Hello! I have been having trouble deciding on where I want to attend in the fall and could use some advice please. I am a NJ resident who went to college in Boston and stuck around for an extra year. I am not sure what specialty I want to pursue, but I do know that I enjoy working with my hands so I am considering surgery, surgical subspecialties, and emergency medicine right now. I have also spent a significant amount of time working in both wet lab and clinical research, and want to incorporate that into my med school experience, but not sure which.
Rutgers RWJ:
PROS:
PROS:
The same as Rutgers RWJ (besides curriculum change and distance from home), in addition to the following:
PROS:
PROS
Thanks for your help and sorry for the long post.
Rutgers RWJ:
PROS:
- In state tuition – 4 years 160k (not including cost of living)
- Previous summer research experience which I enjoyed an am already a little familiar with the hospital
- Have a wide range of research groups – both wet labs and clinical research
- Have a number of different home residency programs to match into
- P/F classes with no internal ranks
- Student seem to match into every specialty and
- Large class size of 180 students per year
- Old academic buildings
- It’s not new to me (less than 30 min from home) – it’s in an area near where I grew up and I feel like I want to explore somewhere new
- Changing entire curriculum during my second year
PROS:
- Similar price to Rutgers with St. Luke’s scholarship so 180k a year with cheaper cost of living in Bethlehem, PA
- 40 students in a class. I like the idea of getting to know all of my classmates well and making it through medical school together
- Nice area for me as I like hiking and the outdoors
- Building new community and study spaces for my first year
- Overall positive impression from the faculty during interview and virtual second look – they seem excited to teach
- P/F classes with no internal ranks (I think)
- One hour from home
- My year will be the first year all four years of medical school are at St. Luke’s campus. Previously, the first year was spent at the main campus in Philly, and the remaining three at St. Luke’s. This could make for some glitches/oversights
- Not as much research as state schools. No wet lab research, would have to go to main campus during a summer, although they do have plenty of clinical research for students to publish they said.
- Is 40 students too small?
- Doesn’t have home residency programs at St. Luke’s for every specialty, but still has strong connection to Temple so does this make it have two home residency programs?
The same as Rutgers RWJ (besides curriculum change and distance from home), in addition to the following:
PROS:
- Liked the dean a lot and his commitment to get people into “Distinction programs” to highlight their interests
- One hour from home
- Newark – not always safe, can live in the city but prefer more rural areas
- Ranks students
PROS
- In Vermont – I would love to live in Burlington
- 100 students per class with ~85 in clerkship years – seems like the right size
- Plenty of wet lab and clinical opportunities – similar to the Rutgers’
- Students match into all specialties with ample home programs
- P/F with no rankings
- Was the most excited to get into this school
- 260k in just tuition!
- Problem based learning – really not a con, more of a neutral thing. I think I could enjoy it, but I just haven’t tried it before and know lecture based methods work
- 6 hours from home – making it a little far but still possible to drive
Thanks for your help and sorry for the long post.
