Georgetown PBPM vs UPenn Prehealth

[urrugby]

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I was recently accepted into Georgetown's PBPM program and UPenn's Prehealth program, and am looking for some insight into both to determine which is a better fit for me. I see a lot of information posted about UPenn, but from what I can tell about Georgetown, the main positives are the "Georgetown" name and flexibility in schedules, while the negatives include no linkage program, poor advising, and no post-bac community. Anyone either have personal experience with one or know someone who went through one of these programs?

 

[Gooble]

You can also add on to Georgetown's program the fact that they require calculus, etc.... AND the fact that Georgetown's program will run you about $40-50k whereas UPENN's will cost about $20k.

 

[Lshapley]

Calculus will be required next year for the Penn program too, as far as I understand. I think that it is only the case if you are doing all the basic sciences there from scratch

 

[Heinz57]

I just remember talking with the person who runs the Georgetown program and I didn't like his vibe at all - he was very rough around the edges and seemed incredibly stressed out, even in the few minutes that we spoke. I'm going to be stressed enough, I don't need my advisors running around like headless chickens, too!! Anyhoo - my two cents.

 

[pumpkin123]

I can just speak as an applicant to both of those programs, since I am going to neither.

I submitted my application to Georgetown last August and their documentation informs candidates that they should have a decision within 6 weeks. I received an acceptance letter TODAY (yes, SIX MONTHS later). They also wrote "Mr. XXXXX" on my letter/envelope although I clearly checked "Female" on the application. Did they not even read it?? Prior to this letter today, I spoke with the advisor twice on the phone and even met with him in person at Georgetown and will agree with a previous poster's comment that he seemed harried. He also seemed when I spoke with him like he fell into the job of being the director of the PBPM program and didn't seem to have much (if any) passion about the program, so I'm not sure how great the advising would be. When asked about success of applicants to medical school, he basically just said, "the students who worked hard got in somewhere." That was it.

Penn also seemed pretty slow, as I submitted the application last fall (end of October) and received an email last week inviting me to an interview (3.5 months). Anyhow I declined the interview since I've already accepted at another school, but their office staff when I would call were very helpful/friendly at telling me the status of my application compared to the Georgetown program ("Oh the committee still hasn't met I'm sure they'll get to it soon").

If I hadn't already accepted elsewhere, of the schools to which I applied, Penn would have been my second choice and I would have at least gone to their interview. I think I would dis-recommend Georgetown based on the poor experience that I had with them, both administratively and also my less-than-inspiring campus visit.

 

[Lshapley]

Penn also seemed pretty slow, as I submitted the application last fall (end of October) and received an email last week inviting me to an interview (3.5 months). Anyhow I declined the interview since I've already accepted at another school, but their office staff when I would call were very helpful/friendly at telling me the status of my application compared to the Georgetown program ("Oh the committee still hasn't met I'm sure they'll get to it soon").

I'm not surprised about the delay. You applied at about the time the director of the program left for another gig elsewhere. She was replaced with a new director at the end of January, but we were in a bit of an advisor vacuum until then (just one part time director running the advising). Things are more on the ball now, so I would hope that doesn't happen to people who apply now.

 

[urrugby]

The new UPenn administrator seems to have a wealth of knowledge about post-bac and med programs. I agree about the GTown administrator. Aside from the administration at the schools, my interest is in the nature of the classes (ie, class sizes, potential to do well, opportunities for tutoring/academic support, accessibility of professors, etc.). Anyone have any info, either from personal experience or through a friend? I've only heard positive responses to the GTown program, but nothing specific.
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[blackadder]

The new UPenn administrator seems to have a wealth of knowledge about post-bac and med programs. I agree about the GTown administrator. Aside from the administration at the schools, my interest is in the nature of the classes (ie, class sizes, potential to do well, opportunities for tutoring/academic support, accessibility of professors, etc.). Anyone have any info, either from personal experience or through a friend? I've only heard positive responses to the GTown program, but nothing specific.
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I'm not sure if you're lookin for info on G-town or Penn...but I'll throw in my 2 cents.

Penn: A pretty flexible program that can accomodate people who want to work part time (as well as those who want to get through the reqs as quickly as possible). Has linkages with some cool schools. Classes are only cheap if you take night courses...if you want day classes you pay undergrad rates. Courses are tough and there is a curve--but apparently you can get As if you bust your ass. I know two people in the program...one is totally kicking ass (As in everything and one prof wants her to get a phd in chem) and the other is doing well enough to get into med school. Both went to top ten uni's and both are working REALLY hard.

G-town: I don't know jack about this one. Didn't even know they had a non-SMP post bac.

If it was my choice...I'd pick Penn in a heartbeat (nothing against G-town). Established program, good rep, linkages, and good rate of getting kids into med school.