Thread for BSMD 2020-2021 Applicants (Part 1)

I have been told by many that TCNJ is much better school for pre-med. For BSMD who cares, just take the one that gives free ride and go to NJMS. If you visited both schools and your child likes one over the other, go with the preferred school, if COA difference is marginal.

Good luck with the interview, when you said strong ECs, did you win national level competitions or shadowed doctors for many hours if u donā€™t mind sharing? Just trying to understand, what people call as strong EC

May be the governance model of GAP has changed.

Looking at the medical schoolā€™s T14 us news and T8 residency director ranking I have no doubt they gets good candidates from tranditional route mostly with one to two gap years.

I suspect that they do not want to shrink the program to 7 years and want program candidates to perform meaningful EC if they finish early to come in par with regular traditional students so that they gel with them age and maturity wise. Do you want your kid at 21 siting in class with a 25 year average class size ???

Sure, C was actually short of 21 by few months at the time of matriculation to med school (and awardee of med school deanā€™s honor roll award too for the incoming class). Donā€™t think the average age of their class is that old though :-). Didnā€™t pay attention, may be 24 or even less.

I heard TCNJ is much more safe environment than NJIT but NJIT is almost full ride and TCNJ becomes little more expensive. They give some scholarship but not a full ride. NJIT is in a bit unsafe environment but some people here commented earlier it was not a major problem. Definitely one should visit before making a final decision if selected.

Thank You, my child has an interview coming up, so I am jumping ahead. I meant more like in terms of student college experience, service opportunities, safety etc

Also NJIT is next door to NJMS ā€¦ If it matters

unfortunately with the COVID situation not sure if we can visit before deadline, that is why I was trying to get some opinion if at all if my son gets an acceptance. bit far fetched !

Yes, I heard that too. My D couldnā€™t visit but my husband had a chance last Summer to go there officially so he drove around to get some idea. There is still lot of time even to think about all this as nothing is certain at this stage.

You may not get a chance to visit officially for a tour but weā€™re planning to drive around all the colleges she gets into to a get a feel of the environment, safety and other things. I think there is no much difference between TCNJ and NJIT from earlier threads. As @rk2017 mentioned NJIT is right next to TCNJ and they do all their research in NJMS. TCNJ has some tie up with UPENN and students go there in a train/shuttle (really no idea) and some do their research etc under TCNJ professors also. My D has interview after 2 weeks but at this stage I am not trying to have any expectations and think that far about this. If she gets selected, weā€™re planning to definitely visit even there is no official tour.

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@mygrad2021 @nebula1 TCNJ and NJIT are at two ends of NJ not close or similar to each other at all. NJIT-Newark is an urban neighborhood. Most folks are flying out from Newark (NWK-International Airport) in NJ-NYC area. Check out google map.

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Agreed. TCNJ will give you more of the traditional college experience. Greek life is big there, and itā€™s a small, secluded campus. NJIT is much more urban, smack dab in the middle of downtown Newark.

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In fact, 33% of most medical school class has no gap years. So one may have students in range from 21-40ā€™s(a guess) in an entering MD class.

TCNJ is more safe and has a traditional LAC environment. NJIT is at an urban neighborhood and a commuter school( mainly an engineering school). NJIT may be better if intended UG major is Biomedical Engineering/Computer Science.

25-30 is in the ballpark however, itā€™s really difficult to tell this year since not every one is on-site. There are some kids who are remote and not so active socially.

I think, Penn State does not have wait lists so the # of kids will vary based on how many kids accepted during a particular year (25 or 26 or 27 or 28). It may not stay the same every year!

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Has anyone heard back from Hofstra BS/MD yet?

Yep, the youngest Iā€™ve seen in med schoolsā€™ class profiles was 18 and the oldest was 42.

But most are within the 21-30 age bracket.

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I donā€™t think so. Itā€™s going to be sometime in 2nd week of Feb.

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When do students normally hear about GAP interviews?

People are comparing TCNJ vs NJIT, why not Rutgers? Is it because lot of other feeder schools exist? Also, Rutgers & NJIT are close to each other per another response.