Western/COMP vs. OUCOM

[Dr. Don]

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Hello, all this is my first post in the Osteopathic Forum. I have been very fortunate to have been accepted to both Western/COMP and OUCOM and I'm still trying to decide where to attend. I posted this in the Pre-Osteopathic forum and I just wanted to post it here and see what kind of responses I get, thanks!


ok, so I really liked both schools when I went to interview there and I feel that both programs offer me things that I would enjoy greatly in a medical program...because of this I can't make up my mind yet as to where I want to spend the next 4 years of my life (in Ohio's case next 7 years of my life minimum). So I looked at the tuition/cost of living/etc and used the finaid loan calculator to estimate how much it would cost me to attend each school. I decided to calculate the budget with the worst case scenario in mind. In other words if I get absolutely 0 grants and scholarships and here are the results:

After 4 years of medical education:

Western/COMP= $292,087

OUCOM= $231,939

Now, these figures take into account ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, Tuition, room/board, car, bills, etc, etc, etc.

Based on finances alone it seems that OUCOM is the winner hands down. I will not even tell you how much I will END UP OWING after accumulated interest because then you guys will truly faint at how much medical school education is.....

I guess for now, I'll just wait and see what kind of financial aid packages I get at both of these schools (and of course any others that are still reviewing me) and then see what's up. I really hope Western shows me some love (grants and scholarships) because close to $300,000 debt seems kind of high for ANYONE!!!!


Have any of you gotten your financial aid packages at these schools or others? How does it look? How are you guys balancing your budget?

Any current Western/COMP and OUCOM students that can shed some light into their schools' financial aid process?

Thank you!

 

[Dr. Don]

so any takers? where are the OUCOM - Western students at?

Bumpity bump

 

[Dre1207]

Don,

ok, so in the last email i sent to you, i forgot to tell you what i'm really doing about my financial aid situation.

I'm not sure if you've heard about the NHSC (National Health Service Corp). It's this organization that will PAY ALL OF YOUR TUITION plus LIVING EXPENSES..BOOKS..AND STIPEND if you commit to working with the underserved in a primary care field like peds, general IM, obgyn, family practice, and something else..i forget. Here are the plusses of this route...1)no financial worries 2)you get to help out the less fortunate 3) you get to stay in california for med school and 4) Western receives the MOST RECIPIENTS of this scholarship more than any other medical school in the country. I know several of my classmates that are on this scholarship. If you are interested i would look up NHSC on google or call the Western Fin Aid Office and ask for an appllication because i know that the deadline closes in march.

The minuses: 1) There are only a few California areas that youcan practice at if you decide to give your years back in california. you can apply to other programs out of state as well(if you use the scholarship for all four years of med school, you give back four years of service) 2) you must be sure you dont want to be a Beverly Hills Hand Surgeon...but a primary care doc. (which to me is all gravy).

My route is gonna be a little different:
I know as of right now i wanna be an OBGYN, and i know i wanna work with the underserved of cali...yet..if you wait until you graduate to commit to the NHSC, you have like 100x the amount of places you can work at in California, like Pasadena, Oxnard, Pomona, etc. For some reason, if you commit to NHSC before you graduate, then the amount of places you give your years back is much smaller. So, I know im gonna commit to NHSC, but i'm gonna wait til post-grad. if you wait til post-grad, all the benefits are the same, they still take care of ALL you debt.

So..here's what i would do if i were you. Say thanks but no thanks to OSU (because do you really wanna move so far away from Cali when you lived here for so long?) and look into NHSC. The chances that you will get a scholarship is almost certain since most Western students that apply get this award. And really, living in California for med school is a great way to make connections with the residency programs of your choice in California. If you wanna live out-of-state, then thats one thing. But, if it's money you're worried about, NHSC is the way to go.

And besides, I only took out 42k in loans this year and i'm doing great.

Dre
COMP Class of 2007😀

 

[Dr. Don]

Girl you are awesome! I have heard about NHSC and as a matter of fact, I plan on taking that route too once med school is over....kind of like you. But at the same time, I just want to see how it all unfolds. Thanks for the advise. Take care.