Robert Wood Johnson 2012

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Atahualpa11 said:
Anybody check out this years Match List? All I have to say is WOW! It just makes me more excited about getting started.
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Lol believe it or not, i have it saved on my desktop and I look at it atleast once every couple of days. It is pretty impressive and I hope our Class has even a more awesome one!!!!:):)
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FutureDoc4 said:
Does anyone know if the orientation in April is going to cover the same thing as the Jan one? (if I was at the Jan orientation should I not go to the April one?)
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I am still going even though I went to the January orientation. I figure more people will be there that know they are going to be in the class.
Can't wait to see you all there!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
just signed on an NB apartment for next year. its official!

i will be going to the reception, for just a little bit.
 
I wish I could go but I can't get off work. Awell, I went to the last one so I hope this one isn't too different
 
NJDIF said:
just signed on an NB apartment for next year. its official!

i will be going to the reception, for just a little bit.
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congrats! Where is it? Is it a one bed room? Did you find a place off of the Rutgers housing site?
I would love to sign for a place but a lot of apartments building still don't know what will be available July 1.
 
Let me preface by saying that I am really, really excited about RWJ next year and I love so many things about the school.... however, I was hoping that some current med students at RWJ could shed some light on any "negative" or "bad" things about RWJ they have experienced so far (as I have yet to hear any!), so that we (all of us lucky enough to be accepted) can know what to expect next year....if you don't want to post them on here please feel free to send me a message.
 
Just got my loan stuff in the mail today...

How about you guys?

EDIT: Seeing the numbers on paper is as real as it gets.
 
April16-

its off of easton ave in NB. Its a studio that I found off the rutgers off campus website. i know you dont know what will be available until june (most leases around here start in june, not july), but from my experience around here for the last 4 years it is better to get on this and find a place sooner than later .

BMBP-

what is in the letter? the different lenders and rates? are you offered everything you request?

i did all of my forms a few weeks ago, but i had to resubmit fafsa with my actual 2007 tax info. hopefully ill get it all soon.
 
yup I also got my loan info in the mail...I immediately started calculating everything times four and then it suddenly hit me how much I'll be in debt by the time I graduate..:p


I was looking over the orientation 2011 website & now I'm really excited for ours!! :D
 
juzaileen said:
yup I also got my loan info in the mail...I immediately started calculating everything times four and then it suddenly hit me how much I'll be in debt by the time I graduate..:p


I was looking over the orientation 2011 website & now I'm really excited for ours!! :D
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Got the loan information....I didn't quite get what I asked for but I think it was actually close to the max (does anyone know what the max is for independent med students). I don't think it is to cover my expenses fully as the website shows the average student paying like $50000 a year!

Also for those pondering attending the Spring Reception who also went to the Winter one here is an email I received:

"We won't be having lectures, just Dean Amenta speaking and then hopefully it's tin the works now, we having groups of students speaking about student life, classes, and peer groups, organizations etc. so it will be different hopefully this time. If you still interested in coming please let me know"


I still don't know whether or not I want to go again haha
 
yes I also did not get what I asked for...I saw that $50,000 figure and put that in as the requested amount...I'll most likely have to fill out that request form for more aid.
 
juzaileen said:
yes I also did not get what I asked for...I saw that $50,000 figure and put that in as the requested amount...I'll most likely have to fill out that request form for more aid.
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I got this in an email earlier this year:


You can receive up to $40,500 for the Stafford loan Program, we have
other programs to help you meet your cost of attendence of about
$50,500. check your website at www.umdnj.edu/studentfinancialaid for
more info .

But when I got my loan info, it only had the stafford loan stuff listed. Does anyone know what the process is like to get the rest of the private loans?

I know it said it would be adjusted when we matriculate but I'm anxious to get this sorted sooner.
 
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has anyone here applied or is thinking of applying for the md-mph dual degree?

i am considering it, but not sure exactly
 
You guys don't think $40,500 will be enough? I really wish there was an Expense Budget Breakdown for our class.

Also, $5,000 predicted for books and supplies? How accurate is this value? I remember undergrad estimating $1,200 for books and supplies and I only ended up spending around $300 a semester.
 
You may have noticed that current students have been MIA lately... The second years are getting ready for shelf exams + they'll be studying for the Boards right after. But now that we first years have finished exams (and aren't yet studying for finals - well, I'm not, anyway) I have a bit more time to answer some of your questions. :)

Spring reception: You mean the one this Friday, April 18, right? You guys should definitely come if you're in town - we'll be introducing you to some of the student organizations (e.g. AMA, AMSA, SGA, etc.) ahead of time. Should be fun, and more chill than the last one.

MD/MPH: You don't have to apply anytime soon. You can apply in the spring of your first or second year. So you can give yourself some time to see if you want to go for it.

Book budget: $5000 sounds like an astoundingly large number, even if they're counting both semesters. You can get lots of your books secondhand, either from rising second years (yes, we would love to sell you our books)... or from Half.com, Amazon, etc... or you can borrow them from our Media Library.
Many people avoiding buying books unless necessary - others of us (cough, not saying who) try to be on the safe side and buy everything, then regret it when the books sit on our bedroom floor. :)
Also, we'll give you guys advice on what you should buy because it was really really helpful (or mandatory), and what you should pass on.

'Negatives': This is a tough one, because it's obviously a very subjective issue. We each have our likes and dislikes, based on personal preference or personal laziness. Matt has mentioned previously on this board, the pros and cons of having so much lecture time. As he said, many of our classmates will complain about the lectures and insist they want more small group learning... but small group classes tend to be mandatory, and people complain about mandatory classes, too! So it seems you really can't please everyone (cliche, but oh well).

All that aside: we do have a pretty hectic schedule. Exam weeks, especially second semester, can be brutal because we're all so exhausted by then and we're studying for four exams at the same time. Most of our professors are helpful, though, and will respond to our emails or set up appointments with us, just to talk about how to prepare for exams.

Being a public medical school means that (in simple terms) it just doesn't have as much money. So our lecture halls aren't exactly... sparkling. And we could use some more study areas. But the teaching labs (aka "small group rooms") and laboratories (for anatomy, microbio, etc.) are relatively new and good facilities. And we get some pretty astounding faculty who've done amazing things, so that doesn't seem to be a problem.

Our curriculum is a little 'old school' - we haven't moved to an integrated curriculum yet, but it's a work in progress, and hopefully there'll be some changes by next year, or at least by the time you guys are second years. At any rate, students here do very well on the Boards, our match rate this year was around 97% if I'm not mistaken, and we go on to great residency programs. So, integrated curriculum or not, we still manage to be successful with the resources & work ethic we do have.

All in all, it's a great place, with diverse and interesting students, though you'll still see some of the same crazy former pre-meds (apologies, but it's true) as at any another medical school. The students here are great about getting involved, which is something I really like - it isn't the same core group of people running every club. (Though of course, some of us tend to get a little TOO involved... again, not mentioning any names...)

The way I see it, we get an excellent education here, for much less cost than private schools, with similar access to faculty, research, international, service, and other opportunities.

That's my take - happy to answer any other questions.
 
kaki said:
You may have noticed that current students have been MIA lately... The second years are getting ready for shelf exams + they'll be studying for the Boards right after. But now that we first years have finished exams (and aren't yet studying for finals - well, I'm not, anyway) I have a bit more time to answer some of your questions. :)

Spring reception: You mean the one this Friday, April 18, right? You guys should definitely come if you're in town - we'll be introducing you to some of the student organizations (e.g. AMA, AMSA, SGA, etc.) ahead of time. Should be fun, and more chill than the last one.

MD/MPH: You don't have to apply anytime soon. You can apply in the spring of your first or second year. So you can give yourself some time to see if you want to go for it.

Book budget: $5000 sounds like an astoundingly large number, even if they're counting both semesters. You can get lots of your books secondhand, either from rising second years (yes, we would love to sell you our books)... or from Half.com, Amazon, etc... or you can borrow them from our Media Library.
Many people avoiding buying books unless necessary - others of us (cough, not saying who) try to be on the safe side and buy everything, then regret it when the books sit on our bedroom floor. :)
Also, we'll give you guys advice on what you should buy because it was really really helpful (or mandatory), and what you should pass on.

'Negatives': This is a tough one, because it's obviously a very subjective issue. We each have our likes and dislikes, based on personal preference or personal laziness. Matt has mentioned previously on this board, the pros and cons of having so much lecture time. As he said, many of our classmates will complain about the lectures and insist they want more small group learning... but small group classes tend to be mandatory, and people complain about mandatory classes, too! So it seems you really can't please everyone (cliche, but oh well).

All that aside: we do have a pretty hectic schedule. Exam weeks, especially second semester, can be brutal because we're all so exhausted by then and we're studying for four exams at the same time. Most of our professors are helpful, though, and will respond to our emails or set up appointments with us, just to talk about how to prepare for exams.

Being a public medical school means that (in simple terms) it just doesn't have as much money. So our lecture halls aren't exactly... sparkling. And we could use some more study areas. But the teaching labs (aka "small group rooms") and laboratories (for anatomy, microbio, etc.) are relatively new and good facilities. And we get some pretty astounding faculty who've done amazing things, so that doesn't seem to be a problem.

Our curriculum is a little 'old school' - we haven't moved to an integrated curriculum yet, but it's a work in progress, and hopefully there'll be some changes by next year, or at least by the time you guys are second years. At any rate, students here do very well on the Boards, our match rate this year was around 97% if I'm not mistaken, and we go on to great residency programs. So, integrated curriculum or not, we still manage to be successful with the resources & work ethic we do have.

All in all, it's a great place, with diverse and interesting students, though you'll still see some of the same crazy former pre-meds (apologies, but it's true) as at any another medical school. The students here are great about getting involved, which is something I really like - it isn't the same core group of people running every club. (Though of course, some of us tend to get a little TOO involved... again, not mentioning any names...)

The way I see it, we get an excellent education here, for much less cost than private schools, with similar access to faculty, research, international, service, and other opportunities.

That's my take - happy to answer any other questions.
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thanks for all the details! as the august seems to be approaching sooner and sooner (i was accepted in october, so even april is soon), i had started really getting scared about the whole medical school deal. but you've settled my fears and i'm glad to be going to rwj (as corny as this all sounds) :)
 
Hi Kaki, thanks so much for all your advice!
I have two questions if you don't mind. Is waiting until the housing days in June a bad idea? It seems like RWJ does a good job helping students find room mates, but I am worried there will not be a lot of places still available by then.
Also, when do second years take the boards? I know it is a long way off, but I am trying to plan a wedding with my fiance and I was wondering if it would be possible to get married in between second and third year after taking the boards.
Thanks so much!
 
Wow! Thanks kaki! that was an extremely helpful post. I would also be interested in knowing how much time we get off to take the Step I .... and the transition from 2nd to 3rd year.
 
April16-

If you plan on living in new brunswick, i would try to sign a lease soon, as MOST new brunswick leases start June 1st. there are many landlords who wont flex a june to june 12 month lease so you can start late.

if you want to live in highland park, piscataway, edison then you should be fine waiting until housing day.

Rutgers area apartment complexes

Rutgers/NB housing search
 
thanks for all the info. I guess 50,500 was an OVERestimate.
I'm also worried about housing in New Brunswick. my brother who dorms there says I should be looking asap, so I think I should start and not wait until housing days.
 
I don't know if anyone reading this thread is on the waitlist, but I'm going to be withdrawing my acceptance soon (as soon as I get my Vandy fin aid package). Good luck guys!
 
April16MCAT said:
Hi Kaki, thanks so much for all your advice!
I have two questions if you don't mind. Is waiting until the housing days in June a bad idea? It seems like RWJ does a good job helping students find room mates, but I am worried there will not be a lot of places still available by then.
Click to expand...

For this one, I'm going to defer to NJDIF's advice, as they know more about the housing market here than I do! I will tell you, though, that many of my friends found apartments and/or roommates during the June housing days... but I'm not sure if they're the ones living in Piscataway or in New Brunswick.

NJDIF said:
If you plan on living in new brunswick, i would try to sign a lease soon, as MOST new brunswick leases start June 1st. there are many landlords who wont flex a june to june 12 month lease so you can start late.

if you want to live in highland park, piscataway, edison then you should be fine waiting until housing day.

Rutgers area apartment complexes

Rutgers/NB housing search
Click to expand...

For your second question...

April16MCAT said:
Also, when do second years take the boards? I know it is a long way off, but I am trying to plan a wedding with my fiance and I was wondering if it would be possible to get married in between second and third year after taking the boards.
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...

It's totally fine to think that far ahead - I was doing the same thing a year ago! (My boyfriend and I had the "where do we squeeze a wedding into four years of med school?!" conversation, haha.)

This year the MSII's finish exams on May 9. And the MSIII's started their clerkships last year on June 25. So the schedule should be pretty similar to that from year to year: finish early May, start again late June.

Basically, you can choose to take the Boards whenever you want between May and June. For example, my friend is taking his around June 13, so that he has the next couple weeks to take a short vacation + move down to Philadelphia because he's doing his clerkships in Camden. Most people like to give themselves between 4 to 5 weeks to study for the Boards, and hopefully have 1 to 2 weeks to do other "life things."

An MII friend of mine got married during the summer between 1st and 2nd year, aka "the last summer of your life," which is kinda the ideal time to do it. But not everyone's ready to get married that early (speaking from experience)! Most people get married at other times during school, when you don't have that nice three-month stretch, and somehow they still make it work.

I spoke to an MSIII friend about how she got married during her second year. She considered getting married during that 6 week block in between, but then decided against it: she figured if she got married in May and then tried to study for Boards, she'd be distracted from enjoying newlywed life. And if she did the reverse - took the Boards, then got married right after - she'd be distracted from studying because of wedding planning / awesome excitement.
So they opted to get married during the spring of 2nd year, on some random weekend during school, and then took a late honeymoon in June. :)

That's one way to do it!
 
Hey all I just received my financial aid packet and received the 40gs that everyone has been referring to. Does anyone know what the next step is in this really long process (besides applying for more fin. aid)? I am only asking because I am going to be away from home for a long time and need to decide on what to do with mail. Thanks!
 
What are you guys wearing to the spring reception? I understand it is business casual, but does that mean a tie or no tie for men?
What else is planned for this event? I'm very excited about it!
 
hey peoples! i'll be there on friday too, woohoo.
and i dont think you'll need a tie for business casual wear. just non-jeans and a nice shirt will do.
 
Has anyone heard about merit scholarship money for RWJ?
 
Welcome Class of 2012,

We are the new Orientation Committee that will be running your Orientation in August. We've created a Facebook Group, just search for "Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Class of 2012" and join! We also have a website that is not yet updated from last year, but you can look at the schedule to get an idea of what Orientation will be like. http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/student_affairs/orientation.

You'll be hearing from us throughout the summer so get excited for the start of Medical School!

Sincerely,
Orientation Committee
Arslan Johnghar
Benjamin Slovis
Christopher Aquina
Alexis Pelletier
Laura Giusto
 
Hey guys-

The Housing Days have been set! The first housing day will be Saturday June 7th, with a meet and greet the evening before (Friday June 6th). The second housing day will be Friday June 27th, with another meet and greet the evening before (Thursday June 26th). More details about the meet & greet will be decided soon.

Please DO NOT worry about getting housing before these dates. I know I freaked out last year about finding a place ASAP, but would have probably been better off just waiting for the housing days (would've been less work on my end and I probably would've found a cheaper place!) For those who absolutely cannot wait for the housing days (or those that cannot attend), we will post all info on the housing website. We actually have a lot of great things in the works for the housing website (i.e. automated room-mate matching) so keep an eye out for that!

We are working VERY hard to get all of the housing, orientation, and white coat information to you ASAP. We were just notified yesterday that we were chosen for the Orientation Committee yesterday, so we're working as quickly as we can!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me directly ([email protected]). I do not visit SDN very often, but am always checking my email so that's the best way to get a hold of me. The university emails for orientation and housing are in the process of being set up for the new coordinators, but we'll get those to you ASAP as well.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Alexis Pelletier (White Coat Coordinator) & the Orientation Committee

P.S. If you are attending the ceremony tomorrow, please try on the white coats and remember what size you are!! TY :)
 
That I know of, only two people from my class applied to derm this year, but one person took an extra year off to do research to boost their application for next year. That being said, 1/3 of the students who apply for derm end up NOT matching (according to the NRMP publication) so I would keep an open mind about specialty choice going in, and just try to do as well as you possibly can in both your classes and Step 1.

scrubs421 said:
Hey everyone~! Really excited about RWJ next year. I know most people don't know what they want to go into ( I am still unsure my self), but I have an interest in Derm. I saw from RWJ's AWESOME match list that two people matched into Derm this past year.... I was hoping that some medical students could put into perspective how many students actually attempted to get into derm (2/? matched)? how many didn't match? and if this happens often? (I know i might not go into derm, but these are just preliminary questions I am trying to figure out because I heard Derm is INTENSELY competitive). Thanks.
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hey,

had a really great time meeting some of you today. you all seem like really, really great people. see you in august!
 
well I didn't go to the first one but last Friday was really just a meet & greet day so I don't think you missed out on anything.

oh we did try on white coats though to figure out our size.
 
I also had a great time meeting you guys at the open house. Is anyone going to the one in camden in May? I hate to take off work again but I think it will be worth it since it will be where I spend half the time.
 
I will be at the Camden reception in May. Looking forward to meeting more of you!
 
.
 
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does anyone know when we'll get loan funds? i heard you were pretty much on your own for the first semester in terms of money, at least until loans come in..... and that would affect the amount im looking to spend on housing. any current students have issues with the disbursement in terms of timing + rent paying?
 
Anyone else get a hard copy of the health forms yet to fill out?
 
I did not get any health forms in the mail. I'm wondering if the email attachments are it.
 
I only got one form in the attachment. Telling me the vaccinations we are suppose to get. But i did not get any forms for the actual physcian to fill out. Hence, i thought we would be getting a hard copy of those forms in the mail.
 
oh the email I received had another attachment with the forms. they were just scanned copies and blurry so I thought that we would receive original forms via snail mail. i can forward it to you if you want.
 
Did people get any information about how to set up their online accounts? email and such?
 
FYI:

I called.

$40,500 is our partial award amount.

Once the budget is set (early August) we will get more.


:thumbup:
 
hey can current students give some inputs on what kinds of jobs the school offers for those on the federal work study program. Are they in the school or are we talking about places like clinics, etc...It is the school which helps student find jobs, right?
 
shaqkillz451 said:
hey can current students give some inputs on what kinds of jobs the school offers for those on the federal work study program. Are they in the school or are we talking about places like clinics, etc...It is the school which helps student find jobs, right?
Click to expand...

The work study jobs are things like sitting at the desk in the library and checking books out when people want to borrow them, or sitting at the desk in the computer lab and making sure the printer doesnt run out of paper (seriously).

Basically the jobs are called "work-study" because it's work in the sense that somebody has to do it, but for the most part you just get to study as much as you want for those work shifts. It's actually a pretty good deal if yoou think about it.....being paid to study.
 
Hey Guys,

I will be attending RWJMS starting this August. Me and my wife are not familiar with the area. Could you guys tell me which are the closest and safer places around the school. We have been looking at places on North Brunswick, New Brunswick, South Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, Highland Park, and Sommerset online. Which of these towns would you consider to be the nicest and safest ones?

Thank you,

Can't wait to start classes and meet you all.
 
chaicos said:
Hey Guys,

I will be attending RWJMS starting this August. Me and my wife are not familiar with the area. Could you guys tell me which are the closest and safer places around the school. We have been looking at places on North Brunswick, New Brunswick, South Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, Highland Park, and Sommerset online. Which of these towns would you consider to be the nicest and safest ones?

Thank you,

Can't wait to start classes and meet you all.
Click to expand...

New Brunswick has a lot of nice areas, but the further south you go the sketchier it gets. I've heard the Somerset St is the point that it starts to get bad. Edison, Piscataway, and Highland Park are much more suburban areas, and are probably safer. I have an apartment in Highland, and its pretty quiet. Edison is probably the nicest (and consequentially most expensive) and Piscataway second though I don't know a lot about South Brunswick or Somerset.
 
chaicos said:
Hey Guys,

I will be attending RWJMS starting this August. Me and my wife are not familiar with the area. Could you guys tell me which are the closest and safer places around the school. We have been looking at places on North Brunswick, New Brunswick, South Brunswick, Edison, Piscataway, Highland Park, and Sommerset online. Which of these towns would you consider to be the nicest and safest ones?

Thank you,

Can't wait to start classes and meet you all.
Click to expand...

north brunswick is a good area. Compared to new brunswick, its definitely safer, cleaner and more open, and there are many nice housing/apartment complexes. I'm not sure but housing prices would probably be the same as new brunswick but there's more peace. Its about a 10-15 minute car ride to the school in piscataway, and a 5 minute drive to downtown new brunswick.
 
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