Wright State vs Kentucky

[butterscotch427]

Hi all! I would really appreciate some help! I've narrowed my decision down to these 2 schools:

Kentucky
Pros

• Was soooo impressed with their interview day and admissions staff
• Students seemed so genuinely happy there, moreso than other schools I interviewed at
• Accepted to regional campus, love the smaller class size
• Slightly more prestigious? (not as big of a deal to me)
• Lots of matches into UK residencies

Cons

• SO EXPENSIVE; $75k OOS tuition

Wright State
Pros

• In-state tuition ($35k)
• Would possibly be able to live at home; unsure if I want to do that though
• Flipped classroom curriculum

Cons

• Primary care focused
• Larger class size
• Mandatory research
• HATED my interview day (admissions staff seemed annoyed to be there, literally played a congratulations message from the dean and then said "I don't know why he's congratulating you, this is just an interview, it's not really an accomplishment", one of my interviewers was incredibly rude and insulted me multiple times, and was retired from the school, unable to answer basic questions about the school as they had been retired 10+ years???
• Students didn't seem very happy

Summary: Bascially, I loved UK and that's where my heart is telling me to go, but it's virtually double the cost. My parents will cover living expenses, but I'll be taking out loans for tuition. Is it worth the extra debt to go OOS? Virtual interviews make it so hard to tell and I don't know if I should rule out Wright State because of the horrible virtual interview experience.

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[meijihellopanda]

kentucky and its not even close imo

 

[butterscotch427]

kentucky and its not even close imo

Thank you for the input! Can I ask why?

 

[meijihellopanda]

Thank you for the input! Can I ask why?

im completely uninformed on either of these school so with that in mind, it seems as though you have a lot more cons for Wright State than UK and (imo) you cant put a price on happiness

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Cost difference is too much, try to get in touch with current Wright State students and find out how the school is instead of going by a retired faculty interview exp.

 

[butterscotch427]

Cost difference is too much, try to get in touch with current Wright State students and find out how the school is instead of going by a retired faculty interview exp.

Thanks! I did have an interview with a student but they were apathetic about the school at best, seemed to want to get out of there as quickly as possible. The med student panel was pretty much the same way. I was disappointed that they did not even attempt to sell the school at all but I imagine that it's not worth doubling my debt to go somewhere else.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Thanks! I did have an interview with a student but they were apathetic about the school at best, seemed to want to get out of there as quickly as possible. The med student panel was pretty much the same way. I was disappointed that they did not even attempt to sell the school at all but I imagine that it's not worth doubling my debt to go somewhere else.

Sorry to hear that but yeah it's worth spending that much especially if you are taking loan ,but make sure it won't be a miserable experience. You don't have any personal connections like past graduates from your school?

 

[butterscotch427]

Sorry to hear that but yeah it's worth spending that much especially if you are taking loan ,but make sure it won't be a miserable experience. You don't have any personal connections like past graduates from your school?

No, I went to undergrad very far OOS, so I don't know any current students there. I'm hoping it was just Zoom fatigue or something. Hopefully I would be happier there then they seemed to be.

 

[lumya]

I'm from Ohio originally and this is all sort of word by mouth and what I read from the local news since I worked at a different medical school in the state, but Wright state had a lot of staffing issues and admin problems in 2019, which led to a faculty strike. As far as I know, they got a new dean this year which will allegedly solved a lot of the issues. There's really no way to say if the issues will all be gone by the time you start, or if they were overblown to start, but the strike was due to long-standing issues with employment conditions. This is not a reflection on the quality of education there, but might be why some of the current students are unhappy with their experiences.

 

[butterscotch427]

I'm from Ohio originally and this is all sort of word by mouth and what I read from the local news since I worked at a different medical school in the state, but Wright state had a lot of staffing issues and admin problems in 2019, which led to a faculty strike. As far as I know, they got a new dean this year which will allegedly solved a lot of the issues. There's really no way to say if the issues will all be gone by the time you start, or if they were overblown to start, but the strike was due to long-standing issues with employment conditions. This is not a reflection on the quality of education there, but might be why some of the current students are unhappy with their experiences.

Thanks for the input! I appreciate it! Sounds like they've had a lot of issues. I also know Wright State University has been in a lot of financial trouble lately. Unsure if that is tied to the medical school or not, but that may be another potential con.

 

[Katfant]

Agree @butterscotch427 - similar experience at Wright State. Students (not ones I interviewed with) told me they lost their best professors over the past year because of the admin running the new curriculum. They said it's not the same school they signed up for and said they wouldn't come back if they had to do it over.

 

[m1redsox]

Wright St sounds like they’re going through some stuff.. but wow.. by the time you’re done with residency (after interest accrues and compounds), you’ll be in over $400k of debt at UK. I don’t believe any school is worth that—especially not a mid-tier school like Kentucky. If you end up in primary care, it will be extremely difficult to ever pay that off. At Wright, you MIGHT hit $200k of debt.

In the end, you’ll make friends wherever you go, but Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, and Pathoma will be your true instructors so it doesn’t really matter what letters are on your short white coat.

Also echoing what was said above, it’s hard to judge a school based on a zoom interview with a retired faculty member and a few students.

If you can contact Kentucky and work out a deal so that the cost is within $100k, then consider it, if not, don't take on that crazy debt.

Edit: I recommend the book the White Coat Investor by James Dahle.

 

[butterscotch427]

Agree @butterscotch427 - similar experience at Wright State. Students (not ones I interviewed with) told me they lost their best professors over the past year because of the admin running the new curriculum. They said it's not the same school they signed up for and said they wouldn't come back if they had to do it over.

Thanks for sharing! This is what is so concerning to me. I’ve heard a lot of stories like this and it doesn’t seem like many students are happy with their choice. The school really could not have made a more negative impression on me if they tried.

 

[butterscotch427]

Wright St sounds like they’re going through some stuff.. but wow.. by the time you’re done with residency (after interest accrues and compounds), if you take out cost of living AND $70k for tuition at UK, you’ll be in almost half a million dollars of debt. I truly don’t believe any school is worth that—especially not a mid-tier school like Kentucky. If you end up in primary care, it will be extremely difficult to ever pay that off. At Wright, you’ll be close to family, and you MIGHT hit $200k of debt.

In the end, you’ll make friends wherever you go, but Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, and Pathoma will be your true instructors so it doesn’t really matter what letters are on your short white coat.

Also echoing what was said above, it’s hard to judge a school based on a zoom interview with a retired faculty member and a few students.

If you can contact Kentucky and work out a deal so that the cost is within $100k, then consider it, if not, I could NEVER recommend taking on that much debt. You could be driving your 2004 Honda Civic and living in a one bedroom apartment until you’re 50.

Edit: please don’t let other premeds on here convince you that UK is worth that much. You can buy a house in either KY or OH with that cost difference. I recommend the book the White Coat Investor by James Dahle.

Thanks for your input! Both are equally close to home (45 min vs 30 min), so that's not really a factor for me. I'm fortunate enough to have parents covering cost of living expenses, so I will only be taking loans for tuition and fees. I don't think the difference is quite so extreme as you are saying. Wright State would put me right around 200K, where as UK would be about 300K. That being said, I am still leaning towards Wright State, only because it would take me substantially more time to pay that debt off if I went to UK. However, I really dislike the school and have not heard good things about it, which is why I'm apprehnesive.

 

[m1redsox]

Thanks for your input! Both are equally close to home (45 min vs 30 min), so that's not really a factor for me. I'm fortunate enough to have parents covering cost of living expenses, so I will only be taking loans for tuition and fees. I don't think the difference is quite so extreme as you are saying. Wright State would put me right around 200K, where as UK would be about 300K. That being said, I am still leaning towards Wright State, only because it would take me substantially more time to pay that debt off if I went to UK. However, I really dislike the school and have not heard good things about it, which is why I'm apprehnesive.

I see. I misunderstood your original post. I thought your parents would cover COL at Wright State but not at UK (don't know where I got that from lol - maybe from the idea that you could live at home at Wright St). That being said, a $40k difference per year will still put you at a $200k difference after interest, and that would buy you a 3bed/2bath new build where I am at in North Carolina! My vote is still Wright State, but not as aggressively haha.

Edit: I edited my original post to reflect my slight change in opinion.

 

[butterscotch427]

@yahwehd