2012-2013 Georgetown University Application Thread

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At the interview did they talk about COA much? I'm pretty sold on the school already but my only concern is the VERY high cost of living in DC (Gtown area especially I've heard) and the cost of tuition. Did they assuage your fears or was it not really talked about?
 
At the interview did they talk about COA much? I'm pretty sold on the school already but my only concern is the VERY high cost of living in DC (Gtown area especially I've heard) and the cost of tuition. Did they assuage your fears or was it not really talked about?

I live in DC and I can assure you the cost of living here is ridiculous.
 
At the interview did they talk about COA much? I'm pretty sold on the school already but my only concern is the VERY high cost of living in DC (Gtown area especially I've heard) and the cost of tuition. Did they assuage your fears or was it not really talked about?
There was a tacit admission that the COA is obviously very high. The assistant dean of admissions gave a wonderful talk in which she acknowledged that lots of people enter med school thinking they're going into family medicine, but rising debt forces them into higher-paying specialties that they may be less enthusiastic about. She even acknowledged that if you get into your state school, you'd be foolish not to strongly consider matriculating there. They don't BS you--average student indebtedness is over $200k and they expect that you will have thought seriously about how that will affect your future career choices.
 
I just visited campus today. Not sure I can take the undergrad population.
 
I interviewed at Georgetown last Monday, and haven't gotten around to posting about it yet. I have to say that I came away from the interview thinking that it is unlikely that I will attend Georgetown if accepted. A lot of the reason for that is simply due to the cost of attendance. I stayed with student hosts who were very honest that the cost of living in Georgetown is absurdly high and that's just something you have to accept. I am from Ohio, and am very interested in some of the Ohio state schools (namely OSU), and I don't think I could justify the huge cost difference between OSU and Georgetown. My interview day was alright. The students and staff/faculty that I met where all very nice, but I did get the feeling that the culture is a little more competitive than some of the other schools that I have visited (not necessarily a horrible thing). The facilities did not impress me, and the hospital is very small. Some parts of the day were not well organized (when I first arrived it was not obvious where to go, and the tour guides did not know where we were supposed to go to eat lunch), but nothing major. After a mediocre day, my interview was actually awesome. The physician who I talked to was welcoming, honest, and clearly passionate about medicine and Georgetown. The interview was relaxed, it was more of a conversation. He asked me about my interest in medicine and Georgetown, and asked me to elaborate on some of my extracurriculars. I was done around 3:15. Let me know if you have any questions about my interview day or transportation (I flew in and out of Reagan).
 
So I thought Georgetown was a love/hate thing.

I just interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic, today, and noticed a DRASTIC difference in style. The Clinic's facilities are all brand new, and the facilities are all state of the art. Georgetown's are...well...old. Very old.

Georgetown's grading system is also on the Honors/High Pass/etc system, which I personally am not into, but this isn't that big of a deal (i hope). It's also ridiculously expensive. Living in DC is expensive, going out to have fun is expensive, you graduate with an AVERAGE of 212,000 in debt. So I'm thinking...what is ABOVE AVERAGE? Uh oh...

But Georgetown's academic reputation is undeniable. From their match, it's easy to see that their students are highly regarded. They send a ridiculous amount of people into surgery. I'm interested in surgery, and thus, this is awesome!

Plus, I know a couple students who go there, and they're all really happy. They always have fun stuff to do, and I'm sure that if I go there, I will be happy. I may be dirt poor by the time I graduate (actually, not "may" but "will"), but I know I'll enjoy my time while I'm there.
 
So I thought Georgetown was a love/hate thing.

I just interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic, today, and noticed a DRASTIC difference in style. The Clinic's facilities are all brand new, and the facilities are all state of the art. Georgetown's are...well...old. Very old.

Georgetown's grading system is also on the Honors/High Pass/etc system, which I personally am not into, but this isn't that big of a deal (i hope). It's also ridiculously expensive. Living in DC is expensive, going out to have fun is expensive, you graduate with an AVERAGE of 212,000 in debt. So I'm thinking...what is ABOVE AVERAGE? Uh oh...

But Georgetown's academic reputation is undeniable. From their match, it's easy to see that their students are highly regarded. They send a ridiculous amount of people into surgery. I'm interested in surgery, and thus, this is awesome!

Plus, I know a couple students who go there, and they're all really happy. They always have fun stuff to do, and I'm sure that if I go there, I will be happy. I may be dirt poor by the time I graduate (actually, not "may" but "will"), but I know I'll enjoy my time while I'm there.
Stop whining. You will make that amount in half a year. Seen a poor surgeon?
 
Stop whining. You will make that amount in half a year. Seen a poor surgeon?

To be fair, there are a heck of a lot of poor residents/interns out there. You don't make big bucks coming out of school, but you have to start paying massive debt coming out of school, so it is a pretty big burden.
 
I interviewed at Georgetown last Monday, and haven't gotten around to posting about it yet. I have to say that I came away from the interview thinking that it is unlikely that I will attend Georgetown if accepted. A lot of the reason for that is simply due to the cost of attendance. I stayed with student hosts who were very honest that the cost of living in Georgetown is absurdly high and that's just something you have to accept. I am from Ohio, and am very interested in some of the Ohio state schools (namely OSU), and I don't think I could justify the huge cost difference between OSU and Georgetown. My interview day was alright. The students and staff/faculty that I met where all very nice, but I did get the feeling that the culture is a little more competitive than some of the other schools that I have visited (not necessarily a horrible thing). The facilities did not impress me, and the hospital is very small. Some parts of the day were not well organized (when I first arrived it was not obvious where to go, and the tour guides did not know where we were supposed to go to eat lunch), but nothing major. After a mediocre day, my interview was actually awesome. The physician who I talked to was welcoming, honest, and clearly passionate about medicine and Georgetown. The interview was relaxed, it was more of a conversation. He asked me about my interest in medicine and Georgetown, and asked me to elaborate on some of my extracurriculars. I was done around 3:15. Let me know if you have any questions about my interview day or transportation (I flew in and out of Reagan).

So I thought Georgetown was a love/hate thing.

I just interviewed at the Cleveland Clinic, today, and noticed a DRASTIC difference in style. The Clinic's facilities are all brand new, and the facilities are all state of the art. Georgetown's are...well...old. Very old.

Georgetown's grading system is also on the Honors/High Pass/etc system, which I personally am not into, but this isn't that big of a deal (i hope). It's also ridiculously expensive. Living in DC is expensive, going out to have fun is expensive, you graduate with an AVERAGE of 212,000 in debt. So I'm thinking...what is ABOVE AVERAGE? Uh oh...

But Georgetown's academic reputation is undeniable. From their match, it's easy to see that their students are highly regarded. They send a ridiculous amount of people into surgery. I'm interested in surgery, and thus, this is awesome!

Plus, I know a couple students who go there, and they're all really happy. They always have fun stuff to do, and I'm sure that if I go there, I will be happy. I may be dirt poor by the time I graduate (actually, not "may" but "will"), but I know I'll enjoy my time while I'm there.

Facilities are kind of a drag. I was unimpressed when I first interviewed too. And I still don't love the library, though it's manageable, and there are other places to study on campus if you need a break every once and a while. Despite being unimpressed at first, the facilities kind of grow on you a bit (or they get less bad). More importantly, the quality of facilities is irrelevant. Sure, it isn't the prettiest place, but it has what you need. And as 5lippy noted, the academic reputation is solid. What I have heard from students, grads of the school, and attendings has been overwhelmingly positive, and they all say that Georgetown prepares you very well academically and clinically. I am also not from the east coast, and every physician I talked to around my hometown was very impressed with Georgetown as well. It really does have a good reputation. And of course the lay reputation is good too (thank you school of foreign service and law school).

The facilities may be overlooked, but the cost cannot be. That is a decision you have to make when you have some choices in hand. Hang on to all acceptances until after March 15th when financial aid comes out. Sure, most schools will be cheaper (especially a state school, and if you want to practice in your state post-med school, there really is no reason to leave). However, once you get a few schools to choose from, Gtown may very well be worth an extra 10-15 grand a year depending on your options but that depends on you. Whether the cost is worth it could also be influenced by your goals, but I would caution you from doing this too much. Sure, you may want to go into a competitive surgical specialty. However, pretty much everyone changes their mind, either because their interests change or their mind is changed for them by grades and Step 1 scores. Admittedly, I am not the best person to talk to when it comes down to cost because I am military, so the cost thing doesn't weigh me down (though my stipend does not go extremely far in DC...).

Glad you guys seemed to at least enjoy your day somewhat, and definitely do not hesitate to give the school another chance if you are accepted.
 
Stop whining. You will make that amount in half a year. Seen a poor surgeon?

In my humble opinion, you're missing the point. At some point debt will cease to be an abstract idea and could become a concrete constraint in almost every aspect of your life.

Whether the cost is worth it could also be influenced by your goals, but I would caution you from doing this too much . Sure, you may want to go into a competitive surgical specialty. However, pretty much everyone changes their mind, either because their interests change or their mind is changed for them by grades and Step 1 scores.

This is part of my reasoning for trying to minimize my debt. I don't want financial burdens affecting my specialty choice. Sure, if I decided to go into cardiothoracic surgery then debt would probably not be a huge issue after I get out of residency. However, since I have yet to make that choice, financial factors will weigh pretty heavily in what school I decide to attend (assuming that I am accepted to more than one, which is not a safe assumption).

One of the family medicine docs I shadowed is 5+ years out of residency and is still >$150k in debt because she went to a school with high COA. Debt has affected her credit, and subsequently the type of house she could afford to buy, her car payments, and even her husband's employment choices. Unfortunately she was one of the few physicians I met who was young enough to have this experience. Several of the EM docs I worked with graduated debt free after paying a GRAND TOTAL of around $5,000 for their medical education in the 80's.
 
Well on a completely different note, jazzed for my interview here next week! Anyone else gonna be there?!
 
I interviewed at Georgetown a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd share a little bit of my experience there.

First of all, everyone went to the "optional" breakfast. It was a great opportunity to chat with current students, as there was a ~1:1 ratio of students to interviewees! After breakfast, we sat in on a lecture, which was actually somewhat monotonous.

Next we were talked to a lot by the admissions staff, most notably by Mrs. Sullivan, who gave us some very honest advice about the application process in general. This was followed by a tour of the medical school by a few 1st and 2nd years, then lunch with students, then a talk by one of the faculty members. Finally, at the very end of the day, we each were interviewed by one person; some people were interviewed by faculty while others were interviewed by an MS4.

Overall, I really liked Georgetown, although it is very expensive. Mrs. Sullivan even told us that we would be better off going to our state schools unless we truly believe in the institutional philosophy of Georgetown (cura personalis).

A couple pieces of advice for prospective applicants:
-We were told that the secondary essays are critical to receiving an interview invite. Mrs. Sullivan basically said that's the only way they can meaningfully differentiate between the applicants in their highly competitive applicant pool.
-The office is receptive to letters of interest, and the can make a difference.
 
I interviewed at Georgetown a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd share a little bit of my experience there.

First of all, everyone went to the "optional" breakfast. It was a great opportunity to chat with current students, as there was a ~1:1 ratio of students to interviewees! After breakfast, we sat in on a lecture, which was actually somewhat monotonous.

Next we were talked to a lot by the admissions staff, most notably by Mrs. Sullivan, who gave us some very honest advice about the application process in general. This was followed by a tour of the medical school by a few 1st and 2nd years, then lunch with students, then a talk by one of the faculty members. Finally, at the very end of the day, we each were interviewed by one person; some people were interviewed by faculty while others were interviewed by an MS4.

Overall, I really liked Georgetown, although it is very expensive. Mrs. Sullivan even told us that we would be better off going to our state schools unless we truly believe in the institutional philosophy of Georgetown (cura personalis).

She impressed me a lot. Very honest and no nonsense.

Sent from my LT28at using SDN Mobile
 
She impressed me a lot. Very honest and no nonsense.

+1. I wish every school had a similar presentation on interview day. It was a refreshing dose of honesty.

A couple pieces of advice for prospective applicants:
-We were told that the secondary essays are critical to receiving an interview invite. Mrs. Sullivan basically said that's the only way they can meaningfully differentiate between the applicants in their highly competitive applicant pool.
-The office is receptive to letters of interest, and the can make a difference.

I remember her saying the bolded and providing some more information about when to send updates. Did she say something about letters sent after the start of the review process being more effective to your interview group?
 
+1. I wish every school had a similar presentation on interview day. It was a refreshing dose of honesty.



I remember her saying the bolded and providing some more information about when to send updates. Did she say something about letters sent after the start of the review process being more effective to your interview group?

She told us that post-interview, very few acceptances are offered; most people are put on the waitlist. Then, they create two pools, one full of applicants who write letters of interest after being waitlisted and a pool of applicants who don't write letters of interest. They fill the rest of their class with people from the first pool and don't really consider people in the second pool.
 
She told us that post-interview, very few acceptances are offered; most people are put on the waitlist. Then, they create two pools, one full of applicants who write letters of interest after being waitlisted and a pool of applicants who don't write letters of interest. They fill the rest of their class with people from the first pool and don't really consider people in the second pool.

Sounds familiar. I specifically recall that she threw out a date (November 15th maybe) when the admissions staff begins going through update letters/LOI's. Does that sound familiar?
 
Does anyone remember who we send the letter if interest to? I remember that you need to attach her (Mrs. Sullivan) but I recall others we needed to send to the letter to as well.
 
Any recent rejections/II? Complete since mid-late August.
 
did they say anything about writing a letter of interest post-interview but before we hear about waitlist/accept/reject?
 
did they say anything about writing a letter of interest post-interview but before we hear about waitlist/accept/reject?

I don't think they did say anything about that. It wouldn't hurt, but at this point I'm going to wait the few weeks until mid-October to see if I am one of the lucky few early acceptances.
 
So just so you all understand the statistics. Without any outside help you will be looking at 300k in debt. A lot of students have their parents helping them out so that brings the debt down to around 200k. But if you are doing this on your own you will be looking at 300k if you take into account tuition and cost of living in DC.
 
So just so you all understand the statistics. Without any outside help you will be looking at 300k in debt. A lot of students have their parents helping them out so that brings the debt down to around 200k. But if you are doing this on your own you will be looking at 300k if you take into account tuition and cost of living in DC.

Actually, if you add the interest of a five-year residency (assuming you make no payments during that time, but even IBR payments will make little difference to the total debt), you're looking at $501k without including the certain increase in tuition. Your interest rate will be just over 7.3% on those loans.

I calculated that based on receiving full COA using only Stafford and Grad PLUS loans.
 
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Actually, if you add the interest of a five-year residency (assuming you make no payments during that time, but even IBR payments will make little difference to the total debt), you're looking at $501k without including the certain increase in tuition. Your interest rate will be just over 7.3% on those loans.

I calculated that based on receiving full COA using only Stafford and Grad PLUS loans.

And to further depress everyone, I went ahead and calculated what your monthly payment would be if you wanted to pay this off in 10 years: just under $6,000/month...

You could take it easy on yourself and repay it over 30 years, in which case you'd "only" be forking over ~$3,500/month...but then you'll end up having paid back about 1.2 million dollars. This is based on unhistoried's estimate of $500,000 of debt after residency and a 7.3% interest rate. Of course, this is a worst-case scenario, but DAYUM!
 
And to further depress everyone, I went ahead and calculated what your monthly payment would be if you wanted to pay this off in 10 years: just under $6,000/month...

You could take it easy on yourself and repay it over 30 years, in which case you'd "only" be forking over ~$3,500/month...but then you'll end up having paid back about 1.2 million dollars. This is based on unhistoried's estimate of $500,000 of debt after residency and a 7.3% interest rate. Of course, this is a worst-case scenario, but DAYUM!

Give me back my ignorant optimism!
 
Are the LOIs/update letters only good post interview? Or can we send them before getting an II? If we do, will they be looked at or only the secondary essays?
 
Just for all of your information, I sent an "in the area" email today (will be in Cleveland at the end of October) and the admissions staff was really nice about it. They responded within a couple of hours and told me they would try to get me a decision soon. Fingers crossed!
 
Clearly I posted the above in the wrong thread. My apologies.
 
This might have already been asked before, but does G'town have a place for luggage at the interview?
 
Has anyone sent an 'in the area' email to Georgetown with success? I'm planning a trip out from California and I'm just wondering if they'll be receptive. Thanks!
 
Has anyone sent an 'in the area' email to Georgetown with success? I'm planning a trip out from California and I'm just wondering if they'll be receptive. Thanks!

I don't think it will hurt...it could get them to re-open your file. Who knows. Best of luck!
 
So just so you all understand the statistics. Without any outside help you will be looking at 300k in debt. A lot of students have their parents helping them out so that brings the debt down to around 200k. But if you are doing this on your own you will be looking at 300k if you take into account tuition and cost of living in DC.

Actually, if you add the interest of a five-year residency (assuming you make no payments during that time, but even IBR payments will make little difference to the total debt), you're looking at $501k without including the certain increase in tuition. Your interest rate will be just over 7.3% on those loans.

I calculated that based on receiving full COA using only Stafford and Grad PLUS loans.

And to further depress everyone, I went ahead and calculated what your monthly payment would be if you wanted to pay this off in 10 years: just under $6,000/month...

You could take it easy on yourself and repay it over 30 years, in which case you'd "only" be forking over ~$3,500/month...but then you'll end up having paid back about 1.2 million dollars. This is based on unhistoried's estimate of $500,000 of debt after residency and a 7.3% interest rate. Of course, this is a worst-case scenario, but DAYUM!

Just looking at the worse case scenario-- it's not at all worth it if you don't get outside help/scholarships/"free money"....just my personal opinion, so for all those ready to jump on my back---sorry?
 
Complete 7/30, still waiting. 😕

😕 <--- I think this emote describes my entire experience this cycle so far. haha
 
Complete 7/30, still waiting. 😕

😕 <--- I think this emote describes my entire experience this cycle so far. haha

The med school application process is endlessly confusing. 🙂 In your case, perhaps a letter of interest might give your application a little nudge towards an interview invite? The impression I got on my interview day at Georgetown is that as long as you have demonstrated some academic capability (which it looks like you have based on MDApps), your essays/letters will carry you the rest of the way. Good luck! :luck:
 
The med school application process is endlessly confusing. 🙂 In your case, perhaps a letter of interest might give your application a little nudge towards an interview invite? The impression I got on my interview day at Georgetown is that as long as you have demonstrated some academic capability (which it looks like you have based on MDApps), your essays/letters will carry you the rest of the way. Good luck! :luck:

Thanks! I hope you're right. 🙂 I sent them a letter of interest a little over a week ago, so I'll give it a little more time. I just feel like I've been getting a whole lot of the silent treatment. haha
 
OOS /cGPA 3.7/ sGPA 3.45/ 31S

I did TFA and I'm teaching a 3rd year, a lot of ECs and work with diverse populations; I love their philosophy of cura personalis- really connected well with my PS.

Complete: 8/27
II : 9/14
Interview scheduled for 12/13 (was the earliest slot available when I signed up!)

Good luck to those of you still waiting to hear back.
 
Does anyone know how safe the metros are? I would prefer not to cab it in rush hour if possible. Also, how reliable are they at around 3-5PM? Do they come very often? Thanks!
 
OOS /cGPA 3.7/ sGPA 3.45/ 31S

I did TFA and I'm teaching a 3rd year, a lot of ECs and work with diverse populations; I love their philosophy of cura personalis- really connected well with my PS.

Complete: 8/27
II : 9/14
Interview scheduled for 12/13 (was the earliest slot available when I signed up!)

Good luck to those of you still waiting to hear back.

congrats with the interview invite! good luck! :luck::luck::luck:
 
Does anyone know how safe the metros are? I would prefer not to cab it in rush hour if possible. Also, how reliable are they at around 3-5PM? Do they come very often? Thanks!

I have never had a problem with safety while riding the metro. They typically arrive every 5-10 minutes or so, but delays seem to happen at the most inconvenient times haha.

Not sure about the specifics for 3-5PM range.
 
I have had my secondary submitted since 9/14, but still not complete. Their email says it takes 10 business days to complete. Anyone else have this problem or know what to do? Thanks so much in advance!
 
Does anyone know how safe the metros are? I would prefer not to cab it in rush hour if possible. Also, how reliable are they at around 3-5PM? Do they come very often? Thanks!

DC metro is safe, but I wouldn't use it to get to Georgetown. I would just take a cab because Georgetown is pretty far from all metro stations.

I live in DC, right next to the red line, but I am still going to get a ride to Georgetown on my interview day to be safe.
 
DC metro is safe, but I wouldn't use it to get to Georgetown. I would just take a cab because Georgetown is pretty far from all metro stations.

I live in DC, right next to the red line, but I am still going to get a ride to Georgetown on my interview day to be safe.

Yeah, unlike the subway systems in many cities, the DC Metro is actually really nice, and in general is pretty timely. However, like GreyEarl said above, there is no Metro stop near Georgetown. If you want to get as close as possible to cut down on the expense of a taxi, I think Foggy Bottom is the closest stop to the school of medicine.
 
Yeah, unlike the subway systems in many cities, the DC Metro is actually really nice, and in general is pretty timely. However, like GreyEarl said above, there is no Metro stop near Georgetown. If you want to get as close as possible to cut down on the expense of a taxi, I think Foggy Bottom is the closest stop to the school of medicine.

I took the free GUTS bus from Dupont Circle. It's right by the stop.
 
I took the free GUTS bus from Dupont Circle. It's right by the stop.

I took GUTS from Rosslyn and it worked out fine, although I was only commuting to my student hosts, so timing wasn't particularly important. Had it been the morning of the interview I probably would have taken a taxi.
 
For what it's worth to anyone in the same boat, I did send an 'in the area' email to Georgetown, but it appears to have entered a black hole. I sent it three days ago with no response, so I'm guessing they're not receptive. Oh well, I hope it doesn't hurt to have tried!
 
In my humble opinion, you're missing the point. At some point debt will cease to be an abstract idea and could become a concrete constraint in almost every aspect of your life.



This is part of my reasoning for trying to minimize my debt. I don't want financial burdens affecting my specialty choice. Sure, if I decided to go into cardiothoracic surgery then debt would probably not be a huge issue after I get out of residency. However, since I have yet to make that choice, financial factors will weigh pretty heavily in what school I decide to attend (assuming that I am accepted to more than one, which is not a safe assumption).

One of the family medicine docs I shadowed is 5+ years out of residency and is still >$150k in debt because she went to a school with high COA. Debt has affected her credit, and subsequently the type of house she could afford to buy, her car payments, and even her husband's employment choices. Unfortunately she was one of the few physicians I met who was young enough to have this experience. Several of the EM docs I worked with graduated debt free after paying a GRAND TOTAL of around $5,000 for their medical education in the 80's.
I went to school full time and worked 30-40 hours a week to support myself during my undergrad, so I know financial strains. However, 300k is a good investment for an education from Gtown. Well, for each person that thinks Gtown is too expensive, there will be one who thinks that it is worthy. Happy applying!!!
 
I have had my secondary submitted since 9/14, but still not complete. Their email says it takes 10 business days to complete. Anyone else have this problem or know what to do? Thanks so much in advance!
Me too, not completed yet.

I just found a very strange thing, I login back to the secondary application and it shows the application status is 'not submitted' ?! Well, I submitted it weeks ago and received a 'secondary submitted' email as well. Does anyone have the same issue?
 
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