In this week’s travels we make it to Newark, New Jersey onto the campus of Rutgers School of Dental Medicine. The 4-year D.M.D. program is very difficult to get into, with average DAT scores of approximately 22 which is 3 points above the national average. The school is in search of a well-rounded applicant who is great in the classroom, involved in campus life, and contains the attitude and perseverance needed to get through dental school. Most of their enrolled students are from the state of New Jersey (~70%). Although the program is statistically great, the website had very little information that all of the other schools had regarding mission and core values, diversity, equity and inclusion, and even cost.

Mission & Core Values

Rutgers University has a mission with a goal to improve the health and quality of life by creating a generation of dental professionals who will provide the highest quality, evidence-based care serving New Jersey and communities worldwide. The university’s values push excellence, integrity, respect, and innovation when serving the community.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Rutgers, unlike the other schools have very little on diversity, equity, or inclusion but they have something that they emphasize that the other schools do not. They touch a small amount on their inclusion, and diversity but a new emphasis they speak on is their effort to promote the inclusion of the LGBTQ community.

Cost

Rutgers University is very, very expensive. The cost of tuition for out-of-state applicants is approximately $89,000 on top of an yearly fees and payments necessary for the school year. Add this onto the increasingly expensive cost of living in the area, a student would be looking at yearly cost of nearly $130,000 which is similar to that of the schools in the Boston area.

Last Thoughts

Considering everything, I would put Rutgers at the bottom of the list that I’ve shared as of this point. The school looks very nice and the program is credible and well put together if I were to get into any school in Boston I would choose Boston over the city of Newark, New Jersey for many reasons. Boston has more life to begin with; professional sports, night life, and historical past time. Boston would also be closer to home, which would make it easier to get home and make commuting from Maine seem more realistic.