Iowa or Ohio State

[pkrule]

I had been all set on going to University of Iowa until yesterday morning when I got into Ohio State. It's been a tough decision to make since I like both schools.

Iowa has a huge advantage financially for me in that they gave me a full ride in tuition (at least for the upcoming year). But Ohio State definitely has a location advantage as I'm more biased toward Columbus than Iowa City. I guess the only thing (but obviously a huge factor) that is preventing me from going to Ohio State is that they will most likely only give me loans. I'm not sure I like the idea of getting $60,000+ of loans dumped on me starting the first year.

Also I'm having doubts whether Ohio State would be better off than Iowa. On the surface (at least to me anyway), they seem very comparable, and I've been having a hard time distinguishing the advantages and disadvantages of the two schools.

If anyone knows either or these two schools well and can help me make an informed decision, I would really appreciate it.

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[sunset823]

I don't know anything about Iowa, but I am from Ohio and my brother went to OSU (undergrad, not med), so while I can't comment on your particular situation, I'll list a few advantages of OSU
- you can get in-state tuition after your first year in any Ohio school, which will be a huge cost savings - this should definitely play into the financial aspect
- cost of living in Columbus is pretty cheap, and while I've not been there in a while, it is a relatively fun city (by Ohio standards) - being a Big 10er myself, football is obviously huge (much bigger than in Iowa, I'm sure), and it's nice to have a sports culture as a diversion from studies, although it can get a bit extreme in Columbus at times
- the med school itself has a pretty good reputation, but then again, so does Iowa (in fact, Iowa's may be slightly better, but I'm sure comparable); while both schools favor people staying in the Midwest, there is definitely the potential to leave

whichever you choose, good luck!

 

[guestdoc]

Big congrats on the acceptances! As for this decision, follow the money! Both schools are great and you won't go wrong by choosing to save that dough.

Best!

 

[veaselhaufen]

OSU wasn't a favorite school of mine. I found the class to be way too big. Huge undergrad too.

 

[phospho]

OSU wasn't a favorite school of mine. I found the class to be way too big. Huge undergrad too.

ditto... OSU is way too overrated. I did my undergrad there and declined their med school acceptance, and will be going to Wright State.

Follow the money.

 

[DrYoda]

follow the money!

Follow the money.

Agree with these.

Both are good schools, I'd go to the cheapest.

 

[atl27]

ditto... OSU is way too overrated. I did my undergrad there and declined their med school acceptance, and will be going to Wright State.

Surely you jest!! I'm sure Wright State is a fine school, but C'mon.

 

[phospho]

Surely you jest!! I'm sure Wright State is a fine school, but C'mon.

Nope, I kid you not. I interviewed at 13 schools, and it was the only school I could see myself at. I'm sick of the large classes, I'm sick of the buckeyes, I'm sick of being a social security number (but then again, that happens with all the big schools). There are so many other things that are extremely annoying, and are very applicable to their medical school.

Wright State had everything I was looking for. Very small class size, state of the art technology/classrooms/labs, and even though you hear this statement about every single school out there: WSU really did have the coolest students/faculty.

Don't get me wrong, I was extremely scared, and very reluctant to give up OSU for WSU. But, since I had gotten into better schools than OSU, I would technically be giving up those schools for OSU if I had chosen to attend (since I'd like to stay instate). On my interview day, I met 6 or 7 students who were accepted to places like Cincy, OSU, Indiana, and even Case who ended up choosing WSU (which made me feel not as crazy).

To each his own I guess. I'm interested in primary care by the way, so that sort of influenced my decision (though not as much as the other factors).

EDIT: Looking back at my post, I should be working for WSU's PR department