UTHSCSA (UT Long San Antonio) vs. UTSW (Dallas) $$$ Involved please help!

[Alpha-ketogluterate]

Hi everyone, thank you for your time. I was recently taken off the waitlist at a school and now have some thinking to do. Please help as soon as you can, I value all input.

Short summary about me: I want to be an orthopedic surgeon, I would like to have the freedom to match in or out of TX. I do not plan to do any heavy research during medical school beyond what is required.

UTHSCSA - Long SOM
Pros

• Have a very big scholarship offer (I will nearly not owe a cent)
• Excellent match list and to good places too. Specially for orthopedics (that I am VERY much interested in)
• Really clicked with everyone on interview day.
• I love the curriculum.
• Enjoyed SA a lot and see myself having fun here
• Low cost of living

Cons

• Not as highly ranked as UTSW on US News (I am really not sure what this is even really based on and if it matters, but this is a fact)
• Receive much less NIH funding and other research budget than UTSW. Despite having done a lot of research in undergrad, I am really not very much interested in doing much beyond the minimum for my resume. I want to be a surgeon and may do clinical research later on, research is just not a priority right now. But, research heavy schools do tend to attract good faculty too which would impact me.

UTSW - Dallas
Pros

• A renowned institution, pretty well known even outside of TX. High (and rising nearly every year) US News ranking
• Great research opportunities and I've been told great faculty.
• Still fairly low tuition (though I have no aid offer)
• I liked my interview day though not as much UT Long.
• Excellent research opportunities.

Cons

• Over 100k difference in tuition (since I will not owe anything with Long)
• Did not like Dallas as much as SA (this is a minor issue)

Summary: I think both schools are great. But I am getting a huge gift from UTHSCSA and not UTSW. The MCAT median of the two schools is only 1 point apart (UTSW 517 and UTHSCSA 516) and GPA is fairly close; I mention this to give an idea of other applicants here who maybe my classmates later, at least from a purely academic perspective. I do realize that UTSW is ranked higher, but does it matter for me? What are your thoughts?

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[silvershark3]

In a case this close, I think you should choose the place you think you'll be happier with, in this case based on what you wrote, UTHSCSA. You'll be spending the next four year of your life at this school with little debt, which sounds excellent to me. They have a great match list, so I think the extra prestige from UTSW is not worth in my opinion

 

[GRX18]

I agree with @silvershark3, I think you should go to Long! UTSW definitely has more prestige to it but Long is still a really great school with many opportunities. I interviewed at both schools and I loved both of them but I enjoyed the students and atmosphere of Long more than UTSW as you did. I really think the scholarship you received at Long and being basically debt free will be huge for you and something you should not pass on. With that said, if I was in the same situation I would stick with Long.

 

[Etopn23]

If you want to get into a competitive specialty.... you should take every advantage you can get. UTSW in state is a very cheap school.

I would pick it over the rest of the Texas public schools, no questions asked.

 

[appropriatepeanut]

This was helpful to me in considering schools/offers:

Is a more prestigious medical school worth it?

Is it worth paying 120k extra for a med school ranked around 30 over just going to an in state med school ranked around 100?

forums.studentdoctor.net

Specifically post #39 by an attending that physician members Med Ed and Moko liked.

 

[Skittsie13]

If you want to get into a competitive specialty.... you should take every advantage you can get. UTSW in state is a very cheap school.

I would pick it over the rest of the Texas public schools, no questions asked.

Agree. Ortho is super competitive. 100k is a drop in the bucket on a future ortho salary.

 

[Alpha-ketogluterate]

Agree. Ortho is super competitive. 100k is a drop in the bucket on a future ortho salary.

Thank you everyone for commenting so far.

Hey skittsie13, I agree that ortho is competitive. But, the match list for SW does not look far superior to Long from my perspective (specifically, Long matched a ton of people to solid ortho spots this year and the last 2 years - I do not have knowledge beyond that point). What do you think? Also, we should keep in mind that the 100k will be 150-160 by the time I start paying it off.

There have been two perspectives so far (both here and among my friends): 1) Go to Long, its cheaper and makes more sense. 2) Go to SW since it will help with residency. If I thought that the latter was true, I think I would heavily consider it. But the match list does not seem to be all that different, is there anything else beyond the match list that I should think of when considering which school would be better for my future goals?

Btw, I really appreciate your comment and everyone else's, I am just trying to get more detail.

 

[Eurycea]

Thank you everyone for commenting so far.

Hey skittsie13, I agree that ortho is competitive. But, the match list for SW does not look far superior to Long from my perspective (specifically, Long matched a ton of people to solid ortho spots this year and the last 2 years - I do not have knowledge beyond that point). What do you think? Also, we should keep in mind that the 100k will be 150-160 by the time I start paying it off.

There have been two perspectives so far (both here and among my friends): 1) Go to Long, its cheaper and makes more sense. 2) Go to SW since it will help with residency. If I thought that the latter was true, I think I would heavily consider it. But the match list does not seem to be all that different, is there anything else beyond the match list that I should think of when considering which school would be better for my future goals?

Btw, I really appreciate your comment and everyone else's, I am just trying to get more detail.

What did you end up deciding?

 

[Alpha-ketogluterate]

What did you end up deciding?

Sorry I just saw this! I picked Long Medicine! Thank you everyone for your input!

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

Sorry I just saw this! I picked Long Medicine! Thank you everyone for your input!

Attending any of the Texas schools will set you up for an incredible future residency application. You are the main determinant for where you go to residency--the differences between UTSW and UTHSCSA are not significant enough to warrant passing on the opportunity of graduating nearly debt-free.