Leveraging 2 Scholarships: Please help!

[dhb10]

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Hi guys,

I really hope I don't come across as arrogant in this post because this is not at all my intention. I would appreciate any advice you can give me!

 

[BradyC]

School 2. End of story.

 

[dhb10]

Thanks.

 

[BradyC]

FYI, people are going to ask you to name the two schools. Really hard to provide more guidance. That said you should still take school 2. If you and this girl are meant to be it will happen.

 

[mik30102]

Haha, I wish it was that simple for me. But thanks for the honesty (and reality check).

Second school 2.

 

[DrOMG]

Stopped reading after full cost of attendance.... go to #2

 

[dhb10]

Yeah sure.

 

[mehc012]

OK, #1 you should absolutely ignore the girl factor. You're not even dating! I know it's hard, but you've got to be at least a little rational here.

You have to decide for yourself whether the location and intrinsic value of School #1 is worth 100 grand. That's a tough one.
If you decide it's not, you have absolutely nothing to lose by telling School #1 that hey, you really like them but are probably going to go another way due to finances.
Even if you decide it is worth the extra debt, you are risking very little by making a request of School #1. If they turn you down for extra money, they're not just going to rescind their acceptance or their current offer.

 

[youmed]

Man you guys are heartless haha i would say school #1 if this girl is your girlfriend. But being the case that she is not, it is rather hard to say school #1 with 100% confidence and school #2 seems like a more rational choice

 

[dhb10]

Thanks so much for the advice! Yeah you're right I have nothing to loose by asking them for more money. Do you know how I would go about doing that/saying that, that is appropriate?

 

[mehc012]

Man you guys are heartless haha i would say school #1 if this girl is your girlfriend. But being the case that she is not, it is rather hard to say school #1 with 100% confidence and school #2 seems like a more rational choice

I feel like a relationship would survive the long-distance thing before it survived "I am in $100k of debt for/because of you", but that's just me.

 

[dhb10]

Thanks.

 

[youmed]

Haha. Yeah she isn't. Its hard to explain your relationship with someone...I hate to sound like a cheese-ball on SDN but lets just say that she is probably the most amazing girl I have ever met. We hit it off by meeting one time randomly and have been in touch cross-country (east/west coast) for a year. We talked about dating before, but starting a relationship off long-distance for 4+ years is kind of nuts.

I also would love to be in LA. My dream is to work with Latino populations and get my advance-intermediate spanish skills to native fluency which seems to happen for students at Keck (because of the crazyyy Latino pop that the hospital serves). All of that still doesn't seem to logically justify the $$ though :/

I have a girlfriend of three years and I feel that she is the most amazing girl I will ever meet in my life. If I were in your shoes and I chose school #2 for financial reasons, she would be furious and the relationship would end there. Likewise, your girl will not be so happy about you choosing school #2 when you could have chosen school #1 and stayed near her.
Granted, my advice is probably less rational than what others would suggest but I just wanted to let you know from someone who is going through relationship+medical school route.

 

[dhb10]

Thanks.

 

[einsteinm]

NYU for free? Sign me up.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

How is this even a dilemma? Debt sucks and accumulates if you make poor choices...like attending a lower-ranked school that only gave you full tuition scholarship instead of full-COA scholarship like the undoubtedly higher-ranked school gave you. Go with NYU.

 

[Salt Salt]

When did you hear back about NYU? What time, I mean? Maybe consider posting it in the NYU thread too; I'm sure you'd be very popular for letting us know 🙂

 

[breakintheroof]

Hey @dhb10 this is the correct forum this time--well, close enough!

Is it just me or has USC been pitted against every school under the sun on these forums lately?

Anyway, I think it is very hard to make a rational argument for USC here. NYU is its equal in most ways, and financially it is superior. A romantic interest with whom you are not serious enough to have defined your relationship is closer to USC; it will be hard to convince us that this is information worth acting on.

The one thing that gives me pause is that you aren't crazy about New York. People in NYC and LA have extremely strong feelings about their cities and many could only ever imagine living in one or the other. If you are truly an LA person and not a New York person, maybe just maybe you could keep USC in the picture. Caveat though: I am worried that you could be rationalizing your desire to go to USC by saying you're lukewarm on New York. If you could see yourself tolerating New York for four years, I think you should go there.

But you aren't asking which one to go to, rather how to ask USC for more money. I have no experience in these matters (and none at all with USC) but the typical advice seems to be politely asking via email. Personally I think it would be most effective if you could frame it with how it would affect your decision. If you would choose NYU as things stand, but would prefer to go to USC if costs were equal, make sure that Los Angeles knows that. (Obviously don't say that if it ain't true.)

One final thing...what happened to UCSF, which you posted about before? Did you rule them out? You didn't get financial aid information from them yet, did you?

 

[meander]

You're young so I think this bears stating explicitly, especially because people are responding as though you are already dating this person: there is absolutely no way of knowing that someone is "the most amazing" person you've ever met, or even if someone would be a good girlfriend for you, based on meeting once and then chatting online.

 

[ridethecliche]

You should go to #2 purely because Socal has nothing on NYC and going to school there will show you why.

Yeah yeah, weather blah blah blah.

😛

How is this even a dilemma? Debt sucks and accumulates if you make poor choices...like attending a lower-ranked school that only gave you full tuition scholarship instead of full-COA scholarship like the undoubtedly higher-ranked school gave you. Go with NYU.

Dude. They're ranked like 10-15 spots apart. The rank is the least important part of this equation.

Hey @dhb10 this is the correct forum this time--well, close enough!

The one thing that gives me pause is that you aren't crazy about New York. People in NYC and LA have extremely strong feelings about their cities and many could only ever imagine living in one or the other. If you are truly an LA person and not a New York person, maybe just maybe you could keep USC in the picture. Caveat though: I am worried that you could be rationalizing your desire to go to USC by saying you're lukewarm on New York. If you could see yourself tolerating New York for four years, I think you should go there.

But you aren't asking which one to go to, rather how to ask USC for more money. I have no experience in these matters (and none at all with USC) but the typical advice seems to be politely asking via email. Personally I think it would be most effective if you could frame it with how it would affect your decision. If you would choose NYU as things stand, but would prefer to go to USC if costs were equal, make sure that Los Angeles knows that. (Obviously don't say that if it ain't true.)

I would add that most people I know that have strong negative feelings to NYC (myself included at one point of time) haven't spent much time there. The city hurts and is unrelenting/exhausting/overwhelming if you're passing through, but get to know it a bit and you realize that you can mellow and let things speed by you without too much care when you know how to.

Also, follow the advice above about asking USC for money if you're doing it for the right reason.

I'm also curious about UCSF since you've written about it before.

 

[mehc012]

I would add that most people I know that have strong negative feelings to NYC (myself included at one point of time) haven't spent much time there. The city hurts and is unrelenting/exhausting/overwhelming if you're passing through, but get to know it a bit and you realize that you can mellow and let things speed by you without too much care when you know how to.

That's funny...it's the opposite to my impression of the place. Visiting, you can just let it wash over you, take it in, and just...wander! It's incredibly fun to spend time in with zero itinerary. You end up finding yourself continually doing awesome things, without having to dig them out...fun things are just everywhere, pushing themselves in your way. The more I go there, though, the less I want to live there. Especially after walking through a place like Boston, which manages to offer the amenities of a city and yet feel less...oppressive/dingy.
Too bad MA is a tough nut to crack med school wise, though 🙁

 

[prdv]

SCHOOL #2, love is for chumps

 

[ridethecliche]

That's funny...it's the opposite to my impression of the place. Visiting, you can just let it wash over you, take it in, and just...wander! It's incredibly fun to spend time in with zero itinerary. You end up finding yourself continually doing awesome things, without having to dig them out...fun things are just everywhere, pushing themselves in your way. The more I go there, though, the less I want to live there. Especially after walking through a place like Boston, which manages to offer the amenities of a city and yet feel less...oppressive/dingy.
Too bad MA is a tough nut to crack med school wise, though 🙁

I love living in Boston. Love love love.

There's no comparison regarding things to do in NYC vs Boston though. NYC has a lot more to offer even if you're on a budget. The most expensive thing in NYC can be your rent if you want it to be. There are tons of free things in the city. I'm still hoping to end up for school there.

It's certainly not for everyone though.

 

[mehc012]

I love living in Boston. Love love love.

There's no comparison regarding things to do in NYC vs Boston though. NYC has a lot more to offer even if you're on a budget. The most expensive thing in NYC can be your rent if you want it to be. There are tons of free things in the city. I'm still hoping to end up for school there.

It's certainly not for everyone though.

I think I'd be happy living there for a few years...definitely worth doing at some point in your life! It's just not the place I gravitate towards, or where I see myself settling down thinking 'I probably will not move again, now that I am here'. MA is the place where, no matter where I end up, I always end up contemplating moving back to.
You're right, though, NYC is incredible in terms of stuff to do. As I said, I think it's somewhere I want to live at some point and it will always be a fun place to pop into!

OP, you can totally handle 4yrs in the city...and you'll probably enjoy it more than you think! I totally understand the desire to improve your Spanish (it's one of my goals as well), but there are tons of other opportunities to do that. Some of the docs I work with in CA picked it up in residency or even after taking their attending position! There are also some good travel/immersion schools out there, some specifically designed for med students on break or with medical shadowing built in to ensure that you are exposed to the vocabulary and context you need. Just things to keep in mind!

 

[dhb10]

Hey man! Thanks for all your help in the past few weeks!!

 

[dhb10]

Thanks a lot!

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah... NYC is probably one of the most diverse cities in the US. If you want to pick up a language it's a pretty damn good place for it!

Re: NYC outdoors, you'd need a car to make it easier, but the berkshires and stuff in NJ isn't too far away.
Boston and even socal definitely win for that though.

 

[mehc012]

Yeah... NYC is probably one of the most diverse cities in the US. If you want to pick up a language it's a pretty damn good place for it!

Re: NYC outdoors, you'd need a car to make it easier, but the berkshires and stuff in NJ isn't too far away.
Boston and even socal definitely win for that though.

You can also take the train/a bus somewhere cool, get a Zipcar, spend a day or so hiking or something. There are tons of colleges hidden in the boonies, so there tend to be shuttles and trains and whatnot to nice places, you just have to dig. Source: went to one of those colleges in the boonies, I transferred through NYC most of the time when I wanted to find dirt cheap transport from my family's home to my school.

 

[ridethecliche]

You can also take the train/a bus somewhere cool, get a Zipcar, spend a day or so hiking or something. There are tons of colleges hidden in the boonies, so there tend to be shuttles and trains and whatnot to nice places, you just have to dig. Source: went to one of those colleges in the boonies, I transferred through NYC most of the time when I wanted to find dirt cheap transport from my family's home to my school.

I've never lived in NYC, but I know a bunch of outdoorsy people that do. They definitely hang out in droves and escape the city every chance they get. It's honestly not a bad area for outdoorsy stuff, especially if you have a car and do your research like @mehc012 suggests.

 

[mehc012]

I've never lived in NYC, but I know a bunch of outdoorsy people that do. They definitely hang out in droves and escape the city every chance they get. It's honestly not a bad area for outdoorsy stuff, especially if you have a car and do your research like @mehc012 suggests.

I can't help him with the cold, though...that's pretty unchangeable (and I love the NE for it, yes I do!)

 

[cactus8910]

I have a girlfriend of three years and I feel that she is the most amazing girl I will ever meet in my life. If I were in your shoes and I chose school #2 for financial reasons, she would be furious and the relationship would end there. Likewise, your girl will not be so happy about you choosing school #2 when you could have chosen school #1 and stayed near her.
Granted, my advice is probably less rational than what others would suggest but I just wanted to let you know from someone who is going through relationship+medical school route.

The other side is if he chooses school #1 to be near the girl and then they don't work out, he'll be furious at himself for making a poor financial choice.

OP: Relationships can be very different in person. You may find that when sharing the same space, you're just not so compatible. I wouldn't give the girl much weight (if any) in your decision.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

School #2. Trust me, in the future you'll thank yourself for it. You're still young and a lot could change, so for the time being think about what's best for you and only you.

 

[KillaKitteh]

The other side is if he chooses school #1 to be near the girl and then they don't work out, he'll be furious at himself for making a poor financial choice.

OP: Relationships can be very different in person. You may find that when sharing the same space, you're just not so compatible. I wouldn't give the girl much weight (if any) in your decision.

A person who thinks that you need to go 100k+ in debt to make the relationship work for them does not have your best interests in mind. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

 

[ridethecliche]

Also, dude have you ever gone out in NYC?

I'm not tryna be rude, but DAMN SON!

 

[mehc012]

Also, dude have you ever gone out in NYC?

I'm not tryna be rude, but DAMN SON!

Yeah, that's what I said in NYC when I made the mistake of ordering a drink at the bar...

 

[dhb10]

Haha you guys are awesome.

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, that's what I said in NYC when I made the mistake of ordering a drink at the bar...

Depends on where ya go.

Pregame at cherry tavern then head in to death and co next door for a classy drink. Or vice-versa.

 

[BradyC]

Haha you guys are awesome. And good at making me feel dumb 😉

I've only been to NYC a couple of times. Maybe I need to give it another try.

I worked and lived in NYC for several years. I think you will be pleasantly surprised on how much you will enjoy it as a full time resident and not a tourist. Please don't turn down being debt free post medical school when you have such a fantastic opportunity hitting you in the face. That said if USC matches full COA, I'm indifferent on what you pick.

 

[mehc012]

Depends on where ya go.

Pregame at cherry tavern then head in to death and co next door for a classy drink. Or vice-versa.

Better yet, buy some booze and hang out on your couch with your friends and all of Netflix/Pandora/the internet at your disposal!

 

[dhb10]

Thanks man. Really appreciate your advice!