I imagine I'm not the only NJ-er deciding between NJMS & RWJ...
Does anyone have thoughts? I'm very torn!
Does anyone have thoughts? I'm very torn!
RWJ vs NJMS
- Thread starter yescs
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That, sir, is the million dollar question.
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Everyone is always so concerned about rankings...sigh...
I'm in the same boat as you OP. I'd say it depends what you are interested in. I'm leaning more towards Newark personally because I think the urban environment presents you with a really unique patient demographic. Newark's facilities definitely are not as nice or modern as far as I've seen, and its also Newark.
RWJ has some nicer facilities and appears to have a lot of research opportunities especially being in New Brunswick and near Rutgers. Its also a pretty decent area. Though since they have lost Camden as a clinical site for future classes I'm curious how this will play out for clinical years now. And yes it is also ranked higher..
Good luck with your decision OP, I know I'm still working on picking between the two.
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traditionally, it's boiled down to RWJ has better research opportunities while NJMS offers a better clinical experience. location factors in as well, new brunswick (large, suburban-ish college town) vs. newark (improving but still a relatively poor, high-crime city).
one of the big differences in my mind was the grading policy. previously, first two years at NJMS were graded, while RWJ was P/F. this will change for the upcoming class, first two years at NJMS will be P/F.
there's a thread in last year's school-specific forum that goes pretty in-depth on both of them.
one of the big differences in my mind was the grading policy. previously, first two years at NJMS were graded, while RWJ was P/F. this will change for the upcoming class, first two years at NJMS will be P/F.
there's a thread in last year's school-specific forum that goes pretty in-depth on both of them.
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I am a second year at NJMS, and am happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our program. Just PM me.
FYI, NJMS doesn't participate in the US News ranking, which is why we are listed as "unranked". Probably not the best point for comparison. The only published data is that NJMS has a higher entering GPA/MCAT.
For me, the decision came down to the clinical opportunities available at NJMS from day 1. Admissions probably told you all about how our students blow away attendings on away rotations, and that is absolutely true. The depth of clinical exposure in first two years of med school has kept me grounded, even through the hardest courses.
FYI, NJMS doesn't participate in the US News ranking, which is why we are listed as "unranked". Probably not the best point for comparison. The only published data is that NJMS has a higher entering GPA/MCAT.
For me, the decision came down to the clinical opportunities available at NJMS from day 1. Admissions probably told you all about how our students blow away attendings on away rotations, and that is absolutely true. The depth of clinical exposure in first two years of med school has kept me grounded, even through the hardest courses.
Both are good schools that will prepare you well. They both have solid match lists into residency. That being said, I ended up going to RWJ, but it it more came down to 'feel' when I interviewed at both places. A large part of it was location and my interview experience. I liked Piscataway/New Brunswick much more than Newark. My interviewer also wasn't very nice when I was at NJMS, but that probably was my own personal experience.
There's also speculation that UMDNJ will be disbanded, and RWJ will merge with Rutgers. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen, but it seems that it would hurt NJMS and help RWJ. Dr. Owen, the president of UMDNJ but who is more affiliated with NJMS, is adamantly against it, while RWJ is in favor of the move. While this has been proposed in the past and has failed, Gov. Christie seems to be strongly in favor of change, so it very well may happen.
If you have any specific questions about my experience at RWJ, feel free to PM me.
There's also speculation that UMDNJ will be disbanded, and RWJ will merge with Rutgers. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen, but it seems that it would hurt NJMS and help RWJ. Dr. Owen, the president of UMDNJ but who is more affiliated with NJMS, is adamantly against it, while RWJ is in favor of the move. While this has been proposed in the past and has failed, Gov. Christie seems to be strongly in favor of change, so it very well may happen.
If you have any specific questions about my experience at RWJ, feel free to PM me.
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