Do you regret going to a fancy undergrad school?

I did not decide to pursue medicine until after I finished undergrad. Even so, YES, I REALLY regret my first undergraduate school. The main reason is because, with my grades and SAT scores from high school, I easily could have gotten a full ride to a number of schools, but I was completely (and stupidly) enamored with a very expensive, prestigious (but non-Ivy) university. I applied early decision there and was accepted, but with a pretty paltry scholarship that we were unable to argue for more as I applied ED. I did not love it nearly as much as I thought I would, and transferred back home after one semester. My alma mater gave me around the same amount of scholarship money as the first school did, but was about half the price. Transfer students don't get nearly the same amount of scholarship-y love as high-school seniors, though, and I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more moolah from them if I had applied there originally.

If I could do it all over again, I would have gone to a much cheaper but still well-regarded school, closer to home from the get-go, that gave me the full-ride I deserved. Stupid stupid stupid.

You have to define "fancy" here cause some state schools are extremely well regarded and have strong reputations.

That being said I went to the undergrad school that offered me a full ride and being able to wake up in the morning debt free is quite an enjoyable feeling.

And I loved every second of it.

Every once in a blue moon I feel the pressure of my ugrad loans. There was no way for me to avoid them, so in the grand scheme of things they were a necessary evil. Most of the time they don't bother me at all.

toff4l said:

Fancy = greater than 40K a year.

When I was in HS, there was so much pressure to go to top tier schools even if you could care less. I actually would have been happy at Rutgers but the message that was being sent to me was "You are at a top ranked private HS, therefore you MUST go to a top tier school."

At 18, I was under the impression that only kids from top tier schools ended up in med school because there was some type of bias towards lower ranked schools.

In the end, kids from community college have just as much of a chance to go to med school.

I feel like I got fleeced.

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I went to a $50K a year school, but I did it right and went to one of the "fancy" schools that had a big enough of an endowment to give ****tons of financial aid to everyone. And I really do mean ****tons. I've only been out of school one year but I have no loans to repay from my fancy undergrad for that reason

I know no one is talking about ivies specifically here, but I've noticed that the only people who ever rag on the ivies for being expensive are the people who haven't actually gone to an ivy and found out how the huge amount of fin. aid can make ivies cheaper than state schools (as long as your parents aren't super rich)

Ultimately I think choosing one's undergrad should be mostly based on cost of attendance after financial aid is awarded, how much you will enjoy attending that school, the opportunities you will have their and choose to take advantage of, etc., but not prestige. If your goal is to get into medical school, then undergrad prestige should be the smallest factor you are worried about. I've definitely met 2-3 people whose opinions were that their undergraduate prestige held them back in various ways, but they were still accepted to great med schools and the rest of their apps were great already.

ejay286 said:

i've always felt the opposite. I went to an average state school and have always thought that i may have missed out on some great experiences if i had gone to a more prestigious school. I also barely tried at my state school and had mediocre grades, sometimes i wonder if i would have given more effort if i'd gone somewhere with more of a reputation. On the flipside, it does feel good knowing that i have almost no undergrad debt.

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+1

toff4l said:

For pre-meds who will eventually matriculate from med school, do you regret fancy undergrad schools when you know that you have almost equal chances of getting to med school from your state school or a less expensive school?

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I went to what's considered a good school. A current year's tuition is just over $39k, although I graduated a few years back, when tuition was slightly less. I don't regret the high cost for a minute. It was absolutely worth it. That said, if I was just going to major in business it would have been an absolute waste.

I went to an Ivy, but financial aid covered more than 2/3rds of tuition and my parents covered living expenses, so I only have like 15k Undergrad debt. Going to my school definitely made life WAY more stressful during undergrad, but I think it was an amazing experience that will stick with me throughout my life. It does sometime feel like it was "overkill" if I knew I wanted to go to medschool (I didn't until sophomore year), but in the end I still think it will be worth it in the long term, if nothing else for the fact that now I have friends who live in in pretty much every part of the country so if I move somewhere I will already have a network started up.

Yes. When I was a senior in high school I got good enough scores on the statewide standardized exam to get a tuition waiver to a state school of my choice. Being naive, I thought private meant better, so I spent a year paying through the ass to go to school. Luckily I realized it was pointless early on and now I'm at my state school (without the tuition waiver of course ).

for me "fancy" implies a small college in the middle of the mountains cut off from civilization with nothing to do besides cow-tipping and getting drunk off campus. Being one of maybe 20 people who isn't white. On campus the guy/girl ratio is like 7:3 so there isn't even much for sight seeing . Yea I regret it a lot - even though its cheap - but im almost done .

toff4l said:

I graduated from a top tier private school with a business degree. I am taking my pre-req's at my state school.

Looking back, being that I knew I would eventually end up applying to medical school, I regret taking the loans to go to a fancy school.

For pre-meds who will eventually matriculate from med school, do you regret fancy undergrad schools when you know that you have almost equal chances of getting to med school from your state school or a less expensive school?

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I went to both actually (transferred). Top private schools now guarantee 100% need met. Unless you come from a well off family (which many pre-medical students do actually), you will get substantial aid. My school is cheaper than my state school was. I had no debt there either, but that was because I worked almost full time. School is more stressful here, but I also enjoy it more. Some people like it less. A friend in my transfer class transferred back to UI-UC after a year. I think I'd have regretted not attending after being excepted, don't you? It's that nagging "what if" that you get sometimes. I know people that turned down Ivys and the like for average state schools (not Berkeley or anything), and no matter how they phrase it, it often seems they regret it.

SouthParkMD said:

for me "fancy" implies a small college in the middle of the mountains cut off from civilization with nothing to do besides cow-tipping and getting drunk off campus. Being one of maybe 20 people who isn't white. On campus the guy/girl ratio is like 7:3 so there isn't even much for sight seeing . Yea I regret it a lot - even though its cheap - but im almost done .

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Hmmm, Dartmouth or Middlebury maybe?

toff4l said:

I don't know. I like looking at my degree and I feel pride and accomplishment but I have six figure debt right now and in the end when I end up in med school, the undergrad really won't matter. A lot of doctors only list there med school attended on their website and CV. I guess I am biased because I had to take loans out to go to school.

I'm not saying fancy schools are a bad decision but sometimes they are not the right decision and if you are not careful, trying to do the right thing might backfire on you.

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I definitely understand why you feel that way. I have friends that are taking out 40k/year to go here. It's a bit crazy really-that tuition can get so out of control. If it helps, you can list your undergrad on your website in 10 years when your a full-fledged doc . Sorry for that debt. If I were you, I'd definitely go to an IS med school to avoid too much debt. If you're fortunate enough and you're a TX resident, you can go to Baylor for an absurdly cheap price (6.5K/year ?), and it's a great school.

I went to a small, private LAC my first 2 years and my smallest class was maybe 28 students. Then recently transferred to a state university branch campus and am living at home while finishing undergraduate. Transferred because it became too expensive. In hindsight, it probably would have been a smarter decision to attend my state's flagship or go to a lesser known private with scholarships: I wouldn't be in debt and I would have caused my parents a lot less grief. But sometimes it's just what's best for you, and I really enjoyed my LAC experience. I also think that my goals/aspirations would not be the same if I hadn't attended a small LAC. If I went to the flagship I'd just be going through the motions of finishing college with no real purpose. That might sound silly, but I think it's true. [Mostly] every student at an LAC is there for the education. Majority show up to class, on time, consistently, ready to learn and participate. My biggest class right now is 90 students (biochemistry), and maybe 1/3 of the class consistently shows up. To me that's the stupidest thing you could do for yourself. I could go on about this but I'll stop...

I still have caviar stuck in my teeth and these saddle-sores won't seem to dissapate. I do say that sometimes I regret going to the Fanciest College in the US, but then I remember my place in society and realize that I deserve nothing less.

toff4l said:

I don't know. I like looking at my degree and I feel pride and accomplishment but I have six figure debt right now and in the end when I end up in med school, the undergrad really won't matter. A lot of doctors only list there med school attended on their website and CV. I guess I am biased because I had to take loans out to go to school.

I'm not saying fancy schools are a bad decision but sometimes they are not the right decision and if you are not careful, trying to do the right thing might backfire on you.

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Wow, a six figure debt for undergrad is pretty daunting. I went to a highly regarded small liberal arts college - but had a sweet financial aid package and graduated with about $15,000 in student loans. I had a wonderful college experience. But a hundred grand plus would have kept me awake at night. I agree, it would not be worth it.

For me, it wasn't the ranking so much as it HAD to be one of the coolest places to study what I wanted to pursue at the time, ya know? Just to be clear, it was NYU. I was accepted to Tisch School of the Arts for Drama. Dumb nonetheless, though.

Suncrusher said:

I went to a $50K a year school, but I did it right and went to one of the "fancy" schools that had a big enough of an endowment to give ****tons of financial aid to everyone. And I really do mean ****tons. I've only been out of school one year but I have no loans to repay from my fancy undergrad for that reason

I know no one is talking about ivies specifically here, but I've noticed that the only people who ever rag on the ivies for being expensive are the people who haven't actually gone to an ivy and found out how the huge amount of fin. aid can make ivies cheaper than state schools (as long as your parents aren't super rich)...

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Columbia and Cornell didn't give me much money. I was independent too.

Very very very glad my parents talked me out of an expensive undergrad. It conserved a ton of the money they had saved for college, which can now go towards medical school so that I'll essentially graduate with almost no debt (<50k by end probably).

Edit: Same story about Columbia/Cornell here with me, my parents aren't super rich and we were very unimpressed with my finaid offers. Columbia was my dream school as a high school senior, but I'm so glad I didn't go ~160k in debt in order to go.

toff4l said:

Honestly I thought getting a business major or any other major other than the sciences is why you go to a top tier school. I would argue, it is a waste if you are taking your pre-req's and majoring in the sciences.

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If you have six figures of undergrad debt, I can understand your skepticism about how worthwhile these schools are. I wasn't a premed as an undergrad, and wasn't taking classes with any particular goal. But I did major in the sciences, getting a degree in physics and taking a whole heap of math and computer science classes as well. I studied these things because I thought they were interesting and because I wanted to learn about them. My school is arguably the best in the US at each of these three subjects, and I received an education second to none. It was worth every penny.

Now that I've changed directions, will that schooling help me in my career as a physician? I really think it will. I didn't receive vocational training in science, I learned how to think, how to come to understand the physical world. My analytical skills were honed to a razor sharpness. I'm pretty confident that these skills will serve me very well in medicine.

phltz said:

If you have six figures of undergrad debt, I can understand your skepticism about how worthwhile these schools are. I wasn't a premed as an undergrad, and wasn't taking classes with any particular goal. But I did major in the sciences, getting a degree in physics and taking a whole heap of math and computer science classes as well. I studied these things because I thought they were interesting and because I wanted to learn about them. My school is arguably the best in the US at each of these three subjects, and I received an education second to none. It was worth every penny.

Now that I've changed directions, will that schooling help me in my career as a physician? I really think it will. I didn't receive vocational training in science, I learned how to think, how to come to understand the physical world. My analytical skills were honed to a razor sharpness. I'm pretty confident that these skills will serve me very well in medicine.

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So you either went to MIT or Cal Tech or possible Harvey Mudd - all great schools, no doubt.

toff4l said:

Excuse my language but DAMN! the US News and World Report.

Other than the top 10, those rankings are skewed. Beyond the top 10, the best school is the one that fits you.

It's because of this skewed system that my only choice for med school is my state school's MD and DO program.

And it's because of this skewed system that I will be forced to consider working in an under-served community in return for loan forgiveness.

I guess when you start to get a little older, the regrets start to come out. I literally grind my teeth whenever I see Rutgers and TCNJ students end up in UMDNJ when I could be in the same position but I was brainwashed in HS to make another choice.

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No, your choices are not limited to your state schools. I attend a very well known private med school, and have received a needs based grant each year (I am a 4th year med student) that has covered my entire tuition cost for med school.

I will graduate with about $100,000 in med school debt (mainly loans for my living expenses in a large East Coast city). I just matched into an extremely competitive and well paid surgical subspecialty so I am quite comfortable with my debt load. If I had attended my state school, OHSU in Oregon, I would have graduated with about $200,000 in med school debt, twice as much as my private school.

Apply widely and broadly and you might be pleasantly surprised by your financial aid packages. Don't close doors based upon faulty assumptions and limit yourself to your state schools. It may very well be that your state school is your best option and the best fit for you - but do not assume this. Roll the dice in your application process and see where it leads.

toff4l said:

Excuse my language but DAMN! the US News and World Report.

Other than the top 10, those rankings are skewed. Beyond the top 10, the best school is the one that fits you.

It's because of this skewed system that my only choice for med school is my state school's MD and DO program.

And it's because of this skewed system that I will be forced to consider working in an under-served community in return for loan forgiveness.

I guess when you start to get a little older, the regrets start to come out. I literally grind my teeth whenever I see Rutgers and TCNJ students end up in UMDNJ when I could be in the same position but I was brainwashed in HS to make another choice.

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Let's not blame it on USNews though. To be fair, proper research and exploration before making your decision could have saved you some of your grief.

USNews is great at what it does, but too few people really evaluate them for what they're actually "measuring." Their methodology is clearly explained and available.

I go to a top private college that's pretty pricey but I don't have to pay a thing. Nonetheless, as much as I've enjoyed it, I often ask myself if I still would have loved this place so much if I knew I was being heaped in debt because of attending here...I want to say yes. Lots of schools like mine provide many resources (access to professors, smaller class sizes, interesting peers--though not always, research and grant opportunities) that just can't be had at other schools. I love my ability to go to any professors office at almost any time and they'll sit down and have a conversation with me or sometimes invite me to have dinner or lunch with them.

But when total cost of attendance is around $50k, it's just harder to really feel like you're getting your money's worth and you shouldn't necessarily trust everyone's emotional, gut response here because a lot of time we ignore the really great things that have been afforded to us.

I'll also add that going to this school has made me a much better person, and a much better-looking applicant, than I can imagine many other schools doing.

On the other hand, Im done with undergrad and now i am where i want to be with no undergrad loans so I dont regret not going to a fancy ug school.

Narmerguy said:

Let's not blame it on USNews though. To be fair, proper research and exploration before making your decision could have saved you some of your grief.

USNews is great at what it does, but too few people really evaluate them for what they're actually "measuring." Their methodology is clearly explained and available.

I go to a top private college that's pretty pricey but I don't have to pay a thing. Nonetheless, as much as I've enjoyed it, I often ask myself if I still would have loved this place so much if I knew I was being heaped in debt because of attending here...I want to say yes. Lots of schools like mine provide many resources (access to professors, smaller class sizes, interesting peers--though not always, research and grant opportunities) that just can't be had at other schools. I love my ability to go to any professors office at almost any time and they'll sit down and have a conversation with me or sometimes invite me to have dinner or lunch with them.

But when total cost of attendance is around $50k, it's just harder to really feel like you're getting your money's worth and you shouldn't necessarily trust everyone's emotional, gut response here because a lot of time we ignore the really great things that have been afforded to us.

I'll also add that going to this school has made me a much better person, and a much better-looking applicant, than I can imagine many other schools doing.

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I had a very similar experience at a top liberal arts college. I became good friends with the biochemistry professor who chaired the pre-med committee. He gave me a paid summer research position after my junior year and I used to go over to his house for lunch regularly during the summer. I taught his 5th grade son how to skateboard and increased the kid's street cred with his peers. Yes, I got a very good letter from the pre-med committee when I applied to med school - those skate boarding lessons really paid off.

I regret going to my state school if anything.

I was a "smart slacker" in high school and ended up at a well-regarded state school without putting much effort. In college, I busted my balls, graduated at the top of my class, smoked the MCAT, and have secured acceptance into med school for this fall.

That being said, if I had another go at it, I would have definitely put more effort in high school to go to a more prestigious university.. 40k+ tuition be damned. I honestly don't think there is a tangible difference in the quality of education between ivy's and highly respected state schools, but what you do miss out on is the laymen prestige, meeting peers who are on average more driven and ambitious, and the opportunity to network with highly connected professors.

For some, these added "perks" are not worth the expensive tuition. For others like myself who had the ability to go to a great school but simply lacked the drive in high school, it is something I still regret to this day.

Some days I regret taking a full ride at a state school rather than go to a prestigious school. But in the end I think it worked for me.

Bmed said:

For some, these added "perks" are not worth the expensive tuition. For others like myself who had the ability to go to a great school but simply lacked the drive in high school, it is something I still regret to this day.

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Just curious, but have you actually had to pay back your small debt bill yet? People say this but I REALLY don't think, in most cases, they can truly appreciate how better off they are not having to pay back bigger student loans while starting out in the work force.

Fancy, top-ranked private school here. I'm kind of torn. While I have to be honest... I DO enjoy the name-recognition and networking very much, the bright peers part is definitely a double-edged sword. Not only do professors have much higher standards, but pre-med classes are soul-crushing. Especially if you are not a genius, just a (reasonably) smart kid who got in through hard work and familiarity with the college admissions game.

Would I do it over again though? Nah. You only get one college experience, and I'm SO glad I got it here than at a crappy state school (I KNOW, some state schools are good, but not mine).

toff4l said:

You'll think otherwise when Sallie Mae wants her money back. I would trade the stuff you are talking about to get Sallie Mae off my back. Sallie Mae gives me nightmares and heart palpitations.

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I totally think Sallie Mae would look like Granny Goodness, an old, nasty looking broad built like a brick ****house.

Sallie ---> <--- Indebted students.

Another example of Sallie and another 20-something swimming in student loan debt.

But maybe that's just me.

I did take a more expensive top ten private school over a full ride at my state school. I don't have any regrets. It was definitely a better fit for me (higher level of colleagues, much cozier, got to get out of state).

I got a great job right out of college in a poor economic times, and was debt-free in a year. Would I have the same opportunities at my state school? Possibly, possibly not. I felt I got better connections and better education, but it's hard to tell not having been on the other side of the fence.

Maybe it hurt my medical school chances a bit, simply because my GPA would probably have been higher if I went to my state school. But, I still got accepted (at that same state school for medicine), so I don't think it mattered.

Overall, it's really the fit and the specific program you're going into.

Bmed said:

I was a "smart slacker" in high school and ended up at a well-regarded state school without putting much effort. In college, I busted my balls, graduated at the top of my class, smoked the MCAT, and have secured acceptance into med school for this fall.

That being said, if I had another go at it, I would have definitely put more effort in high school to go to a more prestigious university..

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Me too, about high school and everything. I got rejected from all the ivies/elite schools I applied to out of college and was pretty upset about it. I ended up going to a state school with intentions of transferring after two years. For whatever reason, I ended up not doing so and stayed at the state school and did great and smoked the MCAT and everything. This hard work was partially motivated by knowing what that rejection was like at the end of high school and wanting to have my choice of schools next time around, and it definitely worked out for me.

Looking back, I think I was better off going to the college I did. I don't know if I could have done as well at an ivy. If I had gone to an elite college, I might have ended up actually doing far worse in medical school admissions.

david06 said:

This hard work was partially motivated by knowing what that rejection was like at the end of high school and wanting to have my choice of schools next time around, and it definitely worked out for me.

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I definitely feel where you're coming from. My personal failure of ambition in high school, really drove me to perform my best in college. Whereas I know quite a few friends who went to elite institutions but kind of lost that ambition somewhere and became complacent.

i guess i went to a "fancy" school, and i really regret going there. would have picked another undergrad given the chance

I don't know. Is UCLA/Berkeley considered fancy? It's a state school

I do. I had to bust my ass to get my gpa up to a 3.8 at my "fancy school" so medical schools won't look down on it. Then when it came time to study for the mcat, I just didn't have enough gas to get my score upto a 35. I ended up with a score in the low 30s. I simply burned out with studying and was not able to put in enough effort.

My friends from high school, who went to our local state school, told me about how easy it was to get good grades. They had enough gas to get a 35. They weren't burned out from the premed curriculum at their state school like I was from my "fancy" school. These kids and I had roughly the same high school class ranks, roughly the same SAT scores back in the day. Now they are going to top 25 medical schools because their gpa's from a state school are around a 3.8, and they have 35s. Meanwhile, I am most likely going to end up at a mid-tier medical school ranked in the 50s, because I have a 3.8 from a "fancy" school but I burned out in the mcats and got a score in the low 30s.

FML. Oh well, I guess now our roles are reversed. They are going to face much "harder" competition, whereas I will face a slightly "easier" competition. My 3.8 at a "fancy" school means I am battle-tested. Or so I like to think lol. I should have an "easier" time at my state medical school then my friends at a top 25 medical school. AOA matters....Maybe I won't have an easier time? Who knows? Time will tell. In the end its all about who is getting paid more, who has a more profitable practice, and who is hooking up with hotter girls. I hope I can prevail in the end lol..... (being sarcastic about the whole getting paid, getting laid thing.....)

Gotta think long-term. You may win/loss the battle (battle 1: getting into a top college; battle 2: getting into a top medical school ; battle 3: getting into a more competitive specialty; battle 4: having a more profitable medical practice ($$$$); battle 5: getting hotter girls), but you must win the war in the end (getting paid more and laid more)

Gotta love my crappyish state school. Probably 24k in tuition for all four years and the state covered about two-thirds of it. And I lived at home for some of the time.

Lafakads said:

Gotta love my crappyish state school. Probably 24k in tuition for all four years and the state covered about two-thirds of it. And I lived at home for some of the time.

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So how do you bring girls/boys home after a wild friday night?

So how do you bring girls/boys home after a wild friday night?

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^ You don't, you take it to their place, get a hotel, use the backseat of car, etc, come on man if you really have to ask that question, you must not have a lot of experience brah.

Venom5 said:

So how do you bring girls/boys home after a wild friday night?

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Go to their place

MD2017done said:

^ You don't, you take it to their place, get a hotel, use the backseat of car, etc, come on man if you really have to ask that question, you must not have a lot of experience brah.

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No thanks ralph


I'm saving my virginity for marriage.