2013-2014 Georgetown University Application Thread

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PistolPete3 said:
Hi HamsterHuey I interviewed on 12/19 as well. Still have not heard, but I am pretty sure they are just behind on getting out the decisions. Hopefully we will here back in the next few days. Good luck!
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Thanks PistolePete3... yeah, we'll see. Still haven't heard anything, but hope you have some good luck!
 
Another quick question (sorry, for spamming this forum)- do you guys know if Georgetown organizes a 'second look' event?
 
I think I read on their website it'll be sometime in early April.
 
I also didn't get an email, but just checked the portal and was rejected =\
Interviewed 1/6
3.6/3.3 sGPA, 31 (10/11/10)

It looks like many decisions went out yesterday on the portal.

Pretty surprised I wasn't even wait listed, but oh well, at least I have an acceptance at my first choice school to buffer this decision! =P Good luck to everyone else.
 
Well, I was rejected. Probably the hardest thing I have ever encountered. That was the last place for my fiance and I to live together and now we have at least 4 years apart. I'm completely torn up about this. I thought the interview went well
 
HamsterHuey said:
Well, I was rejected. Probably the hardest thing I have ever encountered. That was the last place for my fiance and I to live together and now we have at least 4 years apart. I'm completely torn up about this. I thought the interview went well
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I'm so sorry to hear that.. 🙁
 
Hoping any current students can comment a little more on the grading format.

1.) I know that grading here isn't P/F, but what kind of curve is used? A bell curve?
2.) Do you tend to be tested on a lot of minutae, or are classes more geared towards Step 1 preparation?
3.) On that note, how useful do you find outside study sources like Firecracker and First Aid to study and prepare for exams during the school year?

Thanks!
 
Sorry to hear that Huey. I was wait-listed myself. I am sure it will all work out in the end. DC is always an easy city to visit for a long weekend and between third and fourth year rotations it might be easier than you think to stay close.
 
PistolPete3 said:
Sorry to hear that Huey. I was wait-listed myself. I am sure it will all work out in the end. DC is always an easy city to visit for a long weekend and between third and fourth year rotations it might be easier than you think to stay close.
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Thanks Pete - Just have to work with the cards we're dealt. I was talking to some other med students and they keyed in on the fact that I didn't send a follow-up letter after my interview. I am kicking myself for that and wonder if that could have anything to do with the result? I really enjoyed the campus visit and the interview... and I really felt after the interview that I had a very good chance of acceptance. I'm trying to figure out where I messed up, so that, if nothing else, I don't do it again in the future. Got to move forward, though, as hard as it all is.
 
HamsterHuey said:
Thanks Pete - Just have to work with the cards we're dealt. I was talking to some other med students and they keyed in on the fact that I didn't send a follow-up letter after my interview. I am kicking myself for that and wonder if that could have anything to do with the result? I really enjoyed the campus visit and the interview... and I really felt after the interview that I had a very good chance of acceptance. I'm trying to figure out where I messed up, so that, if nothing else, I don't do it again in the future. Got to move forward, though, as hard as it all is.
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When you say letter, do you mean an update letter and/or thank you cards? I know they accept LOI after decisions are made.
 
general987 said:
When you say letter, do you mean an update letter and/or thank you cards? I know they accept LOI after decisions are made.
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Hi general - No, just a follow-up/thank-you letter post interview. I have heard that at several schools these letters are important (at least according to some medical students I have spoken with). Maybe that isn't correct, but if I had sent a follow-up letter after the interview, at least I would know that it wasn't the reason.
 
HamsterHuey said:
Hi general - No, just a follow-up/thank-you letter post interview. I have heard that at several schools these letters are important (at least according to some medical students I have spoken with). Maybe that isn't correct, but if I had sent a follow-up letter after the interview, at least I would know that it wasn't the reason.
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So you didn't send a thank you card. Sorry I'm like really nervous about anything related to Georgetown :/
 
general987 said:
So you didn't send a thank you card. Sorry I'm like really nervous about anything related to Georgetown :/
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I didn't send a thank-you note to Georgetown and I was wait-listed, not rejected. My interview also went a little less ideal than I would have liked (read: confrontational). So a lack of a thank-you note and/or a bad interview isn't necessarily going to guarantee that you will be rejected. And tons of people get in off the wait-list, especially after sending LOIs. So don't give up til it's over! 🙂
 
Sending a thank you letter will have absolutely zero effect on your application at any school. It's just a common courtesy. Additionally I believe they only told us to send an LOI if we were on the waitlist. Don't second guess yourself, just because you were waitlisted. It doesn't mean you're a bad candidate. Maybe they just didn't think you were a good fit or they didn't believe you valued something that is very important to them.

On a side note I am also on the waitlist so I know how it feels. Apparently Georgetown has a lot of movement so there's that.
 
GreatBrono7 said:
Sending a thank you letter will have absolutely zero effect on your application at any school. It's just a common courtesy. Additionally I believe they only told us to send an LOI if we were on the waitlist. Don't second guess yourself, just because you were waitlisted. It doesn't mean you're a bad candidate. Maybe they just didn't think you were a good fit or they didn't believe you valued something that is very important to them.

On a side note I am also on the waitlist so I know how it feels. Apparently Georgetown has a lot of movement so there's that.
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That's definitely not true for georgetown. Mrs. Sullivan flat out told our group that the admissions office gets the thank you notes and looks at them. She said there are "different degrees" of thank you notes. So I suggest you put considerable effort into this thank you note if you want to make a good impression!
 
snowwhat said:
That's definitely not true for georgetown. Mrs. Sullivan flat out told our group that the admissions office gets the thank you notes and looks at them. She said there are "different degrees" of thank you notes. So I suggest you put considerable effort into this thank you note if you want to make a good impression!
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I believe she said the same thing to us in that if we send a thank you note, it must go through her and not our interviewer directly because it will also be added to our file for when the committee reviews our file for admission.
 
Didn't send a thank you note, and was accepted. I honestly meant to, but just forgot with all of the traveling and such I was doing.
 
I can understand Georgetown wanting a letter if you're on the waitlist because it can be used to gauge interest, but penalizing every person who doesn't send a thank you note is a bit petty. I sent a thank you letter but I wanted to specifically thank my interviewer for his time, not to write a full LOI.

Secondly if this is something that is expected and instructions aren't clear, many students may be penalized and not even know why.
 
GreatBrono7 said:
I can understand Georgetown wanting a letter if you're on the waitlist because it can be used to gauge interest, but penalizing every person who doesn't send a thank you note is a bit petty. I sent a thank you letter but I wanted to specifically thank my interviewer for his time, not to write a full LOI.

Secondly if this is something that is expected and instructions aren't clear, many students may be penalized and not even know why.
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You're arguing that admissions should be fair. It's definitely not. They look at EVERYTHING in your file and try to find minuscule ways to differentiate you from everyone else with a 3.6/32 and 150hrs clinical. It sucks, but this is how the professional world works - everything counts.
 
Pose said:
Hoping any current students can comment a little more on the grading format.

1.) I know that grading here isn't P/F, but what kind of curve is used? A bell curve?
top ~10% = Honors
next ~15-20% = High Pass
two S.D. below the average = Low Pass (just used as a "warning". Doesn't even go on your transcript)
Below 65% = fail
Everyone else gets Pass
2.) Do you tend to be tested on a lot of minutae, or are classes more geared towards Step 1 preparation?
I'd say more geared toward Step 1 prep.
3.) On that note, how useful do you find outside study sources like Firecracker and First Aid to study and prepare for exams during the school year?
People just use lecture material and sometimes the additional textbook resources the professor recommends (although it's usually just Gray's). I don't know of anyone that uses outside study sources to study for class...
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another snow day = another day of waiting.
 
Pose said:
Didn't send a thank you note, and was accepted. I honestly meant to, but just forgot with all of the traveling and such I was doing.
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also forgot to send a thank you note but got accepted
 
Do you just send a letter of interest via the Secondary Application Portal? Or should it simply be sent to the admissions office?
 
ej21 said:
another snow day = another day of waiting.
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GUSOM is still interviewing through March 10, so the waiting would probably continue regardless of snow days :penguin:
 
DChef said:
GUSOM is still interviewing through March 10, so the waiting would probably continue regardless of snow days :penguin:
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i appreciate that you used a penguin sad face. 🙂
 
ej21 said:
i appreciate that you used a penguin sad face. 🙂
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The office said they are about two weeks behind schedule - so we should get answers around the 3rd week of April :wow: Worth it.
 
DChef said:
The office said they are about two weeks behind schedule - so we should get answers around the 3rd week of April :wow: Worth it.
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Third week of april decision for which interview dates? I interviewed February 20th :/
 
general987 said:
Third week of april decision for which interview dates? I interviewed February 20th :/
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The final batch - so if you don't hear for a long time and it's April, they didn't forget about you, they're just several weeks behind from both snow and mainly volume of applications this year.
 
DChef said:
The final batch - so if you don't hear for a long time and it's April, they didn't forget about you, they're just several weeks behind from both snow and mainly volume of applications this year.
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That bites :/
 
Did anyone else feel weird about the fact that the hospital is owned by a non-Georgetown company, or that the SOM is basically held hostage by the undergrad campus, especially in building projects? I know an education is much more than buildings, but something feels off when the library can't even repaint without undergrad campus permission and needs to raise money through parents like a middle school PTA. The curriculum and clerkships all seemed great though, especially moving away from curve grading (though honors, high, regular, and low pass then fail is about the same anyways). Anyone else have similar feelings?
 
Agnieszka020 said:
Another quick question (sorry, for spamming this forum)- do you guys know if Georgetown organizes a 'second look' event?
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Pose said:
I think I read on their website it'll be sometime in early April.
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April 11, 2014, is Second Look, even though they won't be done with total first round admissions until after that. Per AAMC Traffic Rules, they do need to at least have accepted the number of seats they have available by the end of March though.

http://som.georgetown.edu/prospectivestudents/degrees/md/acceptedstudents/secondlookday

Edit: Spelling
 
DChef said:
Did anyone else feel weird about the fact that the hospital is owned by a non-Georgetown company, or that the SOM is basically held hostage by the undergrad campus, especially in building projects? I know an education is much more than buildings, but something feels off when the library can't even repaint without undergrad campus permission and needs to raise money through parents like a middle school PTA. The curriculum and clerkships all seemed great though, especially moving away from curve grading (though honors, high, regular, and low pass then fail is about the same anyways). Anyone else have similar feelings?
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They are moving away from the curved grading system? This is the first I'm hearing about this. Can anyone say more?
 
mississippi1121 said:
They are moving away from the curved grading system? This is the first I'm hearing about this. Can anyone say more?
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Students said they had Honors Pass (top 10%), High Pass (next 10-15%), Pass down to two Std deviations below the mean, which is the Fail level. Low Pass is a warning just above two std deviations below the mean. So it's still curved, and there are so many levels that it's basically grading with Honors an A, High Pass a B, Pass a C, Low Pass a D/Warning (Low Pass only noted as Pass on transcript), and Fail. Definitely NOT straight pass/fail.
 
DChef said:
Students said they had Honors Pass (top 10%), High Pass (next 10-15%), Pass down to two Std deviations below the mean, which is the Fail level. Low Pass is a warning just above two std deviations below the mean. So it's still curved, and there are so many levels that it's basically grading with Honors an A, High Pass a B, Pass a C, Low Pass a D/Warning (Low Pass only noted as Pass on transcript), and Fail. Definitely NOT straight pass/fail.
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Gotcha @DChef made it sound like they were changing that, which would be awesome haha but I guess I misunderstood. Thanks for explaining!
 
mississippi1121 said:
Gotcha @DChef made it sound like they were changing that, which would be awesome haha but I guess I misunderstood. Thanks for explaining!
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I do wish it were purely P/F, but even the levels are a little less stressful than seeing a C or something I guess!
 
Accepted! Phone call from the school at 930am PST to be followed by a letter. Interviewed on 1/13. Good luck everyone.
 
Cap'ed today. Not too surprised. I didn't think that my interview went that well, not that it was bad, just not nearly as good as my previous ones. Guess it's time to write an LOI! Good luck to everyone else who hears back soon!!
 
Wait listed yesterday. Interviewed 2/10. Will not be pursuing. Good luck to everyone!
 
rsc25 said:
Wait listed yesterday. Interviewed 2/10. Will not be pursuing. Good luck to everyone!
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you interviewed 2/10 or did you interview 1/10 and make a mistake? i interviewed before that in feb and haven't heard anything
 
guitar2022 said:
you interviewed 2/10 or did you interview 1/10 and make a mistake? i interviewed before that in feb and haven't heard anything
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Monday, Feb. 10th. No news could be good news! 🙂 GL!
 
Re-applicant here. I interviewed last cycle and was CAPed
This cycle: complete july 2013, interviewed aug 2013
CAPed again! on late oct.
Really hoping for an acceptance here...why would they interview me again if they were not interested?? Both times, my interviewers said I did a great job
>3.9 s/c GPA, 30 MCAT
 
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Tri723 said:
Re-applicant here. I interviewed last cycle and was CAPed
This cycle: complete july 2013, interviewed aug 2013
CAPed again! on late oct.
Really hoping for an acceptance here...why would they interview me again if they were not interested?? Both times, my interviewers said I did a great job
>3.9 s/c GPA, 30 MCAT
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I hear ya. I'm in the same position and very similar stats. I remember when Donna said in her interview day talk that something like "only 70 outta the 1000 we interview don't matriculate somewhere. So congratulations, you'll be a doctor!" Would rather not be on the losing end of that statistic two years in a row haha. I know they didn't take a whole lot off the CAP last year and haven't taken many this year, so hopefully it picks up. Really hope they'd take at least a few before Second Look Day.
 
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