George Washington vs. Hofstra

[islandturtle4519]

Trying to decide between these two programs, and would greatly appreciate any advice/experience/relevant anecdotes about either school anyone can provide. I don't want to bias the answers, so will leave it at that unless anyone has any questions for me. Thanks!

GW:
Pros
-More desirable location, I like the idea of urban DC more than Long Island (though I think I'd enjoy both)
-More of a "name brand," more established than Hofstra
-I'm interested in residency outside of the Northeast, and think GW likely has more nationwide prestige
-P/F preclinical

Cons
-Larger class size/less resources dedicated to each student (180 vs. 99 at Hofstra)
-I've heard some bad things about the culture/vibe at GW on SDN/reddit (though I know I shouldn't put much stock in that stuff necessarily)


Hofstra:
Pros:
-Connection with Northwell and Cold Spring Harbor provides a lot of potential connections/resources available to students
-Smaller class size (99) likely means more resources/opportunity for each student relatively, especially considering Northwell's size
-P/F preclinical
-Supposedly very chill student culture, people get along and have a healthy work life balance
-matches extremely well in NYC, which is a place I could see myself living
-PEARLS curriculum; I think it genuinely has a lot of potential and believe that their vision for teaching medicine is valid

Cons:
-Newer school, less established (match list is great though)
-Match list is very restricted to the Northeast overall (though certainly in part due to student preference), Hofstra is more of a regional name than GW
-Mandatory in-person class 5 days a week with no recorded lectures (I have a hard time understanding why lectures wouldnt be recorded in 2023)
-PEARLS curriculum; though I listed this as a pro and con, I have mixed feelings about the curriculum overall and would appreciate any insight anyone might have

Cost of attendance is not a significant factor in my decision making process at this time. I would also appreciate any general info about these schools that could be provided by a current student/anyone with insight.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted1158770]

It will help if you give us a pros and cons list for each school.

 

[islandturtle4519]

It will help if you give us a pros and cons list for each school.

I updated the post w pros and cons, thanks

 

[AstroSidekick]

I would bet that the people Hofstra accepts tend to want to stay in the NE so I wouldn't worry about the fact not many people go far.

If feel like you could make the mandatory classes work, I would pick Hofstra if I was in your shoes.

 

[deleted1158770]

Yeah I haven’t looked at the match lists but I feel like both probably set you up well to match to the east coast. It seems like the biggest difference is the location so for that I would give the edge to GW based on your analysis.

 

[ayoooooosauce]

I think given your future goal of wanting to possibly match in the NYC area for residency I would go with Hofstra. Additionally ask yourself what kind of learning environment do you personally thrive in: smaller class size or bigger? Where would you be able to make more connections or get more resources? DC does have three med schools so do you think it might be more competitive for opportunities within the area in general?

 

[showkayaker]

I think it depends on your location preference - as someone also accepted to Hofstra the mandatory lecture and non-nbme style testing definitely are in my cons list too, but I want to be on long island for my future residency ect and the culture there does seem really amazing, most students seemed soo happy when I visited! I also will say studsnts on acccepted student day said they can skip class, like one girl skipped the day before to go shadow etc.

 

[islandturtle4519]

I think given your future goal of wanting to possibly match in the NYC area for residency I would go with Hofstra. Additionally ask yourself what kind of learning environment do you personally thrive in: smaller class size or bigger? Where would you be able to make more connections or get more resources? DC does have three med schools so do you think it might be more competitive for opportunities within the area in general?

NYC is definitely a place I could see myself living/matching, but also most of my family/support network are on the West Coast so while I feel Hofstra might position me better to match specifically in NYC, I could also see GW's more national brand and established reputation opening more doors outside of the Northeast. As far as the class size thing goes, its a mixed bag, as I like the social opportunities afforded by a larger class in a more urban area, but also could see the tight-knit Hofstra community and (I'm making an assumption here and would appreciate any insight on its validity) more resources per student being beneficial. I am genuinely drawn to Hofstra's small-group learning environment, but the impressions I got from their curriculum presentation made me concerned about the lack of faculty/professor oversight in these small group sessions as the PEARLS sessions seem to be almost entirely student-run and I'd be concerned that might lead to inconsistent/incomplete understandings of material depending on the classmates you end up paired with.

 

[islandturtle4519]

I think it depends on your location preference - as someone also accepted to Hofstra the mandatory lecture and non-nbme style testing definitely are in my cons list too, but I want to be on long island for my future residency ect and the culture there does seem really amazing, most students seemed soo happy when I visited! I also will say studsnts on acccepted student day said they can skip class, like one girl skipped the day before to go shadow etc.

Hey congrats on the A! Are there any other anecdotes relating to class/lecture or student culture and work/life balance that stuck with you from your visit? I've not been to the school in person but will be visiting at one of the upcoming second visits. Also, does it seem like the students generally enjoy living in Long Island, or did you get the impression more folks would want to live in urban NYC if given the opportunity? Thanks so much!

 

[showkayaker]

Hey congrats on the A! Are there any other anecdotes relating to class/lecture or student culture and work/life balance that stuck with you from your visit? I've not been to the school in person but will be visiting at one of the upcoming second visits. Also, does it seem like the students generally enjoy living in Long Island, or did you get the impression more folks would want to live in urban NYC if given the opportunity? Thanks so much!

So the vibe I got was definitely its a split btwn NYC/LI people. For those who wanted to live in NYC, they put Lennox as their location preference for their 3rd-4th year rotations so they can live in the city and do that. Other students put North Shore/LIJ and then live in Queens (very close to the hospital) or the surrounding area on the LI side to be close by. Long Island is extremely suburban and its not easy to get around without a car, which is something all the students echoed.

In terms of work life balance, literally almost every student said they had tons of free time including ample time to party every weekend. LOL