Emory OR Med College of GA

[Johnisit1234]

Just wondering what people thought. I liked Emory, but am not sure if it is worth the money. Thoughts welcome on med college of georgia vs. emory. What are pros/cons of each? or any thoughts in general. Is Emory's reputation worth it?

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[pbehzad]

Emory all the way. Grady is worth it, you won't get better clinicals than Grady. I spoke with a friend that was in a similar dilemma. He said if he wants to live in Georgia long-term then he would go to MCG because of all the connections. However, if he wants to go to another state, he would choose Emory since it is known nationally.

Congrats on both acceptances.

Oh yeah, Augusta vs Atl. Hands down you want to be in the Atl, the heart of the South.

 

[Johnisit1234]

Well, I would like to stay in Georgia. however, i'm not sure what exactly i want to specialize in. i may want to do emer. medicine or maybe something more specialized, so i was think Emory would be better.... do you really think if i'd like to stay in geogia, i should go to mcg? thanks.

 

[DrJ2B]

I think he meant that if you go to MCG then you will more than likely end up in Georgia for residency and you will probably stay and practice in Georgia. Going to Emory does not exclude that. It only opens doors for you elsewhere in the US. If you decided to go to Emory, you will have a great chance to get a residency in Georgia but you would have greater opportunities should you want to leave Georgia or the South. Emory will definitely open more doors for you without closing any. If you are considering EM, then Atlanta and Grady would be great. Atlanta has such a diverse population and since it is a big city, you will be exposed to so much more. The extra cost is worth it IMHO. It opens doors if you want to do a competitive residency or academic medicine. However, the key factor is at which school would you be happier? I think Emory wins in terms of location, residency opportunities, clinical training/opportunities, and basically everything else. I am not very familiar with MCG but I can tell you that Emory will not shut any doors for you. Congrats on your acceptances and good luck deciding. Go to the 2nd look weekends if each school has it. Talk to students and get a feel for the schools.

 

[CalBeE]

Definitely Emory, it's worth the $$$

 

[maswe12]

I dont think any doors for you are shut at MCG either. Choose the place where you think you can excel. if the environment at MCG is better go there, if emory is better go there. I dont know anything about MCG but I wasnt too impressed by emory. I liked having Grady as well as Emory hospital, but i didnt like the school too much. I didnt think the match list was any better than my state school. Another thing to consider is that more kids from MCG are from Georgia and will want to remain in Georgia for their residency--so if the match list isnt filled with big name "national" residencies that emory's is, its probably because more kids at emory look nationally and MCGers look instate.

Grady is an awesome hospital and you will see things there that you wont see at 95% of other med schools. I personally think thats better for residency but if thats what you want in your med school, you cant get any better than grady.

 

[meanderson]

I've spent a long time studying each school's match lists over the last few years and it isn't quite the slam dunk I thought it would be. Emory had 28 matches(about 25% of class) that could be described as "really competitive". The rest ranged from noncompetitive to good matches. The thing that was a little troubling about emory's match list is the number of IM and peds matches that aren't at top 30 programs. If I'm going to shell out an extra $100,000, I would like to know that if I go into IM or peds I will at least get into a program the caliber of Emory, Vandy, UVA, etc.



I think the top 20% of MCG's match list is approximately equal to the 15th-35th percentile of Emory's matchlist. Not an insignificant difference, but not exactly a huge difference either. 40-45% of emory's class does stay in georgia for residency every year, with most of these staying at emory.

Answering the poll question all depends on the price difference. If it's less than 60k in tuition I'm picking emory. I think I'd have a much cooler experience there and would be much happier. ~100k and I just don't see how it's worth it.

 

[meanderson]

Another thing....while these polls are interesting, I don't think they are very representative of the thought process of students who actually make these decisions.

If I were responding to a poll "University of Oklahoma or Northwestern", I'd probably pick Northwestern. I don't know anything about the University of Oklahoma because I know they give heavy preferance to state residents. But I know a little bit about NU because I thought about applying there. Oklahoma residents would be far more likely to pick Oklahoma because they can see themselves making that decision, and they can see the financial ramifications of it.

Same with this question. It's obvious that Emory will destroy MCG, but in the real world it never works out like that. Of the people actually accepted to both, it's pretty close. And that doesn't include all the outstanding applicants who go to MCG through EDP. I just wish I didn't like emory so much........

There are a few other states with similar situations. Do most people in Ohio pick OSU or Case?

 

[pbehzad]

I say Emory because one I go to undergrad there, but two because Grady is awesome place to do clinicals. I have shadowed numerous doctors at Grady and have completely fallen inlove with Emory's med school just because of Grady.
I'm not trying to take anything away from MCG, because its a great school, but at the end of the day can you see yourself living in Augusta for 4 years? MCG students do have clinicals in Atl at Atlanta Medical Center which I'm sure you see alot of things there too.
I think also if prestige is a important, then you should go to Emory. At the end of the day, Emory runs the healthcare system of Atlanta. Furthermore, you will be with some top notch profs at Emory compared to MCG (not trying to take anything away from quality of education). If you are more interested in urban medicine which through ER medicine would indicate it, then i think Emory is the better choice.

Good luck!

 

[closertofine]

Emory, hands-down. I've lived in Georgia for 22 out of my 23 years, and I definitely get the impression that Emory has more resources, a wider variety of activities, much more name recognition if that's what you're looking for...but I do have to follow that with the fact that I've never even visited MCG. Still, from what I've heard from students going to both schools, I would definitely pick Emory.

But that's just my opinion...I know money can be a big issue...that's actually why I didn't even apply to MCG...because I knew if I got in, my parents would pressure me to go there over another school because it's cheaper...and I didn't want to go there. Not that it's a horrible school, because I don't think it is...I've just heard it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and while it is good for primary care, it is not so strong in the specialties or research.

 

[closertofine]

Oh, I wanted to add, I recently talked with a girl I went to high school with, who is now an Emory Med second-year...she said that the trauma cases at Grady can be overwhelming...that she saw gunshot wound after gunshot wound...I'm not sure how accurate that is, but that did scare me a little bit. It would definitely be good experience, but if you feel you would rather not work in an urban area, maybe MCG wouldn't be such a bad choice.

 

[meanderson]

Everyone has a different perspective on cities and towns. To me middle of nowhere means some of the smaller towns in south georgia. To others Atlanta represents the middle of nowhere.

The metro Augusta area(Richmond/Columbia county) has about 400,000 people and is the second most populated area in Georgia. But I guess that may say more about Georgia than anything else

One thing not mentioned is academic medicine. If you know you want academic medicine, then Emory would probably be the better choice. But simply knowing you want to match into a semi-competitive residency wouldn't eliminate either MCG or Emory.....one match list really isn't more primary care oriented than the other. Most allopathic state school match lists aren't all that primary care oriented in general. Overall, MCG's IM matches probably aren't as good which might indicate emory students are more interested in subspecialization later on, but going to emory because of it's reputation over MCG just isn't sufficient...for me at least. Go because you like the school better and view the extra $$ as a price for this.

 

[Taleof50]

it depends on what you want, Johnisit1234. Both schools are very good, with Emory having the edge on reputation. What you need to decide for yourself is what place would you be happier at? If you want to go into something like derm or ortho, maybe going to Emory would help in terms of name recognition.

Someone commented above that Emory's match list isn't all too great. Realize for this that close to half of Emory's students are Georgia residents and may want to remain in Georgia for their residencies. Close to 40% of last years class remained at Emory for residency and this could be because of recognition, because they liked Emory, because they wanted to stay in geogia, among other reasons.

MCG doesn't post their match list (if anyone has it online, please post!), but it's nothing to be ashamed at, at all. From what they told us at the interviews, the majority do remain in Georgia -- they have some sense of GA loyalty. I'm assuming many probably end up going to Emory or staying at MCG for their residencies.

Truthfully, I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. While Emory seems to be killing the poll above, meanderson's comment about it is true. If the pricetag isn't important to you and you're not interested in academic medicine, choose the school you'll be happier at, or that you got the 'best' feel for.

 

[Johnisit1234]

bump

 

[Radiohead]

I was in the same situation exactly 2 years ago. Emory does have a nice name, I'll give you that. But do you really want to be 150-200k in debt just for a better chance at a most-likely lower paying job in academic medicine. That is not saying that Emory won't prepare you to be a good clinician....but

Anyway, if you can't already figure it out...I picked MCG over Emory. I have to admit, I was wary at first. But now, I can't be happier about my decision. Let me list the benefits of MCG:
1)COST, obvious
2)the students are much much friendlier (less gunner action, but you still find the occasional AK-47 at MCG
3)way less competition than at Emory
4)Augusta is not that bad
5)People can match WHEREVER and in WHATEVER they want
6)AWESOME, challenging medical education
7)an MD is an MD for God sakes, why spend the extra cash??
8)I've heard from independent MD's that MCG grads are equally if not better prepared in the clinic
9)I could go all day but I have a medical class formal to go to...oh yeah, we have a social life here...we are a very fun class.

PM me with any specific Q's ...sorry for any diehard Emory folks, i am just happy with my decision.

 

[Sweet Tea]

THis is second-hand, but my best friend picked MCG over Emory (and she's even from augusta and really didn't want to stay in town) and she's never regretted it. She's a M3 now and is looking to do residencies outside of GA.

What are you interested in? Do you want to do research and live in an urban environment? Go to Emory. Do you want a smaller class, lots of in-state connections, and an easy debt to pay off? Go to MCG.

Either way, you'll get a great education.

 

[Radiohead]

Actually, MCG's entering class is around 180 where Emory's is ~100. And about the curriculum, MCG is totally revamping the way the 1st and 2nd year classes are run. They are going to an integrated/organ systems approach. It sounds pretty cool.

 

[Johnisit1234]

I know a lot of us are in this position right now, deciding between Emory and MCG.

Radiohead, you mentioned that MCG students may be better prepared for the clinics. Do you not the think the exposure and training that Grady would give would prepare me? Do you not think it's worth it?
I know that MCG students can rotate through Atlanta Medical Center, but I wanted to know what you thought about this compared to Grady.

I am not sure what I want to do in terms of medicine. I do want to be a clinician but am not sure if I want to go into primary care or into something more specialized. I am interested in research, but I know I would be able to do research at both schools, as MCG is trying to incorporate more research into the school. I was just thinking that if I did want to go into something more specialized, Emory would help me there.

I'm not sure yet. Thanks for the input - any more info is appreciated!

thanks.

 

[meanderson]

Originally posted by Sweet Tea

What are you interested in? Do you want to do research and live in an urban environment? Go to Emory. Do you want a smaller class, lots of in-state connections, and an easy debt to pay off? Go to MCG.

Either way, you'll get a great education. [/B]

MCG is actually one of the largest med schools in the nation(7th or 8th largest I think). It's much bigger than emory, and my take from interview day was that Emory's students were a much closer group than MCG's. But that was just my one day impression....

 

[ermonty]

Hey gang. Im an MS1 @ MCG. I had a similar decision of MCG Vs Emory, except I was Emory Vs Univ. of Virgina (def. a GREAT name). But for me it came down to cost. If you want to go into primary care you can always get funding, but I WANT ORTHO! So, the question became: UVA = great name and 250K+ in debt, or MCG = good name and 100K in debt. The decision became easier as I thought about it. Actually the tougher decision for me, and you probably won't believe this, was b/t MCG and Mercer. I loved Mercer's social environment/class size. During my first semester at MCG, I remember thinking on several occasions, SH-- I shoulda went to Mercer! I just don't like to large class size of MCG. I went to two small state schools and I work best in groups less than 20 people. Cosequently, I don't go to class here, and just study the information by myself and with a couple of close friends. In the end I chose MCG b/c: 1)tuition, 2)I want Ortho, and MCG has a great Ortho dept./residency prog., 3)MCG rep.
Good luck everyone, and make the decision thats BEST FOR YOU!

Monty

 

[meanderson]

But that's just my opinion...I know money can be a big issue...that's actually why I didn't even apply to MCG...because I knew if I got in, my parents would pressure me to go there over another school because it's cheaper...and I didn't want to go there. Not that it's a horrible school, because I don't think it is...I've just heard it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and while it is good for primary care, it is not so strong in the specialties or research.

I'm not totally disagreeing with your assessment, but emory had as many primary care matches as MCG over the last two years( much less than 50% for each , and for both schools I'm not including top 40 IM programs as primary care)

Despite what some think, MCG isn't the georgia school devoted to primary care. That would be mercer. MCG isn't a school known for primary care.

 

[SunnyS81]

This is so wierd...

1) One of my pharm professors and one of our anatomy professors spent time at MCG. I have yet to meet a faculty member from Emory on staff here. Could be geographic. Sort of just strange....
2) Grady is well known. When I mention it by name, doctors know about it.
3) When I was applying to med school, most the emory kids told me it wasn't worth the money because they couldn't afford to go into primary care.
4) Emory is half Georgia folk, so they along with the MCG folk are more likely to stay local. 40% staying at Emory is really high though. A bit too high in my opinion. From my observations (meeting doctors in practice) it seems that Emory tends to be incestual (undergrad, med, IM, fellows all at emory).
5) Can you survive augusta?
6) If you want to go into private practice, go to MCG most likely. If you want to go into academics, go to Emory.

Tough call. There will be at least one really cool guy in emory's class of 2008, don't know about MCG.