Med School Tuition is Insane

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I'd LOVE to consider alternate employers, gang, believe me. Wife wants to stay put so Big Daddy stays put and vents his frustrations on SDN. Private practice, Baller.
 
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Many of my classmates have 300K+ debts and are banking on PSLF in 15 years. I tell them don't hold your breath because a deal that sweet will not stand for long.
 
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I go to a state school and have a 50% tuition scholarship and still with random fees etc (since scholarship is only tuition), my loans will amount to over $200k. I come from a low-income family and both my parents need help from me instead of the other way around. The cost of med school has gone up a lot since I started, and the elimination of subsidized loans in my 2nd year means that I've been paying interest on everything the entire time. It's not ideal.

A friend of mine got permission to work outside of school during M1 and M2, she lived at home and used her entire check to pay loan interest, and at the end of the first year she stopped paying, because it was nowhere near enough to cover the interest she had accrued that year and she was depressed that she'd lived like a pauper and paid pretty much nothing back.

Also, I go to a school that prides itself on working with underserved populations and enrolling a diverse class, still over 80% of my entering class came from a family making over $250k (info from an administrator), and I know of several who pay cash each semester. One day I'll pay off my loans so I can invest in my children's college and accrue more loans. The thought of PSLF and blatant denial are the only things keeping me going right now. ;)
 
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eablackwell said:
I go to a state school and have a 50% tuition scholarship and still with random fees etc (since scholarship is only tuition), my loans will amount to over $200k. I come from a low-income family and both my parents need help from me instead of the other way around. The cost of med school has gone up a lot since I started, and the elimination of subsidized loans in my 2nd year means that I've been paying interest on everything the entire time. It's not ideal.

A friend of mine got permission to work outside of school during M1 and M2, she lived at home and used her entire check to pay loan interest, and at the end of the first year she stopped paying, because it was nowhere near enough to cover the interest she had accrued that year and she was depressed that she'd lived like a pauper and paid pretty much nothing back.

Also, I go to a school that prides itself on working with underserved populations and enrolling a diverse class, still over 80% of my entering class came from a family making over $250k (info from an administrator), and I know of several who pay cash each semester. One day I'll pay off my loans so I can invest in my children's college and accrue more loans. The thought of PSLF and blatant denial are the only things keeping me going right now. ;)
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What state is the state school in?
 
eablackwell said:
I go to a state school and have a 50% tuition scholarship and still with random fees etc (since scholarship is only tuition), my loans will amount to over $200k. I come from a low-income family and both my parents need help from me instead of the other way around. The cost of med school has gone up a lot since I started, and the elimination of subsidized loans in my 2nd year means that I've been paying interest on everything the entire time. It's not ideal.

A friend of mine got permission to work outside of school during M1 and M2, she lived at home and used her entire check to pay loan interest, and at the end of the first year she stopped paying, because it was nowhere near enough to cover the interest she had accrued that year and she was depressed that she'd lived like a pauper and paid pretty much nothing back.

Also, I go to a school that prides itself on working with underserved populations and enrolling a diverse class, still over 80% of my entering class came from a family making over $250k (info from an administrator), and I know of several who pay cash each semester. One day I'll pay off my loans so I can invest in my children's college and accrue more loans. The thought of PSLF and blatant denial are the only things keeping me going right now. ;)
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what 250k?? i believe the national average is ~120k family income for medical students.
 
I can't speak for every school, and honestly, I don't know the stats for any other class at my current school. As Court said, most students in my class are children of physicians, and that alone will likely put your salary to over 200k, many have parents who are both physicians, others parents who are lawyers and engineers. Those whose parents consist of a mechanic and housewife (like mine) are in the minority. ;)
 
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eablackwell said:
I can't speak for every school, and honestly, I don't know the stats for any other class at my current school. As Court said, most students in my class are children of physicians, and that alone will likely put your salary to over 200k, many have parents who are both physicians, others parents who are lawyers and engineers. Those whose parents consist of a mechanic and housewife (like mine) are in the minority. ;)
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Highly educated parents often have higher income. Higher income equal more resources and more accumulated knowledge to devote to children's education which is often a cherished family value, both for its monetary rewards and secondary benefits.

In general, less educated parents tend not to value their children's education and academic success the same way that educated parents do and have less resources and less accumulated knowledge to devote.

This has been shown time and again. Having the right parents is a huge advantage.
 
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In addition to the educational advantages, rich kids also have time to volunteer or have their parents front a $1K airline bill to go volunteer in Brazil. They have time to study for the MCAT for three months while doing absolutely nothing else, while the rest of the world needs to you know, work for a living. I've done the work while take classes and study for the MCAT thing, and no doubt my score suffered.
 
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There are a handful of students at my school (private) that will be in the $400,000-$500,000 debt range from undergrad loans + master's loans + med school loans.

Most are going into primary care. They tell me that money isn't an issue, and that PSLF will pay for it in 10 years. LMAO
 
aka_tigerj said:
There are a handful of students at my school (private) that will be in the $400,000-$500,000 debt range from undergrad loans + master's loans + med school loans.

Most are going into primary care. They tell me that money isn't an issue, and that PSLF will pay for it in 10 years. LMAO
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Must be nice to be so optimistic.
 
I read through this entire thread. Honestly what it boils down to is capitalism vs. socialism.
Look at the European or Canadian systems, I much prefer their socialistic method of the healthcare management as opposed to the capitalistic American one. Not to say it has no problems of its own, but at the very least I don't feel like im getting screwed in all sectors of healthcare whether its tuition, insurance, or the like.

Those posts of "businesses will do what businesses do" is a perfect example of what i'm talking about.

Gosh it really does make my tummy turn.
 
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Owe 325-375k, went to public undergrad and medical school, actually had a pretty decent scholarship at both.

One of the things to remember is the average debt of medical school graduates is somewhat misleading. Several students at my school got merit based scholarships (which as you can imagine were crazy competitive) and then there was also a large portion of students whose parents paid for their education.

These students as a group take a significant chunk out of the average, I remember the number of students with 0 debt in my medical school class being 30ish (really doubt all of them were also making 60k per year at their side middle management jobs)
 
Just to chip in my 2 cents... Got my financial aid statement for 3rd year at Tufts: 91,400 is tuition + COL for that year, where the school will NOT be teaching me anything, but rather attendings (patients/insurance pays them) and residents (medicare pays them) will.... Not sure where my $59,000 tuition bill is going...
 
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syoung said:
Just to chip in my 2 cents... Got my financial aid statement for 3rd year at Tufts: 91,400 is tuition + COL for that year, where the school will NOT be teaching me anything, but rather attendings (patients/insurance pays them) and residents (medicare pays them) will.... Not sure where my $59,000 tuition bill is going...
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I feel your pain bro... and I'm at a public university.
 
I completely whole-heartedly agree....now the question is what is better? Law is much worse (enjoy 40k a year if that post-graduation). Pharm is saturated. Vet has always been terrible. PhD --> postdoc --> postdoc --> tenure track --> tenure is a long and uncertain road. Dentistry is like med school, except tuition is even higher and return is often lower.

Yes, it has gotten much worse...but it's still better than other fields unfortunately. I'll be paying ~300k (principal), and so will many others because you can't always rely on getting into your state school(s) or may not even have one. In the end the debt sucks, but plenty of other people end up making 70k pre-tax for the rest of their lives. Reasonably smart people too. Pre-meds have this idea that you just walk into business corp. out of school and start at 80k and then spiral indefinitely up to running the place and 200k+. That's no longer the case. Many of my friends (at top 20 schools) ended up making ~30-60k post graduation, with ceilings that top out (in like 10 years of experience) at 100k at best. Job world sucks out there for everyone, and medical school will have to suck a lot more before it's worse than it is now.

The other day I saw someone with 450k principal which would be 600k at graduation. That was determined to be the breaking point w here medicine truly wasn't financially a sound decision. We'll hit that in another decade and it will be interesting to see if quality of student declines precipitously or what...I guess that depends in the middle class continues to be squashed out of existence.
 
resiroth said:
The other day I saw someone with 450k principal which would be 600k at graduation. That was determined to be the breaking point w here medicine truly wasn't financially a sound decision.
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Why this particular number?
 
URMD said:
Why this particular number?
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well, in the end it seemed like it would be around 84k a year for 10 years after residency, which means if you make 200k you live a very middle-class lifestyle for a long time (taxes may be around 40% with state, so 120-84 is only 36 lol). 250k is a bit better but not amazing (something like 65k until you're 40). Sure, if you match into neurosurgery life is good, but no one can just "assume" they'll match into some crazy specialty. So you have to assume the possibility of making 200k in IM or something.

People in general are often starting medical school later. I see some people starting when they're like 28 or something, and even if they get some scholarships that's 6 years of practice that's gone. Crazy. But 60% of incoming students are "non-trad" and that number is only rising as it increasingly expected that people take time to do research before matriculation (and after medical school sometimes to get that residency app boost).

I think at this point I would seriously discourage people that are 30 and up from pursuing medicine just because financially it's a bit crazy. Typical 10 year plan might mean they're paying their debts off until they're 50.

BUT.

All that being said the job market sucks in general, and law, vet, opt, pharm, all suck too. If your debt load is more like 300k and you make 250k then the numbers are far more palatable...but we're approaching the 600k debt load every year, and in 10 years I think that it will just not be realistic.

EDIT: thread in question: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...y-acceptance-too-much-in-loans.1132398/page-2
 
thanks for that explanation
 
resiroth said:
well, in the end it seemed like it would be around 84k a year for 10 years after residency, which means if you make 200k you live a very middle-class lifestyle for a long time (taxes may be around 40% with state, so 120-84 is only 36 lol). 250k is a bit better but not amazing (something like 65k until you're 40). Sure, if you match into neurosurgery life is good, but no one can just "assume" they'll match into some crazy specialty. So you have to assume the possibility of making 200k in IM or something.

People in general are often starting medical school later. I see some people starting when they're like 28 or something, and even if they get some scholarships that's 6 years of practice that's gone. Crazy. But 60% of incoming students are "non-trad" and that number is only rising as it increasingly expected that people take time to do research before matriculation (and after medical school sometimes to get that residency app boost).

I think at this point I would seriously discourage people that are 30 and up from pursuing medicine just because financially it's a bit crazy. Typical 10 year plan might mean they're paying their debts off until they're 50.

BUT.

All that being said the job market sucks in general, and law, vet, opt, pharm, all suck too. If your debt load is more like 300k and you make 250k then the numbers are far more palatable...but we're approaching the 600k debt load every year, and in 10 years I think that it will just not be realistic.

EDIT: thread in question: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...y-acceptance-too-much-in-loans.1132398/page-2
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CS is where its at. There are so many jobs. All my Cs friends are making 100k plus now 1-4 Yrs after graduating. Many companies offer around 100k as starting. I was speaking to one of my friends who just started working making 105k. A basic calculation shows that he will have farrrrr more for retirement due to compounding and that'd assuming his salary stays at 105k forever w no raises.

People often forget that the debt isn't just a negative but its huge after factoring in compounding.
 
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resiroth said:
well, in the end it seemed like it would be around 84k a year for 10 years after residency, which means if you make 200k you live a very middle-class lifestyle for a long time (taxes may be around 40% with state, so 120-84 is only 36 lol). 250k is a bit better but not amazing (something like 65k until you're 40). Sure, if you match into neurosurgery life is good, but no one can just "assume" they'll match into some crazy specialty. So you have to assume the possibility of making 200k in IM or something.


EDIT: thread in question: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...y-acceptance-too-much-in-loans.1132398/page-2
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You wouldn't pay that much in tax. The U.S. has a progressive tax system.
 
anbuitachi said:
CS is where its at. There are so many jobs. All my Cs friends are making 100k plus now 1-4 Yrs after graduating. Many companies offer around 100k as starting. I was speaking to one of my friends who just started working making 105k. A basic calculation shows that he will have farrrrr more for retirement due to compounding and that'd assuming his salary stays at 105k forever w no raises.
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He'll do great ... IF he can stay employed continuously until retirement.

CS is a young person's career.

Staying current is a huge issue, far more so than medicine. Recessions hit that industry very hard. Age discrimination can be lethal if you need to make a late career move or are past 50 when coming out of a recession.
 
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IlDestriero said:
You wouldn't pay that much in tax. The U.S. has a progressive tax system.
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I get 122k for 200k as a single doc in California. According to paycheckcity.com. Californian is like 1/6 the population and also has a disproportionate amount of doctors so it's reasonable to use it as an example imo. You can live in Floridia for no income tax but as of right now I think only 7 states don't have income tax.
 
pgg said:
He'll do great ... IF he can stay employed continuously until retirement.

CS is a young person's career.

Staying current is a huge issue, far more so than medicine. Recessions hit that industry very hard. Age discrimination can be lethal if you need to make a late career move or are past 50 when coming out of a recession.
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Exactly, tech is crazy hours and under 40 only it seems. How many random engineers do you see looking for work in their 40s?

Also: 100k is on the high end, and is usually only in SF and Seattle. Houses there are >1 million. So if you compare a doctors "slightly higher end" 300k, which is apparently the starting salary for anesthesiologists these days, then you have 180k post tax.

Live off 50k post tax, he's got 15k to throw around (California taxes woooo) and you have 130k to throw around.

So if you throw all of that into debt you're done in 3 years, then the next 5 years do the same and you're at 900k saved. He's at maaaaaaybe 300k at most. Living on 50k post tax isn't what most people envisioned but keep in mind that's what comp sci people do in high cost of living areas. 50k post tax (aka like 70 pre tax) in a random place is more than sufficient.

FWIW my friend in tech makes 55k in DC. Life outside California isn't pretty.
 
"Business" isn't much better. Family started track after school in 2004 at 55k. Over 5 years moved up to 80k. Got MBA at top 20 school, bumped to 140k 8 years in. Some stock benefits, but manages 240 employee facility for about what a CRNA makes. His top eventually is higher than mine, but that is years in the future (my guess, he will be 45 then)

So after 8 years I made 175k, in debt 130k so net 45k. He was up ~640k, in debt 45k, so net ~600k. Now difference in pay is , and by 1-3 years later anesthesia catches up. His lifestyle is substantially better overall, but to keep climbing he has to move every 2-3 years.

That catching up probably doesn't happen in primary care, or with a mgma below average job, or takes longer with more debt, but given similar genetic and environmental upbringing, you can draw what conclusions you will. Figured I would put some real world numbers on it.

Also, I would say it is harder for a guy in business to crack a mil than it is for us, and despite what other posters suggest, that is pretty freaking uncommon.
 
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anbuitachi said:
CS is where its at. There are so many jobs. All my Cs friends are making 100k plus now 1-4 Yrs after graduating. Many companies offer around 100k as starting. I was speaking to one of my friends who just started working making 105k. A basic calculation shows that he will have farrrrr more for retirement due to compounding and that'd assuming his salary stays at 105k forever w no raises.

People often forget that the debt isn't just a negative but its huge after factoring in compounding.
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I know a young person who got his PhD in Computer Science and was offered $255K starting salary. I seriously doubt that person's lifestyle will be WORSE than the Average Anesthesiologist working for an AMC.

Plenty of his friends received offers in the mid 150's with a Masters degree.
 
BLADEMDA said:
I know a young person who got his PhD in Computer Science and was offered $255K starting salary. I seriously doubt that person's lifestyle will be WORSE than the Average Anesthesiologist working for an AMC.

Plenty of his friends received offers in the mid 150's with a Masters degree.
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You're talking about anecdotal exceptions.

You could say the same thing about law school grads, and be technically correct. That doesn't make law a sure path to the good life for 90%+ of graduates.

$255K start for PhD CS guys is far, far from the norm.
 
pgg said:
You're talking about anecdotal exceptions.

You could say the same thing about law school grads, and be technically correct. That doesn't make law a sure path to the good life for 90%+ of graduates.

$255K start for PhD CS guys is far, far from the norm.
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If you graduate from a top 14 law school then law is still a good profession for over 90 percent of those graduates. If you graduate from a law school that isn't in the top 14 then all bets are off.
 
LAW SCHOOL RANKINGS – MEDIAN STARTING PAY

1. University of Chicago Law School: $160,000
Class size: 215 / Employed: 209
Number reporting salary: 202 (97%)

2. Columbia Law School: $160,000
Class size: 437 / Employed: 425
Number reporting salary: 419 (96%)

3. Northwestern University School of Law: $160,000
Class size: 284 / Employed: 268
Number reporting salary: 256 (96%)

4. Harvard Law School: $160,000
Class size: 578 / Employed: 556
Number reporting salary: 548 (95%)

5. New York University School of Law: $160,000
Class size: 537 / Employed: 514
Number reporting salary: 504 (94%)

6. Stanford Law School: $160,000
Class size: 194 / Employed: 186
Number reporting salary: 179 (92%)

7. Duke University School of Law: $160,000
Class size: 241 / Employed: 225
Number reporting salary: 222 (92%)

8. University of Pennsylvania Law School: $160,000
Class size: 259 / Employed: 252
Number reporting salary: 235 (91%)

9. University of California at Berkeley School of Law (class of 2012): $160,000
Class size: 312 / Employed: 295
Number reporting salary: 261 (84%)

10. University of Virginia School of Law: $117,500
Class size: 364 / Employed: 356
Number reporting salary: 348 (98%)
 
Remember that the post above is starting pay. After 10 years the median is likely above $500,000 and the upper 1/4 exceeds 7 figures annually.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Remember that the post above is starting pay. After 10 years the median is likely above $500,000 and the upper 1/4 exceeds 7 figures annually.
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T14 Law schools only really take applicants with 170+ LSAT. Thats in the 99th percentile of those who take the exam. Its the equivalent of saying that only those who score 38 or higher on the MCAT have a chance of landing at a medical school that gives them a good chance at residency after medical school.

Those figures are only if you manage to grab an associate position at a big law firm no?
To get to the 500k range after 10 years one needs to make partner at those firms. Its very difficult to make partner at those firms and if you don't make it within 3 years (they used to give you 8) they boot you out of the firm and are forced to take a 40-50% pay cut to get another law job at a smaller firm.

Grass always look greener on the other side. @Law2Doc what do you think?
 
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BLADEMDA said:
Remember that the post above is starting pay. After 10 years the median is likely above $500,000 and the upper 1/4 exceeds 7 figures annually.
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With bonuses, it's about $200,000 first yr. Then a $20k to $40k bump in base each yr.

My firm had hundreds of partners, avg income of $2 to $3 million & probably more now. When I started, 2% of each entering class made partner. Now, it's zero. As with all things, the old screw the young, as most of the old partners came from an era where 50% of them made partner at their first firm. The realistic goal for most is to eventually join a client's legal dept or move to the business side, work for the govt, or join a smaller firm and make partner.

All told, medicine provides more stability, and a better lifestyle if you choose the right specialty. Even an IMG from a sucky residency can land a 8-5 FM gig paying as much as a new lawyer from a top law school at a top firm working their butt off.

I wish I'd done medicine sooner. But I'd end up like everyone else and choose a specialty based solely on money and an interesting rotation and end up envious of my lawyer neighbor making 10x more than me, complain about student loans, and tell premeds shadowing me that medicine sucks and I should've gone to law school or Wall St. and made millions.
 
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Blade, you have no idea what you are talking about with regards to law prospects. It is in the complete ****ter right now. T14 is not what it used to be and if you are not top quarter or maybe half of most of those classes your chances at biglaw are slim (does not apply to Harvard, Yale, Stanford). Biglaw in major markets (NYC, SF, DC) starts at 160k, 145k for secondary markets (Atlanta, Nashville). The vasy majority of T14 graduates are out of work or working jobs in the 45k-70k range after taking on 100k-200k of debt.

Here is the graph explaining the bimodal salary distribution of the law profession: http://www.nalp.org/class_of_2013_bimodal_salary_curve

Visit lawschooltransparency.com and see how fudged the stats you just naively posted really are. And the ceiling numbers you posted?? Good lord man. Maybe 1% of graduates hit that. You have to grind through years of partnership vetting dodging politics to even have a shot at that. Or get lucky with a successful personal injury firm.

The confidence in which you talk about things that you clearly have no knowledge about is very disconcerting considering how often you make generalizations/statements that I cannot verify.
 
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BLADEMDA said:
If you graduate from a top 14 law school then law is still a good profession for over 90 percent of those graduates. If you graduate from a law school that isn't in the top 14 then all bets are off.
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So your solution is: "be brilliant and odds are things'll work out for you"

Gotta say I agree with that sentiment.

Not so much the rest of your take on law school though.
 
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The fact that posters on here are trashing the prospects of students who get accepted at a Top 14 law school is surprising; then again, probably not as the doom and gloom for top 14 law school students exceeds even Anesthesiology. Still, I'm certain of the fact that the top law schools will remain very competitive for years to come.

My point about T14 law schools was that like law, certain areas of medicine are not what they used to be and careful selection is needed to pay back students loans and still live a nice lifestyle. If one can't gain entry in a T14 law school then law is statistically not a good choice. Perhaps, the same thing could be said of Medical School debt once it exceeds $400K: Only matching into certain specialties makes that level of debt a fiscally sound choice.
 
URMD said:
T14 Law schools only really take applicants with 170+ LSAT. Thats in the 99th percentile of those who take the exam. Its the equivalent of saying that only those who score 38 or higher on the MCAT have a chance of landing at a medical school that gives them a good chance at residency after medical school.

Those figures are only if you manage to grab an associate position at a big law firm no?
To get to the 500k range after 10 years one needs to make partner at those firms. Its very difficult to make partner at those firms and if you don't make it within 3 years (they used to give you 8) they boot you out of the firm and are forced to take a 40-50% pay cut to get another law job at a smaller firm.

Grass always look greener on the other side. @Law2Doc what do you think?
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You have distorted my post. Regardless of the score needed to obtain admission into a T14 law school the fact remains that perhaps ONLY admission into such a school makes good fiscal sense. Perhaps, those students rejected from a T14 law school should not attend law school at all but rather seek other areas.

Second, the MCAT may land you a spot in medical school but it is the USLME parts 1 and 2 which determine your destiny in the house of medicine. This means that unless you out-do most of your med school classmates on the USMLE as well as Class rank you may struggle to pay back large student loan debt to the point where Med School doesn't make good fiscal sense.
 
jw3600 said:
Blade, you have no idea what you are talking about with regards to law prospects. It is in the complete ****ter right now. T14 is not what it used to be and if you are not top quarter or maybe half of most of those classes your chances at biglaw are slim (does not apply to Harvard, Yale, Stanford). Biglaw in major markets (NYC, SF, DC) starts at 160k, 145k for secondary markets (Atlanta, Nashville). The vasy majority of T14 graduates are out of work or working jobs in the 45k-70k range after taking on 100k-200k of debt.

Here is the graph explaining the bimodal salary distribution of the law profession: http://www.nalp.org/class_of_2013_bimodal_salary_curve

Visit lawschooltransparency.com and see how fudged the stats you just naively posted really are. And the ceiling numbers you posted?? Good lord man. Maybe 1% of graduates hit that. You have to grind through years of partnership vetting dodging politics to even have a shot at that. Or get lucky with a successful personal injury firm.

The confidence in which you talk about things that you clearly have no knowledge about is very disconcerting considering how often you make generalizations/statements that I cannot verify.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/law-school-worth-money-job-rank-2015-1

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancalo/2013/11/24/why-now-is-a-good-time-to-apply-to-law-school/

1. I know dozens of lawyers making in excess of $500K with many in the 7 figures (started their own personal injury firm or handle Divorce law)
2. A top 14 law school graduate is likely to do well in his/her career
3. I didn't fudge any statistics as shown by my posted link
 
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$1 million mistake: Becoming a doctor


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/1-million-mistake-becoming-a-doctor/

I can post the same doom and gloom about medicine that someone else does about graduating from a T14 law school. But, I still firmly believe an M.D. is a worthwhile investment 99% of the time.

The $1 million question is at what point does the cost of a medical education exceed the returns for the 30-40% of the Class which will enter Primary Care. And make no mistake about it unless you EXCEL in med school and the USMLE you are destined for a lower paying specialty.
 
table.png
 
URMD said:
T14 Law schools only really take applicants with 170+ LSAT. Thats in the 99th percentile of those who take the exam. Its the equivalent of saying that only those who score 38 or higher on the MCAT have a chance of landing at a medical school that gives them a good chance at residency after medical school.

Those figures are only if you manage to grab an associate position at a big law firm no?
To get to the 500k range after 10 years one needs to make partner at those firms. Its very difficult to make partner at those firms and if you don't make it within 3 years (they used to give you 8) they boot you out of the firm and are forced to take a 40-50% pay cut to get another law job at a smaller firm.

Grass always look greener on the other side. @Law2Doc what do you think?
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You can make a ton of money in law if you are a star. Honestly in my opinion and experience, the folks who put as much time and effort into law as premeds, med students and residents put into their medical careers tend to do very well. If you put in that kind of effort from undergrad on and go into law you can be much richer faster. Really no contest. The catch is that there's no floor in law. For every millionaire lawyer working at a big firm, there's someone working at legal aid bringing in only about 25k.
 
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