UMass vs Georgetown (vote on poll please)

[mmapson]

Hey Everyone,

I am narrowing my acceptances down to Georgetown and UMass and trying to decide between the two. The main concern is cost.

Georgetown Pros:
-International / Global Health (I have a MPH in International Health)
-Diverse population (globally since DC / underserved)
-Good location ( I like DC and my long-term girlfriend will start working there next year)
-Main point: Gut feeling --> I felt really good at interview day, liked everyone I met, and had a really good feeling about the school. I interviewed at 10+ schools and this was by far the best "gut feeling" which a lot of students have told me is an important deciding factor
-Competitive / diverse match list
-Good gym close to campus (undergrad gym, this is an important factor for me)
-more presitigous / ~2% acceptance rate
Georgetown Cons:
-Cost of tuition
-This is dumb, but I have read a lot of negative feedback towards Georgetown on SDN
-Living (expensive, and QUESTION: can I live within ~10 minutes bike ride to schoo? This is another important factor
-Grading system creates competetiveness, although this might not be a bad thing in terms of being prepared for step 1

UMASS Pros:
-Cheap tuition and living costs
-Good primary care program (I am considering primary care, but really want to explore other options too)
-I can have a house very close to campus, this is important factor for me
-Close to home (45 min drive)
-Pass / fail
-Global health pathway

UMass Cons:
-I had a really bad gut feeling at interview day, I felt the school was not impressive. I think this may have to do that UMass was originally my dream school because of cost, and I was let down a bit.
-Bad match list in terms of diversity, a lot of primary care (although this may just be what students lean towards)
-Not excited about living in Worcester for 4 years
-No gym near campus / included except for a low quality small gym in the hospital
-All the information (website, interview day info, etc) about the school is lacking and seems less organized and professional than other schools
-Current students and fellow interviewees seemed less professional than at other schools
-7 hour drive from girlfriend aka long-distance relationship
-less prestigious, ~15% acceptance rate (only MA residents can apply)

Basically, it comes down to gut feeling of school vs cost. I felt really really good at Georgetown, but iti s extremely expensive for tuition and living. I did not feel that good at UMass for some reason, but it is cheap. If I do end up in primary care, UMass will be fine, but I feel that I may be limited for experiencing and matching to competetive residencies if I got to UMass. Also, it would be cool to live in the same city as my girlfriend rather than a 7 hour drive away. Most physicians I ask say to go to the cheap school and that the education I get is up to me (including a physician who went to a carribean MD school and is now a leading surgeon at one of the best hospitals in the US), where as students say go where you will be "happy" and where you had a good gut-feeling.

I will attend both second look days, but wondering if anyone had any insight? I am not currently in debt, but I will have to take out loans to pay for almost all of med school, so ~100k more in debt will mean $1000 more in monthly payments for 10 years after med school, and residency salary is only ~$4000 a month for 3-7 years...

THANK YOU for reading this long post and in advance for any comments. Good luck to everyone!

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[Nietzschelover]

First of all, I wouldn't call UMass cheap. It's not that cheap for a state school.

Secondly, I doubt you'll find many people who agree with you that G'town is more prestigious. This is a category error based on the overall G'town "brand," much like it would be for Tufts. In terms of med schools, I haven't read that anyone considers G'town or Tufts a tier above UMass and many might well "rank" UMass higher. Your reference to admit rates I think is misguided. There are MANY low-tiers which are extremely low yield. That doesn't equate to prestige.

Third, your gut and your girlfriend are obviously important factors for you judging by your post.

Forth, obviously there is no comparison between DC and Worcester, but your overall description of UMass (in a negative way) flies in the face of everything I have heard about UMass, its new facilities, and the quality of the students.

Fifth, if you interviewed at more than 10 MD schools I'm surprised you don't have any other challengers to these two in the mix.

 

[BabyDoctor26]

Go with your gut!

 

[mmapson]

Thanks so much for the advice. Any information helps!

 

[mmapson]

Any one else have any opinions ?

 

[sunset57]

I don't know anything about U-Mass, but would offer the following opinions re your pro's and con's for GT

Pro's:

GW and Howard serve the vast majority of DC's underserved population. GW gets most of the international patients. GT's patient population is much more upscale and suburban.

As noted by Nietzschlover, yield doesn't equate with prestige. GT isn't even considered the top hospital in the DC metropolitan region (http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/washington-dc).

It's interesting that this site ranks U-Mass higher than GT (http://medical-schools.startclass.c...l-vs-Georgetown-University-School-of-Medicine).

NIH funding at U-Mass is ~3x greater than at GT.

Con's:

DC is a very expensive city to live in. Although a 10 minute car ride will get you closer to less expensive housing in northern VA, a 10 minute bike ride won't help much.

The cost differential compared with U-Mass is significant: ~30K cheaper per year at U-Mass if you're instate (and I'm reading correctly).

Ultimately, I don't think a degree from either school will significantly increase or decrease your chances for a successful residency/career.

Choose the school where you'll be most happy.

You'll have to weigh the importance of location, family, long-term debt, cost of living, and your initial "gut".

Good luck, and congratulations!

 

[bananabreadhunter]

It sounds like you have plenty of reasons to attend Georgetown. I won't talk you out of it.

 

[kac4]

+1

 

[Fedekz]

Don't judge a school by its acceptance rate. George Washington University gets something like 15,000 applications for 190 seats. By the numbers they are the most "selective" school in the US. Does that make them more prestigious than Harvard which has a higher acceptance rate?

GT is a private school with no favoritism to any state, so nearly everyone applies there from around the US. Mostly MA residents apply to UMASS, so the numbers are very skewed.

 

[RedSox143]

My man, I'm living with the same decision. Brutal. For us our state school isn't too cheap so it's not a sure fire decision. I'm not choosing between G'town and UMass but I'm choosing between a similarly ranked and priced school and UMass. so i welcome this conversation.

The big ticket: The residency; Lets just get out there how UMass is valued overall. I work with a residency director at a major boston hospital and have run my question by him. If you are looking for a residency in Mass. UMass is a top notch school that residency directors in Boston view very highly probably the same level if not better than tufts and BU (confirmed) which makes it an overall better value because of its price if that's your overall goal. So it's value comes from it's education and price together ranks it much higher than initially perceived by people. If you want a residency in Boston, UMass is without a doubt more prestigious and a better call than Gtown. Out of state residencies, probably G'town is a better call.

There's alot more to discuss like research, overall area and everything, but this is the main point that stood out to me. Open for discussion.

However, gut feeling is really important, I'm struggling with the decision for the same reasons and looking at residencies out of state so I'm leaning towards the private school but if your dream is a Boston residency then UMass is without a doubt the better choice. You can obviously succeed at both schools 100% just saying UMass matches very well in Boston and Massachusetts.

I'm still deliberating so I'd love to have a discussion about this.

 

[PSiloveU2013]

Sounds like you want to go to Georgetown! Maybe see what grants/scholarships you can apply for at Georgetown (through them or through other venues) to decrease the cost difference. If I were you, and it was financially possible to go to Georgetown, that's what I'd pick. Liking your school, location and being close to a loved one is worth the cost difference, imho.


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[lmn]

What is the difference in cost going to be like number wise?

Personally I don't think there is any useful difference in prestige. Also don't assume UMass doesn't match well or isn't as prestigious just b/c most go into "primary care", I would be willing to bet a lot of those are IM that plan on becoming various specialists. Umass definitely isn't in as an exciting of an area, I enjoy being in an "exciting" area, but realistically after your m1 year your time to enjoy all that surrounding area is going to decrease fast. And you wouldn't be that far from Boston anyway, you can still definitely go and have fun on weekends/etc.

For me this decision would really depend on how big of a $$$ difference we are talking

 

[BioEngMD]

Not going to vote because I don't know anything about UMass, but I figured I'd throw in my two cents as someone who declined a Georgetown acceptance last cycle.

Personally, their bell curve grading system was an unbelievably huge drawback for me. Med school is stressful enough without a guarantee that a portion of the class will fail every test. And then you have the huge cost on top of that.

Based on your list, you have to weigh being close to your girlfriend with the lower cost of UMass, Pass/Fail grading, and proximity to family. I'd pick the latter without second thought unless there was something extremely negative that completely turned you off about the school. I experienced the same unimpressed feeling with the interview day at my state school, but still would have matriculated if I'd had the option.

 

[mmapson]

My man, I'm living with the same decision. Brutal. For us our state school isn't too cheap so it's not a sure fire decision. I'm not choosing between G'town and UMass but I'm choosing between a similarly ranked and priced school and UMass. so i welcome this conversation.

The big ticket: The residency; Lets just get out there how UMass is valued overall. I work with a residency director at a major boston hospital and have run my question by him. If you are looking for a residency in Mass. UMass is a top notch school that residency directors in Boston view very highly probably the same level if not better than tufts and BU (confirmed) which makes it an overall better value because of its price if that's your overall goal. So it's value comes from it's education and price together ranks it much higher than initially perceived by people. If you want a residency in Boston, UMass is without a doubt more prestigious and a better call than Gtown. Out of state residencies, probably G'town is a better call.

There's alot more to discuss like research, overall area and everything, but this is the main point that stood out to me. Open for discussion.

However, gut feeling is really important, I'm struggling with the decision for the same reasons and looking at residencies out of state so I'm leaning towards the private school but if your dream is a Boston residency then UMass is without a doubt the better choice. You can obviously succeed at both schools 100% just saying UMass matches very well in Boston and Massachusetts.

I'm still deliberating so I'd love to have a discussion about this.

Any update on what you are deciding? I am still unsure but leaning towards Georgetown

 

[RedSox143]

Any update on what you are deciding? I am still unsure but leaning towards Georgetown

Dude I'm stuck I cannot make a decision for the life of me, still leaning towards the private cuz I'l never have anothe roppertunity to live where it is and ive found living arrangements for extremely dirt cheap. but I have made no decision. So same boat still. negotiating finances with the private

 

[mmapson]

What do you mean by negotiating finances?

 

[mmapson]

Dude I'm stuck I cannot make a decision for the life of me, still leaning towards the private (Tulane) cuz I'l never have anothe roppertunity to live in Nola and ive found living arrangements for extremely dirt cheap. but I have made no decision. So same boat still. negotiating finances with the private

What do you mean by negotiating financing?

 

[RedSox143]

What do you mean by negotiating financing?

Doesn't hurt to try to get the private school to match the rate of your state school, so essentially im saying knock off 12k to match my state school and I'd be 100% ready to commit to you because I have other looming acceptances but I really want to got o your school over them all. they may say no or whatever but worth a shot, they're not going to cancel your acceptance if you ask for a little incentive. They chose you out of many thousands of applicants therefore we must hold some value however little my point is its worth asking.

 

[mdconcern]

.

 

[deleted838817]

I was in this position this year. I missed the Financial Aid deadline, and the difference in cost for just one year alone decided for me. I hope to come to work in DC in the future.