Georgetown Interview

[surfdevl02]

So after waiting nearly 2 months of no news from schools i get three letters today, a denial from Northwestern, some weird letter from UPitt for more info and an interview at Georgetown (which surprises me because of their secondary which basically scared the bejesus out of me with their 'if you don't have these numbers, don't apply' scare tactic). Anyhow, i scheduled an interview at Georgetown for Jan. 16th and i was wondering if anyone has interviewed there already and could talk about their experience. How did you like the school, the people, the interview day, etc?? Also, i heard that the school is in serious trouble financially, or maybe it's georgetown hospital, is there any concern there? How is the reputation among georgetown students for residency programs? I guess there is hope out there for people that have waited in excess of 3 months to hear back from schools...

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[DW]

first off, gtown is readily working its way out of its "financial troubles". like most teaching hospitals in the 90s, it ran into some rather large operating deficits. A little while ago they teamed with Medstar, the big for-profit healthcare magnate in the MD/DC/VA area. problem addressed

gtown's match list is rather impressive. out of some 200ish spots in orthopedics last year, 26 were gtown grads. That might of course be some kind of anomaly, but they apparently have a good rep with residency placement.

relative to other schools i've seen, their curriculum is very intense. they're in class a lot during preclinical years, and your clinical years you have a lot of call, hands on work, almost like you're already an intern as they claim. whether this is a good thing or a bad thing i guess depends on your style. They didn't seem too big on research but gtown's clinical experience seems excellent. ms sullivan will give you a rather thorough talk at the start of the day, and she wont leave many ?s unanswered

the students seemed very chill. i'm sure there are gunners like at every school, but i had a blast with my host and his friends. didnt seem terribly diverse.

the interview was pretty low stress, i spent half the time talking about sports.

the school is expensive, but its a private school so go figure. plus, no student housing, but there are reasonably priced apts in rosslyn that are accesible via the GUTS bus. gtown itself is in a pretty "happening" part of DC

 

[surfdevl02]

thanks DW for your insight. That's definitely not what i wanted to hear though...about the great emphasis on class time and intense curriculum. I'm more of a clinical learner myself. Oh well, i'll go check out the school for myself. By the way, does anyone have the match list for all the schools in country...i remember there was a link to it somewhere on SDN but i can't seem to find it anymore.

Are there any present G-Town students that could offer insight on how their experience has been so far in regards to both learning and also your classmates. Thanks again folks!

 

[lola]

so what exaclty is the speech that ms. sullivan gives? why are some people so turned off and some people inspired? on the interview feedback, some posters have said things like make sure you know their philosophy before wasting your money on the interview. what exactly is their philosophy? i mean, i read about it on their website, and what was said there really appeals to me. but, why are some people SO turned off? b/c it's a jesuit school or are there other aspects that people dislike? i would just like a feel for why people have such extreme reactions to it before going out there. it's a little scary to read people's thoughts on the school!

 

[CaNEM]

Originally posted by lola
so what exaclty is the speech that ms. sullivan gives? why are some people so turned off and some people inspired? on the interview feedback, some posters have said things like make sure you know their philosophy before wasting your money on the interview. what exactly is their philosophy? i mean, i read about it on their website, and what was said there really appeals to me. but, why are some people SO turned off? b/c it's a jesuit school or are there other aspects that people dislike? i would just like a feel for why people have such extreme reactions to it before going out there. it's a little scary to read people's thoughts on the school!

Because she is very blunt, forthcoming, and honest. She tells you the good and the bad. That's why some people love it and some people hate it. For example, she makes it clear that Georgetown in Catholic and won't do abortions - right after that prolifers like GTown and prochoicers don't. She counts down all these "fatal flaws" with her fingers. I think she got up to about 679 with us. Basically, they are things that she says, if you are looking for this this and this, you do NOT want to come to Georgetown. If you see yourself on the receiving end of these comments, you'll hate the school. If you agree with the school's style and philosophy, you'll love it. It's a very personal thing, I think.

Personally, I was really glad she gave the speech, despite the fact that it was two thirds negative. It's better to be honest than to be like other schools who think they are the greatest in the world and their school has no weaknesses. At least she tells you the truth about what people like about Georgetown and what people dont like, as well as what type of people would or would not like it. They are very intent on filling their class with people who absolutely love the school, and who feel it is a good fit. This is why they give so much emphasis to the "Why GTown?" essay on the secondary, and that's also why they ONLY consider taking people off the waitlist who write a letter of intent, explaining that GTown is their first choice and why.

 

[lola]

thanks.