Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) vs George Washington (GW)

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Wakiki555

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Hello Everybody - looking for some advice! I am really struggling on making a choice between these schools and would love to know your thoughts!

MCW (314,000$ Cost of Attendance )
Pros
- People at MCW seem friendly
- Frodert medical system looks really nice and has a strong reputation
- P/F, no internal rankings
- lots of academic advising/support
- cheaper COL, will be able to find a nicer place to live
- Better ranked?
- Better research opportunity

Cons
- lack of diversity (Im AA and diversity is important to me)
- dont love Milwaukee as a city
- Bigger class size
- Weather (very cold, very snowy)


George Washington (390,000$ Cost of Attendance)

Pros
- LOCATION, Washington DC is an excellent city to live in
- Being in DC, lots of opportunities to do cool projects and make connections
- Great opportunities for abroad experiences and public health exposure.
- P/F, not sure about internal rankings?
- Diverse class and medical and school

Cons
- COST, very expensive to live in DC - apartments more cramped, etc.
- Transportation: likely will need to live outside the city and take the metro in to save costs, creating a commute each day, cutting off study time at the library, etc.
- facilities do not seem as nice

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Congrats in the acceptances! I’d lean MCW since that’s about 20k a year you’d save (+ more with interest) and not have to worry about housing/commute as much. GW doesn’t add anything significant in terms of opportunities to justify that cost.
 
Congrats in the acceptances! I’d lean MCW since that’s about 20k a year you’d save (+ more with interest) and not have to worry about housing/commute as much. GW doesn’t add anything significant in terms of opportunities to justify that cost.
Thanks so much for your advice! Cost is an important aspect in my decision, so i'm glad you mentioned this! I also forgot about interest as well...
 
Congrats on two great options! I have two cents to share. Please take it as you will. I’m not trying to slander the good name of MCW by any means. But based on my personal experience, if diversity is a huge factor for you, then I’d go with GW. I interviewed with MCW last year and it was less than favorable. My student interviewer who was not Black (like I am) spent the entire interview talking about him/herself and how “segregated” the Milwaukee city is and how it wouldn’t be a good “fit” for a black person. I was already getting turned off at this point in the conversation. And at the end of our lovely chat, I find out that they totally confused me for ANOTHER black interviewee who had the misfortune of having him/her as the student interviewer. THAT definitely turned me off from the school. Disclaimer: I did not get into MCW post-II but I already knew I wouldn’t be getting my medical education there either way. Plus it’s a very cold area. And unless you’re used to living in a similar location, that might be an unwelcome change. It was definitely a factor for me.

I don’t know much about GW but I know it’s also a great school. And it’s in a more diverse location. Slightly more expensive than MCW so you might want to consider cost when making your decision.

Just my two cents. My comment is purely based on MY personal experience with MCW that reflected poorly on the school imo. I’m probably an outlier. You should consider reaching out to current AA/black students who might have different experiences there. The decision is up to you. Congrats again and good luck!
 
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^^ The above poster made a great point about trying to speak with current students.

Hopefully MCW has a panel or something for accepted students to hear from them, but the SDN page had some M1s (maybe some older students too) who you could probably PM and get the straight truth about their experience since it’s anonymous:

 
Congrats on two great options! I have two cents to share. Please take it as you will. I’m not trying to slander the good name of MCW by any means. But based on my personal experience, if diversity is a huge factor for you, then I’d go with GW. I interviewed with MCW last year and it was less than favorable. My student interviewer who was not Black (like I am) spent the entire interview talking about him/herself and how “segregated” the Milwaukee city is and how it wouldn’t be a good “fit” for a black person. I was already getting turned off at this point in the conversation. And at the end of our lovely chat, I find out that he’s totally confused me for ANOTHER black interviewee who had the misfortune of having him/her as the student interviewer. THAT definitely turned me off from the school. Disclaimer: I did not get into MCW post-II but I already knew I wouldn’t be getting my medical education there either way. Plus it’s a very cold area. And unless you’re used to living in a similar location, that might be an unwelcome change. It was definitely a factor for me.

I don’t know much about GW but I know it’s also a great school. And it’s in a more diverse location. Slightly more expensive than MCW so you might want to consider cost when making your decision.

Just my two cents. My comment is purely based on MY personal experience with MCW that reflected poorly on the school imo. I’m probably an outlier. You should consider reaching out to current AA/black students who might have different experiences there. The decision is up to you. Congrats again and good luck!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Im so so sorry to hear about how they treated you during your interview. I would also be extremely turned off if the interviewer confused me for another black interview as well. Diversity is a pretty big factor for me, so im still currently leaning towards GW. However, I'm still afraid of the extra costs I would have to pay by living in DC :(. Thanks again for the advice and I will definitely contact current black students hear their thoughts! :)
 
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^^ The above poster made a great point about trying to speak with current students.

Hopefully MCW has a panel or something for accepted students to hear from them, but the SDN page had some M1s (maybe some older students too) who you could probably PM and get the straight truth about their experience since it’s anonymous:

Thanks for your comment and sharing this link with me! I will definitely spend these next couple of days reaching out to URM students at MCW and hearing their thoughts!
 
If diversity is a huge deal, GW does have a lot of focus on it and the class is very diverse.

DC is criminally expensive to live in and I usually advocate for the cheaper school, but the total costs are similar for both (it’s not like you’re comparing a private vs in state tuition) where if you think one will make you much happier, you shouldn’t make a decision solely on money.

Have you talked to the financial aid office at either school? Are there any scholarships you might qualify for?

I’m a MS1 at GW if you want to PM me with specific questions but I didn’t qualify for any of the scholarships so unfortunately I wont be able to talk about any of those.
 
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