Is Georgetown worth the money?

[lsutiger]

I have an interview at Georgetown coming up in about two weeks. I have already been accepted by both of my state schools with tuition being around $11,000 per year. Does anyone one think the $31,000 per year at Georgetown worth it? The only way I could justify spending this much money is if it will help me get a better residency. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

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[exmike]

no is NOT worth it. Save your money. you can PM me if you want my opinion.

 

[Jalby]

Nope. But what are your state schools??? I might change my mind if they are Alaska U and U of Alaska.

 

[Adapt]

Heck no don't go. It seems to me they like to post interview reject (as they did me) more than other schools because of their weird way of choosing acceptances. Go to the school where your tuition is cheaper. Even if your tuition was 30,000 at your state school, I would still say don't go. Save your time and money.

 

[Jalby]

They tend to choose thier post interview acceptances based on how well you can wriet a letter about how much better GT is then the Ivys and you would be willing to give your left nut to be there.

 

[FowlersGap]

yeah i would not go to GTOWN over my state school;

just step onto the med campus; its pretty much a basement

the facilities are pretty sub-par as well

and the library...the windows are not soundproof so when monthly barbeques are held with loud blasting music outside; you can hear everything inside the library; also the library faces the soccer/lacrosse field; whenever there's a game, you can hear everything...i think they're remodeling it this year; but still...

also if you need to do research; gtown doesn't have an interlibrary loan system; you've got to pay out of pocket to get a journal if you need it; or you have to go to GWU or NIH; because gtown's breadth of journals in its library is pretty scant...

the name is great though=but that's it

DC's a great city otherwise and if you want a change of scene and if you're willing to pay three times as much then i'd go to gtown

i don't think you'll get anything extra at gtown that what you would have gotten at your state school

 

[darkcity998]

I'm looking forward to a Georgetown interview myself.

Most of the replies have been No, but it all depends on your career goals (academic or clinical medicine) and living preferences. If I were to choose SUNY Downstate to Georgetown, I would definitely choose Georgetown because I'm interested in other aspects of medicine, convenience to science policy org. and research at NINDS. Most of all, I would like to live in DC.

If you do a search on Georgetown, they say it's great if you're looking into surgical specialties. I'd have to look into that too.

So what if you're already accepted at Georgetown, does that change your thoughts on attending your state school? If it does, then why not stay with a student host to save $ on the interview. Hope that helps in any way.

 

[TexasGuy41]

I'd take your advice from people that actually got IN to Gtown and turned it down. It seems like everyone that is bashing it got rejected. Bottom line is that it is a great school with a great name. If you tell someone that you went to SUNY-Downstate or Georgetown it gets a different reaction. It may not be warranted, but the name does count for something.

 

[coldchemist]

Originally posted by Jalby
Nope. But what are your state schools??? I might change my mind if they are Alaska U and U of Alaska.

Why does everyone gotta use my state as an example?

FYI--Alaska doesn't have a medical school, which is the major reason we have seats reserved at UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. Not a bad state school at all...

 

[Jalby]

Originally posted by coldchemist
Why does everyone gotta use my state as an example?

Maryland??? They have a state school???

 

[met19]

I went to Gtown as a SMP (special master's in physio) student last year and now am at SUNY Downstate. Like most of the posts, I think Gtwon is way overated. However, they have amazing stats at getting people into ortho residencies. But my advice, if you are pleased with your state school acceptances, do well there and get whatever residency you want. Personally I hated the Gtown campus after a couple months an regretted applying there (the program reccomends you should apply). I think the school thinks too highly of itself and most of the people who have described Gtown have it right. If you like where you are accpted and feel that you will prob go there, don't go to the interview. But if you think Gtown is a good fit, go, give a good interview and send a kiss ass letter.

 

[Jalby]

Oh yeah. I forgot another reason GT sucks. Present company excluded, it sucks to have most of your med school classes with 150 med students, and 100 PostBac students. Don't really get the community feel you do at other schools.

 

[CalBeE]

Come on, Georgetown may have a famous Law School, but its med school is just sucky.

Save your $$$ for a new laptop computer for med school instead

 

[met19]

Jalby you couldn't be more wrong with your latest reason. When I attended the mazter's the med school class is extremely close, as is the master's class. And often they put events on together or go out together. For example Physios were invited to the formal events and their auction and they were invited to out class auction. It adds a new level of support. There isn't really a problem community wise expect for how competitve the students are. They all know how to have fun and a good time (esp on the crawls after the exams). The med students that I spoke to last year did not mind having us with them in class and often gave us advice on interviews etc.

If anyone wants to PM or ask me questions concering Gtown's classes or facilities just let me know.

Here are the med classes I took: Embryo, Histo, Physio, Endo, Neuro, and Biostats...

Laters

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by Jalby
Oh yeah. I forgot another reason GT sucks. Present company excluded, it sucks to have most of your med school classes with 150 med students, and 100 PostBac students. Don't really get the community feel you do at other schools.

Unfortunately jalby has no idea what he's talking about since it definitely must suck for those meds to have to sit next to me, the post bacc during class. In fact the two groups do most of their things on their own, and having two groups increases the number of social opportunities. From my interactions with MS1's, they like having the graduate students around. Besides, how we do in class does not affect their grades in any way, so it wouldnt affect the community feel. Think of it as 100 more chances to make a friend.

Anyhow, thats NOT a reason not to go to Gtown. Its obvious that I'm also in the SMP program, and I didnt apply to the medical school. There are plenty of people in the SMP program dying to go, so there is no point for me to apply if my desire isnt that great. Oh yeah, OP, ill return your PM.

 

[TexasGuy41]

How many people that hate Gtown actually applied to and got IN to Gtown? If so, I'd like to hear your answers. SMPers that chose not to apply certainly have an inside view into Gtown and I think their advice is worth noting. But others that got rejected by Gtown and then decide to bash it as being too high on itself, not worth it, etc...your views seem a bit too "I hate them since I didn't get in" to really be worth noting.

 

[surfdevl02]

Umm..ok...i hope this helps. I am actually a first year at Georgetown Med and can answer some of you guys/gals questions.....

As for facilities...yes, ours may not be the best out there but honestly, how often are you going to get to enjoy "great facilities" while you're studying all day in the library in med school. We have a lecture hall, decent labs, library, student lounge, what else do you need? This isn't club med, it's med school.

As for saving money, yes, you're right...your state school will probably be much cheaper and may be a wiser decision for a lot of you, but don't think that's the best decision for everyone. There are a lot of things that even money may not be able to borrow. It's pretty sweet living in Gtown, having 170 classmates plus the 100 or so master's students to hang out with and be able to walk to bars and clubs within the neighborhood on the weekends.

The faculty is very helpful to us, the professors are out to help everyone, and there is not a feeling of "competitiveness" that pervades our class. Before most exams your inbox is always full of students sending out study aids and their notes that may be helpful to some. That being said, there are some amazingly talented and ridiculously intelligent people at Gtown (like most med schools)but you would never know it because we try to escape the walls of academia on the weekends at clubs in Dupont, M-street, or adams morgan. It's a great place to live although kinda pricey.

As for residency placement, it is correct in that Gtown has one of the highest (if not the highest) placements into orthopedics every year. Our ortho and surgery depts push hard for those who want to pursue those specialties. being that sports medicine/orthopedics is what i want to do, that was a huge draw for me to come to gtown.

as for the religious aspect, Gtown is Catholic but being a non-catholic has no bearing on my experience there. In fact, i don't know who is or isn't catholic in my class because the issue of religion never really come up besides in our religious traditions to healthcare class.

So there's my speal on my school...take it for what you will....if there are any questions, i'm more than glad to answer then..

 

[Jalby]

Sorry I semi insulted the post-bac masters students. That was not my intent at all. They have a great program for getting people into med schools. But my point still stands that having 100 extra non-med students doesn't help fostor community. I know about this because there is a person at GT right now who was talking to our admin director about choosing between USC and GT last year. He ended up choosing GT, and went there. 2 months into school, he called our admin director b/c he was miserable at school because of the reason I just named. he was wondering if he could drop out of GT and reapply to go to USC. She basically told him to just try to find his own group of friends and it wouldn't be worth wasting a year.
Some good things about GT, BTW, is the Ortho Placement that they do is amazing. I know a lot of people at my school who dreams of being ortho, and would be better off there. I think it's like 15-18 people a year place in ortho (I didn't believe it the first time I read it)

 

[met19]

Jalby's friend is a very rare case. Med students have lots of events to go to and do not seem to dislike the SMPers. I did not hear rumors of med's hating phyios or thinking that they ruined their 1st year. And Gtown is ripe with rumor. SMPer's dont affect the grades of med students so there is no complaint there. And finally, med students seemed to have a great sense of community from my viewpoint. They volunteer for health days, go out on bar crawls, play cards, shopping etc. SOme of these events include physios, some don't. In my year there (the same year as Jalby's friend) I did not see a case were the med students were not a community. But I also know everyone is diff and maybe his/her friend hated Gtown b/c of this. Usually the physios do better than the med's b/c they don't have alot of other courses to study for. A physio friend can be a huge advantage to have since they will know their limited amt of courses very well, indeed.

 

[chameleonknight]

Hey, lsutiger,

Turn down your New Orleans acceptance and go to Shreveport. Or go to Georgetown; just make sure you free up a spot at LSUSM-NO. That would make me happiest

 

[dara678]

To the people in the SMP program and the first years -

How many hours a day are you in class? I think our tour guides told us but I forgot. Also, how much PBL do you guys actually get?

Geez, I guess I must have a really bad memory ...

 

[mamadoc]

When i interviewed there four years ago, the person running the show for the day (Ms. Sullivan, is she still there?) actually TOLD US that if we got into our state schools, we should go there. Raised a few eyebrows, I can tell you.

I got waitlisted, didn't end up getting in, so can't tell you if it's just the greatest thing going. I do think Georgetown gives itself a lot of good press, and that's not sour grapes; for lots of reasons it's a good thing I didnt' end up there.