George Washington post-interview opinions?

[Adcadet]

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Hey all -
first, greetings to those I met at GW on Halloween, and good luck!

I was wondering if we could start a discussion on what people thing of GW after they interview. What did you like, what did you dislike?


For me, I really didn't like the whole first year sitting in a classroom for 8 hours three days a week. I also didn't feel very comfortable in the histology/pathology microscope lecture hall. GW seems pretty behind technologically, too.

However, there did seem to be a few nice things about GW - the large Practice of Medicine course and the early emphasis on teaching students to be clinicians. Also, the new hospital looks pretty spiffy.

 

[DW]

too farking expensive. not so much the tuiton, though, to be exepcted from a private school. dont get me wrong, i love DC, but they had no student housing and they were pretty much "you're on your own". so its either spend 1500 a month for a tiny one bed nearby, or get a reasonably priced place in VA and chug it onto the metro everyday. not cool, especially during rotations

i liked the new hospital, and the early patient contact, though. and even though its expensive, gotta love DC

 

[Pinki]

I worry about the tuition and facilities, too. Are any of you concerned about reputation? I read on one post it was considered the "party school" of med schools. Geesh - I already got my undergrad at a party school, do I need another degree in debauchery?

I haven't interviewed yet - invited to GWU for late November. Looking forward to being in DC, nonetheless!

 

[Adcadet]

I haven't heard it called a party schools. I think US News ranked them somewhere in the 45-50 spot, but this year they don't make the top 50. Not that USN is the endall. But still - I'm not sure it's worth $55k/year to attend a school that is considered a party school.

 

[zer0el]

I interviewed in late September, and looking at the other schools that I have interviewed at so far, GWU doesn't compare favorably. The curriculum seems like overkill (9-5 vs. getting out at noon at CWRU and Northwestern), the students looked exhausted, the facilities weren't that great, and the living situation seemed to suck. However, they're in DC and they just got a spanking new hospital, so those factors will probably be big draws.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by zer0el
I interviewed in late September, and looking at the other schools that I have interviewed at so far, GWU doesn't compare favorably. The curriculum seems like overkill (9-5 vs. getting out at noon at CWRU and Northwestern), the students looked exhausted, the facilities weren't that great, and the living situation seemed to suck. However, they're in DC and they just got a spanking new hospital, so those factors will probably be big draws.

I gotta agree with you on the curriculum part. 9-5 MWF? Ug!


Anybody else have a comment?

 

[nitemagi]

adcadet- I was there with you on halloween. Still wondering why no one went in costume. I was the guy with the long hair. Anyways, yeah the hospital looked nice, and I had a helluva nice guy for an interviewer. As for the curriculum, the 9-5-- did that include anatomy? If so, that's pretty common across med schools. As for the day as a whole, some really nice opinions, some not so(the tour guy was nice but I felt like he was lecturing to us). Weirdness. Expenses are just a fact unless you go to a state school. I'm trying to let go of that resistance. Bygones. What I particularly didn't like was only seeing the hospital on the tour(I cut out early, so I guess that's my fault). So overall mixed opinions, but nothing to in any way rule it out. It'll all come down to what choices we have in the end, y'know?

 

[serge23]

Three things I like about GW:
1) Spanking brand new hospital
2) Practice of Medicine
3) DC

three things I didnt like about GW:
1) No housing provided. Basically, you are on your own. Compiled wth the fact that DC is an expensive place.

2) One of the most expensive Private schools. GW's tuition is like $36,00 while Cornell and NYU are $30,00. A $6,000 difference.

3)The lack of financial aid they offer. They dont have much funds for student.

Just my opinion....

 

[phinicky]

I'm a MS I at GW. I don't quite understand where you are coming from with some of your comments. Many schools will you in class from 9-5... Just the way it is. But, you aren't realy in class that entire time. There's 4 hours scheduled for lecture, and another 4 scheduled lab (all of which are rarely used).

Also, the facilities are not dated by any means. We have a brand-new state-of-art hospital, with teaching facilities (i.e. mock ORs) that surpass most schools.

GW is not a party school. That's unless you consider spending most Fri. and Sat. nights in the library. People work really hard here.

And, yes, GW is not ranked in the U.S. News and World Report survey. But what do those rankings really mean? GW is not the best school, but it's a great school. It has the best reputation in this city (for clinicians), and that goes a long way.

If you people have any questions, feel free to PM me.