George Washington vs Temple LKSOM

[CaptainVimes]

Hello! I have been accepted to GW (Sinai program) and Temple (Philly campus). I'm currently leaning towards GW mainly due to location and support system in the area. Just asking if there's anything significant I'm missing and if a better location is worth the extra ~$50k in loans. Both schools have: pass/fail, non-mandatory lectures, clinical rotations in one area, and exams every 2-3 weeks.

GW
Pros

• Better rank although not significantly (56 vs 71)
• DC is more fun and definitely more safe
• Two siblings and two very close friends living in DC
• Accepted to the Sinai program, meaning all clinical rotations will be at Sinai Hospital (just outside of Baltimore) which is closer to home
• Additionally, I toured Sinai Hospital and the staff seemed very excited at this new partnership between GW and Sinai. It seemed that students will get lots of individualized attention and build strong relationships with Sinai attendings.

Cons

• Expensive area; high COL (although only in DC for 2 years, the 2 years in Baltimore should decrease this some)
• Some are in-house but at the end of each block there is an NBME exam. Clinical exams are also a mix of in-house and NBME.
• Lots of focus on their Scholarly Concentration Program; I'm confident I could find something I love, but I'm worried an extra project might lead to added work/stress.
• Negative interview experience. The interviewer didn’t seem to want to be there at all, wasn’t conversational, and wasn't able to answer my questions. This school really stood out among my other interview experiences in a negative way and I felt like I was just another number to them, while other schools really tried to be welcoming to interviewees.
• Name and shame thread on r/medicalschool of unsupportive faculty. Makes me even more nervous considering how unappreciated I felt during my interview.
• Not sure how the Sinai program matches as this specific information is not currently available.

Temple
Pros

• Cheaper tuition and COL (~$13k less total per year)
• Closer to my girlfriend
• NBME exams (I could not find anything on the website about this, but other SDN threads have said they're NBME)
• Philly is also a fun area and I'm more familiar with it

Cons

• Dangerous area; wouldn't be able to walk to campus and would have to live somewhat far away.
• Not as good of a support system. I know some people in the area although they're not close friends or family like in DC.

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[thefirerisen]

Disclaimer - I was accepted at GW and offered an interview at Temple but turned it down because I knew I would go to GW over LKSOM definitely. I likely will be turning down GW for another institution & I will try to be as objective as possible considering your situation.

GW is definitely more prestigious and has a better match list from my experience. It is tied with Georgetown as the best school in DC while LKSOM is one of many schools in Philly (alongside Drexel, UPenn, JeffMD, and more) so do with that information what you may. I don't know much about the Sinai program as I am accepted to the main campus but from my understanding the first two years are spent in Washington D.C. still. This gives you the opportunity to explore two cities in your 20s. I wouldn't worry about the exams or the Scholarly Concentration. The Concentration is purely optional and most students end up doing them because they are very passionate about the issues. If nothing calls out to you, you're not going to be pressured to take on the extra stress/work.

To address GW's negative interview experience, I would say that my interview was more than exceptional and my faculty interviewer was so nice and we really connected on a personal level. He even asked me to visit him if I get accepted. And my own experience visiting the campus, everyone was super nice and GW as an institution seems like a *very cool* place. Even its location in Foggy Bottom with all the restaurants, clubs, etc seems on its own a huge pro. I was also concerned about the name and shame thread that you brought up but again, that seems to be only one student's experience. I actually reached out to someone I know who is an M2 at GW right now and that was not their experience at all. While you might encounter unsupportive people at GW, there is nothing to say that it will be better or worse at Temple.

I personally would choose GW based on reading what you said if you can stomach the extra COL and being further from girlfriend (not sure how serious your relationship is). Definitely attend the Second Looks and feel out the Sinai program a bit more.