WashU or Georgetown

College Search & Selection
1

<p>First, let me preface by saying I have attempted to do a thorough search of the forum before posting this, so please accept my apologies if this question has already been addressed.</p>

<p>I was accepted to GWU as a freshman, and just completed my first year there. Though the reasons are not important, I decided that I wanted to transfer out. I have been accepted to Georgetown University and Washington University in St. Louis, and must now make my decision. I am planning, with 90% certainty, to attend med-school. I know the knee-jerk reaction might be WashU, but my friends currently in the pre-med program there say it is horrendous, and has turned many of them away from medicine simply because the program has such a ridiculously high mortality rate. I am NOT looking for the EASIER option, but I don't want my love of medicine to be decimated by nonsensical weed out classes that are more difficult than need be. Also, I don't know if it is even possible to be a transfer student and pre-med at WashU. I guess my questions are...</p>

<p>1) Is a transfer student at either school officially, or unofficially, prohibited from going/ studying pre-med?</p>

<p>2) Which school would you recommend, and why?</p>

<p>A million thanks in advance! And sorry for the long post!</p>

<pre><code> -CG-
</code></pre>

2

<p>I would go to Georgetown, its less cutthroat and personally I just like the school much more. Of course transfers can do pre-med at either school.</p>

3

<p>slipper1234 - It always amazes me - the pronouncenents you make about Washu - while obviously knowing either very little or nothing about the school. It would be difficult to find a less cutthroat school than WashU. There is more cooperative spirit amongst the students than almost any top rated school. There may indeed be other reasons for choosing Georgetown - but "cutthroat" is certainly not one of them. Why not take the time to learn a bit about the school, so at least your opinions have some basis.</p>

4

<p>I'm referring to pre-meds at WashU. I know the school very well.</p>

5

<p>by what means?</p>

6

<p>slipper1234 - I guess we must have heard of different experiences. Difficult, hard, a lot of work - yes -- Cutthroad absolutely not. Just based on some of your previous posts I might guess you might have known the WashU of 15 - 20 years ago - but todays WashU - does not sound like you know it at all.</p>

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<p>I actually graduated from college about 5 years ago and went through the college process with younger siblings. WashU is one of the schools I haven't been to, but frankly I think its commonly overrated. Its success in placing graduates and its ability to get recruiters on campus is weaker than the schools its categorized with (Northwestern, etc). </p>

<p>WashU over georgetown is clearly a fine choice I was expressing personal opinion more than anything. WashU is heavily pre-med oriented and in my experience its better to avoid the pre-med factory type schools given grade deflation.</p>

8

<p>Well that is fine slipper but I think someone that attends the school would be more familiar with whether or not the atmosphere is cut-throat. I've heard different opinions but for the most part students say it is a friendly environment, even for pre-meds, and nothing like JHU.</p>

9

<p>The choice is very clear--Georgetown. First off, you want to go to Med School (90 percent sure) and if you really want Gtown has a program that allows you to apply early to thier med school and be guaranteed admissions to it througout the rest of your undergrad years..i actually believe you may not even have to take the MCAT for admissions if you go to GTOWN but check me on that just incase. Also, if you chose GWU in the first place, you must have some sort of "love" or just "like" for D.C. I'd assume you want to stay there, unless of course its a contributing factor to wanting to leave GWU in the first place. Georgetown is one of the most prestigious universities in the county, and as good a school Wash U-STL has gotten to be, it just doesn't match up to Gtown in terms of prestige. Just say the name georgetown to a future employer and it already creates a great first impression.</p>

<p>I also say this because I am in love with Georgetown and it has been my first choice for a while now.</p>

10

<p>"Georgetown is one of the most prestigious universities in the county, and as good a school Wash U-STL has gotten to be, it just doesn't match up to Gtown in terms of prestige. Just say the name georgetown to a future employer and it already creates a great first impression."</p>

<p>I beg to differ. Ask medical professionals (and research-oriented university professors), they will most likely tell you that WashU is more prestigious than GT.</p>

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<p>Prestige Overall:</p>

<p>Georgetown > WashU</p>

<p>Prestige in the Medical World:</p>

<p>WashU >>>>>>>> Georgetown</p>

12

<p>I think overall prestige is WashU = Georgetown, personally. But they really are comparable in that sense.</p>

<p>Go with WashU, your friend is only one opinion, plus, you can always transfer somewhere else for Junior year if you don't like it. It's a much better premed school, so you might as well take the chance.</p>

13

<p>i was talking about overall prestige, Wash U is a great school, but its a new great school, gtown is an older more presitigious university</p>

<p>but i will concede that it is true that in the medical field wash u is better than gtown, that is true</p>

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<p>georgetown would probably be a better experience, in addition to being overall more prestigious</p>

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<p>Well, thank you very much to all of you for responding! You've offered me great insight and valuable advice that I doubt I would have found elsewhere. I will have to make my decision in the next week or two, and I will let you know what my choice was, just in case, down the road, someone else should face this decision and would like to ask any questions of me. </p>

<p>Again, a million and one thanks!
-CG-</p>

16

<p>I would go with Georgetown. I think it is both more well known, especially if you intend on remaining on the east coast afterward, and would be a more enjoyable experience.</p>

17

<p>it is true that georgetown is very prestigious and so is WashU.. but the thing is WashU is getting even more prestigious now..
I would recommend going to washU not just because of its name recognition but because of its med program and social life</p>

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<p>O B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT<br>
WashU 7386 Georgetown 6853</p>

<p>% AND # OF STUDENTS WHO ARE IN-STATE<br>
WashU 9% (665) Georgetown 1% (69)</p>

<p>% OF FEMALE STUDENTS<br>
WashU 49% Georgetown 55%</p>

<p>% FROM PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS<br>
WashU 63% Georgetown 51%</p>

<p>% OF STUDENTS IN GREEK LIFE (Male & Female)
WashU 25%/25% Georgetown No/No</p>

<p>TOP MAJORS AT EACH SCHOOL (acc to collegeboard.com)
WashU 17% Social Sciences, 14% Engineering, 12% Business & Marketing, 11% Pyschology, 8% Biology, 7% Arts, 5% English
Georgetown 31% Social Sciences, 26% Business & Marketing, 8% English, 7% Foreign Language, 6% Health Professions, 5% Psychology</p>

<p>COST (Tuition & Fees)<br>
WashU 35,524 Georgetown $35,964
WashU 35,524 Georgetown $35,964 </p>

<p>TOTAL COLLEGE ENDOWMENT AND PER CAPITA (undergrad and grad)
WashU $4.68 bn ($387,136) Georgetown $834mm ($73,569)</p>

<p>AVERAGE HIGH/LOW IN FEBRUARY<br>
WashU 45-26 Georgetown 53-30</p>

<p>GRADUATION RATES<br>
-% OF STUDENTS EXPECTED TO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
WashU 90% Georgetown 90%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO DO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
WashU 91% Georgetown 93%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS:
WashU 82% Georgetown 88%</p>

<p>FACULTY RESOURCES<br>
-% OF CLASSES WITH <20 STUDENTS
WashU 73% Georgetown 57%
-% OF CLASSES WITH 50+ STUDENTS
WashU 9% Georgetown 8%
-FACULTY/STUDENT RATIO<br>
WashU 7/1 Georgetown 11/1</p>

<p>STUDENT SELECTIVITY<br>
-% ACCEPTANCE RATE<br>
WashU 21% Georgetown 22%
-SAT/ACT RANGE (Middle 50%)<br>
WashU 1370-1530 Georgetown 1290-1490
-% OF STUDENTS RANKING IN TOP 10% IN HS CLASS
WashU 93% Georgetown 84%
% OF STUDENTS WITH HS GPA > 3.75 (Unweighted)
WashU na Georgetown na</p>

<h1>OF NMS FINALISTS IN 2005 (% of student body)</h1>

<pre><code>WashU na Georgetown 48 (2.86%)
</code></pre>

<h1>OF 1500 STUDENTS ENROLLED (% of student body)</h1>

<pre><code>WashU 1882 (25%) Georgetown 1478 (22%)
</code></pre>

<p>ALUMNI GIVING %<br>
WashU 38% Georgetown 32%</p>

<p>S U B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>PEER ASSESSMENT<br>
WashU 4.1 Georgetown 4.1</p>

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<p>revealed preference</p>

<p>georgetown: 16th in the country, among williams, duke, cornell</p>

<p>washu: 65th in the country, among holy cross, george washington, smu</p>

<p>enough said.</p>

<p><a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=601105%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=601105&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

20

<p>I'd probably chose Georgetown because I like DC; however, these two are very close in academic quality, (i.e. very high quality,) and despite what some people on CC will tell you, perceived quality. (Many here seem against WashU.)</p>

<p>Have you visited both places..? That might decide it for you.</p>