Penn State vs. Temple vs. UMDNJ-NJMS

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ICCONFETTI

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Hey guys. Since everyone is doing these types of forums, I'm just wondering on everyone's opinion.

Before you all ask, I am a New Jersey resident, but my boyfriend goes to Temple, and tuition is not one of my MAIN MAIN criteria in choosing schools. Thus, I'm really evaluating based on other things (ranking, opporunities, match lists) rather than financial aspects.

I'm also still waiting on umdnj-rwj and drexel, so where do you think those two schools would fall in line??


Any useful information about these schools/ your preferences and why, would be helpful.

Remember, the earlier I decide, the earlier it frees up spots for all of you :)

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Hey guys. Since everyone is doing these types of forums, I'm just wondering on everyone's opinion.

Before you all ask, I am a New Jersey resident, but my boyfriend goes to Temple, and tuition is not one of my MAIN MAIN criteria in choosing schools. Thus, I'm really evaluating based on other things (ranking, opporunities, match lists) rather than financial aspects.

I'm also still waiting on umdnj-rwj and drexel, so where do you think those two schools would fall in line??


Any useful information about these schools/ your preferences and why, would be helpful.

Remember, the earlier I decide, the earlier it frees up spots for all of you :)

well i think that all 3 schools are on an equal playing field in terms of quality of education, the difference is of couse location location location. is there a reason that you wouldn't want to go to the same school as your boyfriend right away?
 
for the PA schools:

interested in emergency medicine or city opportunities? choose temple (or drexel i suppose)

interested in primary care or more rural opportunities? choose penn state

of course, you can get exposure to everything at either school. it's just that you'll see more of one thing at one location and more of another elsewhere.
 
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I too, went through the same thing you are deciding on now. I got accepted to both NJMS and Penn State. I eventually chose NJMS for a few reasons:
1. NJMS is HEAVILY hands-on clinically based, they have even shortened up their lecture hours so that you can get more of the hands-on, clinical training. The first day you are there you begin shadowing a doctor. Lots of med schools don't give you patient contact until at least your second year. This hands-on clinical approach is very important to me.

2. NJMS is in Newark, a very urban setting, while Penn State is rural. NJMS will allow you exposure to a very wide variety of medical situations, such as the gun shot wounds, stabbings, drug ODs, birth complications, STDs, etc., in addition to all the other stuff that you would normally see elsewhere. A rural area will not have as much to offer in terms of exposure to a variety of medical scenarios.

3. I am a NJ resident. Over the four years of medical school, Penn State will be $100,000 more than NJMS. Now, considering I'll be in debt anyway, if I knew that the extra 100K would buy me that much better of an education and my career would benefit from it, I would spend the extra money no doubt-- but I don't know this. For all I know, the education is approximately equal, and for the above two reasons NJMS is, if anything, superior in my opinion.

4. Two of my closest friends are going to NJMS and I'll be living with them. Which will really help with my social life and help with the stressful times of medical school.

Hope this helps. As you can tell, I thought about this a lot.
 
Have to agree with above:

1. Penn State
2. Temple
3. NJMS

Of course, I'm considering Penn State, so that may bias me somewhat. :)
 
Have to agree with above:

1. Penn State
2. Temple
3. NJMS

Of course, I'm considering Penn State, so that may bias me somewhat. :)

any non-biased reasons as to why you should choose penn over temple?

the way i see it:
penn - research oriented, rural/suburb
temple - clinical, city
 
any non-biased reasons as to why you should choose penn over temple?

the way i see it:
penn - research oriented, rural/suburb
temple - clinical, city

Penn = University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia
Penn State = The Pennsylvania State University - Hershey (College of Medicine)


Not trying to be an ass, but you will definitely confuse people by calling Penn State "Penn"
 
Penn = University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia
Penn State = The Pennsylvania State University - Hershey (College of Medicine)


Not trying to be an ass, but you will definitely confuse people by calling Penn State "Penn"

thank you :) people on this website are always calling it penn but there's a biiiiig difference.
 
any reason?

i'm definitely leaning towards temple at this point...
hope they offer me a yummy financial aid package.

Penn state is a great school, however in my opinion its location couldn't be any ****tier. (I'm a city person). Thats why I would choose Temple over Penn State, due to the location alone.

NJMS is in Newark, great clinical exposure, however I haven't heard great things about the school.
 
any non-biased reasons as to why you should choose penn over temple?

the way i see it:
penn - research oriented, rural/suburb
temple - clinical, city

I wouldn't consider Penn State more research-oriented than clinically-oriented. You will get a lot of great clinical experiences at Penn State, and they give you ample time in the 4th year to do elective rotations in an area of your choice (out of state or even out of country). Penn State doesn't have to compete with other medical schools in the near viscinity like Temple does. Temple is in Philly, which also has Jefferson, UPenn, and Drexel.
 
I guess I thought that Penn State had BOTH really good clinical and research opportunities. I realize that many people like Temple because of Hershey's location, but I really would prefer to be in a suburb-like place where I'm comfortable, safe, and paying a reasonable rent. Also, Penn State's facilities kick ass, their sim labs are awesome, the library and comps are open 24 hours (I get too distracted at home so this is a big one for me), and people there are super friendly.

Again, though, I don't really know much about the other schools--I ranked those upon hearsay reputations.
 
Penn = University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia
Penn State = The Pennsylvania State University - Hershey (College of Medicine)


Not trying to be an ass, but you will definitely confuse people by calling Penn State "Penn"

I don't understand why Upenn is called Penn.
Why don't people call it Upenn.
 
I don't understand why Upenn is called Penn.
Why don't people call it Upenn.

UPenn is actually a very commen term local to the Philadelphia area. I am from the Philadelphia area and I rarely hear it being called anything but "UPenn" However, it's also known as just "Penn" Go into google and type in "Penn" and the first hit is Penn's website (also note that it's www.[U]upenn[/U].edu ;) )

I'm from Pennsylvania and a I have never in my life heard anyone refer to Penn State other than "Penn State" or "PSU" Although my friends who go there also call it "Happy Valley" or just "State"

I can see where the confusion might come from though.
 
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