let me know if I can help but the decision ultimately has to be yours.

 

[245399]

*South Jersey is prettier than north jersey, looks more like the midwest and way less crowded.
*You can live in PA, but have to pay OOS tuition
*You do not have to go to Stratford for Day Care. You can take your kids to Voorhees which is the next town over.
*Your husband can commute to Phildelphia, Delaware, or NYC (by train)
*You do not have to live in Stratford. There are plenty of towns nearby where people live. Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Haddonfield, Collingswood, etc.

If you have specific questions, email me. We met right before you left and you never PM's me with questions. Let me know if I can help but the decision ultimately has to be yours.

I would agree. I am from North Jersey and have a very good friend that goes to UMDNJ in South Jersey. He loves it and is very happy with his education and his family arrangement. The towns surrounding Stratford are nice and the culture down there is nothing like that of the top half of the state, there is much more of that midwest feel.

 

[MSmentor018]

congrats on having to choose! that's a great system of writing down all the pros/cons. all the cons are pretty much the same, in any school you attend you'll have to....rotate around in your 3-4th yr. could be close/could be far. most likely move for residency. not a whole lot stay for residency in the same place. a lot of factors go into that, scores, program ranking, availability, interviews..etc. the family support system always varies. med school isn't cheap....esp in the 3-4th yr. so definitely lean towards the pros and be flexible! once you're on this road to medicine, everything else will fall into place, because it has to.

I can't speak for the other places but for lecom bradenton, i am also an older non trad so here's my take on it. there's very little class time so classmate interactions is minimal unless you meet up out of class, study at school and bump into them during breaks. there's no proving here, you put your 8 hrs/wk in of interaction, then you're off. getting along/interacting is a personal thing. some do it better than others. we've got some very personable people and some loners. some work well in PBL, some are very confrontational. I can easily say if you take any group of people at work, you'll see the same.

anatomy's only an intense 10 wks but you pick it later for PBL exams and you'll see it again in OMM. I didn't really spend that much time with the cadavers, most of it you can do on line via powerpoint. I think if I had to dissect, I would have lost a lot of sleep. others learn better that way. you can during your summer break if you choose. board scores, yeah they're high, I don't know how much of that is the cirrculcum or individual studying habits, proabably a combo? but you get what you put into it at any school. PBL and location sold it for me, absolutley no regrets! good luck on your choices and congrats again!!

 

[Deepa100]

Thanks to all of you who read my long post. I let the LECOM-B deadline pass today so, that one is out. I decided having such minimal interaction with my classmates is just not for me and my husband does not want to risk not having a job. Now I am down to DMU and UMDNJ. Both are great schools and in decent towns. Since I stopped interviewing, we should be able to make a decision soon. We are contemplating taking a trip out to NJ in the near future to check it out again. My husband has a huge potential for a nice job there. It was one thing for me to quit my well paying job. We can not afford to lose both pay checks. I will post my final decision when we arrive at it.

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't know anything about these particular schools, but you mention some things about UMDNJ that sound good...pass/fail grading, higher board pass rates, good name recognition, and perhaps lower/better tuition. These things are all pretty huge in my book with my 20/20 hindsight.