Chances and other questions

[straubest]

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I posted this in the chances sub-forum but received no responses. I am not looking for someone to answer all my questions just what one can. I hope to address several questions in this thread.

I believe that i have a fairly strong (above average) application profile:
Top 30 school
Biochemistry Major
3.80 GPA
3.86 Science GPA
37Q MCAT
~900-1000 hrs of community service and health related experiences
~1.5 years of research with anticipation of a 2nd or 3rd authorship
Study abroad in South Africa and South America
Speak Spanish
A Few clubs, honors, and honor societies

I have however, been issued an institutional disciplinary action; i was placed on housing probation for hosting a party with underage drinking, not uncommon. I am looking for opinions on how this incident will impact my chances of acceptance, especially to a top-level school?

Extending from that question, assuming that I am competitive for top-tier schools, what are the exact benefits of attending a top, private medical school over an in-state cheaper alternative? For example my top two-choices would be Cornell or Columbia but I feel I would be equally or nearly equally happy at SUNY-Stonybrook. What is the motivation for incurring the enormous extra debt of attending Columbia or Cornell over Stonybrook, should I be afforded the luxury of choice?

Speaking of high costs of attendance, I realize that nearly all medical students graduate with a large debt. I have however, accumulated a relatively large debt during my undergraduate education, despite receiving roughly 75% in grants because i come from a relatively low-income family. I am curious as to what I can roughly expect a medical school financial aid package to look like? Because finances are a significant issue for me, is there a monetary benefit to attending a better/more expensive med school, lets say to attain a better and higher-paying residency? I am not going into medicine for money and in fact, anticipate working with the poor and under-served but can some of the costs of attending more expensive medical schools be defrayed by the prospect of higher paying residencies?

I know the post is long. I appreciate any and all advice.

Thanks

 

[fizzle]

I posted this in the chances sub-forum but received no responses. I am not looking for someone to answer all my questions just what one can. I hope to address several questions in this thread.

I believe that i have a fairly strong (above average) application profile:
Top 30 school
Biochemistry Major
3.80 GPA
3.86 Science GPA
37Q MCAT
~900-1000 hrs of community service and health related experiences
~1.5 years of research with anticipation of a 2nd or 3rd authorship
Study abroad in South Africa and South America
Speak Spanish
A Few clubs, honors, and honor societies

I have however, been issued an institutional disciplinary action; i was placed on housing probation for hosting a party with underage drinking, not uncommon. I am looking for opinions on how this incident will impact my chances of acceptance, especially to a top-level school?

Extending from that question, assuming that I am competitive for top-tier schools, what are the exact benefits of attending a top, private medical school over an in-state cheaper alternative? For example my top two-choices would be Cornell or Columbia but I feel I would be equally or nearly equally happy at SUNY-Stonybrook. What is the motivation for incurring the enormous extra debt of attending Columbia or Cornell over Stonybrook, should I be afforded the luxury of choice?

Speaking of high costs of attendance, I realize that nearly all medical students graduate with a large debt. I have however, accumulated a relatively large debt during my undergraduate education, despite receiving roughly 75% in grants because i come from a relatively low-income family. I am curious as to what I can roughly expect a medical school financial aid package to look like? Because finances are a significant issue for me, is there a monetary benefit to attending a better/more expensive med school, lets say to attain a better and higher-paying residency? I am not going into medicine for money and in fact, anticipate working with the poor and under-served but can some of the costs of attending more expensive medical schools be defrayed by the prospect of higher paying residencies?

I know the post is long. I appreciate any and all advice.

Thanks

Reputation is more of a subconscious thing that makes people see the campus in a better light than they would if the reputation weren't as good. If, taking this into account, you still think you'd be about as happy at a public school as a private one, then by all means go for the public one; not only will you be just as happy, you'll also save a lot of money.

It also has a small effect (that effect, however, gets magnified somewhat when you're competing with the best to get interviews at the top residencies, where everyone already has high board scores and great letters, and the smallest things matter) on residencies, but it won't really affect you much if you're not reaching for the top residencies in the toughest specialties.

 

[Mobius1985]

can some of the costs of attending more expensive medical schools be defrayed by the prospect of higher paying residencies?

I'm under the impression that all residencies pay poorly for the number of hours of work involved, with the average being about $43,000. There is some variation, perhaps based on local cost of living.

 

[straubest]

I'm under the impression that all residencies pay poorly for the number of hours of work involved, with the average being about $43,000. There is some variation, perhaps based on local cost of living.

i was under the same impression until someone i know who is a 2nd year med student said that some residencies can pay much higher salaries than the roughly $45,000 that is the average. If this were true, than attending a higher ranked school for the simple fact of attaining a higher paying residency would nearly offset the much higher cost of attendence. This is what I am trying to determine.

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

i was under the same impression until someone i know who is a 2nd year med student said that some residencies can pay much higher salaries than the roughly $45,000 that is the average. If this were true, than attending a higher ranked school for the simple fact of attaining a higher paying residency would nearly offset the much higher cost of attendence. This is what I am trying to determine.

the variation is probably more significantly attributed to cost of living, and not different residency programs. but even if some residencies pay higher, that is not a good criterion to use when selecting one. the bottom line is you will have debt, and you will be able to pay it off, so choose a school, specialty, and residency that you enjoy.

 

[WaterBird]

Extending from that question, assuming that I am competitive for top-tier schools, what are the exact benefits of attending a top, private medical school over an in-state cheaper alternative? For example my top two-choices would be Cornell or Columbia but I feel I would be equally or nearly equally happy at SUNY-Stonybrook. What is the motivation for incurring the enormous extra debt of attending Columbia or Cornell over Stonybrook, should I be afforded the luxury of choice?

Speaking of high costs of attendance, I realize that nearly all medical students graduate with a large debt. I have however, accumulated a relatively large debt during my undergraduate education, despite receiving roughly 75% in grants because i come from a relatively low-income family. I am curious as to what I can roughly expect a medical school financial aid package to look like? Because finances are a significant issue for me, is there a monetary benefit to attending a better/more expensive med school, lets say to attain a better and higher-paying residency? I am not going into medicine for money and in fact, anticipate working with the poor and under-served but can some of the costs of attending more expensive medical schools be defrayed by the prospect of higher paying residencies?

Thanks

I don't know much about the disciplinary action part (although I assume you need to show you've grown from the experience yadda yadda) There's a little box on AMCAS where you get to explain what happened, and at least at LizzyM's school, she said they either decide to review the app or not, and if it passes that initial review, it's treated normally. I'm sure you can do a search for her post.

I wouldn't assume that the IS option will always be cheaper. Some private schools give out lots more straight up cash. IS may have the cheaper sticker price, but is likely to be more loans, and the sticker price doesn't matter as much as what you will actually have to pay and borrow. (My cheaper option will probably end up being private, though I haven't gotten all of my info back yet).

If money is a big issue for you, suck it up and apply to more schools (which you'll have to do anyway given that you don't know how your disciplinary event will be viewed). It will be more expensive up front, but will likely save you money if you can then compare financial aid packages.

 

[straubest]

I don't know much about the disciplinary action part (although I assume you need to show you've grown from the experience yadda yadda) There's a little box on AMCAS where you get to explain what happened, and at least at LizzyM's school, she said they either decide to review the app or not, and if it passes that initial review, it's treated normally. I'm sure you can do a search for her post.

I wouldn't assume that the IS option will always be cheaper. Some private schools give out lots more straight up cash. IS may have the cheaper sticker price, but is likely to be more loans, and the sticker price doesn't matter as much as what you will actually have to pay and borrow. (My cheaper option will probably end up being private, though I haven't gotten all of my info back yet).

If money is a big issue for you, suck it up and apply to more schools (which you'll have to do anyway given that you don't know how your disciplinary event will be viewed). It will be more expensive up front, but will likely save you money if you can then compare financial aid packages.

That is interesting to hear that the net cost at an in-state might be significantly more than at a private school given financial aid packages. I have always heard that medical schools give little or no grant money and instead just fill up financial aid packages with "attractive" loans. If the former is the case, than I most certainly will wait for financial aid packages before making a decision.

I met with my pre-med advisor and he said the disciplinary issue shouldnt be a problem as it was relatively minor, I was cooperative, and it was almost 3 years ago. I have not had any issues prior or since. I'm going to hope that he is right.