Maryland (IS) vs Rutgers (OOS)

[BasinB]

Hello everyone! I am currently stuck deciding between two schools. From what I know, both schools give similar experiences but Rutgers has more clinical requirements (which I do not mind). Rutgers also gives in-state after one year, so overall cost of attendance isn’t that different. But the biggest reason for why I am considering Rutgers is explained at the end.

Furthermore, I also got an offer for USC, but their CoA is way too high for me. However, please feel free to advocate for USC if you think it's worth attending. This is also my first post btw, so please let me know if you need more information!

Maryland (IS)
Total CoA: $432,073
Pros:

• In-state tuition
• ~35 min from my home/family/hometown friends
• Connections with D2/D3 to help me
• Location is right in the middle of the city. I feel like there’s lots to do nearby.
• Good reputation, and also has the history of the first dental school.
• Next to other professional schools
• I was able to get a deeper tour within the school and it has easily accessible places such as gyms, recreational activities, libraries, etc. (I was not able to see it in Rutgers)
• Offers many specialty programs.
• Strong clinical reputation
• Recently renovated their sim labs

Cons:

• Dangerous area
• Still in Maryland

Rutgers (OOS)
Total CoA: $463,185
Pros:

• In-state tuition after first year
• Rigorous clinical requirements (but I feel like that will help me more then not)
• Has the dedicated on-campus housing that makes traveling to campus easy
• Closed-off campus
• Offers various residency programs
• Plenty of research opportunities
• Has a program that offers fast-paced hospital experience during D3 and D4 (correct me if I am wrong though)
• Close to New York City, which I really like
• Also close to Hoboken and Fort Lee

Cons:

• 3-4 hour drive from home
• Might have to look around for gyms and libraries (?) (not too sure)
• Unsafe area (but I feel like the on-campus housing helps with that)
• Was told by a student that the school likes to “throw you in the deep end.” Which I also don’t mind but I can see it being a negative.
• More expensive (CoA can be ~$20K - $40K more depending if I live on-campus or off-campus)
• Possibly unfriendly administration (?), any Rutgers students let me know what you think

Summary: I know the biggest advice is to choose the school with the cheaper cost. However, I am leaning towards Rutgers due to lifestyle preferences. Rutgers is close to New York City. I have talked with dental students at Rutgers and they mentioned how easy it is to go to NYC. Finally, I also generally just want to be out-of-state, mainly because I want to experience new things outside of Maryland. But I feel like Baltimore will offer me new experiences regardless.

Ideally, I would also love to work in NYC as a dentist. I believe Rutgers allows me a better opportunity to explore and visit NYC more often for going out, studying, etc. However, this might be a petty reason to choose that over Maryland. I also still need to get a 1-year GPR in New York to work there, which I believe Rutgers will not provide me a better chance compared to Maryland.

Furthermore, Maryland is located within the heart of Baltimore, which can be better at emulating living within the city over the Newark area of Rutgers. If it were more expensive, I would have gone with Maryland, but with Rutgers only costing around $30K more, I feel like Rutgers might be worth it for my lifestyle preferences.

What do you guys think? My heart is telling me Rutgers, but my mind is telling me Maryland. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you ahead for taking the time to read this!

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[macsak]

it sounds like you have already made up your mind for rutgers
but my input is that proximity to family and friends is extremely valuable
add to that you already have a support system with older students at maryland...

Hello everyone! I am currently stuck deciding between two schools. From what I know, both schools give similar experiences but Rutgers has more clinical requirements (which I do not mind). Rutgers also gives in-state after one year, so overall cost of attendance isn’t that different. But the biggest reason for why I am considering Rutgers is explained at the end.

Furthermore, I also got an offer for USC, but their CoA is way too high for me. However, please feel free to advocate for USC if you think it's worth attending. This is also my first post btw, so please let me know if you need more information!

Maryland (IS)
Total CoA: $432,073
Pros:

• In-state tuition
• ~35 min from my home/family/hometown friends
• Connections with D2/D3 to help me
• Location is right in the middle of the city. I feel like there’s lots to do nearby.
• Good reputation, and also has the history of the first dental school.
• Next to other professional schools
• I was able to get a deeper tour within the school and it has easily accessible places such as gyms, recreational activities, libraries, etc. (I was not able to see it in Rutgers)
• Offers many specialty programs.
• Strong clinical reputation
• Recently renovated their sim labs

Cons:

• Dangerous area
• Still in Maryland

Rutgers (OOS)
Total CoA: $463,185
Pros:

• In-state tuition after first year
• Rigorous clinical requirements (but I feel like that will help me more then not)
• Has the dedicated on-campus housing that makes traveling to campus easy
• Closed-off campus
• Offers various residency programs
• Plenty of research opportunities
• Has a program that offers fast-paced hospital experience during D3 and D4 (correct me if I am wrong though)
• Close to New York City, which I really like
• Also close to Hoboken and Fort Lee

Cons:

• 3-4 hour drive from home
• Might have to look around for gyms and libraries (?) (not too sure)
• Unsafe area (but I feel like the on-campus housing helps with that)
• Was told by a student that the school likes to “throw you in the deep end.” Which I also don’t mind but I can see it being a negative.
• More expensive (CoA can be ~$20K - $40K more depending if I live on-campus or off-campus)
• Possibly unfriendly administration (?), any Rutgers students let me know what you think

Summary: I know the biggest advice is to choose the school with the cheaper cost. However, I am leaning towards Rutgers due to lifestyle preferences. Rutgers is close to New York City. I have talked with dental students at Rutgers and they mentioned how easy it is to go to NYC. Finally, I also generally just want to be out-of-state, mainly because I want to experience new things outside of Maryland. But I feel like Baltimore will offer me new experiences regardless.

Ideally, I would also love to work in NYC as a dentist. I believe Rutgers allows me a better opportunity to explore and visit NYC more often for going out, studying, etc. However, this might be a petty reason to choose that over Maryland. I also still need to get a 1-year GPR in New York to work there, which I believe Rutgers will not provide me a better chance compared to Maryland.

Furthermore, Maryland is located within the heart of Baltimore, which can be better at emulating living within the city over the Newark area of Rutgers. If it were more expensive, I would have gone with Maryland, but with Rutgers only costing around $30K more, I feel like Rutgers might be worth it for my lifestyle preferences.

What do you guys think? My heart is telling me Rutgers, but my mind is telling me Maryland. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you ahead for taking the time to read this!

 

[BasinB]

it sounds like you have already made up your mind for rutgers
but my input is that proximity to family and friends is extremely valuable
add to that you already have a support system with older students at maryland...

Yea this post does sound like me coping for Rutgers lol. And you’re right, I have heard that a good support system is very valuable for dental school.

 

[macsak]

Yea this post does sound like me coping for Rutgers lol. And you’re right, I have heard that a good support system is very valuable for dental school.

$30k difference is not much in the grand scheme of things, though
well under 10 percent is not bad...

 

[bkthmusic]

Hey! Congrats on your acceptance. I also got into Rutgers and was curious how you came to that total COA? When I calculated the price was ~315k without living expenses. Can you please share your breakdown?

 

[BasinB]

Hey! Congrats on your acceptance. I also got into Rutgers and was curious how you came to that total COA? When I calculated the price was ~315k without living expenses. Can you please share your breakdown?

Congratulations to you too! I got my total CoA through the tuition website on RSDM. However, I included my living expenses for my total CoA calculation. I assumed I lived on campus during D1 and then off campus for the next 3 years.

 

[bkthmusic]

Congratulations to you too! I got my total CoA through the tuition website on RSDM. However, I included my living expenses for my total CoA calculation. I assumed I lived on campus during D1 and then off campus for the next 3 years.

Oh I see! Thank you so much! We might be future classmates then! I made a Rutgers class of 2029 groupme. If you want you can join Rutgers Class of 2029

 

[JacquesVallee]

Total CoA: $432,073
Pros:

• In-state tuition
• ~35 min from my home/family/hometown friends

Jeez that cost of attendance is insanely high for instate. I'd recommend living at home and commuting since your family only lives 35 minutes away and saving as much money as possible.

 

[BasinB]

Jeez that cost of attendance is insanely high for instate. I'd recommend living at home and commuting since your family only lives 35 minutes away and saving as much money as possible.

Sorry that is my mistake, I included living expenses in my CoA calculations. Personally, I would prefer to live really close to campus for all 4 years.

 

[BasinB]

Oh I see! Thank you so much! We might be future classmates then! I made a Rutgers class of 2029 groupme. If you want you can join Rutgers Class of 2029

We might be future classmates for sure! However, I’m still on the fence about what school I plan to go to, so I feel it wouldn’t be right to join the GroupMe yet.

Also, can I ask why you decided for Rutgers?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm going to make a couple of assumptions:
1) You've never lived in Baltimore or around Baltimore. You can be a Maryland resident who grew up in MoCo/PWC near DC, or you could have lived out near Frederick or the Eastern Shore.
2) As of now, you've never visited Newark.

I say this because of the concern about being in a "dangerous" city either way. I don't think students live close to either campus (on-campus housing at Rutgers, I didn't know that), so transportation may need to be factored in. This includes car insurance... look up how different the rates are between both zip codes.

 

[bkthmusic]

We might be future classmates for sure! However, I’m still on the fence about what school I plan to go to, so I feel it wouldn’t be right to join the GroupMe yet.

Also, can I ask why you decided for Rutgers?

I understand 🙂

For me Rutgers was the best choice. My family lives in NJ even though I am a NY resident now. My partner also lives in NJ. I get in-state tuition after first year, the clinical requirements are high which makes you a competent dentist, I really liked the school atmosphere among all the other schools I interviewed at, Rutgers is really well-known and everyone knows it’s a prestigious program so it will be beneficial for the future, I will be close to NYC with cheaper living expenses, and I feel like Rutgers will truly make me a well-rounded dentist who can easily overcome clinical challenges.

 

[deleted923283]

I feel like Rutgers will truly make me a well-rounded dentist who can easily overcome clinical challenges.

You drank the KoolAid my friend.

I can’t wait to ask you how those “high clinical requirements” are going in 4 years. People tried to warn you.

Addendum: I was cranky earlier. You’ll make it through Rutgers. But it won’t always be fun. It will be tough. But you can do it. Good luck and try to enjoy the ride!

 

[JacquesVallee]

Sorry that is my mistake, I included living expenses in my CoA calculations. Personally, I would prefer to live really close to campus for all 4 years.

I know you included it in you CoA calculations. 432k total is absolutely financially devastating. You have to do whatever it takes to get that cost down. A 35 min commute daily could save you 100k in the long run. That's worth it.

 

[bkthmusic]

You drank the KoolAid my friend.

I can’t wait to ask you how those “high clinical requirements” are going in 4 years. People tried to warn you.

Addendum: I was cranky earlier. You’ll make it through Rutgers. But it won’t always be fun. It will be tough. But you can do it. Good luck and try to enjoy the ride!

😂😂😂 I know I know I’m just an excited incoming D1 who will soon be very upset with a lot of things 😂 I experienced the very same thing with my undergrad institution, and despite hating it now, as a senior, I would still make the same choice of going there because they really helped me be successful.

And let’s be real, dental school will make you miserable anyways so you might as well attend somewhere that brings a great dentist out of you, guaranteed.

And thank you! I have found many of your advices about Rutgers very helpful.