Georgetown vs. Ohio State

[rayathegreat]

Hi everyone,

I am having trouble deciding where I should matriculate between Georgetown and OSU. I am unsure of what specialty I would like to pursue, but am interested in IM, Ophthalmology, Radiology, or Anesthesiology. The monetary aspect is not a huge deciding factor for me, since I am well aware I will ultimately be able to pay off any loans in the future. Any input about which you would choose and why would be much appreciated!

Georgetown
Pros:
No internal ranking during preclinical years
Strong match history into every specialty
Globally recognized as a prestigious institution
Longitudinal tracks incorporated within the curriculum (I have an interest in public health)
Better residency match to top East/West Coast programs
Give more support to their students (academically during preclinical and when getting ready for residency apps)
Patient diversity

Cons:
Expensive tuition and housing
Competitive atmosphere?
Lack of diversity on campus
Older facilities


OSU
Pros:
Better ranking (34 vs 44)
Cheaper Tuition (I will be able to pay the in state tuition rate after the 1st year)
Campus diversity
Housing is cheaper
Strong match history into every specialty
ultrasound education incorporated within the curriculum
Newer facilities (for clinical and research)

Cons:
Internal ranking during the preclinical years
Name is not as well known as Georgetown
Students do not often match on the west/east coast and instead stay in the Midwest (I am from California and want to come back for residency)
Less resources than Georgetown
I have heard that obtaining help/resources can be difficult (ex. academic help)
Step 1 becoming P/F might place more emphasis on prestige of institution for matching into competitive specialties
Competitive atmosphere?
Weather

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[lumya]

I'm from Ohio and went to OSU for undergrad and now I currently live in DC for work. I would choose OSU - it's cheaper and it's a really well-established school.

Let me just say that DC is almost criminally expensive. The cost of living and housing is ridiculous compared to somewhere in the Midwest like Columbus, Ohio. I definitely miss that aspect of the Midwest a lot, and the food scene is great in Columbus (it's actually one of the favorite test cities for most restaurants since the population is more similar to the rest of the country and we have a lot of food headquarters based there).

Regarding some of your cons, while name recognition may be lower than Georgetown, you'll still run into tons of people who know of Ohio States, even if its for their incredibly obnoxious football program. The weather is no worse than DC. It gets a little colder in the winters and you'll actually have snow falls, but the summers in DC have been suffocating and I never knew mosquitos could rival small birds in size. You will most likely need to drive since the public transport in Columbus isn't that great, so it might be a challenge coming from somewhere without a snow. But even still, there's only maybe 2-3 weeks out of the year where the snow is really bad.

The university is attached to a massive research institute and most of the physicians when I worked there were very receptive of medical students reaching out for research or other opportunities. I was able to find a lot of shadowing and volunteer opportunities through only knowing a couple physicians and you would be able to do the same. People in the Midwest are truly incredibly nice and will go out of their way to help you. I will say that the student resources are a little scarce. I had a couple friends in undergrad try to get academic help and mental health counseling who were placed on waitlists a mile long - although I'm not sure if this is the same for graduate programs.

Finally, regarding Match - OSU is a state school and does have a lot of students from Ohio or returning to Ohio from other states, so most people might end up matching regionally since that is where they were originally from. You're not going to barred from a region, but you'll likely have to take advantage of an away rotation to get back to California, which you may have to from Georgetown anyways.

 

[rayathegreat]

I'm from Ohio and went to OSU for undergrad and now I currently live in DC for work. I would choose OSU - it's cheaper and it's a really well-established school.

Let me just say that DC is almost criminally expensive. The cost of living and housing is ridiculous compared to somewhere in the Midwest like Columbus, Ohio. I definitely miss that aspect of the Midwest a lot, and the food scene is great in Columbus (it's actually one of the favorite test cities for most restaurants since the population is more similar to the rest of the country and we have a lot of food headquarters based there).

Regarding some of your cons, while name recognition may be lower than Georgetown, you'll still run into tons of people who know of Ohio States, even if its for their incredibly obnoxious football program. The weather is no worse than DC. It gets a little colder in the winters and you'll actually have snow falls, but the summers in DC have been suffocating and I never knew mosquitos could rival small birds in size. You will most likely need to drive since the public transport in Columbus isn't that great, so it might be a challenge coming from somewhere without a snow. But even still, there's only maybe 2-3 weeks out of the year where the snow is really bad.

The university is attached to a massive research institute and most of the physicians when I worked there were very receptive of medical students reaching out for research or other opportunities. I was able to find a lot of shadowing and volunteer opportunities through only knowing a couple physicians and you would be able to do the same. People in the Midwest are truly incredibly nice and will go out of their way to help you. I will say that the student resources are a little scarce. I had a couple friends in undergrad try to get academic help and mental health counseling who were placed on waitlists a mile long - although I'm not sure if this is the same for graduate programs.

Finally, regarding Match - OSU is a state school and does have a lot of students from Ohio or returning to Ohio from other states, so most people might end up matching regionally since that is where they were originally from. You're not going to barred from a region, but you'll likely have to take advantage of an away rotation to get back to California, which you may have to from Georgetown anyways.

You bring up some really good points! I know that I probably won't face any difficulties with finding research and volunteer opportunities in both Columbus and DC. I agree with your thoughts about cost of living and attendance for GU, since I have heard from friends how expensive DC truly is. Also, I believe the academic resources are scare in OSU's med school, since some students have told me that it is only offered to people who truly show they need it (and their need is only shown through bad marks). And yeah, it is definitely true that most OSU are from Ohio, which would explain why many want to stay in the Midwest, but doesn't that also mean that they might not have the connections to residencies in California like Georgetown? Thank you so much for replying and giving me your advice

 

[Banco]

Maybe for layman Georgetown sounds more impressive, but Ohio State is from my experience more established in medicine. Has some stronger home residencies too (surgery, Peds etc.). At worst its more or less equal - so don’t let layman perceptions skew your decisions for professional training.

Also in terms of resources do you mean research wise? OSU has was more NIH funding than Gtown: Top 50 NIH-Funded Institutions of 2020

With regards to the hospital system it’s also larger and more well regarded at OSU.
Match list geography is student dependent. If you’re super set on Ca you will have to demonstrate that; since you grew up in Ca, that’ll be on your residency app and will be taken into account, and you could also show interest by doing an away rotation on the west coast (unless you get incredibly high grades/scores and are an all out superstar; this is also all’s specialty dependent).

Both are great schools and location wise I would def want DC but you have to weigh that with the increased price. I just wanted to clarify that your perception of OSU’s name in the medical world may be off.

 

[lumya]

You bring up some really good points! I know that I probably won't face any difficulties with finding research and volunteer opportunities in both Columbus and DC. I agree with your thoughts about cost of living and attendance for GU, since I have heard from friends how expensive DC truly is. Also, I believe the academic resources are scare in OSU's med school, since some students have told me that it is only offered to people who truly show they need it (and their need is only shown through bad marks). And yeah, it is definitely true that most OSU are from Ohio, which would explain why many want to stay in the Midwest, but doesn't that also mean that they might not have the connections to residencies in California like Georgetown? Thank you so much for replying and giving me your advice

OSU is a really good school and if you want to match back to California, you can easily demonstrate that w/ your ties to the state. Everyone from the Midwest wants to leave the Midwest until they realize the only thing worse than living in the Midwest is not living in the Midwest (source: a Midwest explant trying to go back to the Midwest either through school or Match).

If you choose OSU feel free to ask me any questions regarding housing/food/random things about Columbus. I did really enjoy my time there and I still have lots of friends/colleagues in the area working in medicine and healthcare.

 

[spottedcory]

Both are great schools and location wise I would def want DC but you have to weigh that with the increased price. I just wanted to clarify that your perception of OSU’s name in the medical world may be off.

Yeah I was going to say...in my mind OSU is stronger than Georgetown. I think it really is regional bias. This is similiar to the situation of a T20 not matching back to CA as much as a mid-tier school, which is likely due to regional bias and preferences of graduates rather than the connections of the school. At second look you could ask a student if people who wanted CA were able to match back to CA.

 

[rayathegreat]

You bring up some really good points! I know that I probably won't face any difficulties with finding research and volunteer opportunities in both Columbus and DC. I agree with your thoughts about cost of living and attendance for GU, since I have heard from friends how expensive DC truly is. Also, I believe the academic resources are scare in OSU's med school, since some students have told me that it is only offered to people who truly show they need it (and their need is only shown through bad marks). And yeah, it is definitely true that most OSU are from Ohio, which would explain why many want to stay in the Midwest, but doesn't that also mean that they might not have the connections to residencies in California like Georgetown? Thank you so much for replying and giving me your advice

OSU is a really good school and if you want to match back to California, you can easily demonstrate that w/ your ties to the state. Everyone from the Midwest wants to leave the Midwest until they realize the only thing worse than living in the Midwest is not living in the Midwest (source: a Midwest explant trying to go back to the Midwest either through school or Match).

If you choose OSU feel free to ask me any questions regarding housing/food/random things about Columbus. I did really enjoy my time there and I still have lots of friends/colleagues in the area working in medicine and healthcare.

Thank you both for your feedback! I have not been able to see the campus, so it is great to hear that the facilities at Columbus rival those in DC. I also forgot to mention that I received a scholarship so that CoA for Georgetown and OSU will be the same for me.

One of my biggest concerns about OSU is the fact that they internally rank their students, whereas Georgetown does not. Wouldn't this create a more competitive atmosphere in OSU? Additionally, do you think that this will make it more difficult to match into competitive residencies, especially given that Step 1 will now be P/F?

 

[rayathegreat]

OSU is a really good school and if you want to match back to California, you can easily demonstrate that w/ your ties to the state. Everyone from the Midwest wants to leave the Midwest until they realize the only thing worse than living in the Midwest is not living in the Midwest (source: a Midwest explant trying to go back to the Midwest either through school or Match).

If you choose OSU feel free to ask me any questions regarding housing/food/random things about Columbus. I did really enjoy my time there and I still have lots of friends/colleagues in the area working in medicine and healthcare.

Thanks for the feedback! Since I have not be able to visit, it is good to hear how much people like the Midwest 🙂

 

[spottedcory]

One of my biggest concerns about OSU is the fact that they internally rank their students, whereas Georgetown does not. Wouldn't this create a more competitive atmosphere in OSU? Additionally, do you think that this will make it more difficult to match into competitive residencies, especially given that Step 1 will now be P/F?

I asked 4 students directly about the bolded and all of them said that they did not feel any need to compete, or competitive atmosphere. They said because it's internally ranked, no one actually knows where they are, so it doesn't make sense to compete. All of them were pretty real with me, and I know one of them personally, so I trust

 

[thetenthletter]

I would go with OSU now given that GU dropped to the 50's in ranking.

 

[MongutheDoggy]

I would go with OSU now given that GU dropped to the 50's in ranking.

This is horrific advice. The difference in ranking between a school in the 30s and 50s is truly negligible.

 

[thetenthletter]

This is horrific advice. The difference in ranking between a school in the 30s and 50s is truly negligible.

OP literally listed ranking difference as a pro, so it’s clearly an important factor for him/her.

I wouldn’t say the difference is negligible either. US News rankings incorporate factors such as funding, PD rankings, faculty resources, research activity, etc.

Yes, there are unhelpful factors like stats/selectivity incorporated into US News Rankings, but that does not explain how there is a significant difference (~20) in rank between the two schools as of this year.