Okay, so I’ve been struggling for s long time narrowing down my college choices and choosing an do have finally gotten it down to 2! Grand Valley State (Allendale, Michigan) and Iowa State (Ames, Iowa).
The dilemma-GV is my preference, but it’s around 7k more a year. Iowa State offered me $13500 in scholarships whereas GV didn’t offer me any scholarships(I applied after the scholarship deadline, otherwise I would have qualified for some).
I am majoring in either biology or psychology and would like to get into med school, which is a whole lot of money itself.
I just felt like I enjoyed GV more and I just fell in love with the campus. It’s location is awesome for pre med students and it has a great reputation for its medical programs. It’s just outside of Grand Rapids which has a couple great hospitals to get volunteering hours, job shadowing, etc. at.
Iowa State is also a great school though. I wouldn’t mind going there, but I just felt like my heart was at Grand Valley. ISU also only has one Hospital nearby. But, would that really matter as much? Don’t get me wrong, if I hadn’t discovered GVSU, ISU probably would have been my first choice among all of the colleges I got into. I love it as well, just not as much.
Also, I am from Illinois so I would be paying out of state tuition, however, it’s relatively reasonable at both schools. Don’t even suggest I go to an in state public school because the majority of them are just as expensive as out of state schools honestly.
I am so conflicted. Choose the one I love or choose the cheaper one?
Thank you!
If med school doesn’t work out and you have to enter the workforce, you might want that degree from the more recognizable and slightly more selective ISU, and have extra money in your pocket to boot. Even if you get into med school, you’re going to accumulate so much debt down the road that you’ll probably wish you had that $28K back. Don’t forget the interest charges. That $28K will be tantamount to $40K+ by the time you pay all of your med school debt. GVSU is doable, but you said you “love” ISU too, so if you see yourself happy at both schools, I’m going with the school with more notoriety/quality and less expense.
ISU is the best choice here, unless those extra 7K are coming out of your parents’ pockets and they make enough money that it won’t change their lifestyle choices.