Decided.

[happycroissant]

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[bts2025]

Congratulations on your acceptances to these two great schools!

I'll preface by saying I think your visit to NYU this weekend will be the deciding factor since you'll get a chance to see some of the city and get a glimpse into what your life as a medical student would be like there. As of right now, it seems like you are leaning towards WashU. The question really seems to be whether the pros of WashU compared to the cons of NYU justify taking out loans.

That said, I don't think you need to be too concerned about lack of community/alone time/green space in NYC. As someone who has lived here, I think the city is really what you make of it. Finding community and building relationships is not too difficult as long as you put in some effort. I'm sure your medical school class will be a great starting point for building that community too.
Yes, NYC can be busy and loud (especially Midtown Manhattan) but I find that it is very possible to get time to yourself. Green space is probably not quite as plentiful in NYC as it is at WashU, but NYC does have many dog-friendly parks. Central Park is the obvious one and it has tons of designated off leash areas, but there's plenty more (Tompkins Square Dog Park, Sirius Dog Run in Battery Park, etc.) I will say though, if you want to find non-student housing, start planning for that asap because many apartment rentals have size/breed restrictions.

Edit: Wanted to add that you might want to also consider grading systems/attendance requirements for the two schools (if you haven't already). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they have similar prestige/name recognition in medicine, and I think you'll have no problem matching in any speciality/any geographic area from either school.

 

[alapeds]

Check out Central Park, the High-Line, and Governors Island. There are many more that are more distant, but those three are quite close to where you would be. The biggest downside is finding housing that is reasonable for two of you and a dog. And the cost of living in general will be higher there. If you were going to be there for four years, it might cost you almost as much as the tuition difference, but since it’s three years only, it’s probably the cheapest way to go, but not by a ton. With the specialties you are interested in, the loan issue may not be that big a deal, and realistically the total COA difference may not be all that different given COL in NYC, and you may want to go with wherever you think will be happier.

 

[alapeds]

And btw, Wash U in medicine has GREAT name recognition. If you want to be in academics you will do very well coming from there.

 

[happycroissant]

Congratulations on your acceptances to these two great schools!

I'll preface by saying I think your visit to NYU this weekend will be the deciding factor since you'll get a chance to see some of the city and get a glimpse into what your life as a medical student would be like there. As of right now, it seems like you are leaning towards WashU. The question really seems to be whether the pros of WashU compared to the cons of NYU justify taking out loans.

That said, I don't think you need to be too concerned about lack of community/alone time/green space in NYC. As someone who has lived here, I think the city is really what you make of it. Finding community and building relationships is not too difficult as long as you put in some effort. I'm sure your medical school class will be a great starting point for building that community too.
Yes, NYC can be busy and loud (especially Midtown Manhattan) but I find that it is very possible to get time to yourself. Green space is probably not quite as plentiful in NYC as it is at WashU, but NYC does have many dog-friendly parks. Central Park is the obvious one and it has tons of designated off leash areas, but there's plenty more (Tompkins Square Dog Park, Sirius Dog Run in Battery Park, etc.) I will say though, if you want to find non-student housing, start planning for that asap because many apartment rentals have size/breed restrictions.

Edit: Wanted to add that you might want to also consider grading systems/attendance requirements for the two schools (if you haven't already). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they have similar prestige/name recognition in medicine, and I think you'll have no problem matching in any speciality/any geographic area from either school.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply. Fortunately, our dog is an ESA, so she is legally allowed in any housing.

As far as I understand, both schools are P/F for pre-clerkship and H/HP/P/F for clerkship. Main difference is that NYU has AOA, which I’m not too concerned about.

Thank you for weighing in and I also think my visit to NYC this weekend will help me make the final choice. Appreciate you!

 

[happycroissant]

Check out Central Park, the High-Line, and Governors Island. There are many more that are more distant, but those three are quite close to where you would be. The biggest downside is finding housing that is reasonable for two of you and a dog. And the cost of living in general will be higher there. If you were going to be there for four years, it might cost you almost as much as the tuition difference, but since it’s three years only, it’s probably the cheapest way to go, but not by a ton. With the specialties you are interested in, the loan issue may not be that big a deal, and realistically the total COA difference may not be all that different given COL in NYC, and you may want to go with wherever you think will be happier.

Thank you for the recommendations and advice. Fortunately, my SO’s income will cover COL expenses no matter where we are, so tuition is really the sticking point. I appreciate your perspective and help!

 

[deleted1065184]

Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply. Fortunately, our dog is an ESA, so she is legally allowed in any housing.

As far as I understand, both schools are P/F for pre-clerkship and H/HP/P/F for clerkship. Main difference is that NYU has AOA, which I’m not too concerned about.

Thank you for weighing in and I also think my visit to NYC this weekend will help me make the final choice. Appreciate you!

WashU is P/F for clerkships, with the opportunity to get "distinctions" at the very end based on clinical care, communication/advocacy, and/or clinical knowledge (overall shelf exam performance).

That said, I find it tough to justify a $200k loan difference. Although, I am curious to know how you came up with that number, OP. Manhattan is for more expensive than St. Louis, and if your partner's salary can cover the rest of living costs in Manhattan, I can't imagine you needing to take out $200k in loans for a city that is like 1/3 as expensive to live in. Your SO's income will very easily be able to cover STL's COL with much, much more to spare. According to MSAR, WashU's tuition is ~$67k. With a half-tuition scholarship, you'd have to pay $33.5k/year...which would be $134k over 4 years. I'd take another look at the numbers if I were you.

Also, do you think you might be eligible for need-based aid? They evaluate merit and need-based aid separately, so you could very easily get a half merit scholarship and a half need-based scholarship. If not, $134k is still a lot of debt and I hope you like NYU during your revisit bc that would be my pick if you do.

 

[happycroissant]

WashU is P/F for clerkships, with the opportunity to get "distinctions" at the very end based on clinical care, communication/advocacy, and/or clinical knowledge (overall shelf exam performance).

That said, I find it tough to justify a $200k loan difference. Although, I am curious to know how you came up with that number, OP. Manhattan is for more expensive than St. Louis, and if your partner's salary can cover the rest of living costs in Manhattan, I can't imagine you needing to take out $200k in loans for a city that is like 1/3 as expensive to live in. Your SO's income will very easily be able to cover STL's COL with much, much more to spare. According to MSAR, WashU's tuition is ~$67k. With a half-tuition scholarship, you'd have to pay $33.5k/year...which would be $134k over 4 years. I'd take another look at the numbers if I were you.

Also, do you think you might be eligible for need-based aid? They evaluate merit and need-based aid separately, so you could very easily get a half merit scholarship and a half need-based scholarship. If not, $134k is still a lot of debt and I hope you like NYU during your revisit bc that would be my pick if you do.

Thanks for weighing in! I created some extensive budget spreadsheets to crunch the numbers based on local COL estimates and the last few years of our expenses. Keep in mind that I'm also using their COA estimate and then factoring in another person's expenses, so my calculation is higher than the one provided.

My SO would receive a local housing allowance via the GI bill, thus the difference in housing costs is moot. We would also sell both our vehicles if moving to Manhattan, which would offset some additional expenses. Unfortunately, I'm not eligible for any need-based aid, as my parents make too much money.