Hello everyone,
I need help deciding where to go next year. My options are Georgetown (extremely expensive- 80k tuition, no financial aid), UConn’s BS/MD program (in-state tuition and a generous merit scholarship, conditional acceptance into UConn’s medical school), or UMich (out of state tuition, no financial aid). For reference, I am pre-med and very much set on a career in medicine one day. That given said it is very important to me to minimize my undergraduate debt as much as possible since med school is so extremely expensive. In that sense, UConn would be the most appropriate, but I’m a little hesitant since UConn is not as well ranked as the other schools I got accepted to, and I was wondering if this would hurt me in the long run.
Are you comfortable with the BS/MD requirements for the UConn program? If so, stick with that. Can’t see spending between 60-80k/year for GU or Michigan, especially with medical school in your future.
Regarding the merit scholarship-is that for UG only, or for both UG and medical school? If so, that’s a great deal. Even if only for UG, that will save you a ton of money, and medical school is very expensive everywhere.
If you are absolutely set on being a physician and minimizing your undergraduate debt is a priority for you - I don’t see how either of these other two options would make sense for you.
You don’t want to go into medical school with $320K worth of debt. Even if you went to a public medical school, you’d still be adding probably another $150-200K of debt. Even the most well-paid doctors would feel the impact of having to repay nearly $500K of debt.
Nonresident cost of attendance at Michigan is in the $65-70K range as well, so it’s the same deal - we’re talking $260-280K of debt over four years, before you ever set foot in a medical school.
UConn is an excellent university, and people do very well after graduating from there. And in the U.S., every medical school is a good one and you can certainly practice and find good work after you graduate. It will not hurt you in the long run.
I think this is a no brainer. If you choose Georgetown or Michigan your are guaranteed massive debt and still have to possibility of not getting into medical school. UConn is the cheapest and as long as you keep up your academics, completely eliminates that risk. There’s no reason to consider the other two. None of your patients will care where you went to undergrad or to medical school. Your competence will be inferred by the degree. Congratulations! You are in an enviable position.
I’m a graduate of Michigan. My roommate is a surgeon. I asked him what’s the biggest issue he has faced, and he said debt from med school.
My advice is to go to UCONN, study hard, and get into med school. Forget about rankings. Avoid debt. That’s what will count. No one cares when they come to see you where you went to undergraduate, and not really med school either. They just care that you’re a good doctor, and you have a good bedside manner.
If you had gotten financial aid, or your parents were in the position to pay for your undergrad I’d say to highly consider Georgetown, just because if you do well there it would increase your chances of getting into a higher caliber MD program.
But, the IF YOU DO WELL is a big IF. Many people start out pre-med and then get C’s in a chem or physics course which completely de-rails their chances at med school altogether. I’m a current Internal med resident.
I say no question go with UConn- graduating without debt is extremely liberating. However, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, you still need to maintain that GPA to stay in the BA -MD program.
I know lots of others that ended deciding medicine wasn’t for them at a certain point, decide to do PA school, or just don’t maintain the required GPA. I hope that won’t be you and I’m sure you’ll do great there. Either way UConn is a great school. And any MD medical school is a fabulous school so don’t worry about it not being “top 20” or whatever, no one will care as long as you do well there.