Hate to ask... WVU or Georgetown

[GolfMustang07]

I really hate these threads and am upset that I am starting one but ohh well.

I like both WVU and Georgetown and am holding acceptances to both.

WVU is way below georgetown in reputation and in rank.

Georgetown would cost about 11.5K more a year than WVU.

Both have very good residency placements

One is more surgical... one is more primary care (not sure what i want)

Both are within 2 hours of home

City life vs. Rural life - Grew up in the country... college in the city

Soooo... liking both of these should i let cost be a factor considering they are polar opposites in reputation.

I am OOS for both schools.

Thanks for your help... dont hate me for making another one of these treads!

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[blackbird11384]

I too hate these threads, but in the sense of responding to them, because I never like to put down another school I know nothing about. So I will highlight all the pros of Georgetown.

-Georgetown University, including its medical school, has a well known name, it's a name "Brand Name" university

-Proximity to NIH offers tons of research opportunities (yes, even more opportunities than offered at Harvard), you just need to make some calls and get yourself in

-DC is great. The cultural festivities, ethnic food, museums, young smart and driven population, it's all good.

-DC has a ton of fantastic Indian restaurants! (My fav....)

-The Medical Center and Hospital are under a new administration that has made the hospital profitable, and has increased the number and breadth of research grants, pushing the schools ranking up from 46 to 44 to now 40 in the past couple of years. If you put any weight in the rankings, I do strongly believe we will advance in the rankings once more this year.

-The new system based integrated curriculum organizes everything in a way for optimal retainment. Next year they will have worked out a lot of the scheduling issues we experienced this year.

-I believe the current fourth years had an avg. step 1 score of 224. Current third years had an avg. score of 227.

-The last two matches have been some of the school's best. close to 50% match into top 25 programs according to US News (apply any sort of credibility or importance to this claim you wish, but the fact remains, top medical schools tend to have the most funded residency programs).

-If you are interested in the surgical specialties, there is definitely a lean towards those specialties in the match (especially orthopaedics), but primary care is also obviously possible and encouraged.

-I think around 40% of each class participates in some sort of abroad medical international program

-We have a optional supplementary Social and Health Justice Advocacy Curriculum (don't know much about it, but my friends in it love it), and an optional curriculum in Mind-body Medicine

-Affiliation with Washington Hospital Center and Children's National Medical Center, the two largest hospital centers in the area, where you will see everything you can think of!

-Location in DC allows for opportunities for involvement in health policy and reform if that's your cup of tea.

-The Medical Campus and main teaching hospital are located on the same campus as the undergraduate campus, benefiting from all of its resources.


Cons I can think of West Virginia having:

-probably not that many Indian restaurants within walking distance from their campus


If i can think of any more, I will be sure to update this list.

 

[plsfoldthx]

Georgetown I think would be better if you want to go to eventually go into private practice.

 

[funkymunkytoes]

West Virginia is BIG on rural medicine - if that's what you're into, WVU is the way to go. If not...

 

[Pianoman32]

Don't know anything about WVU, but here are a few pros and cons of Georgetown from the interview trail:

Pros:
-Beautiful Campus (Outside)
-Awesome Area
-No metro=no crime
-NIH
-The Name= Future connections because of awesome law school and UG institutions
-Good Residency Placement.....Great placement in Ortho
-I liked the curriculum
-Undergrad campus connected (GTown BBALL!!)
-VHC

Cons:
-Ugly Campus (Inside)......Honestly, I felt like I was in a bomb shelter (But hey, a building is a building).
-Expensive Area......Many Students live far from campus because of this: If you can afford the area, then this is a plus I guess.
-No Metro
-Price Tag
-Competitive environment compared to other schools
-Large Class Size and SMP
-WHC
-Undergrad campus connected (GTown BBALL: No longer a powerhouse like in the Ewing days)
-Can't park on campus

Overall, I think it's an awesome school, but these were some of the pros and cons of the school that I had weighed when deciding.

 

[VincentAdultman]

Georgetown I think would be better if you want to go to eventually go into private practice.

Umm, why?

If it was me, I'd pick Georgetown. Mainly because I'd rather live in D.C. than Morgantown for 4 years.

 

[tiedyeddog]

If it was me, I'd pick Georgetown. Mainly because I'd rather live in D.C. than Morgantown for 4 years.

Me too. I have been to morgantown many times and I've always hated it. Are all of WVU's clinicals in morgantown? I know WVU has some of their residency programs in Charleston but can you do all of your clinical rotations on WVU's campus? What about electives? Since Charleston is three hours away it would be really annoying if you had to go there to do any elective you wanted to do....

I really don't know how it works, just hypothesizing.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Georgetown I think would be better if you want to go to eventually go into private practice.

Huh? Don't agree with this.

That being said, the cultures at the two schools have got to be VASTLY different. Where do you think you would mesh well with your classmates and have the easiest transition? Rankings are overrated, and are stretched to the limit here on SDN.

I would probably go to WVU, but I'm biased since I'm not the biggest fan of Georgetown (philosophy, DC area)...

 

[blackbird11384]

Seriously guys, no contest...

VS

Wait a minute....Jack the Bulldog is kinda lame as a mascot too. But the dog himself is cool.



But seriously...Georgetown's facilities aren't that bad. They really are planning on infusing money in the next few years to make things better within the main teaching building, and waiting for a large philanthropic gift (received upon the unfortunate passing of a certain millionaires wife) to build a new building.

 

[phospho]

Georgetown I think would be better if you want to go to eventually go into private practice.

lol, i found this comment amusing because one of the biggest (and most successful) private practices in my area here in columbus OH is owned by an MD who graduated from WVU.

OP, I don't know if you wanna hear this, but I would go with WVU. After interest, you're talking about 50K of a difference, and I personally love their atmosphere. I haven't been to georgetown, so this is my biased opinion. Also, WVU grads specialize in everything. Yes, a lot go into primary care because that's what they really wanted in the first place, but you can be anything you want coming out of there.

Also, I personally hate big cities. Morgantown has a very homey feel to it, unlike DC.

 

[blackbird11384]

lol, i found this comment amusing because one of the biggest private practices in my area here in columbus OH is owned by an MD who graduated from WVU.

Agreed. I don't think either school will help you break into private practice any more than the other. Maybe Georgetown will help you break into private practice more on the east coast and WVU in the mid-south (What region is WV considered???).

 

[phospho]

Agreed. I don't think either school will help you break into private practice any more than the other. Maybe Georgetown will help you break into private practice more on the east coast and WVU in the mid-south (What region is WV considered???).

I thought it was midwest, but i just looked it up on wiki, and it looks like WV is considered Mid-Atlantic.

 

[GonnaHappen]

Don't know anything about WVU, but here are a few pros and cons of Georgetown from the interview trail:

Pros:
-Beautiful Campus (Outside)
-Awesome Area
-No metro=no crime
-NIH
-The Name= Future connections because of awesome law school and UG institutions
-Good Residency Placement.....Great placement in Ortho
-I liked the curriculum
-Undergrad campus connected (GTown BBALL!!)
-VHC

Cons:
-Ugly Campus (Inside)......Honestly, I felt like I was in a bomb shelter (But hey, a building is a building).
-Expensive Area......Many Students live far from campus because of this: If you can afford the area, then this is a plus I guess.
-No Metro
-Price Tag
-Competitive environment compared to other schools
-Large Class Size and SMP
-WHC
-Undergrad campus connected (GTown BBALL: No longer a powerhouse like in the Ewing days)
-Can't park on campus

Overall, I think it's an awesome school, but these were some of the pros and cons of the school that I had weighed when deciding.

 

[AdmiralChz]

How's Georgetown's football team looking for the fall? Oh wait.....

 

[blackbird11384]

How's Georgetown's football team looking for the fall? Oh wait.....

Not cool...

We do have a football team you know...and I think they won at least one of their games last year. Come to think of it, I think that was an improvement from the prior year.

As for Georgetown Basketball, this year was a rebuilding year. We lost all of our best seniors in 2008, and this season's team suffered from internal strife between one of the seniors and another player. It more or less tore the team apart and affected morale. We will be ready to play with the big boys again next year.

 

[drizzt3117]

I would definitely go with Georgetown on this one. A bit better national reputation and the location speaks for itself.

 

[itsmymango]

but your signature has 3 schools... is USUHS out? And btwn WVU and GT, I'd pick GT.

 

[sunset823]

I would normally say go where it's cheaper, but I can't imagine living in West Virginia for four years, and I LOVE DC, so at least to me I think the financial difference is worth it for GTown (but don't discount USUHS, even with the military commitment it's nice to graduate debt-free)

 

[GolfMustang07]

Thanks for all the feedback. I really loved Georgetown when i was there. I also liked WVU tho... I guess the reputation is a lot high for not really that much more money

 

[blackbird11384]

One more reason why Georgetown rocks:

President Barack Obama will be speaking on campus tomorrow!

 

[notoriousmoops]

Pro:

*Georgetown students know how to dress.

Con:

*Facilities are not the greatest.

 

[afkari]

Pro:

*Georgetown students know how to dress.

Con:

*Facilities are not the greatest.

Are the facilities that bad? I am just wondering.

 

[DCpremed4409]

I used to volunteer at GUH--the facilities are not that bad. They have one of the coolest PICU units I've ever seen (volunteered at Duke Childrens, GUH and Childrens in Boston) both in terms of technology and patient experience.

The hospital is undergoing a lot of renovations at the moment, so it doesn't look its best. The building's layout is very confusing as well--it's like they built Main then decided to tack on the rest after the fact. But I've absolutely loved every minute of it.

I can't speak to the medical education areas, but the hospital is really very nice.

As for not being near a metro, they have shuttles that go between the hospital and Rosslyn and Dupont--you can get there without a car. It just takes you a bit longer...

 

[funkymunkytoes]

Everyone is lambasting Georgetown's facilities so I wonder: are WVU's any better?

 

[links01]

WVU has a great facility. A state of the art cancer center is opening tomorrow, along with a new peds center in the works for 2010. They also just opened a huge research tower next to Ruby. I went to WVU undergrad but choose not to apply/go to medschool there for another reason. If you want to go into rural med then wvu is for you, they are BIG into helping out the state. If you have any questions about WVU feel free to ask!!!