- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- Messages
- 422
- Reaction score
- 77
Hello!
So here's the deal. I'm absolutely thrilled and very grateful to have the options that I do. It's all still very surreal having come into this whole thing not expecting much. I understand that I'm in a very fortunate position, and can't thank SDN enough for helping me along the way.
That said, after receiving news of a full cost of attendance offer from NYU yesterday I am struggling to make a decision, and really would like any advice on the matter. I was pretty set on going and looking forward to going to Hopkins, but now am reconsidering.
About Me: Very interested in healthcare for the underserved, public and global health, community health, health systems/policy research, health disparities, interdisciplinary (antrhopology/sociology/economics) research on healthcare, etc. Hope to go into academics.
Here are some pros/cons:
Hopkins: Ideal. Costs aside, this is where I would like to be.
Pros:
NYU: Wow! Full cost of attendance scholarship. Great school in a great city with a great hospital.
Pros:
Finally, I also have University of Michigan on the table with a generous scholarship and need-based grant (~48k given per year total. ~90k more expensive than NYU), but had more or less ruled that out due primarily to little interest in living in Ann Arbor. Should I give this one more thought?
Thank you so much for reading through all of that and any and all advice is welcome!
So here's the deal. I'm absolutely thrilled and very grateful to have the options that I do. It's all still very surreal having come into this whole thing not expecting much. I understand that I'm in a very fortunate position, and can't thank SDN enough for helping me along the way.
That said, after receiving news of a full cost of attendance offer from NYU yesterday I am struggling to make a decision, and really would like any advice on the matter. I was pretty set on going and looking forward to going to Hopkins, but now am reconsidering.
About Me: Very interested in healthcare for the underserved, public and global health, community health, health systems/policy research, health disparities, interdisciplinary (antrhopology/sociology/economics) research on healthcare, etc. Hope to go into academics.
Here are some pros/cons:
Hopkins: Ideal. Costs aside, this is where I would like to be.
Pros:
- Outstanding research and opportunity to work with faculty doing exactly the type of work I'm interested in.
- Clinical training at #1 hospital.
- Huge connections in global health with international name recognition.
- Great vibe from current and prospective students during second-look weekend.
- Bloomberg School of Public Health: Interested in getting an MPH. Get essentially guaranteed admission with likely possibility of near to full tuition funding for MPH.
- Beautiful new facilities.
- Great curriculum.
- Enjoyed Baltimore. Great location for what I'm interested in and within striking distance of other great cities.
- More expensive.
- Granted $37,000 in need-based aid, leaving me with ~$150,000 in debt after 4 years. Generous need-based aid leaves a fairly manageable debt load, though. Potential MPH tuition funding would also help with debt if I do go that route.
- Perhaps I'm overestimating the value of opportunities?
NYU: Wow! Full cost of attendance scholarship. Great school in a great city with a great hospital.
Pros:
- Full cost of attendance scholarship. Lots of benefits of financial freedom after medical school. I am interested in primary care specialties, and would not have debt hanging over me and possibly influencing my specialty choice. Flexibility to pursue and potentially explore non-traditional (and less lucrative) paths (easier to do international work/community health, etc.) in medicine.
- New York City! Confident I would love living in New York. Definitely prefer a big-city environment. And the chance to do so without much financial constraints is awesome.
- Bellevue Hospital. Training at Bellevue would be phenomenal. Largely underserved, very diverse population.
- Great curriculum with protected research time.
- Possibly less availability of mentors/faculty working in areas I'm interested in.
- Got a weird vibe from students on interview day. Afraid I wouldn't fit with student culture here.
- Slight dip in "prestige" compared to Hopkins, though not sure how much that's even worth considering.
- Would possibly incur more MPH debt if I do go that route.
Finally, I also have University of Michigan on the table with a generous scholarship and need-based grant (~48k given per year total. ~90k more expensive than NYU), but had more or less ruled that out due primarily to little interest in living in Ann Arbor. Should I give this one more thought?
Thank you so much for reading through all of that and any and all advice is welcome!