Please Help: BU, UMass, Dartmouth, Hofstra

[BOAO523]

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Hi All. I honestly have no idea what I should do.
I will make my decision based on proximity to home, 'prestige', and financial concerns (TBH as weighted based on advice from the few friends I have in medicine and the feedback you guys give me!). I sort of feel like everything else is gravy and I can see myself at any of these schools. No SO or anything but very close to my family.

BU:
1 hour from home
Graduate with apprx 170K debt
Pros: Location and pt population. Cons: Expensive COL

UMass:
1 hour from home
Graduate with apprx 120K debt
Pros: Location and school atmosphere, low COL. Cons: Primary Care-Centered

Dartmouth:
4 hours from home
Financial Aid TBD
Pros: Great reputation. Cons: Rural location

Hofstra:
4 hours from home
Graduate with apprx 90k debt
Pros: curriculum/school atmosphere. Cons: location, still building reputation.

Some general questions I have:
Are there any significant differences in "prestige" among the options? (Potentially looking at competitive specialties and don't want to put myself at disadvantage)
Is cost of Hofstra too low to pass up or will the monetary difference not matter when considering expected earnings over multiple years?
Is Dartmouth name too strong to pass up or is it in same tier as others?
If I opt to stay nearby (no Hofstra, No Dartmouth), is BU worth ~50k more than UMass?

Again, ALL OPINIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[dnalwoh]

I can't speak to some of your questions, but I think I'd dare to say that BU is worth the money over UMass. Being close to family is a huge pro, and it seems like you prefer it over the other schools. BU is well respected, and while Dartmouth has name recognition, imo going to BU would certainly not hold you back.

 

[mmcgoldr]

Congrats on all of your impressive acceptances! I don't know very much about these schools, but I would likely go with BU. The debt is definitely daunting, it's still less than the national average, and most doctors aren't in financial distress, so I think it's more of a personal decision as to whether school preference or personal debt is more important to you and your happiness/wellbeing. I would say that BU is worth the extra money compared to UMass. The latter is good, of course, but the former has a great reputation, from my perspective. In terms of prestige, Dartmouth does have the ivy league name, but that's really not too important - I'm not the best person to gauge prestige, but I think that BU probably has a better reputation than Dartmouth within medicine. Plus, Boston and proximity to home, in addition to being at a great school, are big pluses.

Just my 2 cents! Good luck and thanks for your response on my post as well!

 

[puahate]

Dartmouth if it has a comparable cost to the other schools.