Georgetown vs. UNC Chapel Hill

[htown1]

Hi everyone! I have the worst case of indecisiveness when it comes to making big decisions like these. I have been blessed to been accepted to UNC Chapel Hill and Georgetown and to be in a position where I can have a choice. I'm a California resident and I'm hoping to match back into California (ideally, but honestly not the worst if I don't) for orthopedic surgery. I've been trying to comb through these threads, but honestly, I've been so lost.

Georgetown
Pros
- Love Washington DC
- Very strong match list (especially with ortho and other competitive specialities)
- Resonate with Jesuit philosophy, emphasis on community service
- Optional lecture
- P/F preclinical
- Have a few family members nearby

Cons
- Higher COL
- Older facilities
- Lower ranked than UNC (although not sure how much rank matters)

UNC Chapel Hill
Pros
- Newer facilities
- Also strong match list (though more matches seem to be in the east coast
- Higher ranked
- Lots of NIH research funding
- Lower COL
- P/F preclinical

Cons
- Not the biggest fan of North Carolina
- Mandatory attendance (and strict absence policies)
- Have heard some things about messy communication between administration and students (not sure if this speaks to anything about how supportive of an environment UNC has?)


One thing I'm not sure about is each of their hospital systems and how those would compare. Also if anyone at UNC could speak to the overall environment and culture at UNC, I'm not able to find so much on how this flipped classroom and mandatory attendance has affected the overall vibe and what not.

Also for cost of attendance, I'm blessed in the fact that my parent's are willing to help me cover the cost differences between the two schools, so while cost is important, I want to look past that a bit and more towards the programs themselves.


Any advice at all is very much appreciated! Thanks

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[thefirerisen]

if you're going for a competitive specialty, it doesnt make sense to pick georgetown over unc. unc is a t30 with significantly more prestige and research opportunities

 

[ACKjp]

Congrats on two great As! I’d go wherever you’d be happiest, which certainly sounds like Georgetown from your post. They’re also a machine when it comes to surgical subspecialty matches so I wouldn’t worry too much about prestige. Ultimately you can match at any ortho program from either - it is very much reliant on you as an individual and you’ll do best where you are happiest.

No disclosures for either school

 

[anon123123]

Despite not being a t30, 18 students from Georgetown matched into ortho in 2024. Can't go wrong with either pick--congrats!

 

[kyrgyzkreature]

Hi everyone! I have the worst case of indecisiveness when it comes to making big decisions like these. I have been blessed to been accepted to UNC Chapel Hill and Georgetown and to be in a position where I can have a choice. I'm a California resident and I'm hoping to match back into California (ideally, but honestly not the worst if I don't) for orthopedic surgery. I've been trying to comb through these threads, but honestly, I've been so lost.

Georgetown
Pros
- Love Washington DC
- Very strong match list (especially with ortho and other competitive specialities)
- Resonate with Jesuit philosophy, emphasis on community service
- Optional lecture
- P/F preclinical
- Have a few family members nearby

Cons
- Higher COL
- Older facilities
- Lower ranked than UNC (although not sure how much rank matters)

UNC Chapel Hill
Pros
- Newer facilities
- Also strong match list (though more matches seem to be in the east coast
- Higher ranked
- Lots of NIH research funding
- Lower COL
- P/F preclinical

Cons
- Not the biggest fan of North Carolina
- Mandatory attendance (and strict absence policies)
- Have heard some things about messy communication between administration and students (not sure if this speaks to anything about how supportive of an environment UNC has?)


One thing I'm not sure about is each of their hospital systems and how those would compare. Also if anyone at UNC could speak to the overall environment and culture at UNC, I'm not able to find so much on how this flipped classroom and mandatory attendance has affected the overall vibe and what not.

Also for cost of attendance, I'm blessed in the fact that my parent's are willing to help me cover the cost differences between the two schools, so while cost is important, I want to look past that a bit and more towards the programs themselves.


Any advice at all is very much appreciated! Thanks

Just finished my first year at UNC and really do recommend it. Mandatory attendance sucks for a second but I ended up missing much more than allotted and it's fine as long as you communicate with them--also really, really helps with making friends. I'll push back against the last point lol UNC's admin has been actually amazing for me and I felt well supported throughout some personal issues I was having. I'm guessing the miscommunication has been partially because of adapting the new curriculum, which is now more ironed out than when we started. Vibe wise I've really had no complaints and apparently our class has way higher averages on our NBMEs than last year which is comforting!