I am having trouble deciding between Robert Wood Johnson and Georgetown Medical School (I was accepted at both). I hear different things about both schools, but it really comes down to money and location. I'm from New Jersey and would get state tuition from RWJ, but I feel that Georgetown is such a good school to turn down. I'm confused and am willing to listen to whatever anyone has to say.
RWJ vs. Georgetown
- Thread starter Dunk23
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What did you recommend kissit?
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I just graduated from RWJ. I don't really know much about Georgetown, but you will definitely get a good education if you go to RWJ. We do above average on the boards and the match list is always very strong. The clinical experience is very diverse and complete. The only specialty that we have trouble matching in is dermatology, but that isn't out of the ordinary (we match some, but not all). The hosptial is booming with tons of expansion including a new Cancer hosptial and Peds hospital. New Brunswick / Piscataway isn't a bad place to live. It's easy to go out in NYC or Phillie, but yet you get to live in a more affordable area. I have a ridiculous amount of debt and I am so happy that I didn't go to a private school and pay $50K more. I have never regretted picking RWJ over private schools that were more well-known. I'm going into anesthesia and will be able to pay it back, but I think it would be extremely difficult to pay back if I was going into a field that didn't pay as much, such as primary care. If you are interested in a field that is less competitive the name of your school will be less important and the extra $$ really won't be worth it. Unless, of course you really want to be in D.C.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
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My friend goes to georgetown and he loves it, he got into RWJ also and he choose georgetown in the end, because he felt that the environment there was more suited to his needs. Plus it has better recognition which I think is one reason why he went there over RWJ.
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My boyfriend just finished MS-2 at RWJ, so I can tell you some things about it. He is always very stressed, and just about everyone that I met there thought the first two years are incredibely difficult. This is not to say that med school will be a breeze elsewhere, but RWJ's first two years are, in my opinion, structured very traditionally and rather badly. I also find the academic building to be very gloomy, and I don't like how you'll be using the gym of the undergraduate campus and how the hospital is a 10-15 min. drive away. I also don't like that you have very limited options about which hospitals you rotate through 3rd year (i think there are about 3 hospitals). And finally, i'm from NJ as well, and I would really like to go live somewhere else for a while.
Personally, I chose UPitt over RWJ despite the tuition difference. Honestly, though, i'm not sure that I would have chosen Georgetown over RWJ, simply because I feel that the difference in rep and curriculum between the two isn't so great. However, if Georgetown and RWJ are your two choices, then you may well be better off going to G-Town for the experience at the very least.
Personally, I chose UPitt over RWJ despite the tuition difference. Honestly, though, i'm not sure that I would have chosen Georgetown over RWJ, simply because I feel that the difference in rep and curriculum between the two isn't so great. However, if Georgetown and RWJ are your two choices, then you may well be better off going to G-Town for the experience at the very least.
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I would definitely go with Robert Wood Johnson because it's a great school. DO NOT GO TO GEORGETOWN. It has some really bad financial problems, which could definitely hurt its reputation when you go into the match process. Some students I've talked to definitely think its reputation is declining and it will start having a harder time coming up with good matches in the future. Also, it's facilities are pretty bad. RWJ is a great school and I definitely think you should go there. Seriously, drop G-town as fast as you can. Hope I helped. 😉
Are you really going to sit here and claim that because GU has a lower accept rate than Yale, it is a ivy equivalent? There is this thing known as self-selectiveness. This is why BU med isnt better than Harvard med even though its acceptance rate is lower. Its a very simple concept.
I also never said that GU was a bad school, its a great school and im sure students from GU go to great medical schools. I applaud your boyfriend on his acceptances, although I dont see how this one example proves how great georgetown is.
I never claimed that Johns Hopkins was a ivy league equivalent. In fact, I dont know why we're even talking about my school, You're the one that mentioned it, not me! For certain program, it certainly is a top school. You may go to GU and it is fine to have pride in your school, but you dont need to disillusion yourself into thinking that your school is on par with Yale. I can say with confidence that students at hopkins certainly arent that deluded.
This is a senseless debate, but for the record, I applied early to Hopkins because of its track record for placing students into medical school. And from the looks of it, despsite my poor GPA, it worked. I CHOSE to go to hopkins.
Your "personal anecdote" about students choosing other schools over hopkins is true. If i wasnt premed, I wouldve gone to an Ivy. But your personal anecdote isnt any more significant than the one I'm about to tell. Noone I know in high school even applied to georgetown. Noone wanted to go there because to them it was a "elite school backup". Thats what they said.
I really dont want to turn this into a flame war, all I said was it is ludicrous to consider GU an ivy league equivalent. There was no reason for you to pull my undergrad school into this conversation since it isnt even related to the topic. The only explanation is that you are already aware of georgetown's reputation and feel the need to denigrate my school in order to compensate. Enough.
I also never said that GU was a bad school, its a great school and im sure students from GU go to great medical schools. I applaud your boyfriend on his acceptances, although I dont see how this one example proves how great georgetown is.
I never claimed that Johns Hopkins was a ivy league equivalent. In fact, I dont know why we're even talking about my school, You're the one that mentioned it, not me! For certain program, it certainly is a top school. You may go to GU and it is fine to have pride in your school, but you dont need to disillusion yourself into thinking that your school is on par with Yale. I can say with confidence that students at hopkins certainly arent that deluded.
This is a senseless debate, but for the record, I applied early to Hopkins because of its track record for placing students into medical school. And from the looks of it, despsite my poor GPA, it worked. I CHOSE to go to hopkins.
Your "personal anecdote" about students choosing other schools over hopkins is true. If i wasnt premed, I wouldve gone to an Ivy. But your personal anecdote isnt any more significant than the one I'm about to tell. Noone I know in high school even applied to georgetown. Noone wanted to go there because to them it was a "elite school backup". Thats what they said.
I really dont want to turn this into a flame war, all I said was it is ludicrous to consider GU an ivy league equivalent. There was no reason for you to pull my undergrad school into this conversation since it isnt even related to the topic. The only explanation is that you are already aware of georgetown's reputation and feel the need to denigrate my school in order to compensate. Enough.
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What's so special about Ivy, Gtown, and others? I turned down a couple of Ivies and Gtown four years ago to go to Uva. And honestly, no one at Uva think Gtown is such a super great school. It's especially dumb to go to a certain med school because its law program is good. Why do you think that top engineering students don't go to Harvard?
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yes, the first two years suck, but don't they suck everywhere? i am private school kid at heart and i was really worried about coming to a state school for obvious reasons. however, the deans and profs at bobby wood are incredibly supportive and are more than willing to get to know you.
curriculum wise--the school is making a ton of changes for next years class so i can't say what it will be like.
piscataway is not cool, but neither is nj as a whole. my point is, it's a cheap school and it's ranked in the top tier for primary care. that's all that mattered to me, albeit i don't want to be the youngest plastic surgeon in hollywood, or the busiest dermatologist on the upper east side...
curriculum wise--the school is making a ton of changes for next years class so i can't say what it will be like.
piscataway is not cool, but neither is nj as a whole. my point is, it's a cheap school and it's ranked in the top tier for primary care. that's all that mattered to me, albeit i don't want to be the youngest plastic surgeon in hollywood, or the busiest dermatologist on the upper east side...
hey there!
so as a first year at bobby wood, i figured i would throw in my two cents. as far as people being stressed out here, well, there are stressed out people everywhere...it is med school. 😉 that said, the second years tend to be more "high-strung" than my class, so i would say the stress level really depends on the people.
anyway, about the curriculum...there are actually some changes being made to next years first year curriculum...basically streamlining and moving away from the traditional curriculum. the changes sound really good to me, even though i personally really liked the tradtional curriculum.
but basically, i think you need to decide where *you* will be happier. you have to decide what school/location is a better fit for you. and unfortunately no one can tell you this. All I can tell you is that you should not assume that state school = mediocre education, as i have had some of the best professors of my life here at bobby wood (in anatomy and biochem).
best of luck in making the decision, i'm sure you will be happy wherever you end up.
any questions, feel free to pm me. 🙂
so as a first year at bobby wood, i figured i would throw in my two cents. as far as people being stressed out here, well, there are stressed out people everywhere...it is med school. 😉 that said, the second years tend to be more "high-strung" than my class, so i would say the stress level really depends on the people.
anyway, about the curriculum...there are actually some changes being made to next years first year curriculum...basically streamlining and moving away from the traditional curriculum. the changes sound really good to me, even though i personally really liked the tradtional curriculum.
but basically, i think you need to decide where *you* will be happier. you have to decide what school/location is a better fit for you. and unfortunately no one can tell you this. All I can tell you is that you should not assume that state school = mediocre education, as i have had some of the best professors of my life here at bobby wood (in anatomy and biochem).
best of luck in making the decision, i'm sure you will be happy wherever you end up.
any questions, feel free to pm me. 🙂
