Georgetown student cohesiveness

[Lanced]

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I interviewed at GUSOM this week but unfortunately did not get to talk with many students (compared to other schools). I loved the school overall but didn't get a good sense for the students.

Can someone please give me a sense of the school/class unity and cohesiveness?

My general impression was that it was not a very tight knit community, but I'm not sure I met enough students to make that evaluation. It seemed like a good chunk of students commuted from elsewhere (VA or at least outside of GT) and so there wasn't as much of a "student community" among the med students.

Thanks

 

[lms]

From my experience its a pretty big class and there is a great deal of competition. Please also keep in mind most of your first year classes will also have 150+ graduate students in addition to the meds. There is some tension between the programs as the graduate students are applying to medical school. Also know that about 30 of your classmates will come from this graduate pool and they will have gotten mostly honors. The school is good but I would say the environment is probably not one of the big selling points

 

[Happy.9666]

Now that I've spent more time at Georgetown, I completely disagree with the above comment. Georgetown students are some of the most laid back students I've ever seen. As far as competition is conerned, when you put a large group of type A personalities together, there's bound to be some competition but it's not as bad as people like to make it seem because the students DO work together. The grading scale in some courses makes it "seem" more competitive than it actually is.

 

[Lanced]

Thank you both for your feedback.

If you wouldn't mind saying, what year are you now and where did you goes as an undergraduate (just as a frame of reference for your idea of competitiveness)?

I guess I'm trying to figure out if students bond well, support each other, etc.

Thanks again

 

[Happy.9666]

I'm not a med student, but I take classes with them.

Attended top 10 southern undergraduate university and top 5 nationwide graduate school. I think the frequent presense of Porches and nicely dressed students for a college campus leads people to think the students are snobish and don't work together but from what I've seen/experienced they do.

To get a better idea of what the students there are really like, I'd suggest the evening before your interview you sit for a few minutes in the medical school library or in the med student lounge during the week. There are study groups all over the place and the students are friendly.

 

[njbmd]

I interviewed at GUSOM this week but unfortunately did not get to talk with many students (compared to other schools). I loved the school overall but didn't get a good sense for the students.

Can someone please give me a sense of the school/class unity and cohesiveness?

My general impression was that it was not a very tight knit community, but I'm not sure I met enough students to make that evaluation. It seemed like a good chunk of students commuted from elsewhere (VA or at least outside of GT) and so there wasn't as much of a "student community" among the med students.

Thanks

Unfortunately, it looks like you live a huge distance away or I would encourage you to make a trip back to DC and informally speak with some students.

You ARE correct in that most GT medical students commute from elsewhere. Georgetown is one of the most expensive areas of the district (a very expensive place to live in the first place). A good number of GT medical students commute from Arlington (pricey too but good safe housing) and Alexandria.

The G.U.T.S bus stopped right outside my apartement complex in Arlington and many GT medical students lived in my complex because we were located less than 10 minutes from the Georgetown campus in Rosslyn (Arlington next to Arlington Cemetery). Though I did not attend GT med, I rotated with and spent loads of time with GT students. They were as friendly as any of the medical students in DC.

Many GT students also live in places like Adams Morgan, Friendship Heights and Glover Park in DC so they have a bit of a commute before they get home. Many can also be found in the Med Library after hours studying too. I have spent many hours partying in the Georgetown watering holes with GW, and GT med folks (I went to Howard).

My suggestion would be to contact the admissions office and get a couple of e-mails of medical students that you can contact and ask questions. Most folks there are quite happy to speak about their school to prospective students. If you get a chance to get back through DC, head up to GT med library and chat with a few folks. Finally, go to the Allopathic Class Threads Forum and search for GT Class threads Start here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=271717http://
and here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=176827
and send a PM (Private Message) to a few of these folks who are in the GT Classes of 2010 and 2009. (Try sending a PM to Hoya11). You may be able to get some good ideas of the school by reading these threads.

Congrats on your interview and I am sure that you would enjoy GT. All of the folks from there, that I encountered both as a medical school rep for AMA and in my SNMA work, and rotations at WHC and Inova Fairfax were awesome and great to hang with. I often hosted study groups in my apartment or attended study sessions where students from GT, GW and Howard all studied together. Keep in mind that I graduated from medical school in 2002 so things may have changed a bit in four years but check out the Class Threads anyway.

 

[Vizsla]

From my experience its a pretty big class and there is a great deal of competition. Please also keep in mind most of your first year classes will also have 150+ graduate students in addition to the meds. There is some tension between the programs as the graduate students are applying to medical school. Also know that about 30 of your classmates will come from this graduate pool and they will have gotten mostly honors. The school is good but I would say the environment is probably not one of the big selling points

I dont know why people keep saying that the special masters students are "competing" with first yrs at gtown. they arent at all...the grad students are graded on the curve that the first yrs set themselves. The first yrs are definitely competing for grades since gtown has a forced curve and this is what leads to the competitive nature of the class. There are definitely some cool, laid back people there but the majority of first yrs I interacted with were pretentious and ignorant...and also the class seemed to be severely lacking in the diversity arena, both ethnically and socioeconomically..but I guess thats representative of the georgetown area in general.

 

[daeojkim]

Hi,

I am current M'2010 and former SMP student at GUSOM.

First of all congratulations on the interview and hope that I will be able to clear up some of the questions that you may have about GT.

I have become friends with most of the class at this time and so far everyone that I have met have been very friendly and I feel fortunate to have such colleagues. In general, GT students are very friendly and easy to get along with. Of course, it is inevitable when you put 200 people in one group but to have few people that you cannot get along with. For me so far have been very good. Yeah I just got back from a mixer party with first years and SMP graduate students. Like 150 people showed up pretty fun.

About competition. Graduate students DO NOT compete with medical students for grades. Within medical students, their grades are curved, and that is usually blamed as being the factor causing competition. However, even if you go a school that has Pass / Fail system, most times each student is ranked. So unless you are too naive to think that Pass / Fail schools are going to be more laid back, in my opinion, a lot students do not realize that there is going to be a rank among their peers.

If you are not sure which school is going to be good for you, do some more research abot each school's curriculum and their philosophy. (Cura Personalis for GT, which emphasizes treatment of whole person. I am beginning to realize what that means. )

There are numerous things that I like about GT but to select a few.

1. Professors are awsome. Very friendly and they love to teach. It is not just a job for them but they love what they do. A big factor for me.

2. Great residency placements and training during clinical years to prepare you as an intern. Basically, during 4th year, you do an acting internship, of course under supervision.

3. Strong emphasis on ethics, behavior towards patients, and early patient exposure. We began patient contact on second week of class.

4. Location. DC is a great place to be. A lot to do besides studying. It is, however, relatively expensive. So is NYC, Boston, SF, Chicago, all big cities. I live in Rosslyn as njbmd mentioned. Sometime I walk about 25 minutes to go to class if I don't feel like taking shuttle.

Some schools greatly advertise their new buildings, state of art anatomy labs, etc... I would suggest that you do not put much consideration on these, since it will only matter the first year. What you should look for is a program that you feel most adequate to build a foundation for you to become a doctor you want you be.

Hope this helps.

 

[1Path]

There are definitely some cool, laid back people there but the majority of first yrs I interacted with were pretentious and ignorant...and also the class seemed to be severely lacking in the diversity arena, both ethnically and socioeconomically..but I guess thats representative of the georgetown area in general.

Well I guess this depends on what you consider "diverse". G'town has consistently had double digit representation of URM's and is consistently among the leaders of US med school that graduate minority docs, thanks in large part to the GEMS program. However, it does appear that the school isn't all that diverse based on SES.

I've often seen people complain about the age of facilities but have yet to see this translate into a lower USMLE score or low ranked residency placement. Or maybe it's just that people need the equipment and facilities to be "pretty" to learn??? 😕

 

[KitesurfDaEarth]

hey,

Im a former SMP student and have several friends at GT now. Relative to the SMP program It was my impression that the MS1 class didn't hang out together at all. We had a pretty tight group and it was rare to see a large 1st year group at the bars.But my friends that are currently MS3s have said that they have been hanging out together more.

In terms of diversity, while the GEMS program is great, all one has to do is look at the class composite to see that the class was heavily dominated by caucasian students, much more so than my school....and I go to school in Kansas.

That said, I really, really really miss DC. I have lived in many places and it was one of the most interesting and fun places to be albeit the high price. I think in the end you will most likely enjoy your experience there and also become an great doc. While the facilities suck for such an expensive school...the clinical training you will get should make up for it.

good luck

 

[1Path]

In terms of diversity, while the GEMS program is great, all one has to do is look at the class composite to see that the class was heavily dominated by caucasian students, much more so than my school....and I go to school in Kansas.

This isn't a suprise to any minority who has attended majority institution and is true for ALL majority med schools. However, the minority support at G'town is outstanding which is NOT the case at a LOT of majority institions.

 

[Whitehaven]

m2008 here. From my experiences in the last 2.5 years and talking with other med students, Georgetowners are probably more well-rounded and less "nerdy" than many other med schools. As for competitiveness, the SMS/GEMS has nothing to do with it...the grading system does. But your first 2 year grades really don't matter much anyhow...your board scores are much more important. Clinically Georgetown students get a great experience and I haven't seen any malignant behavior so far in 4 months of school. We tend to have good board scores and match really well without many gunners ruining the atmosphere for everybody else, so I don't see what anybody has to complain about.

 

[gostudy]

m2008 here. From my experiences in the last 2.5 years and talking with other med students, Georgetowners are probably more well-rounded and less "nerdy" than many other med schools.

Oh really. And you know this how?

 

[Vizsla]

Well I guess this depends on what you consider "diverse". G'town has consistently had double digit representation of URM's and is consistently among the leaders of US med school that graduate minority docs, thanks in large part to the GEMS program. However, it does appear that the school isn't all that diverse based on SES.

I've often seen people complain about the age of facilities but have yet to see this translate into a lower USMLE score or low ranked residency placement. Or maybe it's just that people need the equipment and facilities to be "pretty" to learn??? 😕

for a school located in DC where there is a thriving minority population and with the sheer number of applicants that Gtown interviews, you would think they would have a higher representation of non-whites in general. Where did you get the stat that they are among the US leaders in graduating minority docs???? Even if you look past schools like Howard, Mercer, Meharry...others like Stanford and Cornell graduate more minorities that Gtown does.

 

[Vizsla]

In terms of diversity, while the GEMS program is great, all one has to do is look at the class composite to see that the class was heavily dominated by caucasian students, much more so than my school....and I go to school in Kansas.

 

[1Path]

Where did you get the stat that they are among the US leaders in graduating minority docs????

AMCAS and eyesite, but let me let you guys in on a little secet. For many minorities, there really isn't much of a difference between 11 or 30 URMS in a class, because so many of us are so THRILLED to see just ONE face that resembles ours. To give you some perspective, this was NOT my experience as an undergrad as the ONLY black person in a humanities department (and first to gradaute) and only one of 3 or 4 in classes from OChem to PChem.

Most importantly, if you're a URM and you weren't ADMITTED to schools like Stanford or Cornell, then it doesn't matter if the entire class is URM!

 

[Vizsla]

AMCAS and eyesite, but let me let you guys in on a little secet. For many minorities, there really isn't much of a difference between 11 or 30 URMS in a class, because so many of us are so THRILLED to see just ONE face that resembles ours. To give you some perspective, this was NOT my experience as an undergrad as the ONLY black person in a humanities department (and first to gradaute) and only one of 3 or 4 in classes from OChem to PChem.

Most importantly, if you're a URM and you weren't ADMITTED to schools like Stanford or Cornell, then it doesn't matter if the entire class is URM!

other than your affirmation that there are too few minority docs graduating from med school in general (congrats on that realization by the way), this post had nothing to do with your statement that gtown graduates the most minorities...which it doesnt come close to doing. And if the entire class at Stanford and Cornell were URM, this would be even more damaging to your argument...but anyways, the original post was asking about gtowns cohesiveness so we can get back to that.....

 

[1Path]

this post had nothing to do with your statement that gtown graduates the most minorities...which it doesnt come close to doing......

Clean your "cokebottles" because I NEVER said G'town graduates the most black med students.

And if the entire class at Stanford and Cornell were URM, this would be even more damaging to your argument...but anyways, the original post was asking about gtowns cohesiveness so we can get back to that.....

What arguement or do you just assume one whenever black med students are mentioned? And why does a conversation about minority students at G'town have to exclude talk about cohesiveness at G'town? Could it be your OWN insecurities with minorities is showing through?

 

[Lanced]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Whitehaven]

Oh really. And you know this how?

I have friends in different med schools and I have talked to them.

 

[gostudy]

I have friends in different med schools and I have talked to them.

I'm just saying, the term "less nerdy than most other med students" is very very abstract.

 

[Whitehaven]

I'm just saying, the term "less nerdy than most other med students" is very very abstract.

Point taken. All I mean is that our class is by and large very social and do things on the weekends other than just studying.

 

[Vizsla]

Clean your "cokebottles" because I NEVER said G'town graduates the most black med students.

What arguement or do you just assume one whenever black med students are mentioned? And why does a conversation about minority students at G'town have to exclude talk about cohesiveness at G'town? Could it be your OWN insecurities with minorities is showing through?

its funny bc we were talking about your statement that gtown graduates one of the highest percentage of URMs in general, and then you go and turn it into me vs black med students....how original. someone's insecurities are showing but they're not mine. get over yourself, its not you against the world. if you are a black med student then more power to you, but dont go around using that as your war cry...

 

[njbmd]

The OP has thanked people for their responses and this thread is woefully hijacked, now off topic and deteriorating. I am closing the thread.