Picked the more expensive option - and happy with it?

[daisy44]

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Like a lot of people, my final decision is probably going to come down to my cheap (but low-ranked) state school vs. an expensive, private school (top 20). I don't know about financial aid yet, but barring some kind of merit scholarship, which is unlikely, I'd probably be paying sticker price. Which means the private school would be about 80 grand more in the long run.

Here's the thing though - I LOVE that private school. It's been a dream school of mine for a long time, I love the location, it's close to family, etc. And though nothing is for sure, I think I would be extremely happy there for 4 years. However, everything I'm reading on this forum is telling me to do the "smart thing" and go for the cheaper option.

I just wanted to know if anyone out there picked the more expensive option for med school, and is pleased with their decision? Likewise, is there anyone who regrets that decision? It seems like the people who picked their state school are the most vocal about how happy they are with their choice - so I wanted to hear from people who sprung for private schools.

 

[randombetch]

Everyone has their own utility curves - only you can decide if it's worth it!

 

[RogueUnicorn]

oo... the makings of an interesting discussion....

 

[diosa428]

I picked the private school... but it wasn't $80k more expensive. To be honest, if it was, I probably would have gone here anyway. I don't regret my decision at all. It was my #1 after interviewing and I was positive if I got in I would go.

If it helps in making your decision, I recommend checking out a loan calculator:
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml
to see how much that $80k is going to cost you with interest, etc.

 

[JJMrK]

What schools are you talking about?

 

[daisy44]

MCG vs. Vanderbilt/Emory

(one of those schools is my absolute dream school, but I really love both)

 

[J ROD]

You cant buy happiness.....

only you can decide that extra debt is okay for you.

I spent 100K for a PharmD and lost opportunity costs as a MD sooner (alot more lol)...but I wanted it!!

You have to set out your own plan and make it work for you. This is your education....make it what you want!!

 

[bannie22]

Like a lot of people, my final decision is probably going to come down to my cheap (but low-ranked) state school vs. an expensive, private school (top 20). I don't know about financial aid yet, but barring some kind of merit scholarship, which is unlikely, I'd probably be paying sticker price. Which means the private school would be about 80 grand more in the long run.

Here's the thing though - I LOVE that private school. It's been a dream school of mine for a long time, I love the location, it's close to family, etc. And though nothing is for sure, I think I would be extremely happy there for 4 years. However, everything I'm reading on this forum is telling me to do the "smart thing" and go for the cheaper option.

I just wanted to know if anyone out there picked the more expensive option for med school, and is pleased with their decision? Likewise, is there anyone who regrets that decision? It seems like the people who picked their state school are the most vocal about how happy they are with their choice - so I wanted to hear from people who sprung for private schools.

The smart thing is to go for what you really love. If you really love the private school. Promise yourself you will work hard to repay those loans. And promise yourself you will have fun those 4 years.

 

[medjohnny]

mine are about 30k / year apart 😱 i feel your pain. as much as i really really love the more expensive school - i think it would be very mentally and emotionally draining thinking about that kind of extra debt. not sure which i'll choose yet..

 

[J ROD]

MCG vs. Vanderbilt/Emory

(one of those schools is my absolute dream school, but I really love both)

Emory and Vanderbilt are both well known for their greatness!! 😎

 

[JJThomson]

MCG vs. Vanderbilt/Emory

(one of those schools is my absolute dream school, but I really love both)

I work at a hospital and one of the anesthesia docs I work with was just telling me how he wished he had gone to MCG instead of Emory. The reason being that it would have been cheaper and he was convinced that ultimately he would have ended up in the same place professionally as he is now.

You might want to get feedback from people who are in the process of paying back their loans or finished paying back their loans to see if the more prestigious option is really better.

 

[ksmi117]

I feel you, daisy. I'm looking at a 45K/year difference between my cheapest and my favorite. It's a terribly hard decision, but I'm not gonna decide on anything til I hear about financial aid from schools. Who knows? Maybe you'll get some money from your top choices.

 

[J ROD]

I work at a hospital and one of the anesthesia docs I work with was just telling me how he wished he had gone to MCG instead of Emory. The reason being that it would have been cheaper and he was convinced that ultimately he would have ended up in the same place professionally as he is now.

You might want to get feedback from people who are in the process of paying back their loans or finished paying back their loans to see if the more prestigious option is really better.

This is true! The place you do residency is more important than where you went to med school.

 

[daisy44]

Yeah, but...do you ever feel like you worked so hard to get into that top school, and you're so proud of that accomplishment, that it all would seem like a waste if you gave up that acceptance?

That's what I'm feeling right now. Nice to have some other people to commiserate with 😳

 

[ksmi117]

Yeah, but...do you ever feel like you worked so hard to get into that top school, and you're so proud of that accomplishment, that it all would seem like a waste if you gave up that acceptance?

That's what I'm feeling right now. Nice to have some other people to commiserate with 😳

Definitely. And on top of my pride, I absolutely loved the school. Way more than others. Seems so messed up not to go since they let me in. I hate that I have to make this decision, but it's definitely a blessing to have a choice like this to make.

 

[diosa428]

This is true! The place you do residency is more important than where you went to med school.

But if you don't get the residency that you want, are you going to wonder if it was because of your school? I definitely know of applicants on the interview trail right now who wish they had gone somewhere more prestigious because they're not getting the interviews they want. Whether or not that has anything to do with their school has been argued many times on these forums, and there's no decisive answer to that question, but if you think that you're the type that would have regrets like this, that's also something worth taking into consideration.

 

[Tatastrophy]

OP:
I guess I could have been in your position before I actually visited MCG. I really really really wanted to like it and feel like I belong there. I go into every interview with the intention of finding out clues about whether this is a place I see myself be happy for four years.
MCG is a great school for the money but it left me feeling completely alien. Mega sucks! It actually felt the least like the right fit of all my schools-I could see it be like middle school (it really sucked for me) all over again.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if you liked MCG-then give it a fair shake, their facilities are great and there are plenty of amazing physicians that come out of Augusta. If you feel like I did, I think spending that extra 80k to be somewhere where you fit may be less painful than saving it somewhere where you are bound to lose piece of yourself.

Wow sounds meladramatic but who wants to be always studying, in enormous debt (anyway) AND unhappy?

 

[psipsina]

I made this same choice but I chose the cheaper state school, 3 years later I'm happy with my choice, very very happy. The private school was more than 2x the cost, the city was the same and the differences were there but minor. For the most part I've been too busy to stop and think about those few things that I liked more about the private school. If there had been huge differences (location/closer to family or PBL/vs Lecture) I might have made a different choice but for me the minor differences weren't worth $160k over 4 years. As yourself how much the differences between the schools are worth to you. If you think being near your family will make a big difference it may be worth it for you.

 

[J ROD]

But if you don't get the residency that you want, are you going to wonder if it was because of your school? I definitely know of applicants on the interview trail right now who wish they had gone somewhere more prestigious because they're not getting the interviews they want. Whether or not that has anything to do with their school has been argued many times on these forums, and there's no decisive answer to that question, but if you think that you're the type that would have regrets like this, that's also something worth taking into consideration.

Get the board scores and grades, etc...it will not matter.

Prestige is down on the list....and the money you saved could be worth it!!

Med school is not like law school, yet! Where where you go matters alot more...

 

[diosa428]

Get the board scores and grades, etc...it will not matter.

Prestige is down on the list....and the money you saved could be worth it!!

Med school is not like law school, yet! Where where you go matters alot more...

When you get to medical school, you may find that getting the board scores and the grades is not as easy as you make it out to be, and having prestige may be something you need to get an edge in the application process.

Seriously, I can't count how many times I see premeds saying "just ace your boards and you'll be fine". The boards are significantly harder than your MCAT, so if you didn't "just ace the MCAT", then you're probably not going to "just ace your boards".

Further, grades DO matter, which brings us to another point - how grading is done at each school would be something worth considering when choosing which school to go to.

 

[UAAWolf]

If it's that much cheaper, I would go there hands down unless you absolutely can't stand the place.


For Law School it matters where you went etc...not so much for med school.

Any US MD program has everything you need granted you work your tail off every single day. You are in no way giving up your pride if you pick the cheaper school...and anyone who says otherwise is being ridiculous.

In the end- do what will make you happiest. If the extra debt if worth Vandy, go for it. I'm sure anyone who could make it into Vandy in the first place will have an awesome med career anyways 🙂 GL

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Don't forget that there are other things to consider in this than just prestige.

For me - MCG was the one place where when I got to the town I almost turned right around and drove back where I came from. I would much rather be in a real city like ATL or Nashville than a small town like Augusta.

 

[mvenus929]

My state school is currently my dream school, because I'm familiar with the area and it's a really highly ranked program with a lot going for it. I haven't been accepted (yet....), and I've been accepted at two other state schools as an OOS student.

One of those schools would grant me in-state tuition after the first year, and has more funding than my own state school (which is notoriously bad for higher education funding). So, if I went to that school, it'd probably be cheaper for me in the long run. But... I would be absolutely miserable there. Everything I like about my state school is everything that I don't like about this other state school. Everything from the grading system to the general happiness of the class.

So, I'd take the more expensive option hands-down. If you're not going to be happy at one place, but will be at the other, it might be worth 80K to you. It all depends on what your priorities are.

 

[shiftingmirage]

Not for med school but for UG, I got a scholarship for ~1/2 tuition at one school, but I only applied there as a back up. I ended up going to another school that was 8k more a year, and in a place with a higher cost of living. It was absolutely the right decision.

 

[red10]

I actually asked my doctors and doctors I know why they chose the school they did (Many of them went to an IL school and there are 7 schools in IL). All of them told me that pretty much all med schools are going to give you the same quality education so it came down to location and money for them.
One doc went to Vandy for undergrad, got in to Northwestern and U of Chicago even though he only applied so that he could say he got in, and then went to UIC because it saved him a ton of money and he didn't feel the other 2 would have given him anything that much better.

A lot of people on SDN preach to high heaven about how a top ranked school is going to get you so much further blah blah blah, but honestly, unless you're trying to be a hyper super achiever, it isn't going to matter that much and it isn't necessarily going to make you a better doctor or person.

Pick which ever school you think will keep you from (frequently) saying "What if I had gone to X..." 20 years from now.

If your schools have a second look day, maybe that will help you decide too. Figure out where you click, where you feel at home, where you feel supported, etc

 

[chiz2kul]

I work at a hospital and one of the anesthesia docs I work with was just telling me how he wished he had gone to MCG instead of Emory. The reason being that it would have been cheaper and he was convinced that ultimately he would have ended up in the same place professionally as he is now.

You might want to get feedback from people who are in the process of paying back their loans or finished paying back their loans to see if the more prestigious option is really better.

Excellent advice. I would be wary of listening to pre-meds that havent gone through the process of paying back med school loans. My advice: Save money. Location and being close to family is awesome..but really in med school, you'll spend so much time studying, that many things that you consider important now will slowly become insignificant.
Med school is just 4 years. And in reality, YOU are responsible for ur own 'happiness'..

When you get to medical school, you may find that getting the board scores and the grades is not as easy as you make it out to be, and having prestige may be something you need to get an edge in the application process.

Seriously, I can't count how many times I see premeds saying "just ace your boards and you'll be fine". The boards are significantly harder than your MCAT, so if you didn't "just ace the MCAT", then you're probably not going to "just ace your boards".

Further, grades DO matter, which brings us to another point - how grading is done at each school would be something worth considering when choosing which school to go to.

Funny but I hear the exact opposite. Grades dont really matter, boards and 3rd yr really matter.
And by 'prestige' what do you mean exactly?

 

[diosa428]

Excellent advice. I would be wary of listening to pre-meds that havent gone through the process of paying back med school loans. My advice: Save money. Location and being close to family is awesome..but really in med school, you'll spend so much time studying, that many things that you consider important now will slowly become insignificant.
Med school is just 4 years. And in reality, YOU are responsible for ur own 'happiness'..



Funny but I hear the exact opposite. Grades dont really matter, boards and 3rd yr really matter.
And by 'prestige' what do you mean exactly?

When people say third year matters, what do you think they're talking about? They're talking about your grades. Sure, your letters matter too, but unless you're totally deficient at life, you should be able to find someone who can write something nice about you. Most residency programs prefer to see honors in the rotation of the specialty that you're applying for, and many also want to see honors in internal medicine and/or surgery. If you go to a school that gives only a certain number of students honors, then you're a lot less likely to get honors. If you're going somewhere where there is no cap on the number of honors given per rotation, you have a better shot. In addition, first and second year grades are important when AOA is being determined, and AOA is certainly helpful in the application process.

By prestige, I meant a well-known school name (top 10). Although a letter or a phone call from a well-known researcher could also be considered "prestigious" and could definitely help an application.

 

[shiftingmirage]

By prestige, I meant a well-known school name (top 10). Although a letter or a phone call from a well-known researcher could also be considered "prestigious" and could definitely help an application.

I would think prestige would matter less in med school considering there are so few. There are 126 or so MD schools, and my guess is that if you're a residency program director, you have some knowledge of all of them, especially those in your geographic area. In terms of UG, there are so many, lots of which I have never heard of. Yes, people know the name Harvard, but they also know the name Michigan State, USC, etc. But then there are other universities that a lot of people have never heard of. Bob Jones University. Biola University. When I heard of these schools, I was like huh? (No offense to individuals attending the schools, I had just never heard of them before). If two people came for a job with same stats, I'd take the person from the school I've heard about. In the med community, most people have heard of all the schools, and probably know a guy that went to the program. So I think prestige is less important in med school than UG.

 

[SteinUmStein]

I definitely agree with a lot of this - one tricky thing I'm trying to keep in mind as I'm making my decision is that the advice "Do what makes you happy" is not as simple as it sounds. Here's why: the factors you think of as important in a school right now probably will have very little effect on your happiness 4 or 10 or 25 years down the road. Your attitude and personality have a lot more to do with determining your happiness than the prestige of the school you attend.

If you are the kind of person who will regret attending a less-prestigious school down the road, then by all means go to the prestigious school, but keep in mind that the school itself has nothing to do with your happiness, it's you making yourself unhappy by constantly second-guessing your decisions.

Cliffs notes version: Do what makes you happy, but realize that it is YOU who decides what ultimately makes you happy. Hope that makes sense. 😛

 

[diosa428]

I would think prestige would matter less in med school considering there are so few. There are 126 or so MD schools, and my guess is that if you're a residency program director, you have some knowledge of all of them, especially those in your geographic area. In terms of UG, there are so many, lots of which I have never heard of. Yes, people know the name Harvard, but they also know the name Michigan State, USC, etc. But then there are other universities that a lot of people have never heard of. Bob Jones University. Biola University. When I heard of these schools, I was like huh? (No offense to individuals attending the schools, I had just never heard of them before). If two people came for a job with same stats, I'd take the person from the school I've heard about. In the med community, most people have heard of all the schools, and probably know a guy that went to the program. So I think prestige is less important in med school than UG.

I'm really not saying it matters a lot, but when it comes down to it, assuming you would perform equally well at a top school and your state school, having a prestigious name may give your application more of an edge. Is that edge worth $100k? Probably not. Is it worth your happiness? No, unless your happiness is directly related to your ego, which is fed by the name recognition of your school. But all things equal, name might help, and it's something you can control. Great grades and board scores are by no means a guarantee until you have the transcript in your hand.

Also, sure residency program directors recognize the names of all the med schools. That doesn't mean one isn't considered more or less prestigious than another. Harvard is going to be Harvard regardless of whether or not you've heard of the other 125 schools. Also, program directors sometimes base decisions of school quality on previous residents in their program who went to your school. So if they've had 10 residents from school X and 1 resident from school Y, then they're going to have more of an opinion about how students from school X perform in residency, regardless of school name.

 

[dienekes88]

Like a lot of people, my final decision is probably going to come down to my cheap (but low-ranked) state school vs. an expensive, private school (top 20). I don't know about financial aid yet, but barring some kind of merit scholarship, which is unlikely, I'd probably be paying sticker price. Which means the private school would be about 80 grand more in the long run.

Here's the thing though - I LOVE that private school. It's been a dream school of mine for a long time, I love the location, it's close to family, etc. And though nothing is for sure, I think I would be extremely happy there for 4 years. However, everything I'm reading on this forum is telling me to do the "smart thing" and go for the cheaper option.

I just wanted to know if anyone out there picked the more expensive option for med school, and is pleased with their decision? Likewise, is there anyone who regrets that decision? It seems like the people who picked their state school are the most vocal about how happy they are with their choice - so I wanted to hear from people who sprung for private schools.

This make shock some people, but sometimes the more expensive school just fits better, and you should go with what fits. Sometimes that's the more expensive school. There's no point in going to school that you end up hating... just to save some money, because this road is pretty tough no matter what you do. You might as well be in an environment you like.

I went with the expensive private school over my state school. It's more debt, but the private school was a much better fit.

 

[ButImLETired]

1) I think talking to an overworked young doctor in the middle of paying his loans will give you just as biased a perspective as talking to an undergrad who doesn't know what paying loans means. Talk to an attending who has paid them all off already. That's the most unbiased view you'll get.
For what it's worth, I did talk to attendings who finished paying off their loans, and they all kind of shrugged and told me they didn't think it was that big a deal. Yeah, it's no fun to take a bunch of money of your paycheck every month, but they felt it had been a worthy investment for having enjoyed their time in med school.

2) I moved to another state to change residency, that's how much I hated my state med school. I would have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more to avoid it. Stupid? Maybe. But I went to a private undergrad (which cost about 20 grand more per year than my state school) and spent the past 2 years making a dent in my college loans, and even on my angriest, brokest day I would have told you it was worth it. I wouldn't give my college experience up for any amount of money. Unfortunately, by virtue of the fact that we can't live two lives, I can't tell you if I would have ended up being just as happy at my state school. All I can say is that I feel it was a worthy investment.

3) All state schools are definitely not created equal. If I had to choose between UCSF and Stanford, I'd choose UCSF any day of the week. But if I had to choose between, say, SUNY buffalo and mount sinai, I'd choose sinai. No offense whatsoever to SUNY buffalo-ites, I really dont know too much about the school, but I'd personally make that decision.

4) I agree completely with what Diosa said (although I am sad that my school is not in the magical "top 10"...). Talk to any 4th year from a "prestigious" school and he'll tell you how much credit they get for coming from that school. Fair or unfair, it doesn't really matter. To think that prestige is irrelevant is close-minded. Sure, if you want to become a GP it doesn't really matter. But you don't know for sure what you want to be, and you might need every leg up you can get.

5) Saying that "you'll work really hard" and be in the top 10% of your class and ace the boards is actually really hilarious. It's not like undergrad where the difference between the top 10% of the class and the bottom half is who wants it more. EVERYONE works "really really hard". Everyone is working hard enough to get an A. But half the class of these total overachievers WILL be the bottom half. When the class average on every exam is a 92, you have zero room for error. You can get an 88 and be in the bottom half of the class because you got a couple more questions wrong than the other guy. And when you're taking step 1, you're competing against the best of the best. Assuring yourself that you want it bad enough isn't going to suffice.

OP, only you know what matters more to you. Ultimately you want to go to the place where you'll be most likely to succeed. Only you can know whether that's the place where you're worrying the least about debt, or the place closest to the family, or the place that's in the most fun city. Incidentally, Vanderbilt gave some scholarship amount to every single student in the class last year, so I wouldn't write us off because of cost yet.

 

[FluffyRabbit]

Like a lot of people, my final decision is probably going to come down to my cheap (but low-ranked) state school vs. an expensive, private school (top 20). I don't know about financial aid yet, but barring some kind of merit scholarship, which is unlikely, I'd probably be paying sticker price. Which means the private school would be about 80 grand more in the long run.

Here's the thing though - I LOVE that private school. It's been a dream school of mine for a long time, I love the location, it's close to family, etc. And though nothing is for sure, I think I would be extremely happy there for 4 years. However, everything I'm reading on this forum is telling me to do the "smart thing" and go for the cheaper option.

Perhaps I am an idealistic premed, but you live only once, and 4 years of your life is a long time. I do think it's kind of silly to pay a lot more just for prestige (unless you know you're going to need whatever little edge it gives), but if you do see yourself being much happier at the private school, I say go for it. Med school is hard enough without being unhappy and wishing you were somewhere else all the time.

I just wanted to know if anyone out there picked the more expensive option for med school, and is pleased with their decision? Likewise, is there anyone who regrets that decision? It seems like the people who picked their state school are the most vocal about how happy they are with their choice - so I wanted to hear from people who sprung for private schools.

I would be pretty happy with my state schools. 🙂

 

[Parts Unknown]

1) I think talking to an overworked young doctor in the middle of paying his loans will give you just as biased a perspective as talking to an undergrad who doesn't know what paying loans means.

Perhaps, but you spend a lot longer paying those suckers off than you do accruing them. I mean, you can get hammered drunk in a couple of hours, but the hangover can last til Tuesday.

Just wait until the financial aid packages come in, then decide.

 

[SteinUmStein]

Perhaps, but you spend a lot longer paying those suckers off than you do accruing them. I mean, you can get hammered drunk in a couple of hours, but the hangover can last til Tuesday.

Just wait until the financial aid packages come in, then decide.

Awesome analogy. Med school is basically getting hammered drunk and regretting it later. 👍

 

[Parts Unknown]

Awesome analogy. Med school is basically getting hammered drunk and regretting it later. 👍

No, living on someone else's dime is getting hammered drunk. Getting your quarterly loan balance and interest statements is vomiting. Setting up automatic payments and looking at the amortization schedule is lying on the couch all day watching Nickelodeon.