What do I do?

[Gaucho97]

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[adventum]

Wh

Recently went on an interview at a newer program that is not well established. This was my third interview and my other two were at pretty strong programs that will not be giving me a decision until early next year. I truly could not see myself attending a school with no graduated class (given its price tag) and I do not know what to do. Not only is it crazy expensive with limited scholarship opportunities, but there’s no match or COMLEX/USMLE results yet. Is withdrawing a bad idea? Or should I wait to see if I get in and send a LOI to my top choice? I’m so lost and posts on here haven’t helped. I am waiting to hear back from 24ish schools.

what possible benefit would there be to withdrawing? you spent the time and money already.

 

[meepdog]

Unless you'd literally rather not get in than go to this school, don't withdraw until you have another A in the bag. It could turn out fine, but you could be throwing away your chance to get an MD

 

[Gaucho97]

Unless you'd literally rather not get in than go to this school, don't withdraw until you have another A in the bag. It could turn out fine, but you could be throwing away your chance to get an MD

And that’s where I’m struggling, I’m not sure I want to be 300K+ in debt without knowing how this school will do in the long run. The slight possibility of that scares me. I feel that reapplying and avoiding less established schools would be my approach next cycle.

 

[Gaucho97]

Wh

what possible benefit would there be to withdrawing? you spent the time and money already.

If it ends up being my only A, I was told it looks awful not to enroll and can really be a problem if you look to reapply. Therefore I would be putting myself 300K+ in debt at a school with no track record. The benefit is that I avoid major uncertainty

 

[LizzyM]

How do you know that there will be no funding. Some schools have to use cash money to attract students until they establish a track record. These schools are also very responsive to student feedback as they attempt to develop a curriculum and set of policies that set students up for success.

 

[Gaucho97]

How do you know that there will be no funding. Some schools have to use cash money to attract students until they establish a track record. These schools are also very responsive to student feedback as they attempt to develop a curriculum and set of policies that set students up for success.

They gave us a run down on scholarships awarded and the average student got part of their tuition covered still making it well over 300K+ for COA over 4 years. They mention how receptive they were but changing their curriculum and teaching environment constantly doesn’t appeal to me. If I were to receive an A there, would that be a compelling reason to write a LOI at another school where I am yet to hear a decision?

 

[Cornfed101]

When you are an attending you could make $300k in a single year. Putting off an acceptance for a year could cost you the entirety of your debt in opportunity cost.

 

[Goro]

Recently went on an interview at a newer program that is not well established. This was my third interview and my other two were at pretty strong programs that will not be giving me a decision until early next year. I truly could not see myself attending a school with no graduated class (given its price tag) and I do not know what to do. Not only is it crazy expensive with limited scholarship opportunities, but there’s no match or COMLEX/USMLE results yet. Is withdrawing a bad idea? Or should I wait to see if I get in and send a LOI to my top choice? I’m so lost and posts on here haven’t helped. I am waiting to hear back from 24ish schools.

If you do NOT have accepts at your other schools, and this school was your only accept, you'd still turn it down?

If so, withdraw now...it's only fair to other interviewees.

I agree that brand new schools can be problematic. It takes time for the Faculty to gel in delivering thier curriculum, for one. But focusing on the fact that they don't have match lists is the wrong lens to view this through.

 

[Goro]

They gave us a run down on scholarships awarded and the average student got part of their tuition covered still making it well over 300K+ for COA over 4 years. They mention how receptive they were but changing their curriculum and teaching environment constantly doesn’t appeal to me. If I were to receive an A there, would that be a compelling reason to write a LOI at another school where I am yet to hear a decision?

Highly unlikely, unless you're a superstar or a URM. It's a seller's market for med schools.

 

[LizzyM]

Don't turn anyone down until you have an offer. Sent letters of INTEREST to schools that you are interested in. It's a long way to Mars; enjoy the trip.

 

[Gaucho97]

I

And if you send the LOI and only get in to this "bad" school, the one you could have known all this info about before you applied, are you going to turn down the acceptance. You needed to decided whether you want to go there or not when you applied or at the latest, the day after the interview. So decide whether you would attend this school or not today and do not look back on the decision. Either move forward and go there if accepted to become a doctor or withdraw. Dont keep over thinking this looking for the "right" decision. You will never get to any more information than you have now and there is no additional clarity coming. Make a decision and take action one way or the other

I never said the school was “bad” but merely that attending (if accepted) a school with no track record and a curriculum that has changed yearly since inception in addition to a price tag of close to 400k over 4 years with little to no financial aid seems off putting. I obviously did not know much about the place when applying since there are very few students at the institution that are active on this forum.