Michigan vs. NYU+SO

[ydtiyupi]

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So right now I am in at U of Michigan, where I am a resident, and I am on the waitlist at NYU and Columbia. I am trying hard to get into an NYC school so that I can live with my SO (who I really see a future with). I also really enjoy living in NYC in general.
My dream school is Columbia, but while the Columbia waitlist often moves after May 15, I know that NYU likes to give the May 12-13 waitlist acceptance and that if things go well I might have just a few days to pick between it and UM.
I really liked UM's vibe, but I also really like Bellevue. Right now I am pretty sure that I would go with NYU mostly because of my SO even though it is more expensive and lower ranked. Most people say screw the rankings, but does NYU ranking 20 lower really not mean anything for quality of education, matching, etc? Is there any big reasons to not pick NYU that I haven't thought of?
I know these super-specific threads aren't always useful, but any insight would be appreciated. 🙂

 

[michigator04]

47,476 per year (tuition and fees) at NYU
vs.
28,000 at UM in-state

Is NYU worth $80,000 extra (not counting cost of living difference) to you?

 

[sunset823]

NYU is a great school and a lot of people have done great things out of there (off the top of my head, the head of global health for the Gates Foundation went to NYU Med, and did a stint at Genentech, I believe), but as the poster above said, considering the monetary difference between UMich (a truly top tier institution) and NYU, there should be a ring involved...

 

[aRnonymous]

NYU, Columbia, and UMich are all great schools. Personally, when you get to that level of schools I don't think the rankings matter much at all. Like the others have said, if you can see yourself proposing in the near future, definitely NYU. By the way, why is your SO specifically in NYC?

 

[VMSmith]

The difference in rank won't matter for matching. They're pretty much equally regarded in most parts of the country, with some geographical variation. If you want to do your residency in NYC, NYU might actually give you a slight advantage.

Long distance relationships + med school are generally not a good combination. It's doable - some of my classmates pulled it off but many more did not. If you go to U Mich, it is less likely that you two will be together down the road. It's possible, yes, but things will be harder.

At the same time, you need to consider whether you really are prepared to make the next step if you're choosing NYU over UMich primarily for your SO. If you feel like you would regret going to NYU if you two break up, it might not be the greatest idea to do so.

Then again, NYU as a fallback option is a pretty excellent fallback option. It's not like you'll be sacrificing your future, but the difference in tuition is pretty significant. Do you feel like the relationship is worth "risking" $100k over?

 

[WaterBird]

47,476 per year (tuition and fees) at NYU
vs.
28,000 at UM in-state

Is NYU worth $80,000 extra (not counting cost of living difference) to you?

Well, the OP will also have presumably some savings due to sharing a living situation with their SO (though maybe not since it's ann arbor v nyc), and definitely savings from the plane tickets they won't be buying. I would guess UM would still be cheaper, but it's good to take everything into account when throwing numbers around.

 

[ydtiyupi]

Thanks for the responses, you guys. My boyfriend is pretty rooted in NYC now cause he's in the finance industry. Haha, if I proposed to him it would go something like "hey wanna get married, btw you need to go buy my ring and I'm gonna need some help with this $100,000+ of debt coming up." He seems fine with the sharing money thing so far, but forever isn't cemented with a ring for us.
NYU's diverse, urban medicine setting is definitley a plus. I guess I'll have to see if I can get a financial aid package from them before I have to decide. And this is all IF I get off the waitlist anyway. Gah so much of this application process has been tons of speculation.

 

[aRnonymous]

Tell him that since you'll be making a $80,000k+ commitment, he should strongly think about making a commitment of his own, lol

 

[disorder]

UMich. cheaper.

unless there's a ring on your finger.