Choosing between 4 schools, transgender and URM

[equalitydoc]

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(Typos=trying to hide this from the schools)

I'm a transgender guy and URM. I come from a low-income background and applied with the FAP, which means I applied to 30 schools and paid 15*$30=$450, plus the travel expenses for 3 of these interviews. Thank goodness for that. It really made applying possible for me, so I want to share that advice with others.

I was late with my apps because of a letter issue and a late MCAT. My sGPA and MCAT were well below average. I was about to wait another year because of my MCAT, and everyone on SDN said I didn't have a chance with MD schools. But I went for it and was accepted to all four of the schools I interviewed with.

I realized I pretty much had my mind set when I began to write out the positives and negatives of each school from my perspective. There is one school that sticks out as my favorite, and I was the most excited about getting the call from them. But I'm curious about what others think about these schools. I will respond with what I wrote in a bit.

 

[Promethean]

There are still places where it will be easier to be trans. NYC is definitely one of those places.

Go where you love. You can make it work out wherever you go. You got this far, after all!

 

[touchpause13]

Go wherever you feel like you will be happiest

 

[einsteinm]

I'd go to Einstein. But go to the "one school that sticks out as my favorite, and I was the most excited about getting the call from them."

 

[familyaerospace]

I am also URM and transgender, had FAP all rounds but this one. For round 4, my Einstein app was paid for by a friend on SDN.

That is where I would have gone but I didn't get an interview. Many of my stats were comparable to what they were looking for.

Go to whichever is your favourite.

 

[WingedOx]

URM and Trans or not, Oakland is likely going to have lowest COL. Not sure how the breakdown of tuition would be though.

 

[potatochip1]

.....

 

[equalitydoc]

Sorry for my absence! I've been meaning to respond. Thanks so much all for your replies and input. The poll is interesting... I actually didn't expect such a heavy slant towards E1nstein. I'm wondering if this is mostly a reaction to the ranking and name, or if people like the location in a big city, the top research, or all of the above. (I'll give my thoughts on E1nstein in a bit.)

I'm between L0yola and UA-Phx. My dilemma at this point is: Can I justify paying TWICE as much for med school if I go to L0yola? Second Look is this weekend, so I think I'll get a better sense then if I would be crushed not to go there.

L0yola has been the top choice in my mind since the call about getting an interview. I love the social justice atmosphere and the history. Not much research there (I'm not big on it anyways), but the clinical focus is great. It is a welcoming school, and they are the only med school that currently accepts DREAMer students (I'm not undocumented, but this really speaks to me). I am also a progressive Catholic. I loved the feeling I got when I was there. And it is stunning-- great cafeteria, massive gym...the full package.

Here's the thing: the tuition is 50k at L0yola vs 30k at UA-Phx for in-state, but my med school friends tell me "if you're going to be $100k+ in debt wherever you go, it might as well be your top choice." I feel like I deserve to be completely happy. Others say minimize debt in any possible way. And I'd get a great education at both schools.


Indeed, my decision has been made more difficult by an email from UA-Phx that says they would give me in-state tuition (even though I've been living in NJ for this year). This would be 30k a year for me-- I'll even it to 25k with a grant-- which is amazing. 100k tuition for 4 years. HALF of L0yola's tuition-- a huge difference.

UA-Phx is a beautiful new school with wonderful faculty and an awesome Dean. I'm really impressed. The architecture even speaks to the cutting-edge nature of the school. If I had only been accepted there, I would be super happy. The class is small at 80 people too.

A few considerations: The school doesn't have a hospital connected to it, but the hospitals where you rotate in Phx are top-notch. Arizona is extremely hot and I have bad allergies to the vegetation/pollen there, so I need to be on allergy shots and meds. I grew up in Phx and my family lives there. While it would be nice to be near them, a bit of distance can be nice too. I've always felt pressure to help care for my family, but it's my time to shine now.

A big bummer: I was the victim of a hate crime at a church near the Phx campus a few months ago when I went home to visit (I should note that I don't think this is the norm, but I guess Tempe is pretty bad for hate crimes). The site where this happened is close to the school. The police response was traumatizing and degrading, and I am still recovering from this experience. Living near NYC, I've realized that some of the hidden bigotry of AZ really does wear on you, even when it doesn't rise to physical violence. I have some bad childhood experiences in the snooty suburbs in Phx, so it would be nice to get away. I just have a lot of emotional baggage there. But I COULD also reinvent my experience and try to start fresh in AZ.

It's really sad to me to feel like I might not ever return to Arizona because of politics. I used to love Arizona-- the desert, the social justice work on the border, my friends in Tucson, etc. But I have less of a desire to be in places that don't fully accept me now.

Thanks for the input, all. I feel less alone in this.

 

[equalitydoc]

It kind of sounds like I've essentially made my decision, so this process of writing things out has been helpful. I think I'm just wanting people to say "Yes! Go ahead and drop an extra $100k on med school."

Treat yo'self, right? I went to a state university and a public high school, so I never paid big for education. I grew up quite poor. I'm trying to make myself ok with this. That's a whole lot of money.

It's messing with my brain to think in amounts like this when I've been busting my butt and making minimum wage since age 16.

 

[Tintinnabula]

It kind of sounds like I've essentially made my decision, so this process of writing things out has been helpful. I think I'm just wanting people to say "Yes! Go ahead and drop an extra $100k on med school."

Treat yo'self, right? I went to a state university and a public high school, so I never paid big for education. I grew up quite poor. I'm trying to make myself ok with this. That's a whole lot of money.

It's messing with my brain to think in amounts like this when I've been busting my butt and making minimum wage since age 16.

I'm in the poors (leaky) bucket with you and yeah those kinds of numbers are daunting. You'll learn how to deal - but be sure to make the effort to learn how to deal. Money and life management skills for poverty will not stand you in good stead when that's no longer your status. Best of luck.

 

[equalitydoc]

I totally agree with this. I'm working at a homeless youth shelter (many are college students), and I see how these young people have been conditioned to "survive, not thrive." I need to train myself to think in terms of thriving now, and even allowing myself to believe I deserve happiness.

 

[DokterMom]

I totally agree with this. I'm working at a homeless youth shelter (many are college students), and I see how these young people have been conditioned to "survive, not thrive." I need to train myself to think in terms of thriving now, and even allowing myself to believe I deserve happiness.

You do deserve happiness. And you deserve to be in a place that's accepting and supportive of you, and if you can find that in a progressive Catholic school, well then so much the better. You do not need to be in a place where hate crimes happen with any degree of regularity and where the police are less than helpful. There's something wrong with the church when hate crimes happen there.

 

[NickNaylor]

The debt burden of medical school can be overwhelming (and rightly should be considered with much thought), but understand that even at $100k you will be able to pay the debt off. Obviously minimizing your debt burden is ideal, but if you really think you won't "fit in" at certain places and that might be a source of distress for you, then the additional cost might be worth it.

 

[Tintinnabula]

I need to train myself to think in terms of thriving now, and even allowing myself to believe I deserve happiness.

This can really be tougher than we give it credit for. Being gentle with ourselves is... difficult in a bootstraps world.