2011-2012 Georgetown Application Thread

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Would any current students like to comment on what they like about Georgetown?

I will give you guys a golden nugget of info as you begin to write "Why Georgetown."

Look up "Cura Personalis" this is Georgetown's underlining theme. Investigate what that means to the University and what it means to you as a future medical student at Georgetown.

This should give you all a good running start.

I have written 3500 characters on cura personalis, the curriculum, and the location. I just wanted to know what some students really liked about the school.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

I will give you guys a golden nugget of info as you begin to write "Why Georgetown."

Look up "Cura Personalis" this is Georgetown's underlining theme. Investigate what that means to the University and what it means to you as a future medical studet at Georgetown.

This should give you all a good running start.

Wow, thanks for the "golden nugget" haha.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

I will give you guys a golden nugget of info as you begin to write "Why Georgetown."

Look up "Cura Personalis" this is Georgetown's underlining theme. Investigate what that means to the University and what it means to you as a future medical studet at Georgetown.

This should give you all a good running start.

Now they're going to get 3,000 secondaries mentioning only this. You've created a monster!

Originally Posted by latrala2300

Now they're going to get 3,000 secondaries mentioning only this. You've created a monster!

Yea, maybe you should edit that out before this explodes .

Originally Posted by latrala2300

Now they're going to get 3,000 secondaries mentioning only this. You've created a monster!

On last year's thread it was posted that 80% of secondaries mention it anyway.

I ended up with 4100 characters. I don't think I adequately expressed why I love the location but I think I'm done.

anybody getting the invalid section error for the application essay section? It almost seems liek this section isn' even necessary since all the essays are in the secondary application section.....

also, after clicking save and continue on certification do any of you guys get the error that you haven't completed the EA-application?

I believe that is the Early Assurance program which is only valid for current Georgetown undergrads.....

I'm getting a bit confused and not confident in submitting just yet until some of these errors get worked out.

input?

Originally Posted by sdsoccer

anybody getting the invalid section error for the application essay section? It almost seems liek this section isn' even necessary since all the essays are in the secondary application section.....

also, after clicking save and continue on certification do any of you guys get the error that you haven't completed the EA-application?

I believe that is the Early Assurance program which is only valid for current Georgetown undergrads.....

I'm getting a bit confused and not confident in submitting just yet until some of these errors get worked out.

input?

I saw both of those errors when I was going through it this morning. I'm going to wait for the errors to get worked out. If they aren't fixed by Friday I might call them.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

I will give you guys a golden nugget of info as you begin to write "Why Georgetown."

Look up "Cura Personalis" this is Georgetown's underlining theme. Investigate what that means to the University and what it means to you as a future medical studet at Georgetown.

This should give you all a good running start.

Great point! Pretty much sums up the Jesuit (teaching) philosophy.

Got the secondary this morning - working on the prompts - stuck on the Why Georgetown essay.....

Originally Posted by therunner12

I have written 3500 characters on cura personalis, the curriculum, and the location. I just wanted to know what some students really liked about the school.

Before I comment, let us take a small moment of silence to appreciate my post #69.



Ok now getting serious:

Cura Personalis is a must to include in the secondary, but should not be the central theme, as you have correctly stated that 80% of secondaries will include it in one way or another.

What I personally like in no particular order:
1) The faculty here are amazing, they really care about the students and have a genuine interest in our education and future.
2) The systems base curriculum which was implemented 3 years ago is great. We now have Systems modules where we cover embryo, histology, physiology ect. per organ system.
3) The students are very friendly and the environment is social, helps to balance the hard work.
4) They are starting to pump lots of money into the school, new classrooms, beautification of campus and facilities, recruiting impressive faculty and beefing up their research programs. This will no doubt increase GT's rankings in the near future.
5) 24 hour access to the library
6) Course modules are extremely well organized and lectures are all amazing. It makes you want to go to class. Classes are recorded for those lazy folk.
7) Clinical training begins the first year with interviewing patients. Second year you learn to give both male and female physical exams.
8) The lounge for Medical Students is nice, open 24 hours. Couches, tables and a separate game room.
9) Living in DC is great. It's the nation’s capitol. Great Bars, restaurants, free museums, monuments. Go say hi to Obama (he came to our school a few times).
10) Our gym is big and fairly nice. Above average I would say.
11) We have an AMAZING match list. Top schools and Top programs. This is in part to the faculty really helping you get to where you want to go. It really is one of the more impressive parts of being at Georgetown.
12) This one is a bit vein, but hey I'm including it cause you asked what I liked. The are lots of good looking students. I’m just saying..
13) We have free university bus transportation to the local metros, and a free shuttle service at night to your house if you don't want to walk home alone at night.
14) We have many affiliate hospitals that are much nicer than our university hospital where you can do many of your rotations in. Including the famous Walter Reed hospital, great for surgical clerkships.
15) The name Georgetown is recognized and highly regarded by both medical academia and patient populations across the country.
16) Our Dean is super friendly, crazy smart and is always involved in your education.
17) This is a great Networking School. Something that will help you both during and after medical school.
18) The Hoya Clinic is a student run clinic in the city that gives you medical exposure your first year as well. It is voluntary, but a wonderful experience.
19) The 4 story medical library has tons of models to checkout, textbooks (so you don't have to buy) and lots of study space. Could use some remodeling, but they have started with some of the study rooms in the Lower Level.



Things I don't like:
1) Tuition is a bit pricey, but comparable to other private institutions.
2) We went all digital last year, so now we have to pay for our own photocopies if we want to print out lectures.
3) No campus parking for M1 or M2, but you can rent monthly parking from local residential area for about $150 a month.
4) Class size is a bit large the first year because we share most lectures with the SMP students (Med class ~190, SMP class ~180). But the med students sit on the balcony and SMPs in the lower seats for the most part. We don't share in Anatomy though, as cadavers are only for med students. SMPs use a digital dissector.
5) Grades are on a Honor, High pass, Pass, Low Pass, Fail System. I wish it were pass/fail as this would decrease the stress level. With that said, it is not too hard to pass your classes, but Honors and High Pass require and increased level of dedication and hours in the library.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

14) We have many affiliate hospitals that are much nice than our university hospital where you can do many of your rotations in. Including the famous Walter Reed hospital, great for surgical clerkships.

Out of curiosity, any idea what will happen when BRAC finishes moving Walter Reed to colocate with Bethesda Naval? Will students do clerkships at the Bethesda site?

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

Before I comment, let us take a small moment of silence to appreciate my post #69.



Ok now getting serious:

Cura Personalis is a must to include in the secondary, but should not be the central theme, as you have correctly stated that 80% of secondaries will include it in one way or another.

What I personally like in no particular order:
1) The faculty here are amazing, they really care about the students and have a genuine interest in our education and future.
2) The systems base curriculum which was implemented 3 years ago is great. We now have Systems modules where we cover embryo, histology, physiology ect. per organ system.
3) The students are very friendly and the environment is social, helps to balance the hard work.
4) They are starting to pump lots of money into the school, new classrooms, beatification of campus and facilities, recruiting impressive faculty and beefing up their research programs. This will no doubt increase GT's rankings in the near future.
5) 24 hour access to the library
6) Course modules are extremely well organized and lectures are all amazing. It makes you want to go to class. Classes are recorded for those lazy folk.
7) Clinical training begins the first year with interviewing patients. Second year you learn to give both male and female physical exams.
8) The lounge for Medical Students is nice, open 24 hours. Couches, tables and a separate game room.
9) Living in DC is great. It's the nation’s capitol. Great Bars, restaurants, free museums, monuments. Go say hi to Obama (he came to our school a few times).
10) Our gym if big and fairly nice. Above average I would say.
11) We have an AMAZING match list. Top schools and Top programs. This is in part to the faculty really helping you get to where you want to go. It really is one of the more impressive parts of being at Georgetown.
12) This one is a bit vein, but hey I'm including it cause you asked what I liked. The are lots of good looking students. I’m just saying..
13) We have free university bus transportation to the local metros, and a free shuttle service at night to your house if you don't want to walk home alone at night.
14) We have many affiliate hospitals that are much nice than our university hospital where you can do many of your rotations in. Including the famous Walter Reed hospital, great for surgical clerkships.
15) The name Georgetown is recognized and highly regarded by both medical academia and patient populations across the country.
16) Our Dean is super friendly, crazy smart and is always involved in your education.
17) This is a great Networking School. Something that will help you both during and after medical school.
18) The Hoya Clinic is a student run clinic in the city that gives you medical exposure your first year as well. It is voluntary, but a wonderful experience.
19) The 4 story medical library has tons of models to checkout, textbooks (so you don't have to buy) and lots of study space. Could use some remodeling, but they have started with some of the study rooms in the Lower Level.



Things I don't like:
1) Tuition is a bit pricey, but comparable to other private institutions.
2) We went all digital last year, so now we have to pay for our own photocopies if we want to print out lectures.
3) No campus parking for M1 or M2, but you can rent monthly parking from local residential area for about $150 a month.
4) Class size is a bit large the first year because we share most lectures with the SMP students (Med class ~190, SMP class ~180). But the med students sit on the balcony and SMPs in the lower seats for the most part. We don't share in Anatomy though, as cadavers are only for med students. SMPs use a digital dissector.

Thanks for this, I really appreciate it. The Why Georgetown essay actually got me really excited about applying here.

Originally Posted by placentasac

12) this one is a bit vein, but hey i'm including it cause you asked what i liked. The are lots of good looking students. I’m just saying.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

Before I comment, let us take a small moment of silence to appreciate my post #69.



Ok now getting serious:

Cura Personalis is a must to include in the secondary, but should not be the central theme, as you have correctly stated that 80% of secondaries will include it in one way or another.

What I personally like in no particular order:
1) The faculty here are amazing, they really care about the students and have a genuine interest in our education and future.
2) The systems base curriculum which was implemented 3 years ago is great. We now have Systems modules where we cover embryo, histology, physiology ect. per organ system.
3) The students are very friendly and the environment is social, helps to balance the hard work.
4) They are starting to pump lots of money into the school, new classrooms, beatification of campus and facilities, recruiting impressive faculty and beefing up their research programs. This will no doubt increase GT's rankings in the near future.
5) 24 hour access to the library
6) Course modules are extremely well organized and lectures are all amazing. It makes you want to go to class. Classes are recorded for those lazy folk.
7) Clinical training begins the first year with interviewing patients. Second year you learn to give both male and female physical exams.
8) The lounge for Medical Students is nice, open 24 hours. Couches, tables and a separate game room.
9) Living in DC is great. It's the nation’s capitol. Great Bars, restaurants, free museums, monuments. Go say hi to Obama (he came to our school a few times).
10) Our gym if big and fairly nice. Above average I would say.
11) We have an AMAZING match list. Top schools and Top programs. This is in part to the faculty really helping you get to where you want to go. It really is one of the more impressive parts of being at Georgetown.
12) This one is a bit vein, but hey I'm including it cause you asked what I liked. The are lots of good looking students. I’m just saying..
13) We have free university bus transportation to the local metros, and a free shuttle service at night to your house if you don't want to walk home alone at night.
14) We have many affiliate hospitals that are much nice than our university hospital where you can do many of your rotations in. Including the famous Walter Reed hospital, great for surgical clerkships.
15) The name Georgetown is recognized and highly regarded by both medical academia and patient populations across the country.
16) Our Dean is super friendly, crazy smart and is always involved in your education.
17) This is a great Networking School. Something that will help you both during and after medical school.
18) The Hoya Clinic is a student run clinic in the city that gives you medical exposure your first year as well. It is voluntary, but a wonderful experience.
19) The 4 story medical library has tons of models to checkout, textbooks (so you don't have to buy) and lots of study space. Could use some remodeling, but they have started with some of the study rooms in the Lower Level.



Things I don't like:
1) Tuition is a bit pricey, but comparable to other private institutions.
2) We went all digital last year, so now we have to pay for our own photocopies if we want to print out lectures.
3) No campus parking for M1 or M2, but you can rent monthly parking from local residential area for about $150 a month.
4) Class size is a bit large the first year because we share most lectures with the SMP students (Med class ~190, SMP class ~180). But the med students sit on the balcony and SMPs in the lower seats for the most part. We don't share in Anatomy though, as cadavers are only for med students. SMPs use a digital dissector.

Thanks a bunch for this!

How long did it take everyone to receive their secondaries? I'm anxious to get started

Originally Posted by ywlke

Out of curiosity, any idea what will happen when BRAC finishes moving Walter Reed to colocate with Bethesda Naval? Will students do clerkships at the Bethesda site?

Very Good question. They haven't updated us on this, but because of our good relationship my guess is that we will have clerkships at the Bethesda site.


You guys are all welcome. I added one more to the "don't like" just now. If you have any other questions I will be more than happy to help you guys out.

Originally Posted by PlacentaSac

Very Good question. They haven't updated us on this, but because of our good relationship my guess is that we will have clerkships at the Bethesda site.

Awesome

Originally Posted by therunner12

I saw both of those errors when I was going through it this morning. I'm going to wait for the errors to get worked out. If they aren't fixed by Friday I might call them.

The errors were fixed, if anyone was wondering.

Is anyone actually using an entire page to answer the Why GTown?
If not, roughly how long would you say you guys are writing them?

I have just written a rough draft, but it is exactly a page. I'm assuming when I edit it will go down a little.

Submitted!

This one took me quite some time to compose. Good luck everyone.

Also, thank you to PlacentaSac for all of the good info.

With the fear of sounding like a crazed pre-med, I was wondering how long it took for y'all to get the secondary after you were verified. I'm verified and submitted my primary to Georgetown, but no secondary yet. I'm afraid I may have deleted it in spam folder.

Submitted. I got the secondary on Tuesday morning and I was verified two weeks ago.

Just submitted. I received the secondary Tuesday as well.

Georgetown seems like such a cool place to be!

I was verified 6/27 and have not yet received the secondary. Is anyone else in a similar situation? Thanks.

Blast! One typed page does not equal 5,000 characters. 3,800 characters put me 4 lines over. Just venting. Carry on.

Originally Posted by LeoGer

Blast! One typed page does not equal 5,000 characters. 3,800 characters put me 4 lines over. Just venting. Carry on.

Expand the margins. I think they only want one page for filing purposes.

Originally Posted by LeoGer

Blast! One typed page does not equal 5,000 characters. 3,800 characters put me 4 lines over. Just venting. Carry on.

I don't think it's a strict limit. I had about ~4300 characters, which corresponded to about 4 lines on the second page.

Does anyone know if Georgetown is relatively prompt in evaluating applications?

Originally Posted by therunner12

Expand the margins. I think they only want one page for filing purposes.

Damn why didn't I do that?

Originally Posted by therunner12

Expand the margins. I think they only want one page for filing purposes.

I thought of that, but was afraid of an auto-reject after their printer said, "Text outside the printable area." But your avatar lets me know you're a person I can trust. 0.5" margins: check.

Originally Posted by LeoGer

I thought of that, but was afraid of an auto-reject after their printer said, "Text outside the printable area." But your avatar lets me know you're a person I can trust. 0.5" margins: check.

Word.

Originally Posted by PeterPesto

I don't think it's a strict limit. I had about ~4300 characters, which corresponded to about 4 lines on the second page.

Does anyone know if Georgetown is relatively prompt in evaluating applications?

They certainly have one of the fastest records for rejections. Don't know if that helps.

Originally Posted by Etorphine

They certainly have one of the fastest records for rejections. Don't know if that helps.

Care to explain? Should I be expecting an email soon?

Originally Posted by Etorphine

They certainly have one of the fastest records for rejections. Don't know if that helps.

Originally Posted by therunner12

Care to explain? Should I be expecting an email soon?

...?

Yeah, I thought some people were rejected within 24 hours. Well, I'm glad to say that we've passed that point

Originally Posted by PeterPesto

Yeah, I thought some people were rejected within 24 hours. Well, I'm glad to say that we've passed that point

Dammit Peter! Don't unwarrantedly get us all excited that they're responding to secondaries.

EDIT: Please.

Does anyone have trouble submitting due to their name not being on the secondary application? It won't let me submit because I don't have a name, but there's no textbox that would let me input it...

Ahh, and first post ever! Hope to contribute after lurking around for so long now.

Originally Posted by trypanosomiasis

Does anyone have trouble submitting due to their name not being on the secondary application? It won't let me submit because I don't have a name, but there's no textbox that would let me input it...

Ahh, and first post ever! Hope to contribute after lurking around for so long now.

Did you use the ID/password that they e-mailed you or your own account? While Georgetown uses the ApplyYourself website, you still have to use the set they give you and not an account that you got from filling out another secondary.

Originally Posted by ywlke

Did you use the ID/password that they e-mailed you or your own account? While Georgetown uses the ApplyYourself website, you still have to use the set they give you and not an account that you got from filling out another secondary.

I did so, and just checked that I wasn't using the PIN from the JHU application. My AMCAS ID number is there and correct, as well as some of my other personal info. Name appears correct in the "My Profile" area of the site as well. Just won't show up in the application field.

Originally Posted by trypanosomiasis

I did so, and just checked that I wasn't using the PIN from the JHU application. My AMCAS ID number is there and correct, as well as some of my other personal info. Name appears correct in the "My Profile" area of the site as well. Just won't show up in the application field.

That's strange. And yeah, if you see your AMCAS ID, you are doing it right. I'd say give admissions a call.

Might I refer you guys to my experience with applying to Georgetown????

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=12212

But in all seriousness, unless something has changed, GT< gets WAY more applications than everywhere else. GT waitlists almost everybody who is acceptabel. It then pulls off the people who write them saying that GT is their top choice. This helps them in the USNews rankings because it gives an artificially low number for application to acceptance ratio.

So what does that mean to you??? If you don't think GT will be near the top of your list, you shouldn't apply, because in all likelyhood you will be waitlisted, get into a school that you think is better, and not write a letter saying how great GT is and how you would get one of your paired reproductive organs in order to gain admission.

If GT is your number one choice (or you don't have problems lying to them) then by all means, have at it. Tell them on your interview, follow up letters, etc, etc. I personally think it is a bit unfair that they offer acceptance letters based on who writes them letter about how much they love GT rather than the academic record of the applicant, so I am all for everybody telling them that GT is their number one choice.

And let me tell you, admission directors always claim tehy talk to other admission directors. Bulls!t. I mean, GT does a thousand interviews. If you write them a number one letter, and then withdraw, do you expect them to call all the other schools to see what school they turned GT down for?? (BTW, when you withdraw, I wouldn't say you withdrew to go to XXXXX school)

That's my $.02. Well, maybe a bit more than $.02

Originally Posted by Jalby

Might I refer you guys to my experience with applying to Georgetown????

You never fail to bring this up in every year's thread, eh?

Originally Posted by Jalby

I personally think it is a bit unfair that they offer acceptance letters based on who writes them letter about how much they love GT rather than the academic record of the applicant, so I am all for everybody telling them that GT is their number one choice.

I refuse to insincerely write that, but I'll let you know if I am accepted despite my decision. Although if I do get accepted, I'm not saying your statement is untrue for your time.

Originally Posted by ywlke

That's strange. And yeah, if you see your AMCAS ID, you are doing it right. I'd say give admissions a call.

Appreciate the help. I sent an email to Tech Support to start off. I'll give Admissions a call on Friday if I don't hear anything.

And we need chill pills, stat... 10 year old complaints...

I feel like Jalby posting his grievances with Georgetown every year in the GT applicants thread is one of SDN's oldest and most storied traditions. You can call it immature or vindictive, or what have you, but it's tradition!

Originally Posted by trypanosomiasis

Does anyone have trouble submitting due to their name not being on the secondary application? It won't let me submit because I don't have a name, but there's no textbox that would let me input it...

Ahh, and first post ever! Hope to contribute after lurking around for so long now.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I got the secondary e-mail on Tuesday and have now boxes to enter my name on the site. Let us know what you find out.

Originally Posted by Nomdeplume

I feel like Jalby posting his grievances with Georgetown every year in the GT applicants thread is one of SDN's oldest and most storied traditions. You can call it immature or vindictive, or what have you, but it's tradition!

This is the first time I did it on a Georgetown thread. I honestly didn't know these existed. I log onto SDN rarely (except to sometimes search for myself) and they put on new forums that I never knew about. I just happened to see this one on the main page.

And as I have said other places, GT is a pretty good med school and trains great doctors and is in an amazing location. But their method of selecting med students is based solely on trying to raise their rankings in the USNews (since applied to accepted ratio is one of the main factors) and I really think that is shady.

That being said, I am really quite curious to know if they have the same director of admissions as they did 11 years ago.

If I was applying to med schools right now, this would be my list of schools listed above GT:


UCLA
USC
UCSF
Stanford
UCI
UCSD
NYU
Columbia
Cornell
Harvard
UPenn
Northwestern

And then I would put Yale, University of Chicago, Boston University, and Emory in the same category as GT.

I would apply to all my schools, but not turn in the GT secondary until about October or so based on the number of interviews I have gotten on the other places. GT interviews tons of people, so I wouldn't really be worried about getting an interview.

Jalby, seriously, get the $@#$ over this. It was like ten years ago. There probably aren't even the same people working for admissions. The reason GT has a small accepted-to-applied-student ratio is that there are 11,000 applications for only 200 spots. Do the math. GT probably has enough applications to only accept 3.8/35+ applicants. Well, guess what, they don't. Also, USNWR rankings are based primarily on research funding.