Which "school" would you go to? Poll

[RogueUnicorn]

ha, I'm pretty psyched for that exact reason. However, I wish they gave precedence to UMass students.

to the above poster:

I just read that on their website. That sucks. How do you like the school, though? I hate Worcester but I would go there over any school in Mass save Harvard.

this word... i do not think it means what you think it means

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[searun]

this word... i do not think it means what you think it means

Yes, the correct word is "priority."

 

[MilkmanAl]

Cheap school.

 

[greatnt249]

this word... i do not think it means what you think it means

"Precedence" is a synonym of "priority," so yes, it was used in the correct sense.

 

[HanginInThere]

i heart them! but i was surprised during the financial aid presentation at my interview to find that total costs for each year are about $42,000 (if you max out your loans). alas.

Tuition at UMass is 8k+, fees are 5k+. So the combined costs - what you'll find in the MSAR, USNews, whatever - are somewhere around 14k/year. That's as inexpensive as you'll get outside of Texas.

The $42,000 max you can borrow is what the Financial Aid office thinks you'd need to cover all expenses for the year...tuition and fees, plus rent, food, health insurance, gas money, entertainment, etc., etc., etc.


[Actually, I see that fees have gone up, so now the total is between $15 and $16k/year. Still less than the SUNYs or UConn, let alone a private school.]

 

[onb2014]

I was just curious what everyone else would do...

If you came to the end of the admissions cycle and you were sitting on two acceptances. One for your state school, and one from a more prestigious school, which would you choose?

I am not talking really prestigious...like Harvard, JH, Duke, etc.

Examples of fairly prestigious school.
(Georgetown, UVa, Wake Forest....)

Or a state school that charges 10-12k a year, which really isn't well known.

Advantages to a good name- you might have a better shot at a better residency coming from a better school. You would get a more challenging curriculum, and cover more material. Probably more state of the art equipment. You would get to tell anyone who asked in the future where you went...lol.

Advantage to in state school- you save yourself 30k a year, which is 120k for a 4 year education.

UVa is a state school, but barely offers any tuition advantage: 34K vs. 44K roughly. Just thought it was interesting that you chose a state school as one of your examples. I'd replace it with NYU or Boston for the purposes of your hypothetical.

 

[schrizto]

UVa is a state school, but barely offers any tuition advantage: 34K vs. 44K roughly. Just thought it was interesting that you chose a state school as one of your examples. I'd replace it with NYU or Boston for the purposes of your hypothetical.

It was Penn State instead of UVA not too long ago.

 

[thomyorke]

I would choose the state school. Many state medical schools are already considered "fairly prestigious".

I've never heard of even public medical schools charging 10-12k/yr for tuition, though. That seems to be a really low tuition.

I'm pretty sure that both LSU schools cost just around 11K. That said, they are definitely not "prestigious" but you can't argue with the price tag for an MD degree.

Tulane, which definitely offers more prestige, costs a whopping 50K in tuition alone and they estimate the total costs incurred per year at over 70,000 dollars (http://www.finaidhsc.tulane.edu/som_faq_cost.htm).

This is just one example in one state but I'd say in general if you have decent public schools available and are fortunate enough to have options, this one's a no brainer...

 

[mvenus929]

Looking at my specific circumstances... my state school is pretty highly ranked, and the campus is a pretty good one. However, the state is notoriously bad at funding higher education, so there isn't much of a subsidy for IS students.

That being said, it might be cheaper for me to go OOS to school.

Now, if I were a resident of another state that I'm applying to medical school in... I'd choose the more prestigious school hands down, but I'm not a big fan of that particular state. I think the opportunities presented elsewhere would beat out the cheaper tuition.

 

[thomyorke]

Also, as an average MD candidate (by SDN standards at least) in Massachusetts I can tell you straight up that I do not look favorably upon having UMASS as our one and only state school. They have some of the highest stats of any public school and the cheap price makes many top applicants choose this school over some of the bigger names in Mass. Sadly, one has a better chance at incurring a pile of debt from BU or Tufts than they do at getting into UMASS med.

I was fortunate to be born, raised, and schooled in NY which has a plethora of state medical schools. I moved here after graduation, however, to work as a CRC at one of the Harvard hospitals and now as far as New York is concerned I no longer maintain any ties with their state. I'm glad those first 22 years of my life have now been rendered insignificant by NY at the hands of the last 1.5.

I actually plan on leaving Mass next year for LA partially because of the unfavorable med school climate in this state.

 

[Bryson17]

How you should base your decision:

1. Did I like school X during my interview? (can I see myself being happy here)
2. Location - close to family/north (i like snow)/south (omg there is no snow)
3. Debt - The cheaper the better
...
...
100000000. Is this a "prestigious" school? (whatever prestigious means...haha)
100000001. Is the "match list" "good"? (one of the most unimportant questions ever)
100000002. Some other random stupid question that has no bearing on how I will perform or what I will get out of the school?

THANK YOU, I dislike obsessing over the match list, and I think they're very unimportant in deciding which school I go to. If I bust my balls at a school, then, I'll get a match I like. If I slack, I won't. It's that simple.

 

[dw2158]

Tuition at UMass is 8k+, fees are 5k+. So the combined costs - what you'll find in the MSAR, USNews, whatever - are somewhere around 14k/year. That's as inexpensive as you'll get outside of Texas.

The $42,000 max you can borrow is what the Financial Aid office thinks you'd need to cover all expenses for the year...tuition and fees, plus rent, food, health insurance, gas money, entertainment, etc., etc., etc.


[Actually, I see that fees have gone up, so now the total is between $15 and $16k/year. Still less than the SUNYs or UConn, let alone a private school.]

yeah... i'm assuming i wouldn't borrow that full amount. but we'll see. i have to be lucky enough to get in first

 

[FlowRate]

"Precedence" is a synonym of "priority," so yes, it was used in the correct sense.

I believe "preference" is the word they were looking for.


Anyway, as mentioned in another thread, I am looking mostly at curriculum/unique aspects + cost + location and overall "feel" after those.