<p>Hey, I was recently accepted to both the Miami HPM and TCNJ 7 Year. I'm having some trouble deciding which to choose, however. I live in NJ.</p>
<p>Miami HPM:
-VERY far (have to fly, which is obviously a hassle)
-About $24k undergrad, $40k med school
-Good med school
-Miami is awesome
-8 year option is available
-28 MCAT requirement, 3.7 GPA requirement (3.5 for 8 years)</p>
<p>TCNJ 7 Year:
-VERY close (about a 5 minute drive to TCNJ from my house, which turns me off)
-About $12k undergrad, $25k med school
-No MCAT requirement, 3.5 GPA requirement</p>
<p>I prefer Miami, but money and practicality hold me back from enrolling..</p>
<p>really? i’ll definitely have to ask because that would be ridiculous if they tell you there is not requirement when enrolling but then say that there is once you’re there. where’d you hear that?</p>
<p>i never answered your original question. i would choose university of miami because njms is not ranked and miami has better clinial experience and research ranking. if cost is not an issue, then you could select miami because they have good residency matches with top schools.</p>
<p>itmom your comment about MCAT score doesnt sound resonable…
why would TCNJ lie to us? lol
i will call tho. if you are right, ill come find you and give you nice little hug. =]</p>
<p>Although TCNJ specifies no minimum score, students are encouraged and strongly recommended to do their level best in MCATs. Remember, when you begin your med school, the med school faculty will still evaluate you based on your GPA and MCAT scores since everyone is taking the MCAT. So, your best attempt is highly desired.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, these kids are from top 5% of their individual HS and most are Phi Beta Kappa in College. So, getting a 27 should not be such a difficult task.</p>
<p>OP, They are both good Medical programs. But clearly, you will spend way more at Uof M. TCNJ gives you a full ride, by the way. All students accepted in TCNJ/UMDNJ program get a full tuition ride +$2000 for a semester abroad.</p>
<p>Also, one minor correction - Total Med school expense for UMDNJ is around $40,000/year if you include housing/food/books etc. $25,000/year is purely tution+fees per year at UMDNJ. Housing is $1000/month at the Med school apartments/dorms. Make sure you compare the total costs of both med schools. Is $40,000/year tuition alone at Miami med?</p>
<p>Being much closer to home has its advantages. You don’t spend $500 everytime you want to visit home. Additionally, if you are feeling under the weather and want to visit your regular family physician, it’s easy to get home for a weekend without missing much. </p>
<p>Being closer to NY city, Philly, and all the Pharma companies in NJ is another major plus point for UMDNJ. You have a chance of networking with researchers in the Tristate area more easily. Summer Internships, attending one day research conferences (in NY or Philly) would be much easier.</p>
<p>thanks for your responses. i’m still pretty torn. i mean i loved miami (especially the med school), and tcnj undergrad is bland to me, nor am i a big fan of umdnj. but tcnj is just the easy route. no hassle in going or coming and much cheaper. so it is looking like tcnj. i’m going to the over night for the accepted students later this month, so we’ll see what i think then.</p>
<p>I personally think that UoM is a fine medical school. Don’t tell that to my physician friend’s DS, who applied to Mt Sinai HuMed program past Fall. He was all bent out of shape because when they interviewed him at Mt Sinai, the Adcom doc spent most of his time during his interview shooting down UoM because he thinks it’s a party school. … Adcom’s perceptions matter though. </p>
<p>Friend’s DS was rejected. He is so disheartened, he is now trying to transfer out of UoM now.</p>
<p>i’m going to UM next year and I have to pay the same amount but I think in the long run the money is probably worth it when we become doctors. I got a full ride with room and board to another med program but I think UM is worth the money in the end.</p>
<p>'Once again, the match rate for UMDNJ graduates exceeded this years 93 percent national average. The combined 2009 match rate for UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine was over 95 percent.</p>
<p>UMDNJ students also matched to residency programs at prestigious institutions across the country, including Stanford, Duke, Yale, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Emory, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, Brigham and Womens, the University of Pennsylvania, Baylor Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and New York University.'</p>
<p>well one of the most important things is if you will be happy where you go, such as would you be comfortable being close to home or rather be in a warmer area in miami. also, tcnj/umdnj has easier requirements and no MCAT which can prove to be very convenient for you. </p>
<p>I would just make a table of both school with different criteria like distance, money, area, med school, etc. and give each school a rating from like -5 to +5 showing that -5 is very bad and holds you back and +5 means very good and a very good reason to go.</p>