Public or private?

[Keyser Soze]

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I was wondering if y'all could post your opinions about this topic...one that I'm sure many of us will have to deal with sooner or later.

My situation is the following. Some weeks ago, I was accepted by my state medical school. This school is a top 50 program, and has a very strong reputation, escpecially in the region. However, I've also been accepted to NYU recently...and I know the choice between the two is going to be a difficult one.

First of all, there is the usual large difference in cost. Furthermore, there is a strong push by the state school to graduate as many students into primary care as possible. While these primary care students match into some of the most coveted PC residencies in the nation, their record for matching into specialty residencies is not quite on the same playing field as NYU.

Given that I may well wish to pursue a specialty, does that justify the extra $25-30,000 per year to give myself that always difficult to define term, "competitive edge?" Any opinions? I know that I alone must eventually answer the public vs. private question. It would be interesting to read others' thoughts on the subject, though!

In the end, I suppose it's a win-win proposition given that I liked both schools so much. Yet, I can say that if cost were not a factor in this process, I'd definitely be attending NYU next fall.

Good luck to everyone out there and Happy Holidays!

 

[VAD]

Keyser,

My question to you is how highly ranked is your state school? NYU is currently ranked #27 (32 by residency directors) according to USNews.com. How does that compare with your state school? Have you seen its match list for the last few years? How many students match into the area of specialty that you're considering? Are you planning to stay in the region to practice, or would you eventually like to relocate, perhaps to NYC or some larger city? I think these are things to take a look at if you haven't already when making your decision. IMHO, NYU isn't high enough in the rankings to justify the additional expense unless your state school is on the low end of the top 50 and/or doesn't have a strong and consistent track record in placing a CONSIDERABLE portion of students in specialty-oriented residencies. However, if you were talking about a top 10 or top 20, I think my opinion would be different. This is just my $.02, but congratulations anyway on your acceptances!

VAD

 

[Keyser Soze]

Indeed, my state school is near the bottom of the top 50 list. The ranking is not what really concerns me, though. What concerns me is, of the 30-40% of students each year that match into specialties from my state school, those students do not generally match at the same level as the NYU specialty-seekers.

As I said before, I would immediately attend NYU if cost were not an issue at all. But if I'm going to decide one way or another here...I think the main question I must answer is if the cost is either prohibitive or justified given the respective match strengths of the two schools.

Who knows?

Thanks for the reply, VAD!

 

[kimberlicox]

Hi...

I agree with VAD - its unlikely that there will be a significant difference in your ability to match dependent on your school. Sure, PDs do look at your school to some extent, but I'm willing to bet on a few things:

-the admission standards at NYU are a bit tougher than your state school so the "average" student there tends to have a higher GPA and MCAT
-while we all know that standardized tests are not much measure of a physician, there is a correlation between high GPA and MCAT and high USMLE and med school grades
-thus, I would suggest that perhaps one of the reasons NYU students score "better" specialty residencies is that their overall USMLE scores might be higher. Just a guess on my part.
-having letters in your file from well known specialists in your intended field will help, but you can get those during away electives during your 4th year.
-is the difference in specialty matching statistically significant between your state school and NYU as a function of the school name alone? I'll bet not.

So if I were to make the decision and it came down to the financial issues, I'd side with your state school as it sounds as if it offers a good education for the price. It IS hard to study at a school with a primary care mission when your aspirations lie elsewhere (if I heard "when you become a FP" once more during my course I was gonna commit something illegal in at least 48 states). All lifestyle issues aside (ie, where you want to practice, love of NYC vs "home state") if we're talking $25-30K per year thats a BIG difference which might not make up for the *slight* preference which NYU students have in matching. At least during my interviews for Plastics and Gen Surg, I've been told it all comes down to USMLE, letters and grades, honors, etc. Everyone has said the school I attended didn't even factor into the decision whether or not to offer me an interview (which is the first step to matching).

Besides, you could change your mind after all that exposure to primary care!

 

[Hercules]

I am hoping to be in your situation. I gave these issues a lot of thought when I was applying to schools. That is why I applied to so few (5, and I only decided to fill out 4 secondaries). I have a state school that ranks right around 25 every year. In-state tuition is peanuts (relatively speaking, 10K). I felt confident in getting accepted there, so I decided that in order for the extra cost to be worth it, the other schools would have to be right around the top 5. I mean the jump from 25 to 20 isn't worth an extra 30-35K/yr, at least not in my opinion. So I applied to my state school, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Hopkins, WashU, and Duke. I put Stanford on my AMCAS, but I decided not to return the secondary after I got it. So far I've been accepted to UAB, Hopkins has yet to reply, WashU interviewed me on 11/9, and Duke has rejected w/o an interview. I'm really hoping to land an acceptance from WashU. If I was accepted there, I would feel the extra cost would be justifiable. If I'm not accepted, then I'll just go to my state school. That's just my situation and my thoughts. Hope it helps.


------------------
Hercules

But there is also a time for sleeping.
-Odysseus in the Odyssey 11.330-331

 

[FourthTime]

What a good situation to be in. My advice is see if you can squeeze any money out of either school. If you already have multiple acceptances, try calling each one and telling them that. Say you'd like to go to their school and can they throw some tuition money at you. You never know until you try. Sounds like this could help your situation. Besides, you've already got the acceptances, what can you lose?? Good luck!

 

[KeithKow]

Hey keyser,
i am in a similar situation, and i even think its with the same state school. if it is, then does it happen to be in worcester? i'm in at UMass as well as Georgetown...my top two choices. UMass is incredibly cheap, but it is a big PC school that likes to keep people in mass, and i want to specialize and don't necessarily want to stay in massachusetts (i love mass..but who knows what will happen in the future?) i don't know what to do. i'm leaning towards UMAss right now, but Georgetown might have a little bit better residency matching and i would really love to be in DC. who knows, its a good but stressful situation to be in. oh, another thing is that both UMass and G-town are tied at 44 on USnews. what do you guys think?

 

[puffy1]

KeithKow:

Don't worry too much about your concern about UMass wanting to keep students in-state. I had those same concerns about the school I will be attending next year (Louisiana State); state school, great bargain, but the majority of the students stay in-state for their residencies. I
was under the impression that the students couldn't get good residencies out-of-state, as opposed to its next-door neighbor, Tulane U, a private school that sends the majority of those students out-of-state.

What I found out during my interview at LSU was that the reason why so many students stayed in state for their residencies was due to the fact that most of the students were raised in Louisiana and had families in Louisiana. A good number of students that graduated had gotten married and were already settled down. So they had no intention of leaving the state and were happy to live there and practice there. It wasn't a matter of LSU students not having the opportunity to go out of state, but rather it was the fact that they wanted to stay in state. as for Tulane, the majority of their students (>85%) are out-of-staters. As a result, they have no reason to stay in louisiana after they graduate, and that's why so many end up choosing residencies out of state.

I ended up choosing LSU mainly because I liked it a whole lot better than the other schools. Also, the cost can't be beat. I would have been just as happy had I chosen Tulane. I think you will end up feeling the same way I do about the choices I had to make...in other words, it was a win-win situation. So just be secure in the fact that, no matter which you choose, you will be happy at either. Congratulations!

 

[VAD]

KeithKow,

Where do things stand with Georgetown's hospital? Have all of the problems cleared up? That's definitely something I would also consider in making my decision, the strength of the medical sys. affiliated with the med. school.

Good Luck!

 

[kimberlicox]

Originally posted by puffy1:
KeithKow:

"I was under the impression that the students couldn't get good residencies out-of-state, as opposed to its next-door neighbor, Tulane U, a private school that sends the majority of those students out-of-state.What I found out during my interview at LSU was that the reason why so many students stayed in state for their residencies was due to the fact that most of the students were raised in Louisiana and had families in Louisiana. "

Good point - unless you have access to student's rank order list for the match and have detailed knowledge of why they applied where they did, just looking at the places where students matched doesn't tell you very much. What you want to know is what percentage of students ranked to their first choice programs. If only 1% of your in-state's students matched to an Ivy program, but only 1% preferred such a program (over leaving the state for example), then that would be more meaningful, IMHO.

Thanks for pointing out a very important issue which I had neglected to include.

 

[KeithKow]

about the georgetown financial troubles:
at the interview they flat out addressed it, we didn't have to ask at all. they told us exactly what the problems were, how much was lost, why they lost it, and what they are doing to take care of it. they are now affiliated with an administrator called MedStar, who apparantly runs all the major hospitals in the area. everything seems to be getting taken care of. basically i'm not too worried about any future financial troubles at georgetown. but its still something i am definately considering. especially because UMass is funded very very well by the state. a brand new, state of the art research lab is being built and will be ready by this summer, which is just one indication of the funding. that should be pretty darn cool.
i'm leaning towards UMass, but i'm going to visit both and talk with students to make my decision. at least i've got time on my side. and thanks for all your responses!