Maryland (UMSOM) vs Georgetown (GUSOM)

[hello2801]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi!! I need help deciding between programs - Georgetown (GUSOM) and the University of Maryland (UMSOM). I am extremely conflicted and would appreciate any help/ advice. I received scholarships/aid from both, so the cost is pretty comparable and not a factor.

UMSOM

Pros

• Great match rate
• New facilities
• Students seem very happy
• Feels like a medical city with a big medical center
• Shock Trauma Hospital!
  • Great clinical Training and affiliation
• Faculty seems like they care
• Big research institute!!
• NBME style exams for M2 (in house for M1)
• Block system with exams about every 4 weeks on 1 body system
• Flexibility with step 1 timeline if needed
• Overall better ranking

Cons

• Tiered Grading (Honors, high pass, pass, fail)
• Essentially grades
• Internal ranking thats stated on deans letter for residency apps (Excellent, good, etc, etc)
• Baltimore is not the most ideal city that I would want live in, but I know some people love it
• Public institute, so I am not sure what will happen to funding compared to a private school
• I went to UMD for undergrad, and UMSOM feels like a continuation, I kind of want change of people for medical school (i know a lot of people at UMSOM)

GUSOM

Pros

• True pass/fail with no internal ranking
• No AOA (idk if this is a pro or con)
• Great location - I love georgetown and DC
• Medstar is a very large hospital system
• Program has a competitive match list with a lot of emphasis on surgical sub-specialties (they have like 12-18 ortho matches every match but a large portion of class takes a research year before M3)
• Opportunities for health policy work
• Focus on community service and humanities

Cons

• While their match list is great, their match rate is decreasing and a lot of students have concerns about this
• Rigid deadline for when you can take and pass step 1 by (end of feb) and if you are not ready/don't pass, have to take a research year/ cant start clinicals.
• In-house exams for all of pre-clinical (18 months)
• Not good step 1 prep, below average pass rate
• Very old facilities at the medical school (not on par with the rest of the grad program buildings/ undergraduate campus, but these are accessible to med students and close by)
• Block system with exams every 7-8 weeks. Learn 3 body systems at once so 3 seperate tests within 2 weeks after each 7-8 week block
  • Some students say they prefer this because of more time for research/ extracurricular since its pass/ fail, but also A LOT of material on exams

 

[polarexpress]

I’m also deciding between UMSOM and Rutgers right now but from all my convos with my medical schools friends having NBME based exams are a huge advantage in feeling prepared for Step and onward. Also I don’t know if this matters a ton but I believe UMSOM ranks higher than GUSOM overall and I’ve spoken to UMSOM students who agree that they feel really supported by the admin and community! Both are good options but UMSOM has more pros IMO.

 

[blackcrow0317]

Went to Gtown for undergrad and my mentor who worked at medical school strongly discouraged me from applying. I have fairly big bias against Gtown because I wasn’t the biggest fan of its undergrad student culture as it felt very contradictory to the school’s mission of “people for others” so I guess take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Med campus is a little removed from the rest of campus in terms of the pedestrian pathways (~15 minute walk from front gates or the center of undergrad campus). Additionally, more “life” related rather than school but Georgetown is fairly inaccessible via public transportation (as opposed to the rest of DC). It generally took me >20 minutes to get to the closest metro stop and last I heard they were reducing frequency of service on lines to the campus (most came every 20-30 minutes when I went there). I am not sure if they provide parking for medical students (they strongly discouraged undergrads from bringing cars) but if not, there’s minimal parking in the surrounding area. I would just consider that when making a decision about where you choose to live if you go to there.

 

[premed123321]

While their match list is great, their match rate is decreasing and a lot of students have concerns about this

Can you explain by what the match rate is decreasing means? Students getting into less and less competitive specialties?

 

[hello2801]

I’m also deciding between UMSOM and Rutgers right now but from all my convos with my medical schools friends having NBME based exams are a huge advantage in feeling prepared for Step and onward. Also I don’t know if this matters a ton but I believe UMSOM ranks higher than GUSOM overall and I’ve spoken to UMSOM students who agree that they feel really supported by the admin and community! Both are good options but UMSOM has more pros IMO.

Thank you!

 

[hello2801]

Went to Gtown for undergrad and my mentor who worked at medical school strongly discouraged me from applying. I have fairly big bias against Gtown because I wasn’t the biggest fan of its undergrad student culture as it felt very contradictory to the school’s mission of “people for others” so I guess take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Med campus is a little removed from the rest of campus in terms of the pedestrian pathways (~15 minute walk from front gates or the center of undergrad campus). Additionally, more “life” related rather than school but Georgetown is fairly inaccessible via public transportation (as opposed to the rest of DC). It generally took me >20 minutes to get to the closest metro stop and last I heard they were reducing frequency of service on lines to the campus (most came every 20-30 minutes when I went there). I am not sure if they provide parking for medical students (they strongly discouraged undergrads from bringing cars) but if not, there’s minimal parking in the surrounding area. I would just consider that when making a decision about where you choose to live if you go to there.

Yes I have heard this as well, definitely something to consider if your mentor discouraged you.

 

[hello2801]

Can you explain by what the match rate is decreasing means? Students getting into less and less competitive specialties?

Not necessarily less competitive specialties. GT students tend to match into competitive specialties every year as it is surgery focused but I have heard less people are matching each year. However, this can be due a number of reasons and residency spots are lacking everywhere so I am not sure how to interpret a match rate that seems to be decreasing. I also cannot find the exact match rate anywhere and it seems to be hidden, not sure if this is a red flag.

 

[deleted1190059]

I honestly don't know that much about either school, but I do have a friend that goes to Georgetown and absolutely loves it if it helps! She feels they are supportive, proactive, and super engaged with their students. Just wanted to put that out there for you to know since there are some other things written about GT that might not seem as positive. Congrats on your amazing acceptances!

 

[premed123321]

Not necessarily less competitive specialties. GT students tend to match into competitive specialties every year as it is surgery focused but I have heard less people are matching each year. However, this can be due a number of reasons and residency spots are lacking everywhere so I am not sure how to interpret a match rate that seems to be decreasing. I also cannot find the exact match rate anywhere and it seems to be hidden, not sure if this is a red flag.

Interesting. It seems unlikely that Georgetown would be facing a widespread matching problem in the way Caribbean grads might.

It could simply be a result of Georgetown students applying to highly competitive specialties, which often involves taking research years. The increasing popularity of research years and the growing competitiveness of these specialties year over year likely contribute as well.

 

[hello2801]

I honestly don't know that much about either school, but I do have a friend that goes to Georgetown and absolutely loves it if it helps! She feels they are supportive, proactive, and super engaged with their students. Just wanted to put that out there for you to know since there are some other things written about GT that might not seem as positive. Congrats on your amazing acceptances!

Thank you so much!!

 

[hello2801]

Interesting. It seems unlikely that Georgetown would be facing a widespread matching problem in the way Caribbean grads might.

It could simply be a result of Georgetown students applying to highly competitive specialties, which often involves taking research years. The increasing popularity of research years and the growing competitiveness of these specialties year over year likely contribute as well.

Yes agreed!

 

[Yhwach]

Not necessarily less competitive specialties. GT students tend to match into competitive specialties every year as it is surgery focused but I have heard less people are matching each year. However, this can be due a number of reasons and residency spots are lacking everywhere so I am not sure how to interpret a match rate that seems to be decreasing. I also cannot find the exact match rate anywhere and it seems to be hidden, not sure if this is a red flag.

This is a big thing to note because it could be a supply-side issue of just having a lot of people from that school applying to competitive specialties. More people applying to those fields may mean just a higher unmatch rate.

Question for you: Where are you getting the ranking info? From what I remember, USNEWS does not rank anymore, and the ranks are from admit.org and GT is #48 and UMD is #50 (the same).

My gut feeling is GT. I don't think either program will make or break you, but I think DC is just cooler and GT sounds like it would be more dynamic and fun. Also no AOA.

 

[chickenfinger1234]

Hey! In a similar situation. What did you end up choosing and why?

 

[SCOOPEER]

Hey! In a similar situation. What did you end up choosing and why?

Not OP but I chose UMaryland because it is a respected academic institution, the abundant research opportunities available in my specialty of interest, proximity to my family/home in Northern Virginia, cost relative to my other options despite being OOS (pretty significant scholarship), seemingly welcoming and collaborative environment on second look, and the convenience of a city + proximity to NYC, Phily, DC. Some things that made me a bit hesitant before committing were of course the tiered pass/fail system and location being a bit suboptimal (crime, potholes, etc lol) for the most part but imao the positives outweighed the negatives.

 

[cocacola1942]

@chickenfinger1234 I was in a very similar situation when I was deciding, and I ultimately chose Georgetown. After speaking with students, I got the sense that people were generally happier there—definitely a subjective impression, but it mattered to me; I also really love DC and the surrounding campus. The environment definitely felt less competitive, which I think is helped by the pass/fail grading system. Since I’m aiming for a competitive specialty, I also considered outcomes, and Georgetown had noticeably stronger results in the field.

As far as rankings go, I don't know where people get this info from now that many schools (incl. GUSOM) pulled out of USNEWS. Admit.org seems to have GUSOM > UMSOM.
- Anecdotally, many of the attendings I worked with (in MD, mind you) told me that they viewed Georgetown in a higher regard.

 

[premedgal444]

Hey! In a similar situation. What did you end up choosing and why?

talk to current students about step pass rate, there are definitely challenges at georgetown & you can't find this info online easily