UCLA vs. Rutgers RWJ

[5218Leo]

Hi everyone! I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between schools and was hoping for some feedback and help. I've been super anxious abt this decision 🙁 I appreciate any help!

*only child; MA resident; NYC college grad; 1 gap year; MCAT 512, GPA 3.96

DGSOM at UCLA

pros

• prestige, best school I got into (and was surprised I got in!)
• absolutely love the warm weather and city life (coming from Boston and NYC)
• seems to have a good community of students, a lot of OOS students
• can do rotations earlier due to 1 yr preclinical....this is good for me since I don't rlly know what speciality I want to do yet, and could use discovery year to bump up my research/experiences once I figure that out
• match rate is 98.8%

cons

• COA is 435k (LA is super expensive)
• 1 yr pre-clinical: bad test-taker, so worried about STEP 1 P/F rates here --> this is changing though I heard
• across the country from family, friends, SO (8 hr commute minimum); I literally have NO family in Cali 🙁 worried abt lack of support system
• long term, I want to match back in the northeast/specifically NYC, but DGSOMs's match list is geared more towards west coast naturally...though it's possible to match back here
• would need a car, but only in M2 year onwards and not M1? (need confirmation)

Rutgers RWJMS

pros

• I can easily match in NYC, a lot more people go to NYC from Rutgers than DGSOM grads; aligns with long-term goal
• only 1 hr away from SO; 5 hr from family...this is a BIG pro for me (closest school I got into that's to family)
• 2 year pre-clinical could help me succeed at STEP 1 better as a bad test-taker
• easy access to NYC!
• merger? RWJMS + RNJ means more funding, but also I feel like northeast schools will want to match less Rutgers people in each program

cons

• COA is $360k
• merger? RWJMS + RNJ means more funding, but also I feel like northeast schools will want to match less Rutgers people in each program
• need a car (someone pls confirm!)
• not as highly ranked, perhaps fewer opportunities
• match rate decreased from 97 to 93%
• impressed me the least on interview day - people's answer to why they picked Rutgers was simple that it "was close to home" and nothing else
• majority are In-State students and I'm OOS...felt a lack of community on student panel

Overall, have questions about needing a car at both places + what the merger means from Northeast schools matching all the Rutgers students....feels more competitive in that way

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[hittheroad]

i’m also thinking about RWJ and would love to talk—feel free to dm me!

 

[Iron Man23]

guess it comes down to a 75k difference. I think it could be worth it since ucla is higher ranked, but Rutgers is also pretty good as well (37 on admit vs 13 for UCLA).

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

You do not need a car for UCLA. I would go UCLA here! I think med school is a great time to experience somewhere new. UCLA is definitely strong enough to match back to NYC (NYC is really not as competitive as it seems, a lot of students don't want the city because of the reputations of the programs being workhouse-y).