UofU vs SLU

[utahman14]

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I've been accepted to both schools and am trying to decide. The U is my state school and where I'm from. Total loans would be about 180-200K. SLU will be about $300-320. I loved SLU when I interviewed and was less impressed at the U.
Another factor is that i am married and have a child. My family has not been very good to my spouse since we got married and are not on very good terms. My family is very demanding of our time and still treat us like children at times. They have no idea of the time commitment med school will be as no one in my family has done medicine. We're worried about going crazy due to family pressure while being busy with school and family.
Any advice is appreciated. The only reason I'm considering the U is the much lower cost but I don't want to hate my life to save some money.

 

[BombsAway]

I would choose Utah over Harvard, just for the skiing.

Anyway, this is a great time to establish boundaries with your fam. Tell them to fam-off every now and then. It's worth the 100k.

 

[Naruhodo]

The U. Now, this almost certainly depends on what your interests are in medicine, but I always felt like the U was well respected (especially for peds, ortho, PM&R (the last two probably related to skiing accidents)). They also seemed supportive of students with families. Also, they are part of a better functioning medical system than what you will encounter in many other places. And a research powerhouse. I'm sorry to hear about the family situation, and it is unfortunate that you feel you need to move out of state to escape it. The advice my family always gave me was that it was fine to move new places and try new things, but that hopefully the pull of wanting to go always exceeded the push of feeling like I needed to get out of somewhere. Try to think about what you want for yourself and your family in the future and let that guide your thinking.

One last thought though - if you grew up and spent most of your life in Utah and want to try living in a new place then go for it. Saint Louis isn't crazy expensive and it will be a new experience. I tend to be peripatetic by nature though, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I've been accepted to both schools and am trying to decide. The U is my state school and where I'm from. Total loans would be about 180-200K. SLU will be about $300-320. I loved SLU when I interviewed and was less impressed at the U.
Another factor is that i am married and have a child. My family has not been very good to my spouse since we got married and are not on very good terms. My family is very demanding of our time and still treat us like children at times. They have no idea of the time commitment med school will be as no one in my family has done medicine. We're worried about going crazy due to family pressure while being busy with school and family.
Any advice is appreciated. The only reason I'm considering the U is the much lower cost but I don't want to hate my life to save some money.

As a fellow Utahn who moved away for medical school I can tell you it is fantastic. My parents also have boundary issues and being 1000 miles away has made our relationship a lot better. My wife and kids love being out here on our own. Based on my experience with family dynamics similar to you I suggest moving.

I have a pretty close friend at the U currently and he hates it. Supposedly it is a pretty malignant institution. I did not get accepted there (I actually didn’t even apply because we wanted to move away) so this is all second hand info but I’ve also heard the same thing from some newly minted attendings who did their residency there. This could be reflected in their match lists as there really aren’t very many people that stay.

However, the caveat is that some of their residency programs are pretty top notch and if you are wanting to come back for residency then you will most likely have a better chance coming from the inside.

 

[Tigerhawk77]

Utah Resident here. Worked with 30 medical students during intern year in prelim IM. These kids are sharp, hard working, well taught. The attendings treat them very well. Rumor was that GS was tough for some students but that’s standard everywhere. Also a number of students told me they loved GS.

It serves a huge area, all major trauma / transplants / complex cases flow through the U / IMC (you’ll go to both). I would have done Utah med hands down if I did Med school again.

 

[utahman14]

Utah Resident here. Worked with 30 medical students during intern year in prelim IM. These kids are sharp, hard working, well taught. The attendings treat them very well. Rumor was that GS was tough for some students but that’s standard everywhere. Also a number of students told me they loved GS.

It serves a huge area, all major trauma / transplants / complex cases flow through the U / IMC (you’ll go to both). I would have done Utah med hands down if I did Med school again.

Thanks for your response. Could you tell me what GS stands for? I don't use SDN that often and I'm not familiar with some of the abbreviations.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Thanks for your response. Could you tell me what GS stands for? I don't use SDN that often and I'm not familiar with some of the abbreviations.

General surgery