Justifying the cost of medical school

[Miggs]

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How can you justify paying 20k vs 50k+ for the same degree? Is prestige a significant factor in Primary Care? Is it worth going to a school with a better program for a specific specialty for more dough as opposed to going to the cheaper school?

 

[Geebeejay]

How can you justify paying 20k vs 50k+ for the same degree? Is prestige a significant factor in Primary Care? Is it worth going to a school with a better program for a specific specialty for more dough as opposed to going to the cheaper school?

I think the general consensus is that a lot of factors go into choosing a medical school. Cost of attendance is one of many of these factors.

 

[SOMBound13]

How can you justify paying 20k vs 50k+ for the same degree? Is prestige a significant factor in Primary Care? Is it worth going to a school with a better program for a specific specialty for more dough as opposed to going to the cheaper school?

there is no "prestige factor" for many specialties in regards to what undergrad or med school you went to.

My orthopedic surgeon went to average Florida state schools for undergrad and med school because that's what he could afford. He did his residency at Duke and a furher specialization at the Mayo Clinic. I doubt that anyone notices or cares that his undergrad and med school are lowish ranking publics.

 

[amad01]

How can you justify paying 20k vs 50k+ for the same degree? Is prestige a significant factor in Primary Care? Is it worth going to a school with a better program for a specific specialty for more dough as opposed to going to the cheaper school?

Where are these 20k degrees you speak of....

 

[wanderedtoolong]

Where are these 20k degrees you speak of....

yeah. . . most state schools are 30K+ at this point, and even if you have a great state school that takes a high % from in-state, there's no guarantee you'll get in. ..

Edit: I just saw that OP is a high school senior. Never mind.

 

[bdth]

Where are these 20k degrees you speak of....

he probably means per year

 

[Miggs]

he probably means per year

I do

 

[HughMyron]

Go to a med school and do average:
You get into a specialty like EM or GenSu, go through residency, and end up making 250K on average (and maybe a lot more). You pay off your ~500K debt (assuming no family help) and live an upper middle class life.

Go to a law school and do average:
Odds are good (better than half!) that you can't even get a job in law, so you're stuck with 250-300K in nondischargeable debt with a 50-60K income.

Go to a PhD program and do average:
You roam the country as a permanent postdoc, paid about as well as a schoolteacher.



I think I know where I'd rather be.

 

[SOMBound13]

Where are these 20k degrees you speak of....

If they're talking about "per year," then many state schools cost only about $20k per year for basic costs and there are many privates that cost about $50k for basic costs (tuition, room, board, books, fees). Adding in "personal expenses" and travel can jack up the prices.

. most state schools are 30K+ at this point

No. There are some state schools that cost about $30k per year, but there are far many more that don't. There are many state schools that have tuition that is under $10k per year.

 

[wanderedtoolong]

No. There are some state schools that cost about $30k per year, but there are far many more that don't. There are many state schools that have tuition that is under $10k per year.

I should have moved to Texas . ..

 

[SOMBound13]

I should have moved to Texas . ..

Texas isn't the only state with tuitions under $10k. In Calif, the entire CSU/Cal Poly system has tuitions under $10k.

Many state schools in the MidWest, SW, and SE have tuitions under $10k. The SUNYs are under $10k.

UNC-Chapel Hill has low instate tuition. It also has LOW instate tuition for its med school!

Illinois publics, the UCs, PSU, UPitt, UMich, and some NE schools have high instate rates. I'm not listing all.

 

[Medstart108]

Go to a med school and do average:
You get into a specialty like EM or GenSu, go through residency, and end up making 250K on average (and maybe a lot more). You pay off your ~500K debt (assuming no family help) and live an upper middle class life.

Go to a law school and do average:
Odds are good (better than half!) that you can't even get a job in law, so you're stuck with 250-300K in nondischargeable debt with a 50-60K income.

Go to a PhD program and do average:
You roam the country as a permanent postdoc, paid about as well as a schoolteacher.



I think I know where I'd rather be.

If you got into med school and did average with the same amount of effort you probably couldn't gotten into a better law or PhD school and do above average.

To the original poster, is a prestigious name worth 30k a year? Some will say yes while others will say no.

 

[Miggs]

there is no "prestige factor" for many specialties in regards to what undergrad or med school you went to.

so why pay a lot more for one school vs another? What advantages do you have at a more expensive school?

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Go to a med school and do average:
You get into a specialty like EM or GenSu, go through residency, and end up making 250K on average (and maybe a lot more). You pay off your ~500K debt (assuming no family help) and live an upper middle class life.

Go to a law school and do average:
Odds are good (better than half!) that you can't even get a job in law, so you're stuck with 250-300K in nondischargeable debt with a 50-60K income.

Go to a PhD program and do average:
You roam the country as a permanent postdoc, paid about as well as a schoolteacher.



I think I know where I'd rather be.

That's not a fair comparison. Med school is the bottleneck for medicine. Being an "average" med student means you're actually quite exceptional. Meanwhile in science grad school is relatively easy to get into but the bottleneck never actually ends; the farther you go, the harder it gets.

Law schools is sort of a cross between the two. As long as you go to a top 20 school there are good prospects for you. And honestly, if you're the kind of person who can make it into good med school, you're the kind of person who could have made it into a top 20 law school had that been your goal throughout college.

 

[YankeeLion16]

Texas isn't the only state with tuitions under $10k. In Calif, the entire CSU/Cal Poly system has tuitions under $10k.

Many state schools in the MidWest, SW, and SE have tuitions under $10k. The SUNYs are under $10k.

UNC-Chapel Hill has low instate tuition. It also has LOW instate tuition for its med school!

Illinois publics, the UCs, PSU, UPitt, UMich, and some NE schools have high instate rates. I'm not listing all.

SUNY COA is about 50k/yr.

 

[SOMBound13]

SUNY COA is about 50k/yr.

What do you mean? We're talking about instate TUITION costs for undergrad. SUNYs do not have an instate COA of $50k per year. It's probably about half of that.

What are you talking about? Are you talking about med school costs? or what?

 

[dsoz]

Go to a med school and do average:
You get into a specialty like EM or GenSu, go through residency, and end up making 250K on average (and maybe a lot more). You pay off your ~500K debt (assuming no family help) and live an upper middle class life.

Go to a law school and do average:
Odds are good (better than half!) that you can't even get a job in law, so you're stuck with 250-300K in nondischargeable debt with a 50-60K income.

Go to a PhD program and do average:
You roam the country as a permanent postdoc, paid about as well as a schoolteacher.



I think I know where I'd rather be.

I bet many post docs get paid worse than a public school teacher. My college advisor had his PhD and was a middle school teacher. He left after 10 years and taught at the college level WITH LESS PAY at the college. It did get him away from middle school students. Ha ha.

dsoz

 

[yehhhboiii]

Texas isn't the only state with tuitions under $10k. In Calif, the entire CSU/Cal Poly system has tuitions under $10k.

Many state schools in the MidWest, SW, and SE have tuitions under $10k. The SUNYs are under $10k.

UNC-Chapel Hill has low instate tuition. It also has LOW instate tuition for its med school!

Illinois publics, the UCs, PSU, UPitt, UMich, and some NE schools have high instate rates. I'm not listing all.

Are you sure you're a future med student? It sounds like you're from the past.

 

[mvenus929]

What do you mean? We're talking about instate TUITION costs for undergrad. SUNYs do not have an instate COA of $50k per year. It's probably about half of that.

What are you talking about? Are you talking about med school costs? or what?

Why are we talking about undergrad tuition in a pre-med forum? Presumably everyone has made their choice in undergrad already.

But if that's what the OP was talking about, then no, undergrad doesn't make much difference. You may get more attention if you went to Harvard vs. Podunk University, but once you're in med school, it doesn't really matter.

As for why I chose the more expensive medical school? Because it had a lot more of what I wanted... shorter classes (my attention span really can't handle 8 hours of lecture daily), more PBL style classes (see above), a shortened pre-clerkship curriculum/prolonged fourth year, the students seemed happier on interview day... not to mention, it's a more highly regarded program and I'm more likely to match into the program that I want for residency, because my school has actually sent people there in recent years. So, all that, and I'm willing to pay a slightly higher sticker price for my degree.

 

[Barcu]

As for why I chose the more expensive medical school? Because it had a lot more of what I wanted... shorter classes (my attention span really can't handle 8 hours of lecture daily), more PBL style classes (see above), a shortened pre-clerkship curriculum/prolonged fourth year, the students seemed happier on interview day... not to mention, it's a more highly regarded program and I'm more likely to match into the program that I want for residency, because my school has actually sent people there in recent years. So, all that, and I'm willing to pay a slightly higher sticker price for my degree.

These are all good reasons.

In terms of getting a good residency, it's mostly you as an applicant. Choose a place that has a location you want to be in, has a good curriculum, has less class time/PBL, etc. This may be a more expensive school. Cost is one factor of many.

And while it is mostly you as an applicant for residency, your school can play a role too (prestige, geographic location, connections of professors, ties to residency programs, etc). These aren't irrelevant, though they are hard to gauge when choosing schools.