Rutgers RWJ vs UVM Larner vs CUSM (CalMed)

[chimken]

Hello, I am from California and would like to end up there eventually for residency, all though it is not that important that I be there for med school.
I am interested in neurology, cardiology, and general surgery. Not sure though and would like to keep as many options as possible
I am hoping to match into a large academic center and be involved in research

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson
Pros
I really liked my interview day, everyone was super down to earth
the dean seems heavily involved in with the med students
good community, close knit,
optional lectures, a lot of flexibility in schedule
somewhat close to ny (makes it accessible)
diverse community both in terms of the students and the community I would be serving
academic center> research opportunities
good match list

Cons
would prefer to not live in new jersey
suburban, not much to do *i am a city person
lower ranking (75th) (albeit it does not matter that much)

University of Vermont Larner
Pros
Enjoyed my interview day as well
students and staff were very interactive and seemed to care about wellness
Community seems like a nice place to live and go to med school
hiking and outdoor activities
competitive match list> a lot of people end up back in california
"higher" ranking- 67th
research opportunities
I would be in the Connecticut campus (so fewer students and more hands on learning)

Cons
Not a huge fan of active learning and enforced attendance at lectures
I do not ski or snowboard, so it might be hard to find winter activities
weather (extreme cold), seasonal depression is real
not that diverse patient population and student body (it is vermont after all)

CUSM (california university of science and medicine)
Pros
In california, where I am from, will be 40 min from my parents
attached to a hospital that is a safety net hospital (something I am interested in)
I am fond of the mission to serve underserved communities and diverse patient population
student body is super diverse
be apart of something new, be able to shape the program
new building

Cons
It is a new school
lack of research
no cadavers
new school = no ranking/reputation
unsure about match list and how well students will do

Any insight is appreciated, thank you all ^_^

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[DrivingDoctor]

I grew up like 15min from where CUSM is currently located and was also accepted there. It is just too new of a place for me to be comfortable with entrusting my whole medical career to at this point. Especially with Step 1 being P/F, even though we dont know the complete ramifications of it yet, it would still be better to probably come from a more established school. I remember during the interview thinking that the current facilities they have are a joke and I know their new building should be nice, but we have not seen it yet and it is hard to judge off renderings. However, weather is a big factor. It is hard to leave California for that reason alone haha. The fact that you want to be involved in research takes CUSM off the list. They basically have none. Even a faculty member during my interview day told another student they would not be happy there if they wanting to do a lot of research.

 

[Tommy_boy]

Congratulations on becoming a med student! As a current CUSM student, I would highly recommend you go to any other more established MD school if you have the option. I will now try to break down all the pros and cons of the school imo:

Pros:
-plenty of leadership opportunities (we only recently started neurology and cardiology student interest groups and they are still trying to get off the ground)
-well established Ultrasound Student Interest Group and 2 ultrasound machines available for students to practice with
-excellent Arts in Medicine program (if you are passionate about art or music)
-some amazing faculty (ones that really know how to prepare students for Step 1)
-ARMC is a great hospital and there are many shadowing opportunities that you can participate in starting second semester of year 1 (I have already shadowed in the ED a few times and even got to see a thoracotomy once), EM, family med, neurology, neurosurgery, and gen surg all have shadowing opportunities available for first year students through ARMC
-clinical skills is the hallmark of our curriculum, you get feedback from many experienced physicians with a wide variety of backgrounds, you will definitely feel confident enough to do a history and physical exam before you start rotations, they also introduce you to many procedures such as suturing, urinary catheterization, placing NG tubes, etc. starting the first year


Cons:
-still trying to figure out the curriculum (expect them to change schedules every few blocks)
-some professors just lecture instead of utilizing the flipped classroom format
-some professors never took Step 1 or are PhDs and don't understand what is important for us to know at this stage of our medical training (sometimes they teach advanced material, stuff you don't need to know unless you are doing a path fellowship in hematopathology)
-many resources are bought for students to prepare for Step 1, unfortunately, they buy a couple of them (Lecturio, Osmosis, and Firecracker) which are not popular among many of the students, the more popular ones (B&B, Pathoma, Sketchy) have to be purchased yourself, I personally never used any of the resources the school provided and have been instead studying using the other aforementioned resources
-currently, no federal loans so good luck paying that $60,000 yearly tuition with private loans and interest rates as high as 13%
-not too much research going on (especially basic science/translational), we only have one lab all the PIs have to share, however there are quite a few clinical research opportunities available at ARMC so it's not all that bad

I hope this helps! I don't mean to be really negative about my school, I'm just being honest and not trying to sugar coat anything.

 

[chimken]

Thank you so much for the honesty and detailed response, definitely helps.

Additionally i also received a 40k/yr for 4 yrs scholarship from uvm so I think i am leaning towards that!