- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 0
Have you called them? I think they said at the interview to call if you didn't hear back with a decision in 6-8 weeks. Maybe give it until next week and then call to check?
2008-2009 Georgetown Secondary Application Thread
- Thread starter shemarty
- Start date
- Status
Have you called them? I think they said at the interview to call if you didn't hear back with a decision in 6-8 weeks. Maybe give it until next week and then call to check?
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2005
- Messages
- 260
- Reaction score
- 1
I contacted them last week actually and the committee's decision had been deferred for some reason. It should be in the mail now, but I probably won't be receiving it until late next week.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 7,490
- Reaction score
- 388
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2005
- Messages
- 260
- Reaction score
- 1
Yeah, it arrived by snail mail.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
Interviewed on 10/08/08, accepted on 11/18!! 🙂
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
Yup, letter dated 11/18. I live about 45 mins away.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 7,490
- Reaction score
- 388
Congrats, you got news 6 weeks to the day! Guess they don't mess around when they give you a time line at Georgetown.
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2008
- Messages
- 808
- Reaction score
- 3
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
My impression was they waitlist alot of people because they want to get them to write another essay to make sure they really want to go to Georgetown. They don't even look at the waitlisted people who don't write the essay. Crank out a good essay asap and I think your chances are high (although I don't know your stats..)
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2008
- Messages
- 808
- Reaction score
- 3
Stats are fine (3.8x, MCAT > 35). This really bugs me, though. When I left, my interviewer basically told me I would be accepted. And now, of course, I'm not and need to run another obstacle course in the hopes that maybe come May, they'll review my file. Well past the deadline for financial aid.
Super.
Super.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
According to my interviewer, the reason why Georgetown waitlists everybody and makes them write letters is because of the turnover ratio of acceptances to matriculants. Apparently, this is a factor in the US News rankings, so Georgetown does not want to accept a lot of people and have them go somewhere else instead (thus having low yield). So, they waitlist quite a bit but a significant number of those who write letters stating their desire/fit to Georgetown will get in.
As SDN has already thoroughly discussed, Georgetown isn't for everybody. And if you remember what Mrs. Sullivan said at the interview, if you want to attend Georgetown, you will. Find out if there is such a fit between you and the institution, articulate it eloquently, and if Georgetown is that place for you, persist until you finally get in.
Personally, I didn't want to be waitlisted, so I wrote a three page essay stating what I saw was the common fit and sent it in after my interview. I then asked a senior faculty member that I knew to write to Dr. Russell Wall (Associate Dean) to reaffirm my application. It worked.
As SDN has already thoroughly discussed, Georgetown isn't for everybody. And if you remember what Mrs. Sullivan said at the interview, if you want to attend Georgetown, you will. Find out if there is such a fit between you and the institution, articulate it eloquently, and if Georgetown is that place for you, persist until you finally get in.
Personally, I didn't want to be waitlisted, so I wrote a three page essay stating what I saw was the common fit and sent it in after my interview. I then asked a senior faculty member that I knew to write to Dr. Russell Wall (Associate Dean) to reaffirm my application. It worked.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
I have similar stats and had a similar interview, and am ready to write a letter if necessary. I'm guessing that they want you to go to their school, but they just want to make sure that you want them. I think that they just want to keep their percent accepted numbers low by only accepting people they think will likely attend. Is it true that they don't look at the waitlist until may?
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
My interviewer told me straight-up that I was going on the waitlist after he heard my stats (3.4x, MCAT > 35). But it didn't happen.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
I never said it was my *first* choice (I said I didn't want to be waitlisted). In fact I think in my letter I told them Georgetown is one of my top three choices. Having a desire to attend a school is not necessarily equal to having a desire to attend only that school. With that said, I can see myself being very happy at Georgetown and am heavily considering it.
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2008
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 0
Cadet lst Class Migliuri,
I printed your letter of interest, placed it on your file and in Dr. Lauerman's mail box. Your file now remains active until either you receive an accept or the class is seated in August. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me. Dr. Lauerman will probably not access the letter writers until mid-January.
Donna Sullivan
...sounds like I won't be back on this thread until February/March...
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 7,490
- Reaction score
- 388
Hey has everyone who has interviewed received their decisions been notified fairly close to the 6 week time line they told us about the interview? Just wondering...I have one week to go 🙂
- Joined
- May 9, 2008
- Messages
- 280
- Reaction score
- 6
So i assume you just emailed it as an attachment to donna sullivan?
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 7,490
- Reaction score
- 388
Ahh, sorry to hear that. Good luck and I hope you hear back soon!
My six weeks is coming up on Monday, which is also finals week. I wonder how long I will have to stay in town after school is out since all my med school mail is going to my school address.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2008
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 1
can anyone (who has interviewed or goes there) tell me more about georgetown and why you would or wouldn't go there? at my past few interviews, i've only heard very negative things from various interviewees in my group who interviewed at georgetown (i hope this sentence is making any sense). i'm not sure if it's worth the airfare and time to go there, especially since i heard that they don't accept many and waitlist a lot......
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2005
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 0
Current M1 here. I'm often a tour guide for the medical school and was previously an undergrad at Georgetown. Feel free to shoot me any questions or concerns (this goes for the rest of the thread's viewers).
I would be interested to hear about the negative comments you heard about GUSOM. Personally, I love the school. Great teachers, good amount of research, great area of DC. The biggest negatives of the school are the cost of attendance and the facilities. I don't see cost of attendance dropping precipitously any time soon, but as for facilities, many improvements are in the pipeline for the upcoming entering classes ('09 and '10). I can go into much more depth about any part of the school if any of you are interested.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
I interviewed at Georgetown, and I thought it was great. I can see how someone could get a negative impression, because everyone there that I met truly believes that they are at the best school in the country. This doesnt bother me so much.. I prefer a school that the student body is enthusiastic about.
Overall, a very positive experience.
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2005
- Messages
- 618
- Reaction score
- 2
I was really surprised by how much I did not like Georgetown during my interview. It felt like the school was not really into research, and seemed overly concerned by its low ranking on the US News and WR.
The school has a "research" requirement, but it seemed like the entire student body was able to fulfill this requirement by writing a case report on a patient they saw in the hospital. This was disappointing to me bc i worked at Gtown as an undergrad and enjoyed the research very much. I guess the connections btw their grad schools and med school are lacking.
The two most important points to me was the fact that although they claim religion has no affect on the way their med school is taught, it is reflected by the philosophy of the school. They are very into community service, which is great if that's what youre into.
And lastly, they basically are lying when they say the incoming class of students is 200, because your first year classes are going to have 400 kids (SMPs and GEMs are also in your classes). they said they had plenty of small group learning... but not until 3rd and 4th years when you working with physicians.
The tour guides seemed to be fine with their choice of school, but also just seemed like "meh," med school is med school.
hope that helps.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2005
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 0
According to US News I believe we have 180 million dollars of grant money from the NIH actively being used for research this past year. While GUSOM isn't pulling in the kind of grants Harvard and Hopkins are netting, GUSOM has many more research dollars than your average medical school. Not to mention the NIH, ever biomedical scientist's heaven, is about 15-20 mins away.
The research requirement is not so much a "requirement" as it is an initiative to get students interested in research and working with investigators on and off campus. Students are encouraged to do as much as they want. More interested in primary care and don't like working at a bench or looking over patient files? Do the bare minimum. Want to be first author in a well regarded journal? The resources and contacts are there for you if you wish. All students have to do some amount of research, but many do in fact put a lot of time and effort into their research.
Yes, GUSOM does like to actively teach to their philosophy of Cura Personalis. When was community service bad? There is only a 20 hour Community Service Requirement over all 4 years! You could do 20 hours of service in two weekends if you tried. Though once again, many choose to do more than 20hrs (including study abroad opportunities, which I believe about 35 to 40% of students take part in, in some fashion).
First of all the entering class is between 190-194. The SMPers take 6 classes with the first year Med Students. They take MCP (Molecular Cellular Physiology) essentially biochem), MSTN (Metabolism, signal transduction, and Nutrition), Cardiovascular Pulmonary, Gastrointestinal, Renal Physiology, and Sexual Dev./Reproduction. They do not take any of our doctoring classes (Patient/Physicians and Behavior, Ethics, Intro to Health Care, Physical Diagnosis, Ambulatory Care, Evidence Based Medicine, Grand Rounds), nor do they take Genetics, Head/Neck and Special Senses, Limbs, or Neuroscience. The Doctoring classes are mostly small group sessions and never have SMPers in them. Every class that does have small group sessions, has sessions broken up into no more than 15 medical or SMP students. So small group sizes range anywhere from 10 to 15. I never once felt like my education suffered because of the SMP students. On the contrary, the SMP students are often some of the most motivated students you will meet, and M1s often study with SMP students.
...Well everyone is different. There is no screening of tour guides, so sometimes you will get a tour guide who just isn't crazy about their experience here. It happens.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2008
- Messages
- 808
- Reaction score
- 3
I really dug Georgetown personally. It's probably third on my list of places I've interviewed at (behind Duke and Vandy). I loved the philosophy, and I loved the location. Looking at what I want out of a career, specifically to enter health policy after spending some time in the trenches, there's no better place than Washington DC. Of course, what I want is very different from what most people in med school want, so I could understand the more lukewarm feeling a lot of people have (the facilities are old, there's really nothing spectacular about the curriculum or school itself, hypercompetitive environment (a bell-curve system in med school is stupid)).
That being said, Ms. Sullivan is one of the most amazingly interesting people I have ever spoken to. Brilliant woman. Really, really struck a cord with me.
As for the religiosity of the school, as an agnostic teetering between deism and atheism, I didn't feel it to be a big deal. But that may be because I'm a humanist at core, and humanism is what the Jesuits are preaching.
That being said, Ms. Sullivan is one of the most amazingly interesting people I have ever spoken to. Brilliant woman. Really, really struck a cord with me.
As for the religiosity of the school, as an agnostic teetering between deism and atheism, I didn't feel it to be a big deal. But that may be because I'm a humanist at core, and humanism is what the Jesuits are preaching.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2005
- Messages
- 618
- Reaction score
- 2
Of course I dont think community service is bad, nor was I meaning to sound like I was complaining about the 20 hours of service. I was only meaning to imply that gtown did not feel like the place for me.
Ms. Sullivan made a big deal out of saying that if gtown was for you, you'd end up there. But she also said explicitly, "if you get into your state school, GO THERE! Medical education is the same everywhere, and its not worth paying more for it at gtown."
I thought that was a bit odd, but at least, brutally honest, which was appreciated.
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2008
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
I looked on the interview site with previous interview questions asked at georgetown and this one struck my attention: "A child of a Jehovah's Witness needs a blood transfusion to survive, but her parents are opposed, what would you do?"
My natural answer would be that first, I would follow the law. As a physician, I am not above the law and there are going to be things that I would like to do that I can not. If the law allowed me to do something, I personally would cure the child because as a physician my number one goal is not to make people happy, but to simply cure people (even though the two most often go hand in hand).
My only concern is that Cura personalis philosophy employs taking individual circumstances into account and I wouldn't be doing this.
One more thing, I'm planning on driving to my inverview (from maryland). Should I be good with parking at the medical center if I leave the college park area around 6am for a 930am start time. I plan on just reading in my car and preparing for my interview cause I know how 495/395 would be if I left after 7.
My natural answer would be that first, I would follow the law. As a physician, I am not above the law and there are going to be things that I would like to do that I can not. If the law allowed me to do something, I personally would cure the child because as a physician my number one goal is not to make people happy, but to simply cure people (even though the two most often go hand in hand).
My only concern is that Cura personalis philosophy employs taking individual circumstances into account and I wouldn't be doing this.
One more thing, I'm planning on driving to my inverview (from maryland). Should I be good with parking at the medical center if I leave the college park area around 6am for a 930am start time. I plan on just reading in my car and preparing for my interview cause I know how 495/395 would be if I left after 7.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 0
Leaving early is a good idea with the unpredictable DC traffic. Parking in the hospital garage makes getting to the medical school for the interview day really easy and convenient, especially since there aren't that many cars in the garage that early in the morning. You can just sit and prepare if you are really early.
That's where I parked for my interview after driving in from Virginia. The only problem I encountered was that the admissions office doesn't validate parking and a full day in the garage is somewhere around 30 dollars. The way I got around this was to simply go into the hospital after the interview day and walk up to the information desk. I told them I was there for a medical school interview, and they happily validated my parking, bringing the cost down to about 5 dollars.
You could also try to find a spot on the street in Georgetown, but it's kind of nice not having to worry about time limits and meters during the interview day.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2008
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 1
This entire post was incredibly well said. I share your sentiments and am glad you articulated my thoughts for me
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 0
So ... has anyone been hearing any good news lately post-interview? I interviewed 11/5 and am getting curious about a decision already. I know I'll probably have to wait for a few more weeks, but it's nice to know approx. which interview days should be hearing back soon ...
And the acceptance thread only has two entries from over a month ago ... 👎
And the acceptance thread only has two entries from over a month ago ... 👎
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
I interviewed 7+ weeks ago.. still nothing. Maybe they will be sending out a batch all at once? Hopefully before Christmas...
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2008
- Messages
- 111
- Reaction score
- 0
It seems like an eternity since I interviewed here. The wait is killing me, i cant imagine the people who are sitting around 6 weeks. I will be on edge at that point. I really was impressed by Georgetown. At first I thought it was going to be overbearingly Jesuit but it was'nt it all. I would love to go here, i think i would mesh well with the school and its philosophy. I was so impressed when they told me they did a memorial service for the families of the cadavers after the anatomy block is done. I am a big humanitarian and find little things like this extremely important. I also like that there is an actual campus and student life.
Anyway, I cant wait for the waiting to be over. It would be so nice if i could determine my life for next year. I think it is funny, a school i interviewed at in early Nov told me that i am on hold and will not find out until MAY! that is cruel! Anyway, this was just me rambling about nothing. Sorry to anyone who read it and was expecting something interesting or useful. I just wanted to say i love Georgetown, and hate waiting!
Good luck to everyone that interviewed, and if you are feeling down about this admissions process just remember you were once the fastest of millions of sperm and you won the race, it is something to be proud of!
Anyway, I cant wait for the waiting to be over. It would be so nice if i could determine my life for next year. I think it is funny, a school i interviewed at in early Nov told me that i am on hold and will not find out until MAY! that is cruel! Anyway, this was just me rambling about nothing. Sorry to anyone who read it and was expecting something interesting or useful. I just wanted to say i love Georgetown, and hate waiting!
Good luck to everyone that interviewed, and if you are feeling down about this admissions process just remember you were once the fastest of millions of sperm and you won the race, it is something to be proud of!
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
That is not unique to Gtown. Every school that I have interviewed at holds a memorial service for the families of the cadavers after the block is over.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,358
- Reaction score
- 122
True, this is usually when the family gets the rest of the cremated remains. Although this isn't unique to Georgetown, there is alot that is.
- Status
