<p>I also recommended my D to consider 4+4 track instead of 3+4 track.
If she receives 3+4 program admission only, I will ask her to take one year off for abroad study between UG and medical school if the program allows.</p>
<p>@Dad2013, good to hear that we share the same view. If my son gets into any of the accelerated programs, I will be “encouraging” him to enroll for the MD/PhD program instead. Do not want him to come out to work too young!</p>
<p>I wish my parents were like all of you.
So I had the NJIT interview today.
Everything went so wrong.</p>
<p>@GreenSage, sorry to hear that. Was it in-person interview? What happened? Also remember that one always feel that one has not done justice to an interview after the interview but luckily most people are in the same boat!</p>
<p>Yes, it was an in person interview with the honors college dean. There were about 12 others there all for the medical program (except one). The interview itself wasn’t that bad. I just realized I hate the area. I hate the location and surroundings, the rude attitude of most people. The campus itself wasn’t that great either, neither did it seem as safe as I would have liked.
Also, they got a new building to which the honors college relocated back in september. they’re still figuring things out but in the emails they sent out, they didn’t put the new interview location nor did they warn us later. It was ridiculously unorganized and a complete mess with nearly everyone walking in late and being glared at. What I got from the interview itself though: they really really want to know why you think you would fit at NJIT specifically. And they are picking out the apps to forward to the med school very selectively. At the end, she told me there was a very large number of competitive, eligible applicants this year.</p>
<p>Regardless, I have no desire to go there after this little experience.</p>
<p>@GreenSage, sorry to hear of your experience and I don’t blame you for how you reacted. NJIT sure has not given a good impression. Having said that, do not rule it out totally. Look at the bigger picture. If it ends up being your only offer, you may still have to attend.</p>
<p>Thank you. But I honestly doubt I will even get a medical interview from there. I have a better chance with drexel :)</p>
<p>TCNJ is a beautiful campus…nothing like NJIT !</p>
<p>@silverwad: yeah, their campus is so much better! It a completely different environment.</p>
<p>GreenSage We are worried about the same thing about the surroundings but my S is also not putting too much emphasis on campus. Of course it would be nice to be on a beautiful campus but ultimately you are spending time in classrooms and in library or dorm room studying … hopefully. The safety part concerns me. </p>
<p>School’s reputation for research & science is not bad though and these combined programs do allow for you to avoid the whole application mess later if you are set on medicine.</p>
<p>My S has his interview next week but he is not applying for med program … let’s see how it goes. I am wondering if all of you Med apps are going to affect non-med applicants from getting into the Honor’s college.</p>
<p>4 years…a LONG time to be somewhere just to be in classrooms/library and learn! I couldn’t do it there(NJIT). Need a place to grow, be nurtured, embrace…a tough sell for undergrad…Med school different as NO TIME other than study !</p>
<p>@Midhelper. no it won’t affect regular admission into the honors college because the honors college accepts a total of like around 150 or something freshmen a year. and those who ultimately are accepted to the medical program (w/njms at least) are topped at around 8. There is a certain number for each categories so there’s nothing to worry about!
And I agree w/ you in that students will be spending a lot of time inside, but just walking around there made me uncomfortable and that’s not a good feeling to live with for 3-4 years. I just meant I would like to be at a college that really feels like a structured academic setting than a scattered campus. Like @silverwad mentioned, I need that kind of place to grow/ be nurtured intellectually/academically. Good luck to your son on his interview! What program/major is he looking into? (or the 4 year pre-med track?)</p>
<p>@GreenSage did NJIT give you actual stats on how many applied, how many go on to the med school, and how many are finally selected? They didn’t tell us when I went.
Is Drexel less competitive than UMDNJ? I’m applying through both Drexel and Villanova and thought that it was equally competitive or even more so than Rutgers/NJIT.
Yeah I loved TCNJ when I went. NJIT didn’t rub me the right way. That said, they give amazing merit aid. I got my package a few days ago and it is quite enticing 
@Midhelper Only about ten students are finally admitted to the med program, and most of the students who apply and don’t get in to the program don’t end up attending NJIT, so the spots are left open for other, non-med program students. Thus, I don’t think it has THAT much of an impact (probably a little though). Good luck to your son! Is he interested in pre-med?</p>
<p>@Greensage - Is the Drexel supplement very lengthy?</p>
<p>I can see one post that is absolutely correct:
"4 years…a LONG time to be somewhere just to be in classrooms/library and learn! I couldn’t do it there(NJIT). Need a place to grow, be nurtured, embrace…a tough sell for undergrad…Med school different as NO TIME other than study ! "
-Med. Schools do not want to see hermits, they want to see mature social adults who can connect to people with various backgrounds. Please, keep this in mind choosing your UG. Yes, canmpus is important, student body is important, how you fit with the certain UG and how it matches your overall set of goals (not just Med. school plans) is very important. I am looking back at D’s experience. She is a third year Med. Student. She was in combined program at UG that matched her perfectly. Both factors were important, however, she applied out and currently is at Med. School outside of her program.</p>
<p>@starlight27, I wasn’t given the details that specifically and they didn’t address it in the conference room. I just found out because I was talking to my interviewer about it and for whatever reason, she felt the need to tell me i guess. She just repeated that it was super competitive, and that they especially have an immense number of applicants this year, and that at the end, around 8 people get admitted through NJIT. She also said based on her experience, those 8 students that get admitted have their SAT (math+reading) at around 1500 (this was stated on the paper they gave us I believe).</p>
<p>For what I can understand, the Drexel programs are equally competitive (while a few like the villanova one are MORE so competitive than NJMS). Plus, Drexel med school is much better than NJMS. My issue is just that my SAT scores are the weakest part of my app and that’s really not helping with the minimum 1450 or so SAT requirement that ALL the NJMS programs have. We’ve all discussed this at one time or another, I’m sure, that the SATs mean very very little as to reflecting one’s abilities. With the NJMS programs, if you don’t meet that cut, they won’t even look at the rest of your application. With Drexel, they have a bit more reasonable cut-offs like 1300+ so let’s say you’re like me and have a really strong app but your SATs are bleh, you’re still on par with most other applicants. I guess that’s another thing I like about drexel: looking past SAT scores -_- lol</p>
<p>@istrum123, Nahh! Most of the questions are like “have you committed a felony?” if yes, explain below… I don’t think any of you guys have those haha 
Other than that, it just asks you to list ap/honors classes, gpa, the basic name/address/phone stuff, and at the end, you have to write the supplement essay. It’s on Drexel’s website if you wanna take a look!</p>
<p>Drexel average(on MSAR website is 1485) and I was told by an admissions officer at Drexel that almost NOBODY gets an interview below 1400. They list a cutoff point but it is realistically not in play. Penn State lists SAT cutoff at 2100 but 2250 is the practical cutoff.</p>
<p>I’m literally under 1400 by like only a few points.</p>
<p>I was just trying to say that cutoffs at programs with njms don’t even give you a chance at being considered based on your whole application.</p>
<p>@GreenSage, the applications have all been submitted. Look forward and do not keep looking back. You are not going to change any of your stats anymore. You can say proudly to yourself that you have tried your best. No one, except the person who is going to review your application (and NOT another person who happens to be also on the selection committee) can say whether you will be invited for interview or not.</p>