Jefferson (SKMC) vs Georgetown

[Randompremed7]

Hi everyone, so I'm a Florida resident and I was fortunate enough to have gotten accepted to 2 amazing private schools, and I'm having trouble picking between the two since they are so similar. I was accepted off the waitlist at both and because of virtual interviews/no second look, I haven't visited either campus. I have a week to decide, so I wanted to hear some of your opinions, especially if you're a current student at either school. Also, I haven't received any scholarships/financial aid so far since I was just recently accepted.

Jefferson
Pros:
- Family vibe/happy students based on what I saw during virtual interview
- Great location in Center City Philly
- $60k tuition, total cost is $83k, so cheaper but only by 10k a year, so prob not a big deal?
- Huge hospital network
- Good at both research and clinical training
- Tons of outreach opportunities (Jeff HOPE, YES, Puentes de Salud, Medical Spanish Program, etc)
- Living at the center of a huge city could be exciting for social/cultural reasons (or could be stressful, I'm not sure)
- Grading during clinical years is 2x vs preclin

Cons:
- Large class size of 270
- Ranking in upper, middle, lower 3rds (not sure if good or bad, transparency of where you fall could be good if you want a competitive specialty)
- Not a "true" college campus per say compared to GT
- A lot of Jeff students tend to match back into Jeff or the NE in general, might be a bad thing if I want to match back into Florida? Not sure


Georgetown
Pros:
- Beautiful old campus
- More suburban vs center city Philly (students tend to share houses), more space, wider roads, etc.
- More nature/trees, slightly better weather from what I've heard
- More "prestigious" name, not sure if it matters though since both are equally ranked
- Better public transportation in DC vs Philly
- Strong clinical training, outreach, and research as well (NIH)
- Smaller class size of 200
- Cura Personalis
- Amazing VA hospital

Cons:
- Facilities are older from what I've heard? Feel free to disagree
- DC is expensive af, especially for a poor med student.
- Tuition is $65k, total cost is 94K
- I'm not that big into politics/health policy
- I've been told by a Georgetown student that the administration isn't too supportive (could be at every med school though)
- 3rd year rotations are based on a lottery system?
- I'm not religious and I've been told there is a required theology course? Unsure about this though, since it doesn't look like the push religion on you.


Similarities:
- Both are well established, urban medical schools with good teaching hospitals and research opportunities
- Both are P/F in preclin and H/HP/P/F in clinicals
- Block-based curriculum and diverse patient populations
- Both cities have high crime rates
- I would be far away from friends/family in Florida at either school

Let me know what you guys think

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoldDoc]

For ortho, optho Jeff is better. Otherwise, roll a dice!

 

[Grogu]

Sounds like you have two great choices, congrats! Have you reached out and talked to current students yet? That's what I would do to help the decision. You can't go wrong either way.

 

[Randompremed7]

Sounds like you have two great choices, congrats! Have you reached out and talked to current students yet? That's what I would do to help the decision. You can't go wrong either way.

I talked to 1 student at each school and they both say their programs are great. It’s not helping me choose 😂

 

[wagonwheel23]

I think your decision is going to come down to location since educationally they appear quite equal. Philly and DC are both great cities. Have you been to either? If not, you might want to take a quick trip in the next few days. You can easily hit both cities in one trip (Fly to 1, Amtrak to the other, then fly home).

 

[Randompremed7]

I think your decision is going to come down to location since educationally they appear quite equal. Philly and DC are both great cities. Have you been to either? If not, you might want to take a quick trip in the next few days. You can easily hit both cities in one trip (Fly to 1, Amtrak to the other, then fly home).

Yup I’m actually doing just that tomorrow

 

[Banco]

You can match back to Florida from both. Sounds like you like Jeff a bit more - btw it is in a pretty cool part of Philly (more or less downtown, nice area, very central). Just go based on location.

 

[deleted1017749]

I was accepted to both schools and decided to go elsewhere, but I'd say Jeff! I went to college in Philly and it's such a cool place where housing and activities aren't crazy expensive compared to other major cities. Jefferson seemed so close and supportive, I'm pretty bummed they gave me no money.

I'm not sure if you've been to both campuses but Georgetown's medical school is further from the undergrad college so there isn't a lot of interaction. Also, the public transportation in Georgetown is notoriously bad compared to the rest of DC. Weather wise they are similar except in summer, where DC is unbearable because it's basically a swamp (but I guess that wouldn't be bad compared to FL heat).

 

[Randompremed7]

I was accepted to both schools and decided to go elsewhere, but I'd say Jeff! I went to college in Philly and it's such a cool place where housing and activities aren't crazy expensive compared to other major cities. Jefferson seemed so close and supportive, I'm pretty bummed they gave me no money.

I'm not sure if you've been to both campuses but Georgetown's medical school is further from the undergrad college so there isn't a lot of interaction. Also, the public transportation in Georgetown is notoriously bad compared to the rest of DC. Weather wise they are similar except in summer, where DC is unbearable because it's basically a swamp (but I guess that wouldn't be bad compared to FL heat).

Those are all fair points. But you’re right, the money part is important. Georgetown ended up giving me a half tuition scholarship and Jeff gave me no money. I liked Philly, but I liked Georgetown more to live (trees, nature, etc). But that’s just my preference after seeing both schools yesterday and today. Gonna go with Georgetown unless Jeff offers me money last minute