<p>The decision process has been delayed this week by beach activities. It will begin again in earnest Monday. We’ll see how well the YMS "middle-class initiatives " play out for us. Need to send tax returns and verifications. The big stuff is done and sent. </p>
<p>Rough-out numbers suggest that if YMS offers zero need -based then there will be a $150K difference in costs between what has already been offered at a Top Twenty med school (UT-SW) and YMS. Jiminy. Maybe $110K between YMS and Baylor before FA at either. </p>
<p>She’ll be willing to ante up a pretty penny in personal debt if Yale is “the one”. Where that “pretty penny” line is , I dunno. </p>
<p>(Mom and Dad’s contribution is a pre-determined number that comes off those.)</p>
<p>Gee. I have absolutely no idea. The numbers are h u g e. Even the best numbers are big. The bad numbers are insane. Maybe some of the current med students will help us with some perspective. </p>
<p>I would think med school debt for someone who wanted primary care or academic medicine should stay under $125K if at all possible. Maybe if you know that you desire and have a realistic shot at a higher paying specialty (and a crystal ball to know which one that would be) , the numbers could go up a good bit. </p>
<p>Again, I am so happy my D is in at the 2 of the schools that combine the highest rep and lowest costs in the nation. </p>
<p>I know that if your favorite school was $40K higher over 4 years than another school you liked a lot , I’d say do it. $200K more? I’d say that was an idiot play. Most people won’t have those ranges.</p>
<p>Hmmm. I may try to get my D to post a “Where exactly is the Idiot Line?” thread on sdn. That is, if I get her off the beach. “Ya know kid. You do need to pass those 12 honking hours of fluff you are taking. Right?” Actually, it’s not completely fluff but , hey. I have to have some fun. We’ll call it “parental license”, to coin a phrase. </p>
<p>That is , unless I can get someone else to post one. ;)</p>
<p>Steeler, was it really cool? Has it moved positions? Heard anything from Pitt? D has heard nothing. </p>
<p>Colleges, she really likes the Yale system. Really likes the opps. Understands the $ issues, so …it’s wait and see how the money comes out. Right now I’d say Yale, UTSW, Baylor but the $ could turn that on its head. And then there is Pitt lurking out there.</p>
<p>UVa is sitting at the top of my acceptances, #2 in the 9 places I’m still in contention. I just really like the 1.5 pre-clinical curriculum and how that opens things up. The only school I’d put ahead of it is Emory, and only because their curriculum is little more tested. Definitely some stuff I like about UVa better, but it’s more or less a toss-up with Emory having a slight edge.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard from Pitt, but honestly I can’t live in the Northeast. Too cold. I interviewed at Pitt, Cornell, and Sinai (liked the former 2, not a fan of the latter) with Pitt being a favorite but that much snow just isn’t for me. I was born in Pittsburgh so the sports culture of the city was a big appeal for me, but I wouldn’t have as much elective time and honors in the first two years is less than ideal. UPMC is pretty sweet though.</p>
<p>It gets pretty cold at Emory dude. Its snowed in March here this year. (It snows around 2 times a year here). In the winter the weather hovers around a 30-34 degrees. I don’t know about you, but coming from Texas, I found it EXTREMELY COLD, but the weather in the other months is really nice.</p>
<p>I live in South Carolina, and even we got 7 inches of snow in one night this year. I don’t have a problem with it getting cold, only it being cold for a looooong time. October to March winters are not my thing.</p>
<p>Just today got the last nit-picking FA form done. Thought we had finished last week…but no such luck. Everybody else done? </p>
<p>Question: (and feel free to pm me if you don’t want to post an answer)</p>
<p>Forgetting about which schools for a minute —What amount of med school debt would y’all consider reasonable? Would it be different if you knew you were wanting a competitive and higher paying specialty? The link posted a few days ago had median debt for a private med school grad at $177k+. </p>
<p>I know my D has IMO a very unrealistically low number in mind for med school debt and I spent some time showing her repayment schedules and estimated FA numbers and the like. I have a feeling she’s still going to be quite shocked at the numbers she gets. </p>
<p>Some perspective from folks actually accruing debt would be helpful. After our conversation, I know she understands paying it back. ;)</p>
<p>Take my friend Donald Mac. Donny was a mediocre student at a poor undergrad and did poorly on the MCAT. He tried applying a couple of times and, on his third cycle, finally got into BU Med. He’s having to pay full freight at a very expensive school – but his alternative is to not be a doctor.</p>
<p>Then there’s my friend Bertha King. Bertha’s a pretty good student, but not amazing – but she had some really amazing EC’s – started an AIDS clinic in her rural hometown. When the time came, she got into her local school (MUSC), which was very cheap – and was pleasantly surprised by her Harvard admission. Her alternatives are lots of debt against a program which is fine – but there’s a pretty large difference.</p>
<p>Finally, there’s Carl Jr. Carl, a WA resident, was a very strong student. He got into UW-Seattle and Stanford Med.</p>
<p>(*None of these people are real.)</p>
<hr>
<p>Hypothetically, let’s assume that a private school is $240K, a state school is $40K, and going nowhere is free.</p>
<p>Donny’s $240,000 buys him a chance to be a doctor at all. Almost everybody would pay the money.</p>
<p>Bertha’s $200K buys her the difference between Harvard and MUSC. Most kids would probably take HMS.</p>
<p>Carl’s $200K buys him the difference between Stanford and UW. Most kids would probably take UW.</p>
<hr>
<p>After writing it, I realized this post was useless but I couldn’t bear to let go of the hypotheticals. But the point here is one I’ve learned from you: it’s the decision at the margins that matters. Donny pays his $240K because it makes a big difference; Carl probably saves his $200K because it isn’t that different.</p>
<p>Many, many med school students do not have any choice about accruing a huge amount of debt. If you only get in to one school, or only in to private schools, then you can easily be looking at $160-250,000. Or…you could just not go to med school. </p>
<p>My D is attending a private school with loans. Her debt will be about $200,000. She would like to be an internist, probably specializing in geriatrics. Hope the governement does something to help the primary care providers.</p>
<p>a twist on all this debt talk; I am very fortunate in that I will graduate from medical school with no debt-among the 13% cited in curms article on med school debt. This is because my parents are very generous and have made education of their children their major priority-ie although relatively affluent they live modestly for their income(live in 1/2 of the house they could afford rarely take vacations etc…“just work and pay tuitions”-over $360K for me for private college and state medical school total-similar amount for my brother-law school for him). It is a decision they made and are happy with. Their biggest fear-that I might meet a fellow student and 'marry the debt they went to great trouble to free me from". Your thoughts on students who marry that may face either double the debt-$400K as a couple or debt free students who might ‘marry the debt’?</p>
<p>I wish MUSC’s price fit that hypothetical… :(</p>
<p>I took a full ride to medical school (actually made 20k by going here), so anything that was saved is present for medical school. I’m probably headed to UVa, which is pretty steep OOS, but my parents said they can pay for it so I won’t have that burden, thankfully.</p>
<p>As far as your D’s acceptable debt level, some of my kiddos will also be faced with the same quandry. The have a low level set in their minds but I have warned them that in reality the numbers will be higher.</p>
<p>Since our state’s dental and med schools in-state tuition is “reasonable” they do have some options. They aren’t really carrying any debt from UG, maybe some on their credit cards, but they know that can be paid off pretty quick.</p>
<p>But some of the “pricey” med school options are REALLY pricey. Son at p’ton had no loans and saved some from work. He is applying this cycle and will work/research some to keep afloat and pay the app and travel fees. The unit loan thing threw him for a loop so with those options he is looking at a min of $25K per year in loans.</p>
<p>Daughter for dental school is doing the navy thing so the loan test isn’t applicable. Who knows if she thinks its fab her bro might do the same thing, but maybe not navy…who knows. He wants an MD/MBA, has his econ degree, his almost chem/bio major (no thesis) and his GMAT and MCAT scores.</p>
<p>But the large looming loan is not pretty. Since there weren’t any for UG, its a new ball game. EFC still the same, so that hasn’t changed. Just stressful I guess, I HATE FA forms. And you right now would know.</p>
<p>Good financial aid thoughts sent your way!!</p>
<p>DD’s school states a COA of $45k annually, no idea yet on award $, so theoretically she could be borrowing $180k. i suspect she will choose to live cheaper than that and she has applied for numerous awards.</p>