OHSU or UM Boca??

[Kaya12]

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I pretty much had my heart set on OHSU (excellent program, amazing location) and was getting ready for a cross country move (I'm in Florida) until last week.

Last week, I got the Fin Aid letter from OHSU 😱 $70,000 in loans per year. ~$52,000 tuition for OOS and slated to increase. I knew this school would be expensive, but OH MY!

Fast forward to this Tues morn. I got a phone call from UM Boca campus offering me an acceptance!! Now I'm both thrilled and majorly confused! UM Boca tuition is ~$29,000, for a total COA of $53,000. Not quite as expensive, but not cheap either.

So heres the deal... I need advice! My father is in Florida, and is ill. Staying here would probably make the most sense in that regard, as well as financially. But I absolutely had my heart set on OHSU and Portland. What would you guys do?

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

I pretty much had my heart set on OHSU (excellent program, amazing location) and was getting ready for a cross country move (I'm in Florida) until last week.

Last week, I got the Fin Aid letter from OHSU 😱 $70,000 in loans per year. ~$52,000 tuition for OOS and slated to increase. I knew this school would be expensive, but OH MY!

Fast forward to this Tues morn. I got a phone call from UM Boca campus offering me an acceptance!! Now I'm both thrilled and majorly confused! UM Boca tuition is ~$29,000, for a total COA of $53,000. Not quite as expensive, but not cheap either.

So heres the deal... I need advice! My father is in Florida, and is ill. Staying here would probably make the most sense in that regard, as well as financially. But I absolutely had my heart set on OHSU and Portland. What would you guys do?

Depends onhow much you liked Boca campus. If I were you, I would stay closer to my Father unless I hated Boca. I think both schools are great and you'll be fine in either one. If you can let go of OHSU and be excited about Boca, it makes total sense.

(BTW, I'm going to Miami campus but was really interested in OHSU!)

 

[RGMass03]

I pretty much had my heart set on OHSU (excellent program, amazing location) and was getting ready for a cross country move (I'm in Florida) until last week.

Last week, I got the Fin Aid letter from OHSU 😱 $70,000 in loans per year. ~$52,000 tuition for OOS and slated to increase. I knew this school would be expensive, but OH MY!

Fast forward to this Tues morn. I got a phone call from UM Boca campus offering me an acceptance!! Now I'm both thrilled and majorly confused! UM Boca tuition is ~$29,000, for a total COA of $53,000. Not quite as expensive, but not cheap either.

So heres the deal... I need advice! My father is in Florida, and is ill. Staying here would probably make the most sense in that regard, as well as financially. But I absolutely had my heart set on OHSU and Portland. What would you guys do?

Dude...that is a tough situation you are in. If it were just between schools I would've said the extra 20k per year would be worth it to go to OHSU. But with your ill dad in the picture, I would probably lean toward staying close to him. Remember, you can always do your residency at OHSU. However with that said, its all about how you view this situation. Even if you do go to OHSU you'll still only be a day journey (flight-wise) away from Florida. It would be a lot more of a hassle than if you lived in Florida, but its totally do-able. Hope that helps!!

 

[kia ora]

I'd say your father is your most important consideration here. the poster above is correct that in Portland, you'd just be a day's travel away from him if you needed/wanted to see him. however, if you need to go back to FL for any length of time, it seems unlikely you'd be able to keep up with your classes. you certainly wouldn't be able to attend them. I'd suspect that missing even a week of med school would be hugely detrimental. if you're in school in Florida, you can allocate your time between school/dad issues as you are able (allocating your mental energy is a different matter...). Portland is fantastic, but you probably consider your dad more important than a chance to live in an awesome city (even though it it is home to some amazing bands, not to mention the world's greatest bookstore...). you only get one dad. it seems that med school, at its heart, gives you essentially the same education wherever you go. good luck with your decision and good thoughts to your dad.

 

[djyujin]

I don't know much about UM Boca, but med school is med school. I agree with the above posters, unless you have serious issues with UM Boca, stick by your dad.

However, if you've had this life long dream to attend OHSU/live in Portland, then maybe you can work something out and postpone med school one year to stick by your dad and take care of him? It might be hard to deal with an ill family member and med school at the same time. I hope everything works out! Best wishes.

 

[airplanes]

Dude...that is a tough situation you are in. If it were just between schools I would've said the extra 20k per year would be worth it to go to OHSU. But with your ill dad in the picture, I would probably lean toward staying close to him. Remember, you can always do your residency at OHSU. However with that said, its all about how you view this situation. Even if you do go to OHSU you'll still only be a day journey (flight-wise) away from Florida. It would be a lot more of a hassle than if you lived in Florida, but its totally do-able. Hope that helps!!

Considering you have a stake in where the OP decides to go, I'm very impressed with your fair and balanced advice. 👍

I saw in another SDN thread where some guy is actively telling people to choose the other school when these type of threads pop up involving UCLA (he desperately wants to get off the waitlist there).

I would agree with djyujin about deferring if possible, unless this is a very long term health problem. Even though Oregon is only a days travel from Florida, realistically, you wouldn't have the time or the money (presumably) to be going home very often. If UM Boca is also a great school and you can see yourself getting the type of education you want and becoming the type of physician you would like to be...then I say stay there. Good Luck with your decision, and I hope nothing but the best for the health of your father.

 

[djyujin]

Considering you have a stake in where the OP decides to go, I'm very impressed with your fair and balanced advice. 👍

I saw in another SDN thread where some guy is actively telling people to choose the other school when these type of threads pop up involving UCLA (he desperately wants to get off the waitlist there).

I would agree with djyujin about deferring if possible, unless this is a very long term health problem. Even though Oregon is only a days travel from Florida, realistically, you wouldn't have the time or the money (presumably) to be going home very often. If UM Boca is also a great school and you can see yourself getting the type of education you want and becoming the type of physician you would like to be...then I say stay there. Good Luck with your decision, and I hope nothing but the best for the health of your father.

Couldn't have said it better! +1 👍

 

[Kaya12]

Thank you all so much for the kind advice. Shows another reason I'm so drawn to Portland... good people!

Thanks guys, and I'll def let you know what happens. I'm leaning toward UM Boca currently because I do really like the school and my father is close by and in need of my company as he is battling cancer. But it breaks my heart to give up OHSU, its been my top choice all along. I just hope that if, in the end, I do give up the spot that it goes to someone most deserving, like RGMass 🙂

Keep ya posted...

 

[Fiko18]

I pretty much had my heart set on OHSU (excellent program, amazing location) and was getting ready for a cross country move (I'm in Florida) until last week.

Last week, I got the Fin Aid letter from OHSU 😱 $70,000 in loans per year. ~$52,000 tuition for OOS and slated to increase. I knew this school would be expensive, but OH MY!

Fast forward to this Tues morn. I got a phone call from UM Boca campus offering me an acceptance!! Now I'm both thrilled and majorly confused! UM Boca tuition is ~$29,000, for a total COA of $53,000. Not quite as expensive, but not cheap either.

So heres the deal... I need advice! My father is in Florida, and is ill. Staying here would probably make the most sense in that regard, as well as financially. But I absolutely had my heart set on OHSU and Portland. What would you guys do?

Congrats on the acceptance to UM Boca! That is awesome. I really think that you were offered the seat that I gave up. I withdrew (due to an acceptance to UCF) from UM on monday night and you got the call on tuesday morning. Go to OHSU.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Kaya12,

So sorry about your Father. My mother had cancer in her breast last year and suffered 2 strokes after her mastectomy... This sh!+ is hard. My mom has recovered very nicely, I hope your father can do the same.

 

[gujuDoc]

Kaya12,

Sorry to hear about your father. I agree with others that this is a tougher situation because of your ill father. I know in your situation due to family reasons I may have chosen Boca but if that consideration were not there then I'd choose OHSU cuz I've heard the school is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! And its pretty out there. But with family considerations I'd probably consider staying at home. but that is just what I would do in your shoes. i wish you luck either way.

 

[URHere]

Even if you do go to OHSU you'll still only be a day journey (flight-wise) away from Florida. It would be a lot more of a hassle than if you lived in Florida, but its totally do-able. Hope that helps!!

While this is technically true, I've tried to fly home a few times during first year to visit family on the east coast (sick grandfather, pregnant sister, etc), and it is one ROUGH flight. In general, you would have to take off 3 days just to spend one day with your father - after taking time zones, layovers, ticket price (cheap flights are less direct), and delays into account, you could end up with 12+ hours of travel each way.

While I'm not saying that you couldn't make things work if you decide to attend OHSU, I think you need to think about whether you would be alright with dealing with missed classes and travel hassles every time you want to make it home for a visit...or whether you would be alright taking half a day or more to get home in case things go downhill for your father. You must be very torn right now, and I am sorry that you have such a complicated choice to make. Good luck.