<p>I have always wondered if going to different accelerated med programs really affect medical opportunities. I know you'll become a doctor in the end and doctors do well regardless of which school they graduate from. If this is false, please tell me. </p>
<p>In addition, I wanted to know if someone knew what are the best med accelerated med programs in the country and if there are any sort of rankings which substantiate this. I heard that the northwestern 7 medical program was the best in the country. What makes this true? </p>
<p>I basically want to find out if there is a real difference between going to UMDNJ and Northwestern.</p>
<p>I can name one difference - UMDNJ will be a whole lot cheaper. You can use the money you save to do nice things - vacation, buy a house, save for your kid's college education, etc.</p>
<p>there is a misconception that the more "prestigious" school is a guarantee for success. a really motivated student in a lesser known school will do just as well in terms of residency placement. from an economic and practical standpoint, jenskate1 is absolutely right!</p>
<p>Of course, if you are not a New Jersey resident and have to pay the full price of UMDNJ, you would probably be better off taking a slightly larger loan to go to Northwestern. A motivated student in that school would probably have an advantage over a motivated student in UMDNJ in terms of residency placement.</p>
<p>There really isn't a difference in any bs/md program. This is because all the students accepted to these programs are the best and perform at the best level. Thus the NW students will do well and the students going to lesser known med. schools like VCU or something will end up being at the top 5% of their class. Since we all performed will on standardized tests, we do well on the boards and get good residencies. I know that in the RPI/AMC program. The average board scores for the bs/md students is at least 15 points higher than the average AMC student and national average. Academically, every bs/md student ever has been in the top half of their class and usually at least half of the top 10 is taken up by bs/md students. Not a coincidence cause its been happening every single year.</p>
<p>@kain: I thought about that too, but then I realized the medical profession is nothing like undergraduate or even some professional degrees; that is, if youre a doctor, youre good no matter what (unless you pull illicit stuff, but lets no go there). I think the difference is just prestige of where you go. My brother is a living example. He was born/raised here in Jersey, but he went to medical school in India (there its 6-years), but he worked his arse off and did really well. From there, a lot of opportunities opened up for him in the states. He just finished up his residency for anesthesiology in The Cleveland Clinic and is going to Northwestern for pediatric anesthesia fellowship. In short, as long as you do well in the actual school and have evidence to prove it, I dont think it matters.</p>
<p>that's what i figured. Does anyone have though any official rankings of med programs or anything like that? Especially accelerated med programs.</p>
<p>This is the rankings of accelerated medical school programs in the U.S.:
1. Rice University
2. Brown University
3. Penn State University
4. University of Rochester
5. Case Western Reserve University
6. Northwestern University
7. Lehigh University
8. Boston University
9. University of Wisconsin
10. New York University
11. University of California - Riverside
12. Villanova University
13. College of New Jersey
14. University of Michigan
15. University of Miami</p>
<p>This list is incomplete and outdated. Per U.S. News 2006, Uni of Michigan ranks 9 of SOM, Research but it ranks 14 on this list. This list also misses UCSD and WUSTL, which are in top 15. This list has UC Riverside which does not guarantee a seat.</p>
<p>UCSD (san diego) 's program requires u be a california resident
also i believe new york univ no longer offers their program as well (not 100% sure)</p>
<p>So OP, there you have it - NU med school's budget is $61,000/year, while Robert Wood Johnson - Camden is $44,000/year. So, you tell me, is Northwestern worth the extra $70,000 (Tuition is bound to increase at both schools)?</p>
<p>There is no official ranking of combined programs by the way. And any ranking that you made for yourself should take into account length of program (is shorter better for you, or longer?), price, opportunities for undergrads, prestige, ease of staying in the program, closeness to home, etc. That's much more than simply ranking the med schools!</p>
<p>So where are you planning to attend UMDNJ or HPME. What factor is weighing more- cost or being away from family?
We have same situation but a little more complicated as Princeton is one of the additional choices.</p>