Nova Southeastern (full tuition) vs. Georgetown

[Doc-kestral]

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Hey all, I've got a conundrum on my hands that might be familiar to a lot of you. I need to choose between going to Nova Southeastern in Ft. Lauderdale or Georgetown University. I worry about the relative "newness" of Nova when it comes to finding a residency, but I'm also worried about the cost of Georgetown. I really appreciate all of your feedback!

Georgetown
Pros

• 90%+ get top 3 residency match (sort of like carte blanche specialty choosing *assuming I do well enough*)
• In DC, great hospital groups here and every specialty
• Stay close to friends/ girlfriend
• Early clinical exposure

Cons

• ~$350,000 in debt in 4 years (tuition + living)
• Still figuring out their new curriculum

Nova Southeastern
Pros

• Save $300,000 in tuition
• Early research exposure
• Associated with a strong DO program

Cons

• Have not graduated a class yet = no match numbers (potentially limiting specialty choices)
• I don't know about the connections the school has
• I don't necessarily want to live in Florida

Summary: I am undecided about what sort of specialty I want to get into - I feel reasonably confident that primary care and pediatrics are out. I would ideally love to practice back in California, where I'm from. I don't have any familial support coming in to medical school, so the cost is on my shoulders. Any ideas about how to go about making this decision?

Thanks so much!

 

[Lolikarp]

I'd say Georgetown despite the cost. Nova still has a ways to go in terms of curriculum, clinicals, and research opportunities to really be on par (I interviewed at Nova MD as well). They also have a super heavy reliance on TBL if that is a factor. As far as residency, I think Georgetown would put you in a better place to explore and make connections with specialties based on the number of opportunities in DC.

 

[puahate]

GT

 

[Quantal Reasoning]

That's $300,000 extra debt, with interest that's $500,000. Half a million. I'm all for being close to family/girlfriend, but that's a lot of debt. Wow. No comment, sorry.

 

[jamaisvu]

I’ll go with the cheapest...

 

[ZukosRedemption]

Georgetown def

 

[CT153]

I’m in a similar position in considering what I will do if I get off any of my waitlists. Every single physician I have spoken to has said well established school >>> new programs, despite a significant difference in COA. The opportunities you will get at GT and your increased earning potential as a result of those opportunities and connections makes the debt well worth it.

 

[Doc-kestral]

I’m in a similar position in considering what I will do if I get off any of my waitlists. Every single physician I have spoken to has said well established school >>> new programs, despite a significant difference in COA. The opportunities you will get at GT and your increased earning potential as a result of those opportunities and connections makes the debt well worth it.

From what I've come to understand, that's approximately right. The extra COA is to pay for the opening of doors, an easier time matching into competitive (lucrative) specialties. The only reason that I can think of to go to Nova is if I were to be going after primary care, peds, etc. If I'd like to have an option to get into something more like Derm, ENT, ortho then I should probably get myself into a boat of debt and go with Gtown.

It's just so wild to imagine having close to $500,000 in debt by the end of year 4.... The earning potential is there, but it'll require living like a resident for many years after residency.

 

[Doc-kestral]

how did you get free tuition? thats awesome

Thanks! I have no idea. At first they offered me a 50% tuition scholarship and then suddenly bumped it up to 100%. Some people in ADCOMs that I've talked to from different schools are saying that's a hopeful method to attract stronger candidates to less known/successful programs.
That and their endowment is splendidly large.

 

[Premed2295]

I made this exact choice last year. Feel free to message me

 

[Doc-kestral]

I made this exact choice last year. Feel free to message me

I've messaged you.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

I'm an MS4 who matched and I say definitely Nova. Georgetown is ridiculously expensive and it is likely one of the most expensive schools in the country. It's a great school but it's not "Top 20" or whatever quality. If you do well at Nova (great Steps, research, etc) you will match just as well as you would have going to Gtown. The hospitals Gtown students rotate at - Washington Hospital, Georgetown hospital, aren't exactly the world's greatest either and definitely not worth paying over $300k to rotate at... that loan number is FREAKING INSANE and it will hurt you going forward. don't listen to pre-meds - Gtown will not give you that much of a competitive edge in the match over Nova if everything else is right (Step scores, clinical grades, research + pubs). Free tuition at Nova over Gtown any day all day. If you were chosing between Nova and Yale or UCSF or something crazy like that, I'd definitely say go to that prestigious school and take the loans, but Gtown is 100% not worth it over free tuition at Nova.

 

[ricksimmonsrafowens]

I’m in a similar position in considering what I will do if I get off any of my waitlists. Every single physician I have spoken to has said well established school >>> new programs, despite a significant difference in COA. The opportunities you will get at GT and your increased earning potential as a result of those opportunities and connections makes the debt well worth it.

false

your connections in medical school will be trumped by the connections you make in residency in every single case. You will not increase your earning potential just because you went to Gtown. If you're a high performing student, you're competitive to match ENT/ortho/derm whether you go to Nova or Gtown. You will do away rotations in those specialties anyway and make your connections that way. If you're resourceful you'll find research at either institution. there's just no appreciable benefit that I can see to going to Gtown with their ridiculous COA over going to Nova with their free tuition.

 

[Yasuo]

I'm enjoying my experience at NSU MD, and it's providing me with an MD same as any other school. I have 0 worries about performing well and matching somewhere I want to go.

More importantly, anyone who advises you to turn down a full ride in order to go to a higher tier school that will put you close to half a million in debt is being ridiculous. To enter residency and attending life with 0 debt and 0 compounding interest significantly increases how fast you can build wealth.

 

[Shammyguy3]

Nova

 

[Espressoshot436]

Nova