Georgetown vs Rutgers RWJ

[wanderlust21]

(Posting this on behalf of my friend!)

Hello everyone I’m an NJ resident who graduated from Rutgers. I was accepted to Rutgers RWJ and was planning to go there until last week when I got off the waitlist at my “dream” school Georgetown. I was so so excited to get off the waitlist until the price difference between the two schools hit me like a brick. I think over four years, Georgetown will cost about $104k more just straight up in tuition (not including living costs which would obviously be high in DC). I’m potentially interested in a competitive field like dermatology and I’m worried that I might be more likely to get research/mentorship at Georgetown. That being said, I know that it’s possible to match into a competitive speciality from RWJ as well. I guess I’m having trouble weighing how much the potential advantage of going to Georgetown is worth. I’ve asked a lot of people for advice and I find that the adults and actual doctors say to go to rwj and avoid the debt but med students and people my age say that the opportunities at georgetown are worth the cost.

Georgetown
pros:
New city, opportunity to branch out
Research and mentorship opportunities
Slightly better ranked
Great extracurricular opportunities for service
pass/fail all four years including clinicals
cons:
cost ($104k more)
farther away from family/dog so I might struggle with that

RWJ
pros:
cost
familiar with the area and school
family support
well connected school with a strong match list
cons:
maybe not as well known for matching into competitive specialities
honors/high pass/pass/fail grading for clinicals
may be more likely to have to take a research year if the research opportunities are fewer?

If any current students from either school could speak on the research/mentorship opportunities I would appreciate that! I’m completely torn and not sure what to do

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[EndureVascular]

Georgetown isn't exactly a medical powerhouse, I'd have to look at the data but I wouldn't automatically say that they're significantly better at matching competitive specialities.

I usually would advise to take the cheaper option and I'd say the same here- Rutgers is my vote. The main pro that Georgetown gets in 4 years of P/F, if thats worth the extra money and distance from family to you, then go for it.

 

[letmein_]

GT is P/F for preclinical and core clinicals. Advanced clinicals are still tiered

 

[chilly_md]

RWJ seems to have their own home program in derm. Go there.

 

[raptorfid]

I was in your exact same situation, accepted off the WL at Georgetown and withdrew. Now will attend a cheaper state school.

The difference in cost was absurd when I compared match lists between the schools.
I suggest you do the same; I’m familiar with NJMS’ strong match results but not RWJ’s. Think about all the specialties you can see yourself doing and compare each school for the last 5 years.

Also, those are 2 completely different environments, so think about where you actually want to spend the next 4 years. Best of luck!