UT Long vs Vandy

[bob12364747474]

*Please do not quote this post*

I’d like to preface this by saying I’m very pleased with how my cycle went and am grateful to be in this position. I’m very interested in neurosurgery and am sure on pursuing this for the next 4 years. I believe both schools could get me to where I want to be residency wise, albeit Vandy might make it a bit easier, but I’d like to hear some of your opinions before making a final decision.

UT Long (4 year total COA- 75k)
Pros

• Full tuition scholarship
• Close to home and support network (My family lives in Houston I so could travel back home quite often from San Antonio)

Cons

• Graded 18 month preclinical
• Lower ranked (don’t care that much personally but I know name can help somewhat for matching)
• Weaker nsgy home department (less research opportunities??)

Vanderbilt (4 year total COA-180k)
Pros

• Nashville seems like a nice city to explore with plenty to do
• 1 year p/f preclinical and p/f clinical is less stress and leaves more time for extracurriculars
• Enormous amount of resources available to pursue my interests
• Strong nsgy department with strong nsgy match history
• Strong emphasis on wellness and sense of community

Cons

• More expensive
• Low amount of URM and low SES students In student body to connect with (Slightly worried that I may not fit in due to my family background)

Summary: Vandy would be the much better option in terms of matching and having less stress throughout school, but the higher debt burden and being far from home still leaves me unsure. I’m aware of loan forgiveness options like PSLF that could be used later on to forgive the majority of my loans and simply that neurosurgeons are compensated well enough to pay off my loans quickly, but taking out such a large amount still seems scary to me.

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[PlzSendHelp]

I completely understand concerns about taking on that amount of debt, but it sounds like your heart lies with Vandy. Check out the white coat investor on Reddit if you would like some reassurance, but ~$180k isn't bad at all when it comes to student loans after medical school. As I say every time I use student loan money to pay for Starbucks- this will be attending me's problem! Congrats on the acceptances and best of luck!

 

[m1redsox]

Yeah I’d pay the extra $100k for the T20 name if I was dedicated to nsg.