Rutgers RWJ vs Rochester vs Tufts

[cheerful_soup3]

Hello! I'm extremely grateful to have 3 choices to choose from: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson, the University of Rochester, and Tufts. I'd love to hear other's thoughts and opinions! As of now, I'm really interested in trying to match into Ortho. I don't necessarily want to do academic medicine in my future, but I know how important research is for matching.

Rutgers RWJ
Pros

• In-state tuition (~$75k COA)
• About an hour from home, close to support-system and friends in Philly and NYC, would love to be near my family after being away for undergrad (love the convenience of being able to just come home for a weekend here and there)
• Vibes of the students/community seemed great, everyone seems happy/chill, seem to prioritize student wellness a ton
• Curriculum seems more relaxed (at least when compared to Rochester)
• Very impressive match list at amazing programs (ortho)
• Ortho interest group seems very active/mentorship community seems to be great
• Ortho department is strong clinically with many opportunities to shadow/learn/rotate and be well-prepared for away rotations
• Would having to network outside of RWJ for research ultimately be beneficial for networking/relationships?

Cons

• Seems to be a lack of in-house research/many students end up having to look at other institutions for research (specifically in ortho)
• Early clinical exposure (pre-clerkships) seems to be more self-driven/not integrated into curriculum (this might be a pro though because more time for research?)
• Larger class size (around 170)/more students interested in ortho (I've heard there's more competition for in-house opportunities?)
• Hospital is around a 20 minute drive away from medical school
• Older/run down facilities (opening a new medical school building in 2026* which will be right next to the school though)
• Not as highly ranked as Rochester?
• AOA

University of Rochester
Pros

• Cost (after scholarship ~$80k COA)
• COL also very cheap
• Very research focused/productive (seems to be an overwhelming amount of research opportunities in many fields, especially ortho)
• Smaller class size (around 100)/less students interested in ortho (less competition for opportunities, but also less mentorship? could be a con)
• Hospital/medical center and medical school are all located in the same complex/very integrated
• Really nice facilities
• Highest ranked? (idk if this prestige difference would matter for something competitive)
• Strong early clinical exposure (a clerkship starts during M2)

Cons

• Location: Rochester is very far from home and friends in NYC/Boston (worried about feeling isolated in Rochester)
• About 5 hours from home, far from support-systems
• City seems a little quieter from what I'm used to/less to do
• Curriculum seemed a bit more intense?
• Mentorship: advisory deans have 25 students from each year (harder to get to know mentor one on one?)
• Did not seem to match as well as RWJ in ortho?
• Less students seem to be interested in ortho year after year/not as great mentorship from other students?/weaker interest group?
• Heard that not much ortho incorporated into med school curriculum (but idk how common this is anyway)/less clinical exposure?
• AOA

Tufts
Pros

• Know Boston really well from undergrad, many friends still here, I really love Boston
• Hospital/medical center and medical school are all located in the same complex/very integrated
• Modern facilities/anatomy lab/simulation center
• Students were all chill, seemed to have a good school/life balance
• Have network/connections from research at other Boston hospitals that I could continue in med school
• Mentorship: love their small group "coach" system, really have a mentor get to know you and small group (6-8 students) over your four years
• No AOA

Cons

• Cost (~$100k COA)
• COL in Boston also very expensive
• Larger class size (over 200)
• Not the best with in-house research (many students talked about doing research outside Tufts)
• Ortho match also not as impressive as RWJ?
• Technically lowest ranked?
• Internal rank?

Summary: All have optional/recorded lectures and similar grading systems (P/F preclinical, H/HP/P/F clinical). Ultimately due to cost, I think I'm mostly choosing between RWJ and Rochester since they're almost the same. I really would love to be back home in NJ and match in the northeast, but I'm worried about missing out on the seemingly amazing and plentiful research opportunities and resources at Rochester.

Thank you for your advice!

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[premedgal444]

i think rwj is definitely an academic institution and has a lot of great research opportunities. although a bit of a drive/train u could also do research in nyc

 

[studentdoc1414]

in a similar boat and im going w tufts

 

[macandrenji]

in a similar boat and im going w tufts

In a similar position can you explain why?

 

[studentdoc1414]

In a similar position can you explain why?

sure ill pm