Long (Full tuition scholarship) vs Baylor (No scholarship, OOS)

[jrl123]

Just got off the waitlist today. Please help!!

Baylor College of Medicine
Pros
– Located in the Texas Medical Center (TMC)
– True Pass/Fail all four years
– NBME exams + two attempts for exams
– More prestigious institution overall
– More of a "dream school" for me
– Houston seems like an exciting city with a lot to do (though in fairness I’ve never been)
– Better support for research and potentially better for competitive specialties like ENT or ophthalmology


Cons
– ~$33k/year tuition (I'm OOS), no merit scholarship
– Total COA estimated at ~$237k, though I won’t need to take out the full amount thanks to my wife working

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Long School of Medicine (UT Health San Antonio)
Pros
– Full tuition scholarship (makes a massive difference)
– Lower cost of attendance overall (est. ~$125k, will likely be lower due to wife’s income)
– Possibly lower cost of living in San Antonio


Cons
– Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail grading system
– In-house exams rather than NBME
– Fewer research opportunities compared to Baylor

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I prefer Baylor in most ways, especially for the TMC, curriculum, and prestige, but Long is significantly cheaper. I haven’t been to either city, so Texas residents—please share your thoughts on the overall vibe and cost of living. This really comes down to whether Baylor is worth the extra debt. I feel like I would be happier and less stressed day to day at Baylor because of pass/fail.

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[TheRealBibFortuna]

Most people would suggest taking the cheaper option but I think pursuing a dream is worth the extra debt, especially since most of it seems to come from living expenses. If you deny yourself this opportunity, you may find yourself wondering "What if?" down the line. I will be attending my dream school, a school that costs twice as much as my cheapest option, for the same reason. Baylor will also afford you more opportunity to match into the desirable/lucrative specialties should you become interested in those.

 

[pdidd3]

Baylor

 

[cbum]

As someone who was accepted to both and ranked Baylor higher in the match bc of a scholarship to Baylor, there is not a huge difference in match outcomes between these schools. Both have great hospital systems and every residency program, I think the full-tuition would sway me to stick with Long unless you can convince Baylor to match the scholarship although they will likely respond saying “we do not match.” Long has a great community and especially if your wife works in San Antonio I don’t think Baylor is worth the extra >$120K for your situation. Good luck and you can’t go wrong with this choice but people telling you to blindly go to Baylor do not realize that there isn’t a big different between these programs anymore to justify taking out +$100K more loans for attendance.

 

[wysdoc]

You have at least 2 schools which have offered you full tuition scholarships- Please do yourself the financial favor of choosing one of them!

 

[hydroflaskhomie]

San Antonio. Not enough of a gap here to go from free to 237k.

 

[soapapple]

Check directly with @TheDeadrok and @snoreslax to get some insight

 

[Iron Man23]

I’d go to Baylor.

 

[LunaOri]

I would seriously consider in which city your wife would prefer to live, and in which city she would have better job opportunities. The next 4 years will be demanding on you, so please pick the school that will make your wife's next 4 years more comfortable.