I am debating between ICO and SCO right now. I really really want to be in chicago but ICO ends up being 70k more over the four years not to mention traveling cost to and fro home (Georgia). SCO is a great school and has all the amenities ICO has but memphis is just not my cup of tea. Is it worth saving all that money and going to a city I am not excited about? I will be paying in student loans...
Decisions.
- Thread starter Optme
- Start date
70k is quite a differential; did you factor in interest? If not it could end up being quite a bit higher than that. It is my opinion, and the opinion of many others as well, that how you feel about the school itself (including the clinic) should be a far more important consideration than the city the school is in. Yes, the city definitely impacts the school (especially via the patient population) but if you would be equally happy with either school, and are just debating between living in Chicago vs. Memphis relative to 70k (or far more if that doesn't take into account expected interest payments on that extra 70k) then I personally would choose the less expensive option. I'm sure others will disagree with me, but yes, it really is worth it to save all that money! I'm not at all saying it should be your only consideration, and if you'd rather go to ICO because you like the school more (as opposed to just the city) I'd definitely weigh that. Obviously I ended up choosing an expensive school (PCO) but I did so for a number of reasons; I really like Philly, but the fact that I loved the school itself was by far the most important reason that I applied there. In making my final decision, the fact I liked Philly more was actually one of the tipping points for me (because both schools were great), although there were MANY factors I had to consider in my complicated situation. My expected cost differential wasn't remotely close to what you have to weigh (it was only around 5k per year, maybe a bit higher) so it didn't end up being too much of a consideration for me.
Last edited:
Go cheap. Memphis may grow on you, but carrying the weight of debt will never grow on you. Especially in this economy. . . I'd get the job done as cheaply as possible. You get out of your education what you put into it anyway. I went to SCCO and came out with $141K some years ago. That debt hung around like a bad fart. I'm sure the average debt load is higher now. I wouldn't want any amount of additional debt if I was doing it all again.
Use the money your saving on SCO to justify a sick trip to Chicago and awesome Wrigley Stadium to watch the Cubs lose!
There's a really good NY style pizza joint just outside the stadium. Drink some Old Style and do Chicago right. If you love it that much, practice there after graduation.
Go Yankees!
Peace.
Use the money your saving on SCO to justify a sick trip to Chicago and awesome Wrigley Stadium to watch the Cubs lose!
There's a really good NY style pizza joint just outside the stadium. Drink some Old Style and do Chicago right. If you love it that much, practice there after graduation. Go Yankees!
Peace.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2006
- Messages
- 432
- Reaction score
- 5
It's 70,000 not 7,000!!!
Unless your family is going to pay your tuition, I would say choose the school with the least amount of debt. SCO also has A LOT of scholarships, I got three of them.
Memphis is a pretty neat city right on the border of Arkansas and Mississippi. Good food and plenty of entertainment. I had a great time and you will too.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,152
- Reaction score
- 2
70k is not a small number especially considering the interest that will build up on it.
I hate Memphis, it's not my cup of tea either, I don't like city living. I live out in the suburbs so it's not that bad. There is a TON of stuff to do in Memphis so you won't be bored, that's for sure. Let's be real, you're going to be in school 8-5 most days and a lot of your outside time is going to be spent practicing and studying so you're not going to have tons and tons of free time. I live out in the suburbs because I feel more comfortable there. I'm obviously biased but I'm going to say come here just b/c of the tuition difference. Cost was the main reason I came here but our school is fantastic. PM me if you have any questions!
I hate Memphis, it's not my cup of tea either, I don't like city living. I live out in the suburbs so it's not that bad. There is a TON of stuff to do in Memphis so you won't be bored, that's for sure. Let's be real, you're going to be in school 8-5 most days and a lot of your outside time is going to be spent practicing and studying so you're not going to have tons and tons of free time. I live out in the suburbs because I feel more comfortable there. I'm obviously biased but I'm going to say come here just b/c of the tuition difference. Cost was the main reason I came here but our school is fantastic.
PM me if you have any questions!- Joined
- Feb 5, 2007
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 0
I was in the same boat as you and came to Memphis over ICO. Memphis is a little rough but there is a lot to do here, and the school is great. I would almost guarantee that after four years and much much less debt you'll be happy with your choice. Like another poster said you can always move to Chicago to practice, and you can rub it in to all the ICO grads around there how much less your loans are!
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2007
- Messages
- 99
- Reaction score
- 0
I agree with everyone else: go cheaper. 70k is nothing to wag a tail at. Realistically, in your first few years of school you won't have enough time off to justify going to Chicago just because you like the city better. For example, I'm a third year at Nova and yet I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've been to the beach in 2009--1 of which was actually the Jersey shore! In that regard, the school might as well be in Alaska. There's a laundry list as long as my arm of reasons why you would want to go the cheaper route.
