Am I crazy for passing up a full ride to state med school for a more prestigious med school?

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How much more prestigious?
 
Yes.

Where you go to medical school matters less than how well you do in medical school. If you care about prestige, work hard in medical school so you can get a good step 1 score and research and match somewhere prestigious. In terms of residency matching, that will matter more than the prestige of your medical school, and you'll be grateful that you aren't graduating with a massive amount of debt.
 
Need more deets. What are the schools? Are we talking like a brand new state program that is giving scholarships to its first few classes, vs a Hopkins/Harvard type name? Or is it more like a well established flagship vs a school in the top 20? And would you be paying full sticker for the private school?
 
If it's more than 12k a year total to go to the more prestigious school then it's a no brainer. Go state.
 
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Need more info. What schools? How much more debt are we talking after factoring in what you can personally contribute? What are your short and long term goals for your career? Do you like both schools equally?
 
I agree it definitely depends a little on the schools, but in general yes - take the free ride. If your state school is not at all well respected/has many probs/you think you would be so much more happy at the prestigious school for legit reason then that's one thing. But picking a school ranked 10/20 over a school ranked 40/50/60 doesn't seem necessary
 
Looking at some of your other threads, it appears the state school is unranked and some of your other choices are very prestigious indeed. You do still have time to see if any of those other schools will help out a bit financially, and that will be an important factor to consider. You should also consider your personal feelings about debt, where you want to end up geographically, and the kind of life you want to lead.

Yes, it's certainly possible to get anywhere from any US MD school, but some paths will be much more circuitous than others.
 
Figure out how much debt you'd acquire going to the other school and with interest and repayment schemes what your monthly payment will be. Then ask yourself with your anticipated take home pay, how will it feel to write a check for $x,xxx per month (okay, you'll have some automatic withdrawal, this isn't the twentieth century) but it will be a monthly sucking sound coming from your bank account. How does the idea of that monthly payment feel for you. What would you do with that money every month if you had the other school's diploma on your wall?
 
MexicanMamba said:
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If you go prestige the scholarship money will obviously go to someone else. If I cared about you more than that other person, then I would call you crazy. Since you and the other person are the same to me, I will tell you to do whatever you want. Ultimately one of you will pay $$$ and the other won't. The system, like the universe, is indifferent to the details.
 
Definitely calculate the cost of attending the more prestigious school. It is ultimately your decision, so weigh out your options before choosing. It could be the difference of coming out with 200k in debt or coming out debt free while ending up in the same residency program regardless of your choice.
 
Yes. The amount of extra stress loans put on you is enormous. If it is a greater than 30K a year vs 80K (including cost of living) it is a no brainer to choose state.
 
State school so you don't have to take the first crappy job offered to you when your student loans come due. If research is your goal, everything has a price. Take out the loans and go to prestigious school. If you want to do clinical medicine, which the vast majority of physicians do, go to the state school. Student loans take a LONG time to go away. They don't give you your salary all at once.
 
MexicanMamba said:
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Listen to the practicing physicians. They're almost unanimous in telling you what you'll expect IN THE FUTURE. Loans are a huge pain in the ass. The "prestige" of the medical school you go to may or may not play a roll in your overall success as a physician. Yes, it's nice to have that pedigree but ultimately once you're done the bigger problem will be paying back your loans which continue to compound as you do residency at a 7% or whatever current rate it is now. It's painful and very disheartening. If I could redo it I'd choose a cheaper medical school for sure.
 
I will tell any HS student to take a full ride at a good State school over Ivy any Day. To me this is a no brainer. Probability will tell you that the same person would not be at a big disadvantage coming from a good state vs ivy league. Once you get your first job, noone will really care too much where you went to college.

This applies 10x more so in med school. Unless you want to pursue high end academics, 99.9% it won't matter.

Once you get out of residency and go to clinical medicine, no one will care where you went to state school. I don't know where 90% of my colleagues went to med school or residency.

Assume One year in a top 10 school costs 60K/yr including COL. That is 250+K including interest before you start residency. Assume you want to go to 5 yrs of residency, That will balloon to well over 300K.

I would say 95%+ of people would not regret after residency.
 
efle said:
Would be interested to hear how many of the docs posting are speaking from experience/personal regret. Anybody in this thread a "top 5" graduate that feels it wasnt money well spent? If so, was it because you decided against research?
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While I didn't go to a Top 5, I did go to a expensive private med school that's well known on this board over my in state school. My thought at that time was to do residency in California (yeah, I know, also a dumb choice cause of taxes) and I hoped that the private school name would help get me there. And while I ultimately did end up in Cali for residency I don't know how much of that was because of the school name. They do screen out based on STEP1 scores though. Many of my co-residents weren't from brand name schools either. I liked the school and made some good friends there but looking back at it now while in the midst of paying back loans I'm not sure it was worth it. When you've delayed so much of your life just for med school/residency and then have to delay even more to pay back loans, it's kind of frustrating.

The issue is also that premeds are taught to despise the mention of money in the med school application process because "it's not altruistic" but ultimately it does boil down to that. And while money doesn't/can't buy happiness it does buy peace of mind and security, especially when you have a family to look after. Premeds should understand the debt burden is theirs alone and no one is going to pay it off for you (yes I know about the public service loan forgiveness stuff - but that's a different story and thread). You really have to look at this carefully and definitely take it into account during the early stages because it can snow ball out of control.
 
I didn’t got to a top 5 but as someone who now has >350k in med school debt now after 8 yrs of post grad training (Cardiac subspecialty after coming from a DO school) I can say that that amount of debt is definitely stress inducing and constantly on your mind.

IF you are truly set on a high level academic career in a few very competitive specialities AND your choice is between a “Top 5” school and a no-name state school then ok yea, it might be worth it from a career standpoint.

For the vast majority of situations though my opinion is the worry of being debt free vs massive student loans is definitely worth forgoing the expensive choice.
 
emergentmd said:
I will tell any HS student to take a full ride at a good State school over Ivy any Day. To me this is a no brainer. Probability will tell you that the same person would not be at a big disadvantage coming from a good state vs ivy league.
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What people forget is that top schools have deep pockets which translates to incredible financial aid. Almost no one out there is paying sticker price for an undergraduate degree from a prestigious university; if they are, they can definitely afford it.

Depending on the field you want to go into, your school's name can make all the difference on getting that first job.

When it comes to medical school, I think your point stands, though. I have 0 data to base this on, but I think the "name" advantage is much more important for undergrad than med school.
 
getdown said:
The issue is also that premeds are taught to despise the mention of money in the med school application process because "it's not altruistic" but ultimately it does boil down to that. And while money doesn't/can't buy happiness it does buy peace of mind and security, especially when you have a family to look after. Premeds should understand the debt burden is theirs alone and no one is going to pay it off for you (yes I know about the public service loan forgiveness stuff - but that's a different story and thread). You really have to look at this carefully and definitely take it into account during the early stages because it can snow ball out of control.
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I agree that money doesn't buy happiness but given a person in their same situation, having more money will definitely make them happier.

Maybe not any more friends. Maybe not anymore self worth or accomplishments. But it is much better going to sleep at night knowing that you are financially secure, knowing that you don't have to work a 2nd job, knowing that your family will be taken care of.

This is the beauty of being in the medical field. Not only do you make alot of $$, but your job is essentially guaranteed unless you do something stupid or inept.
 
enalli said:
What people forget is that top schools have deep pockets which translates to incredible financial aid. Almost no one out there is paying sticker price for an undergraduate degree from a prestigious university; if they are, they can definitely afford it.

Depending on the field you want to go into, your school's name can make all the difference on getting that first job.

When it comes to medical school, I think your point stands, though. I have 0 data to base this on, but I think the "name" advantage is much more important for undergrad than med school.
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Going to an Ivy school may get an essential free ride if you come from low income. But if you are middle class, there is no guarantee that you will get much aid.

Regardless, the question was expensive top school vs state. If money wasn't the issue it likely is a no brainer.
 
Side question, even without a scholarship is the reduced cost of a state school always the way to go? Even if the OOS state seemed a lot better?

For me it’s comparing a 6 year old state school to a well known top 50
 
subdermallight said:
Side question, even without a scholarship is the reduced cost of a state school always the way to go? Even if the OOS state seemed a lot better?

For me it’s comparing a 6 year old state school to a well known top 50
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Top 50 is not enough resolution. Im assuming your school is around rank 50 to 40. If so i dont think its worth it
 
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As someone who is able to graduate from residency and is about to arrive at "repayment station" on the train you're about to get on, I would simply advise you to be mindful about the extent of debt you sign yourself up for. I don't think it's easy to answer this question categorically, but understand that education debt is something that you're signing up for years of repayment for. As a practical matter, depending on how much debt you end up taking on, you're going to be paying thousands of dollars a month for years from your hard earned money.

It's easy to make that commitment now, but it sucks when repayment time comes.
 
Haven’t had time to reply to this thread until now. The state school is unranked and the other school is a T25. The tuition is around 50-60k per year. Their scholarship app deadline has not passed yet so I won’t know until April. Thanks for the feedback guys and I’ll keep everyones advice in mind.
 
tl;dr What are your goals? Go to the school that will help you get there. The beauty of choice is that you can use your own values, your own internal compass to guide you.

lalalallala said:
I agree it definitely depends a little on the schools, but in general yes - take the free ride. If your state school is not at all well respected/has many probs/you think you would be so much more happy at the prestigious school for legit reason then that's one thing. But picking a school ranked 10/20 over a school ranked 40/50/60 doesn't seem necessary
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This applies to me.

The ranking is Top 10, private vs. Top 100 (yes, that is 100) flagship state school. Scholarship at both schools, but COL makes the difference such that the state school will be much cheaper overall. ~50k/yr vs ~20k/yr are some rough estimates.

However, state school is in a place that I do not find interesting, whereas private school is in a much more interesting location, potentially in the state/region of the country where I want to settle down. In terms of my career interests, I want to match in the state where the private school is located. If not there, I want to match in the surrounding states. So the private option looks better.

For the state school, in order to pursue research in my desired specialty, I would have to go to a different regional campus during the summer. I don't know the field well enough to know whether there are notable names at the home institution of the state school, but if I wanted to get into my desired residency in my desired location, I would definitely have to do aways ($$$). Private option still looks better.

In terms of what career I want...I thought at first private practice because like everyone on this board seems to think, more money = better life, no questions asked. However, after having discussions with multiple physicians whom I look up to, it seems that my values and interests (hint: work life balance, time away from work, vacation time) are more aligned with an academic career. The private school I got into would undoubtedly help me attain the academic career that I seek.

To summarize, private school has a better location, better network, better research opportunities, and a better curriculum (lots of free time to explore other interests), whereas my state school is cheaper.

So for me, personally, private > state school. But that's just me.

Hopefully my personal story will help you make your own decision. Or at least give you the confidence to make a decision that maybe other people might not agree with.

The way I see it, you can always make more money, but you can never get your time back. Yes, I will have to pay back the loans. Perhaps that is the price that I choose to pay for my own personal journey.

Ultimately it's a very personal decision. The hard part is deciding for yourself.

Oh yeah, one more thing. From a temperamental standpoint, I am more comfortable with risk than most. So I'm totally fine with investing over the long term and expecting the return on my investments to outperform the interest on my loans. I'm not saying that I'm not going to pay down my loans at all, but that my general approach to personal finance is not quite as conservative as what you'll find on internet forums.
 
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The answer depends on your ultimate goals as some other posters have mentioned.

However, this is really hard bc you may not yet have enough information to know what you want to do in life.

If you want to do a competitive, well-paying specialty (ENT, ortho, CT surgery, Neurosurgery, plastics, dermatology, IR, etc) and stay in academia, then go for the private expensive school.

If you lean towards primary care, psych, pediatrics, neurology, especially if considering community based practice, then you need to go to your state school. You will get where you want to go in life from the state school, and sky is the limit if you do well there.
 
I'm not in medical school but my advice would be to choose the school you would be happiest at. Like your gut feeling right now. When reading my post, which school would you choose at this very moment. That school should be the school you choose. I think your happiness should play a major part into your decision as it will affect your performance. If you truly cannot decide, then I would pick the state school. If it is 50k-60k like you said you'd be saving 200k-240k+ due to interest. That could really help ease life for you as a doctor. You know you don't have crippling debt waiting for you post acceptance. With regards to residency, I don't know honestly. I think if you have good stats and scores then you can get into residency you want. Maybe not Harvard as I think prestige comes in but that's up to you. Best of luck with the choices. It's not an easy choice but at least you have options so congratulations!
 
This is insane. I'm graduating with >200,000 in debt. Will be more like >300,000 after interest. Will be paying this off for decades. Take the money!!!
 
Boola Boy said:
tl;dr What are your goals? Go to the school that will help you get there. The beauty of choice is that you can use your own values, your own internal compass to guide you.



This applies to me.

The ranking is Top 10, private vs. Top 100 (yes, that is 100) flagship state school. Scholarship at both schools, but COL makes the difference such that the state school will be much cheaper overall. ~50k/yr vs ~20k/yr are some rough estimates.

However, state school is in a place that I do not find interesting, whereas private school is in a much more interesting location, potentially in the state/region of the country where I want to settle down. In terms of my career interests, I want to match in the state where the private school is located. If not there, I want to match in the surrounding states. So the private option looks better.

For the state school, in order to pursue research in my desired specialty, I would have to go to a different regional campus during the summer. I don't know the field well enough to know whether there are notable names at the home institution of the state school, but if I wanted to get into my desired residency in my desired location, I would definitely have to do aways ($$$). Private option still looks better.

In terms of what career I want...I thought at first private practice because like everyone on this board seems to think, more money = better life, no questions asked. However, after having discussions with multiple physicians whom I look up to, it seems that my values and interests (hint: work life balance, time away from work, vacation time) are more aligned with an academic career. The private school I got into would undoubtedly help me attain the academic career that I seek.

To summarize, private school has a better location, better network, better research opportunities, and a better curriculum (lots of free time to explore other interests), whereas my state school is cheaper.

So for me, personally, private > state school. But that's just me.

Hopefully my personal story will help you make your own decision. Or at least give you the confidence to make a decision that maybe other people might not agree with.

The way I see it, you can always make more money, but you can never get your time back. Yes, I will have to pay back the loans. Perhaps that is the price that I choose to pay for my own personal journey.

Ultimately it's a very personal decision. The hard part is deciding for yourself.

Oh yeah, one more thing. From a temperamental standpoint, I am more comfortable with risk than most. So I'm totally fine with investing over the long term and expecting the return on my investments to outperform the interest on my loans. I'm not saying that I'm not going to pay down my loans at all, but that my general approach to personal finance is not quite as conservative as what you'll find on internet forums.
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Thanks for sharing your story. This is exactly what I meant when I said if you would be much happier at the private school and the public school really lacks opportunities then you should choose private if you want. This is not the case for all state vs private school comparisons ofc so everyone should look hard at their individual situations such as Boola Boy did
 
@Boola Boy brings up what I feel is an underemphasized point - location. If I had to choose between a full ride to, say, the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO, vs taking out $50k/year in loans for a T30ish school like Einstein that's in NYC, I'd go with Einstein in a heartbeat. I was legit feeling like I might get depressed or something if I had to spend more than a year in Columbia MO, having lived in Manhattan for several years.
 
Boola Boy said:
tl;dr What are your goals? Go to the school that will help you get there. The beauty of choice is that you can use your own values, your own internal compass to guide you.



This applies to me.

The ranking is Top 10, private vs. Top 100 (yes, that is 100) flagship state school. Scholarship at both schools, but COL makes the difference such that the state school will be much cheaper overall. ~50k/yr vs ~20k/yr are some rough estimates.

However, state school is in a place that I do not find interesting, whereas private school is in a much more interesting location, potentially in the state/region of the country where I want to settle down. In terms of my career interests, I want to match in the state where the private school is located. If not there, I want to match in the surrounding states. So the private option looks better.

For the state school, in order to pursue research in my desired specialty, I would have to go to a different regional campus during the summer. I don't know the field well enough to know whether there are notable names at the home institution of the state school, but if I wanted to get into my desired residency in my desired location, I would definitely have to do aways ($$$). Private option still looks better.

In terms of what career I want...I thought at first private practice because like everyone on this board seems to think, more money = better life, no questions asked. However, after having discussions with multiple physicians whom I look up to, it seems that my values and interests (hint: work life balance, time away from work, vacation time) are more aligned with an academic career. The private school I got into would undoubtedly help me attain the academic career that I seek.

To summarize, private school has a better location, better network, better research opportunities, and a better curriculum (lots of free time to explore other interests), whereas my state school is cheaper.

So for me, personally, private > state school. But that's just me.

Hopefully my personal story will help you make your own decision. Or at least give you the confidence to make a decision that maybe other people might not agree with.

The way I see it, you can always make more money, but you can never get your time back. Yes, I will have to pay back the loans. Perhaps that is the price that I choose to pay for my own personal journey.

Ultimately it's a very personal decision. The hard part is deciding for yourself.

Oh yeah, one more thing. From a temperamental standpoint, I am more comfortable with risk than most. So I'm totally fine with investing over the long term and expecting the return on my investments to outperform the interest on my loans. I'm not saying that I'm not going to pay down my loans at all, but that my general approach to personal finance is not quite as conservative as what you'll find on internet forums.
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I think you're making the right decision choosing the t10 for the reasons u stated, fwiw.
 
Hey, I would take the top 10 school. The top 10 schools will open up doors that you might not even know exist. When it comes to applying to residency, interviewing for residency, doing a dual degree, consulting, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Rhodes Scholarship. When I started medical school, I had no idea what all of those things even were. I am a first gen kid. Never even heard of consulting. Never heard of the Rhodes. 5 years later, I have a dual degree, made serious connections, took law school classes and business classes at top law and business schools and built capital in the "elite" world. I had a tough ride too, and tbh the top schools support you more. Some don't have clinical grades etc. Some have progressive stances on depression, raising a child etc. If it wasn't for these things probably I would not have made it. Many of my friends would not have made it. Not being ranked helps etc. I think its even more important if you are poor, you are coming from rural Appalachia or the inner city. The social/professional capital from a top school needs to be weighed with the financial.

People will tell you it doesnt matter but the rank lists dont lie. School matters when it comes to residency. And we are not any smarter than anyone. Its not fair but its the truth. If you have a failure on a USMLE etc. it helps if you school produced loads of all program directors in the field and your Dean can work phones for you before the process, or get you an away rotation on the power of your schools name.

Now, if its UNC vs. Harvard and UNC is free. Dude, go to UNC!!!! UNC, UCs, UMich are solid. If its SUNY Upstate, def take the top 10/top 25 whatever.
 
Espadaleader said:
Hey, I would take the top 10 school. The top 10 schools will open up doors that you might not even know exist. When it comes to applying to residency, interviewing for residency, doing a dual degree, consulting, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Rhodes Scholarship. When I started medical school, I had no idea what all of those things even were. I am a first gen kid. Never even heard of consulting. Never heard of the Rhodes. 5 years later, I have a dual degree, made serious connections, took law school classes and business classes at top law and business schools and built capital in the "elite" world. I had a tough ride too, and tbh the top schools support you more. Some don't have clinical grades etc. Some have progressive stances on depression, raising a child etc. If it wasn't for these things probably I would not have made it. Many of my friends would not have made it. Not being ranked helps etc. I think its even more important if you are poor, you are coming from rural Appalachia or the inner city. The social/professional capital from a top school needs to be weighed with the financial.

People will tell you it doesnt matter but the rank lists dont lie. School matters when it comes to residency. And we are not any smarter than anyone. Its not fair but its the truth. If you have a failure on a USMLE etc. it helps if you school produced loads of all program directors in the field and your Dean can work phones for you before the process, or get you an away rotation on the power of your schools name.

Now, if its UNC vs. Harvard and UNC is free. Dude, go to UNC!!!! UNC, UCs, UMich are solid. If its SUNY Upstate, def take the top 10/top 25 whatever.
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I feel like this post has a lot of opinions that aren't clearly marked as opinions. For example, 'school matters when it comes to residency' (even though many many people say it doesn't and that PD's don't judge people for choosing their state school for financial reasons or they say 'as long as the school is decently well respected it'), 'rank lists don't lie' (so much is the priorities of the students...), 'some have progressive stances on depression' (what? and other schools outside the T10 don't?). Many schools don't rank students - that is not a T10 thing. Your situation is one thing but maybe OP does know what consulting is - maybe OP wants to do primary care and doesn't care about consulting. It's an interesting note that you feel like gaining that social knowledge has helped you coming from a first-gen background, but I think OP should evaluate that their situation could very likely be much different from yours and they might not need to gain all that social knowledge about Goldman that you felt you did.
 
Great response. Thank you. I will say in reply that your school's reputation does play a role in residency admissions.

https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf

You can take a look here at data from the NRMP. Yes, it is not the most important thing and you can do academic medicine at a top 10 school even with a DO or a Carribean MD. The best residents I've met are actually from DO and Carribean schools full stop because they had to be that much better than the rest.... but it matters.

To the comments I made about depression, ranking etc. it has been my experience that schools with stronger reputations tend to have more flexibility with their curriculums HMS/Stanford with P/F clinical year, not having AOA. This is not limited to top 10 schools, but I think an unranked school would be more likely to have AOA, ranking, H/HP/P grading. This is all my opinion though. I agree.

In summary, I think a top 10 school gives you opportunities in research, policy etc. that other schools may not have or may not be able to provide the funding or research. As you say, it is up to the individual to make the decision of what is best for them.
 
Espadaleader said:
Hey, I would take the top 10 school. The top 10 schools will open up doors that you might not even know exist. When it comes to applying to residency, interviewing for residency, doing a dual degree, consulting, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Rhodes Scholarship. When I started medical school, I had no idea what all of those things even were. I am a first gen kid. Never even heard of consulting. Never heard of the Rhodes. 5 years later, I have a dual degree, made serious connections, took law school classes and business classes at top law and business schools and built capital in the "elite" world. I had a tough ride too, and tbh the top schools support you more. Some don't have clinical grades etc. Some have progressive stances on depression, raising a child etc. If it wasn't for these things probably I would not have made it. Many of my friends would not have made it. Not being ranked helps etc. I think its even more important if you are poor, you are coming from rural Appalachia or the inner city. The social/professional capital from a top school needs to be weighed with the financial.

People will tell you it doesnt matter but the rank lists dont lie. School matters when it comes to residency. And we are not any smarter than anyone. Its not fair but its the truth. If you have a failure on a USMLE etc. it helps if you school produced loads of all program directors in the field and your Dean can work phones for you before the process, or get you an away rotation on the power of your schools name.

Now, if its UNC vs. Harvard and UNC is free. Dude, go to UNC!!!! UNC, UCs, UMich are solid. If its SUNY Upstate, def take the top 10/top 25 whatever.
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Holy crap it’s Espadaleader, what a blast from the past glad you’re thrivin. I remember reading your posts when I was a freshman XD
 
Espadaleader said:
Great response. Thank you. I will say in reply that your school's reputation does play a role in residency admissions.

https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf

You can take a look here at data from the NRMP. Yes, it is not the most important thing and you can do academic medicine at a top 10 school even with a DO or a Carribean MD. The best residents I've met are actually from DO and Carribean schools full stop because they had to be that much better than the rest.... but it matters.

To the comments I made about depression, ranking etc. it has been my experience that schools with stronger reputations tend to have more flexibility with their curriculums HMS/Stanford with P/F clinical year, not having AOA. This is not limited to top 10 schools, but I think an unranked school would be more likely to have AOA, ranking, H/HP/P grading. This is all my opinion though. I agree.

In summary, I think a top 10 school gives you opportunities in research, policy etc. that other schools may not have or may not be able to provide the funding or research. As you say, it is up to the individual to make the decision of what is best for them.
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Agreed. Hopefully OP can take your positive experience at a top school and the benefits you feel you have gotten into account as well as the financial aspects that many current attendings have mentioned with their experiences. Of course, OP it really depends so much on the schools in question and how much you like each one, etc, but all the best in your decision making process!
 
Boola Boy said:
tl;dr What are your goals? Go to the school that will help you get there. The beauty of choice is that you can use your own values, your own internal compass to guide you.



This applies to me.

The ranking is Top 10, private vs. Top 100 (yes, that is 100) flagship state school. Scholarship at both schools, but COL makes the difference such that the state school will be much cheaper overall. ~50k/yr vs ~20k/yr are some rough estimates.

However, state school is in a place that I do not find interesting, whereas private school is in a much more interesting location, potentially in the state/region of the country where I want to settle down. In terms of my career interests, I want to match in the state where the private school is located. If not there, I want to match in the surrounding states. So the private option looks better.

For the state school, in order to pursue research in my desired specialty, I would have to go to a different regional campus during the summer. I don't know the field well enough to know whether there are notable names at the home institution of the state school, but if I wanted to get into my desired residency in my desired location, I would definitely have to do aways ($$$). Private option still looks better.

In terms of what career I want...I thought at first private practice because like everyone on this board seems to think, more money = better life, no questions asked. However, after having discussions with multiple physicians whom I look up to, it seems that my values and interests (hint: work life balance, time away from work, vacation time) are more aligned with an academic career. The private school I got into would undoubtedly help me attain the academic career that I seek.

To summarize, private school has a better location, better network, better research opportunities, and a better curriculum (lots of free time to explore other interests), whereas my state school is cheaper.

So for me, personally, private > state school. But that's just me.

Hopefully my personal story will help you make your own decision. Or at least give you the confidence to make a decision that maybe other people might not agree with.

The way I see it, you can always make more money, but you can never get your time back. Yes, I will have to pay back the loans. Perhaps that is the price that I choose to pay for my own personal journey.

Ultimately it's a very personal decision. The hard part is deciding for yourself.

Oh yeah, one more thing. From a temperamental standpoint, I am more comfortable with risk than most. So I'm totally fine with investing over the long term and expecting the return on my investments to outperform the interest on my loans. I'm not saying that I'm not going to pay down my loans at all, but that my general approach to personal finance is not quite as conservative as what you'll find on internet forums.
Click to expand...

No more Tulane?
 
I'm confused about why people makes such a big deal about loans. Couldn't you just live frugally for a few years after residency and pay them off within 2-3 years?
 
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