<p>My son turned down Yale (his dream school), Wash U, Stanford and others to accept a Morehead Scholarship to UNC in 2004. He never regretted his decision, graduated debt free and is now an MS1 (first year med student) at a top ten med school. He has three other close friends that graduated from UNC with him who are now MS1s at Harvard, Hopkins and UT Southwestern so UNC certainly didn’t impede their chances for a top med school admission.</p>
<p>Med school admissions is all about top grades, high MCAT scores and ECs that indicate demonstrated interest like medical research, shadowing a doctor, working in a hospital etc. Admission is enormously competitive and getting more so every day. The cost of attending med school continues to rise and makes undergrad costs pale by comparison. Tuition alone as an OOS student to top public med schools is as high as attending top privates which are all in the $40K plus range for tuition alone. There is some scholarship money but most aid is loans that are either subsidized with no payback or unsubsidized with deferred payback. Upon graduation most new MDs are looking at anywhere from $200-300K in debt BEFORE they head off to residencies and fellowships that will pay very little for another three to seven years.</p>
<p>If your S will not get caught up in the party scene at CU, it sounds like a no-brainer to me. Graduating with little to no debt before racking up the huge debt of med school is a very sound decision in these tough times.</p>