Picking Between Schools

[SomeDayDoctor]

Hey All!

I figured this would be the place to ask for opinions as you all have experience. I was accepted to Iowa State and the University of Minnesota as a South Dakota resident. I did not get a SD and ISU contract so will be paying ~$42,000 a year at Iowa and ~31,000 a year at the U of M with reciprocity. I love Ames (ISU) and everything but the finances tells me to go to Ames. However, the ~$45,000 I could save by going to the U of M is hard to ignore. Any advice on which school to pick? I am interested in surgery, is one school better known for surgery? Help!

Thanks!

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[cuitlamiztli]

Congratulations on your acceptances! The cost difference is definitely important to think about and you'll probably get a lot of opinions on how much it should factor into your decision. Personally, I think cost should be a major consideration when choosing a school.

As far as surgery goes, I have no idea what it's like at Minnesota but ISU is well-known for our surgical training program. We start during second year with a principles of surgery course (first semester is lots of instrument names, suture patterns, practicing suturing, etc. while second semester delves more into learning about specific surgical techniques), then transition to a mandatory junior surgery lab during fall of third year. I can't go into specifics about the junior surgery lab online but I've learned and done so much since third year started! There's also a junior surgery elective in spring as well as opportunities like Feral Cat Alliance and Neuter-a-Tom Days (you can get involved with either prior to third year, but once you've gone through the mandatory lab you can volunteer to surgerize).

I do know that a ton of my OOS classmates chose ISU specifically because of the surgical training program, and in some cases turned down cheaper schools because of it.

I'd be happy to answer any other specific questions you have about Ames/ISU (or even just Iowa) during your decision-making quest, so feel free to ask them here or PM me

 

[Bill59]

However, the ~$45,000 I could save by going to the U of M is hard to ignore.

At 3.4% for 20 years, that's $62,000 or $258/month.

 

[SnowyRox]

Are you looking just at tuition or cost of attendance? It should be much cheaper to live in Ames than St. Paul.

I picked a significantly more expensive school (my IS ) over a less expensive school for a variety of factors, academic and non-academic, that were important to me. Cost should definitely be an important part of your decision, but it was not the deciding factor for me. Also, think about how you can live under the cost of attendance.

 

[SomeDayDoctor]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the great advice! It has been very helpful to me. At this point my fiance feel the most comfortable picking Ames, IA even though it is more expensive. I pray the price difference doesn't come back to bite me later, but if I'm going to invest in something it better be my education right?! Now the difficult part is convincing my parents that we're not making a big mistake. What a huge decision!

 

[SomeDayDoctor]

Oh and according to my research online, I found that over the 4 years I would save about $25,0000 to $30,000 living in Ames instead of St. Paul. Who knows how accurate the average rent amounts were but that is a big chunk of money!

 

[DarcyMarie]

Oh and according to my research online, I found that over the 4 years I would save about $25,0000 to $30,000 living in Ames instead of St. Paul. Who knows how accurate the average rent amounts were but that is a big chunk of money!

Hey SomeDayDoctor I'm stuck in pretty much the same situation you are, different schools though. I was just wondering if you've made your choice yet, and if so how? I am about to resort to a coin flip or one of those paper origami decision makers. . . now that I mention it, that's not such a bad idea. . .