Public vs. Private

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wack

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I am fortunate to have multiple medical school acceptances. One is for my state school and the other is to a private school. I feel like both are excellent schools and I could be happy at either one. However the private school is more prestigous (top 20 if that means anything or can be quantified). The state school has an MCAT average that is below the national mean and the board pass rate is around 90%. The private school will cost me about $60,000 more (american) in tuition. Will the doors it helps to open come residency time justify the extra expense? Additionally, academic medicine is of interest to me, does that make the school I choose more of a factor? Personally, I think I could learn just as much at either school. The clinical experience would probably be better at the private school (Emory). Weigh in, and let me know how you dealt with a similar delima. Tein might be able to solve this with a picture (please not the endself).

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Does this thread suck? Nobody is replying. I feel like it is elementary school and I am being picked last for the team.
 
Give people at least 4 minutes to even consider replying. . . :p

Which one is closest to your family?
 
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That's a really tough call.

Things I'd think about when making the decision:

(1) Wait until you get your financial aid package from Emory. It might not be as expensive as you think!

(2) Once you get your financial aid package from Emory, you can always call them up and try to bargain for more, saying you are having a really tough time picking between Emory (your first choice) or your state school which is 60,000 dollars cheaper, so is there anything they could do for you. Doesn't hurt to ask and I have heard sometimes schools will bump up their offer so that they don't lose you.

Okay, say if (1) and (2) don't prove fruitful and you are facing a $60,000 price differential, here are some other things I'd keep in mind:

(3) What kind of doctor do you want to be (if you know yet)? If you want to be an academic doctor, or go into a competitive specialty (like radiology, dermatology or opthamology) then going to Emory might be a better option. If you want to go into an uncompetitive specialty or primary care, then your state school might be fine.

(4) There is probably going to be a slightly different student body at your state school vs. Emory (especially since your state school's MCAT average is below the national average so we are not talking a UMich/UVA/UC level state school). Think about whether this matters to you.

(5) Yeah, $60,000 is a lot of money but in the course of your life it is really not THAT much. Surely you can pay it off and be fine, it is just a matter of whether having debt for a while will really bother you. Will you be okay with huge student loan payments in your late 20s/early 30s, or will this be a problem for you? What kind of lifestyle do you want as a resident/early years as a physician?
 
Originally posted by wack
Does this thread suck? Nobody is replying. I feel like it is elementary school and I am being picked last for the team.

Dude, you only gave SDNers 20 minutes to respond! :laugh: Patience, my friend!

I think there's a lot to consider when deciding between your state and the private schools (congrats on the acceptances, by the way!). Do you have any idea about what you want to specialize in? Is one school more known for that specialty? You mentioned academic medicince...how do your school's research programs compare? How much are you really willing to spend? Is cost going to be a major factor for you and will you be able to pay back your loans once you finish, and how long will it take?

Good luck-- it's not an easy choice! I know how I would decide, but that's just based on my personal preferences and goals. Best of luck, and congrats again!
 
The state school is much closer to home. I am really undecided on specialty but would like to have options. However, academic medicine seems really interesting to me and I do realize this would be competitive and having every possible advantage could be helpful. I guess that I might have been a little pushy for replies. I suppose that my decision can't be made until after the Financial aid results come back. It is just exhilirating, and irritating to have no idea of where I will be in August.

"Better to have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"
 
If you really think that you will end up in academic medicine, then I would probably bite the bullet and shell out the extra $60,000 for Emory. But that's just me.
 
Hey Wack, I'm going through the same thing. Trying to decide between Emory and my state school which is Med. College of Georgia. It isn't easy, but right now, i'm leaning towards shelling out the money. I don't know the situation you are in right now, but I have no debt from undergrad b/c I chose to go to a public school which gave me muchas $$$ knowing that I would likely want to go to a private med school someday. $60,000 seems like a lot, but if you are in good financial standing now, I don't think it's much to take on considering the earning power we will eventually have. which state school is yours out of curiousity?
 
I'm also going into academic medicine. From the physicians that I've talked to, it is VERY important to go to a big name school if you'd like an academic position. It just opens the doors. I think that the quality of education will probably be equal, but the name on the diploma will help you in your career.
 
I would really rather not give the name of my state school on the board because if I do end up there its best not to p*ss in your pool. It isn't MCG. Hey I will PM you if I can figure out how to do it. Tough call for you. I hear pretty good stuff about MCG and aren't they dirt cheap, aka ~ $10000 a year. Maybe we will end up at Emory together. I really loved that place. Grady seems like a great place to do rotations and learn medicine. Better shut up before I completely sell myself.
 
You really don't need to go to a big name school to go into academic medicine. I work in an academic setting and only a few of the physicians that do "big name" research have gone to "big name" schools. THe breast cancer surgeon I work for (one of the top breast surgeons in the nation) went to the University of Utah. Another oncologist we work with is a DO. It's about your work ethic and who you work with and one's own creativity,etc. You can go into academic medicine going to any school so don't let people tell you otherwise.:D
 
Originally posted by aquaboy
You can go into academic medicine going to any school so don't let people tell you otherwise.:D

of course you can! I have just personally heard that more doors are open if you go to a big name school. of course you can open the doors yourself if you go to a non-big name school but it would just be a little riskier is all.
 
Utah is a pretty heavy hitter in research. And their surgery program is supposed to be very good. I don't really think my state school is in the same class as UU. However, you are right I have seen people in all sorts of academic positions from all sorts of medical schools. As an academic doc you make less and spend a longer time training (additional fellowships etc) so I don't think the value of saving money should be underestimated in this arena. I better quit posting so much on my own thread or I will be accused of padding it. I am pretty torn. But happy.
 
Keep in mind, I am someone who decided very early that I would attend my state school over almost any other school in the country.

I believe that Emory will open very few additional doors for you.

From what I have heard, I do think that it will help you if you want to go into academics. How much, I cannot say. You will still be able to go into academics from a state school, but it will be more difficult. How likely are you to go into academics? Likely enough for it to be worth $60,000? Only you can answer that question.

In regards to getting into a competitive specialty, it is much more important to go where you will be happy and perform well. If you want to go into a competitive specialty you will have to perform well regardless of whether you go to Emory or the state school. You are better off at a state school, if you perform well in your classes, in the wards and on Step 1, than you are at Emory if you don't.

I have talked to a number of doctors that went to Northwestern medical school and Wash U, and even one from Harvard, that told me to go to my state school. In the end, they did not feel it was worth the money and that they wound up at the same place as everyone else. It can help with residencies, but not as much as you might think.

It was also very interesting to see my friends in residency (I graduated with a number of pre-meds in 1995 who went on to medical school). For example, one of my friends who went to a state school did his emergency medicine residency with someone who graduated from Wash U medical school and someone who graduated from Kirksville's DO school. They all wound up in the same residency with the same opportunities.

I'm not saying there are not advantages to going to higher ranked schools, but I don't think they are very great. To me, they were not worth the tuition, and I knew I would be very happy (and thus hopefully perform better) at my state school. But I have a very limited interest, if any, in academics and research.

If I were you I would look at which school you will be happiest at first, then look at which one offers you any better opportunities, and finally if it is worth the money to attend a school for those reasons.
 
I have a fairly strong gpa, above 3.75, science and nonscience and passed up even applying to Emory because of a number of factors. A major factor was of course price, compared to my state school... Another factor was the friendliness and courteousy I received.. I would much rather be a sought after applicant than just "another" applicant. I've heard a mixture of comments about the competitiveness of the people that attend Emory.. Many of the comments tend to be negative, indicating that Emory students can be ultracompetitive with each other.. If you end up with a bad lab partner, you are screwed especially for Anatomy..
All in all, if you are a Georgia resident, I would strongly consider MCG. They have a more balanced student body, and a more friendly approach.. Many students with 35+ mcats and excellent gpa's attend this school and residency placement is great. In fact, I know two people that have placed at Emory for residency. Emory also gives all its exams on the same day so be prepared for misery.. This is a very personal decision so you have to decide whether it is worth it for you.. Just a few tidbits.
 
i'm in the same boat. i also got into a top school (univ of rochester) that i totally loved. the students were really happy and friendly, i couldn't find ANYTHING i would change with the curriculum, and i got a wonderful sence of the place. i really loved it. but, i also got into my state school. supposidely it's the best state school in my state, it's ranked in the top 50 for primary care but not for research. the students were happy there too but i didn't love the school.

i'm actually leaning twords the state school. i have talked to tons of physicians about this. every single one that i talked to said to go to my state school with the exception of one (and he dosen't have a family and very little living expenses). all the applicants i talk to say to go where i want but all the doctors say to go to the state school. i even called an alumnae from univ of rochester and he said it really didn't matter that he went there. he loved it, but he was sure that he would be in the exact same place if he had gone somewhere else.

it's really hard bc i feel like i worked so hard so i should 'reward' myself with the school of my dreams. but when i have a family, a huge debt, and my partner owes 80K less will i really be happy? will it really make any difference in 20 years? i guess for me, when i visualize my life in 20 years i see a nice little family, a dog, and a mini van.....and yes i'll be a doctor. but, i see that other stuff first. i think i'll be going to my state school...(but, i'm still waiting on my financial aid package).:)
 
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