Georgetown???

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PMinty44

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I'm trying to decide whether to re-visit Georgetown and continue to consider them as a possible place at which to matriculate next school year.

I spent about a day and a night at G-town and, unfortunately, I was negatively impressed by the following factors:

1. When I requested a list of women of color that would be willing to host me, I was given the names of only 2 women (who ended up living together) and was told that the opportunity to stay with ANY student was valuable so that I should stay with anyone if I couldn't coordinate with these two women (I totally agree with this. However, as a woman of color, it is important to me to see what other women of colors' experiences are like.)

2. I stayed with these 2 fabulous women of color (they were hospitable, friendly, all around great). They informed me that most of the body of students of color at G-Town are people who were not accepted the first time they applied to G-town, but showed plenty of promise and went through this super-rigorous post-bac program before re-applying and being admitted. As a result, some of the few (1 or 2 per class, according to them) who were accepted NOT through the post-bac program have felt that everyone (faculty and other students) assume that if they are of color, they, too, must have come through the post-bac program. This did not leave a good taste in my mouth.

3. I also got the feeling that G-Town students have a HUGE load of work: classes from 8 - 4 or 5 p.m. and little time to get out of G-Town area (which is homogenous and over-priviliged) to work with the underserved communities in DC.

What I'm wondering is: am I crazy? Is G-town different from how I experenced it? Is it worth it to send them the $100 deposit (due tomorrow) and re-visit them (note: they do NOT have a second-look weekend, so I would have to do this on my own and pay fotr it, etc). My top-choice is Cornell, but I have been waitlisted there. I'm seriously considering Pitt, Case and UMass. So, do I continue to consider G-Town or do I drop it and make room for someone off the waitlist?

Thanks for your help.

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hello,

if you could please keep this thread posted on the answers to your questions, i'm very curious about them.

i'm already considering G'town heavily. I have a good friend who is a 1st year currently and I will ask him some questions, i'm sure he'll have some interesting/deep answers. i'll keep you posted on those.

g'luck
 
shawty ya'head said:
hello,

if you could please keep this thread posted on the answers to your questions, i'm very curious about them.

i'm already considering G'town heavily. I have a good friend who is a 1st year currently and I will ask him some questions, i'm sure he'll have some interesting/deep answers. i'll keep you posted on those.

g'luck

Thanks. If I find out anything, I will post it here. (How was your interviewing experience there?)
 
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PMinty44 said:
Thanks. If I find out anything, I will post it here. (How was your interviewing experience there?)

If you don't mind saying, how long did it take you to hear from them after you interviewed there? Thanks!
 
Hey folks, I'm a 4th year at Georgetown. I'm sorry your interview experience was not the greatest. At the risk of sounding like an advertisment, I have really enjoyed my medical education here. And, as a URM, I assure you that you will not feel out of place here. The SNMA chapter is very active here, and in all, Georgetown offers a very culturally aware and sensitive environment.

You are correct that Georgetown students work hard, but keep mind we do great on Step I and, (IMHO), are very well prepared clinically, and do very well in the Match. Georgetown is currently revising it's first and second year curriculum, you may want to contact Eugene Ford to see if any changes may apply to you. The long pre-clinical days were a gripe for me as well; however, we have an incredible note-taking service (corrected by faculty) so it is your choice to go to class or note (technically, attendance is required). I went to about 75% of pre-clinical classes.

A supportive and comfortable environment will allow you to succeed as a medical student. My classmates who have left or failed all did so d/t circumstances outside of medical school. So, my advice to you is to try to find out if you are comfortable living in D.C., you are comfortable with the debt-load you will accumulate coming here, you like the program and its philosophy. I encourage you to come to D.C., walk around the campus, hospital, and medical school. One thing to note is that you're 3rd and 4th year will be spent in hospitals all over the VA, MD, and D.C. area. You will have the oppurtunity to tailor your 4th year rotations and to a more limited extent, your 3rd year.

Good luck in your decision. (again, talk to Mr. Ford if you need any further info... that's what he's there for!)


P.S. In terms of working in underserved areas, there are many, many opportunities, Walker-Jone clinics, Congress Heights, Anacostia, Arlington County (Ob/Gyn), etc.
 
Thanks for the information cobb.

I interviewed on 2/3 and got my acceptance on 3/10. So a little over a month is the wait-period in general.

my interview experience was interesting. i was not impressed by the facilities or the hospital but the students were good people and the student enviornment was nice.

also, i am big into the urban underpriveleged service scene and i think georgetown provides good opprotunities to mix into this area. their match list is incredible also.

on a negative note, the 1 - 1/2 hour interview was a bit short and the interviewer was much more apt on the reasons why i should install the georgetown's philosophy into my life rather than mesh georgetown's and my own characteristics to produce myself as a successful doctor.

nevertheless, i think it is one of the best places for what i want to get invovled in and i am considering it heavily for next year.
 
kwc1979 said:
If you don't mind saying, how long did it take you to hear from them after you interviewed there? Thanks!

I interviewed 11/3 (day after the painful elections) and my acceptance letter was dated 12/20.
 
Ok, my comments to the OP... keep in mind, though, I just interviewed there on Friday, and I have not been accepted thus far, so these are just my opinions.... I stayed two nights with my amazing host and she took me out all around on Friday night, so I got a good taste of the nightlife.. its my impression that G-town students go out A LOT, so they def have an active night life.

As far as the rigorous curriculum, G-town has a HUGE plus that I haven't seen at other schools... you will never take (at least in the first year) more than two science classes at once. This is amazing and makes things a lot more dealabe... you will be taking other non-sci courses but these are not super rigorous and are interesting and informative, such as religious traditions in health care, where they teach you how other religions, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.. feel about death, abortion, etc, so that you know how to treat all kinds of patients. Furthermore, as far as being with the underserved, G-town has a mandatory service built into the curriculum where you go and teach science to juinor high kids in the underpriviledged schools and on top of that, your ambulatory shadowing might be in an underserved clinic or area. It depends if you have a car or not.

IMO, the biggest negative is the cost, but personally, I'd rather go somewhere I'd be happy so that my med school years go as well as possible and then worry about debt when it comes time. You have to decide if G-town is where you'd be most happy.

Believe me, I'd rather you give up your spot to increase the chance of me getting in, so this is not like a persuasive argument for G-town. This was just my experience of the school. :)
 
cobb_599 said:
Hey folks, I'm a 4th year at Georgetown.

Good luck in your decision. (again, talk to Mr. Ford if you need any further info... that's what he's there for!)


P.S. In terms of working in underserved areas, there are many, many opportunities, Walker-Jone clinics, Congress Heights, Anacostia, Arlington County (Ob/Gyn), etc.

Thanks for your input, Cobb!!!! Cobb, how many URMs in your class did NOT come from the post-bac? How did they feel about that? I hate asking these questions because I don't believe that it is less deserved to get in after the post-bac program. I'm afraid that other students/faculty would think that and that they would assume that this was my avenue since I am a URM. I feel that as a woman and a woman of color, I have to put up with many people's misconceptions and stereotypes. I don't know if I can deal with yet another one. Any insight?
 
Spring of your second year you will be taking Pharm and Micro at the same time, plus a bunch of smaller classes. Pharm here is 100 lectures... you will know more pharm than a lot docs in private practice (trust me on this). I mention this semester b/c it is by far the hardest of all four years. The little course consume time (you still have to study and pass them).

Religous traditions was great. Unfortunately attendance really tapered off towards the end and I think a lot of students thought it was taking too much time away from anatomy.

You will get out of your education what you put into it... sounds trite but this is very true.

If you really are interested in Georgetown, let Donna Sullivan know (don't pester her, but send her a note).

rugirlie said:
Ok, my comments to the OP... keep in mind, though, I just interviewed there on Friday, and I have not been accepted thus far, so these are just my opinions.... I stayed two nights with my amazing host and she took me out all around on Friday night, so I got a good taste of the nightlife.. its my impression that G-town students go out A LOT, so they def have an active night life.

As far as the rigorous curriculum, G-town has a HUGE plus that I haven't seen at other schools... you will never take (at least in the first year) more than two science classes at once. This is amazing and makes things a lot more dealabe... you will be taking other non-sci courses but these are not super rigorous and are interesting and informative, such as religious traditions in health care, where they teach you how other religions, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.. feel about death, abortion, etc, so that you know how to treat all kinds of patients. Furthermore, as far as being with the underserved, G-town has a mandatory service built into the curriculum where you go and teach science to juinor high kids in the underpriviledged schools and on top of that, your ambulatory shadowing might be in an underserved clinic or area. It depends if you have a car or not.

IMO, the biggest negative is the cost, but personally, I'd rather go somewhere I'd be happy so that my med school years go as well as possible and then worry about debt when it comes time. You have to decide if G-town is where you'd be most happy.

Believe me, I'd rather you give up your spot to increase the chance of me getting in, so this is not like a persuasive argument for G-town. This was just my experience of the school. :)
 
rugirlie said:
Furthermore, as far as being with the underserved, G-town has a mandatory service built into the curriculum where you go and teach science to juinor high kids in the underpriviledged schools and on top of that, your ambulatory shadowing might be in an underserved clinic or area. It depends if you have a car or not.

QUOTE]

I didn't know about the mandatory service....hmmmm....maybe I do need to visit them again. But, I'm BROKE!!!!!!!!! Argh!
 
I'm not an URM, but I thought I'd add this. On my interview day, there was one female URM (another interviewee). We were all sitting in that little chamber they make the interviewees sit in (which was weird in itself). But during one of the breaks, two URM medical students (one male, one female) came in, called her name, and just took her out into the hall and they proceeded to just talk for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, while we all just watched through the glass. It was really awkward how they did it and if I were her, I would have felt awkward too. It was pretty clear what was going on to all of us other interviewees. THey could have been just a little more discreet about it.
 
Mephisto said:
I'm not an URM, but I thought I'd add this. On my interview day, there was one female URM (another interviewee). We were all sitting in that little chamber they make the interviewees sit in (which was weird in itself). But during one of the breaks, two URM medical students (one male, one female) came in, called her name, and just took her out into the hall and they proceeded to just talk for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, while we all just watched through the glass. It was really awkward how they did it and if I were her, I would have felt awkward too. It was pretty clear what was going on to all of us other interviewees. THey could have been just a little more discreet about it.

Yeah, thanks for your input. Hmmm....that must have been awkward.
 
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