RWJ vs NJMS?

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Ellen Robb

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Which school is rated higher? Which is actually a better choice...I got some $ from both.....Help please decision time is coming fast!

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"Which medical school should I attend?" threads are pre-Allopathic issues, therefore this thead is moved to the appropriate forum. Allopathic medical students read and reply to threads there and may do so, for this one.
 
Which school is rated higher? Which is actually a better choice...I got some $ from both.....Help please decision time is coming fast!

Neither. They are both in Jersey, and why oh why would you want to go/stay there.
 
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that's a lot of letters to choose from. i'd go with the one with more letters, but be sure to take into account the placement of those letters in the alphabet. anything below "s" is generall considered excellent.
 
lol. ok. i actually did apply and get accepted to both of them. soooo, before i decided i'd rather let g'town rape the hell out of me with their tuition, i was leaning towards RWJ over NJMS. I got a nicer 'vibe' out of the school, i liked the facilities better, and i liked the area better. however, njms has a great hospital, and that was a great draw towards that school. plus, the student housing there is really nice and very cheap (many friends at the school and i've been to the apts before).

good luck with your choice!
 
Which school is rated higher? Which is actually a better choice...I got some $ from both.....Help please decision time is coming fast!

Did you get the humanism scholarship?
 
I visited both of these schools for interviews and I much prefer the layout of NJMS- the hospital is right there so students get much more exposure to it than at RWJ, where students don't see much of the hospital until their third year.

Also, RWJ is switching to a pass/fail grading system this fall and I am worried about being a guinea pig in this upcoming transition year, which is why I have selected NJMS over RWJ (I was accepted to both schools).
 
it seems that NJMS has better patient care but RWJ has better research. NJMS has a Level 1 Trauma center so 24 hrs there's a surgeon for every specialty on call. NJMS also has a brand new cancer center (literally opened this year). RWJ is generally in a better area but NJMS is like 20 minute subway ride to NYC. also I hear NJMS students are very happy. i worked there for a summer and it seemed to be the case. NJMS is ranked lower than RWJ (which is ~60 on US News I think). Not sure exactly what ranking is.
 
As someone who is familiar with the UMDNJ system, let me say that most people regard RWJ as being the #1 and NJMS as the #2. If you look at the admissions stats, that's just barely true, though.

Personally, I wouldn't want to live or spend a lot of time in Newark, which is a pretty dangerous city, so I'd choose RWJ. RWJUH is also a state trauma center (level 1) and the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Children's Hospital just opened up there recently. It also has a cancer research center and a ton of other things like that. RWJ is also a big research school, so if you're interested in research, then that might be another consideration. It's in a suburban area (oddly, the school is in a suburb while the hospital is in a city... go figure), if location matters to you. The hospital is less than 5 minutes from the school in the neighboring city of New Brunswick, which is a fun little city in itself. RWJ also shares its campus with Rutgers-New Brunswick, so you'll be in a nice little college environment if that's where you choose to go. And who doesn't love Scarlet Knights football these days, huh? :D

NJMS is also a pretty good choice. I have a cousin who graduated from there. The location is what would bother me most, although my cousin said that the campus area is very safe and secure. The most glaring, obvious difference is the setting: do you want to be on a quiet Piscataway campus or inner-city Newark? They are both pretty stellar schools academically, so you wouldn't really lose out by choosing one over the other.
 
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