GW vs UM

[throwaway2024]

George Washington vs University of Miami

Hello everyone, I am having a tough time here. The big thing for me is that I would prefer GW but feel it might hinder me from getting into a more competitive specialty.

GW Pros

• Honors/Pass/Fail (compared to Miami's grading)
• Commitment to community service and giving back to the area i grew up in
• NIH for cool research in summer

Cons

• Seem to barely have any matches in specialties i'm interested in (surgical sub.)
• 40k total more expensive than miami (not a big deal to me)

Miami Pros

• Incredible match list, including people who match back to NE
• Lots research opportunities
• Weather and Culture of city
• reputation seems better than GW (?)

Cons

• Location, I don't know anyone in Florida and i am not looking to make a big move right now
• Students are notoriously unhappy
• You get GRADES and are ranked by quartiles
• They're building some new facilities, but won't be ready for our class

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[libertyyne]

George Washington vs University of Miami

Hello everyone, I am having a tough time here. The big thing for me is that I would prefer GW but feel it might hinder me from getting into a more competitive specialty.

GW Pros

• Honors/Pass/Fail (compared to Miami's grading)
• Commitment to community service and giving back to the area i grew up in
• NIH for cool research in summers
• Location - I am from the Washington DC area, could live at home and have support of friends and family
• SO works in DC and it is significantly better for their career

Cons

• Seem to barely have any matches in specialties i'm interested in (surgical sub.)
• 40k total more expensive than miami (not a big deal to me)

Miami Pros

• Incredible match list, including people who match back to NE
• Lots research opportunities
• Weather and Culture of city
• reputation seems better than GW (?)

Cons

• Location, I don't know anyone in Florida and i am not looking to make a big move right now
• Students are notoriously unhappy
• You get GRADES and are ranked by quartiles
• They're building some new facilities, but won't be ready for our class

honors pass fail is the same as grading as they will be keeping track . Miami is the better school in IMO.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

the U

 

[libertyyne]

I know Miami is a better school, but is the difference between GW and Miami so huge that it justifies uprooting my life?

the rule of thumb is to go to the program that is highest ranked if you are interested in a competitive specialtiy. Does GW have a residency program in the field you are interested in ? Has GW matched people over the past 5 years in that field? With such a minute difference in rank it wont matter drastically, but the problems that people encounter are access to home programs and research in the field of interest.

 

[throwaway2024]

the rule of thumb is to go to the program that is highest ranked if you are interested in a competitive specialtiy. Does GW have a residency program in the field you are interested in ? Has GW matched people over the past 5 years in that field? With such a minute difference in rank it wont matter drastically, but the problems that people encounter are access to home programs and research in the field of interest.

Well to add onto this issue, I am not dead set on any one specialty. Miami has way higher matches year to year in derm and optho, which I don't really see myself in. I could see myself doing ENT, plastic surg, or even IM --> GE or pulm. Which between the two schools these areas seem to really have negligible differences in terms of how many matched.

Miami has much more research funding, but i'm wondering if this is not balanced out by the fact that GW has some huge affiliated hospitals I could do research at like VA, NIH, etc. It seems like the research at GW would have to be concentrated to going outside of the school during the summers for sure.

 

[libertyyne]

Well to add onto this issue, I am not dead set on any one specialty. Miami has way higher matches year to year in derm and optho, which I don't really see myself in. I could see myself doing ENT, plastic surg, or even IM --> GE or pulm. Which between the two schools these areas seem to really have negligible differences in terms of how many matched.

Miami has much more research funding, but i'm wondering if this is not balanced out by the fact that GW has some huge affiliated hospitals I could do research at like VA, NIH, etc. It seems like the research at GW would have to be concentrated to going outside of the school during the summers for sure.

The quality of home residency programs matters at this point. You do have a difficult decision. And GW may not close any doors that miami would keep open.

 

[throwaway2024]

The quality of home residency programs matters at this point. You do have a difficult decision. And GW may not close any doors that miami would keep open.

What do you think would be a good way to try and determine the quality of their residency programs?

 

[libertyyne]

What do you think would be a good way to try and determine the quality of their residency programs?

look at the residency program chairman / director and see how much they publish and if they are published in high impact journals. This is an indirect proxy of research productivity, but this usually translates well into how favorably they are perceived in the field.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

I say go with Miami

 

[libertyyne]

I say go with Miami

 

[sss1219]

Disclaimer: interviewed at UM, on WL but in a similar position of not wanting to uproot life in my current city

I agree with the above posters that UM will set you up better academically, but imo the schools are ranked closely enough such that one isn't extremely better than the other. The only caveat to this is if you are interested in something like academic medicine or one of the extremely competitive specialties, for which the UM name will be more beneficial. Either way, these routes are only possible with doing well in school, so whichever you do decide to attend, make sure you have the necessary support systems around you to enable you to give it your all. If your family/SO are such necessary support systems, I think the answer is clear.

PS it might behoof you to contact GW and see if they can make the COAs equal

 

[mdcomputerwiz]

UM's the stronger school. Go to UM!