How can I get through to my dad?

Parent Cafe
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<p>High debt may therefore pressure medical students to aim for higher paying specialties, even if they really prefer to work in a lower paying specialty. E.g. what if the medical student really wants to be a primary care physician, but has $300,000+ in debt to pay off and finds that s/he may have difficulty paying that off on primary care physician pay.</p>

<p>Note that many pre-meds are lucky to get into even one medical school, so they may not have much choice in being able to choose the lower cost among several. With $55,000 tuition and fees per year being commonplace (then add living expenses), it would not be unusual for medical school graduates to graduate with $300,000 in debt, even without any previous debt.</p>

<p>Medical specialty pay levels: <a href=“Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines - Today on Medscape”>Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines - Today on Medscape;

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<p>UCB- yes, my point was that to demonize the med students who have debt (vs. the virtuous ones who chose a free ride for undergrad so that the bank of Mom and Dad could finance med school) is not based on a factual analysis. SOME med students have a high debt burden when plotted against their future earnings. SOME med students have a manageable debt burden when plotted against their future earnings. The fact that as a society we may be encouraging too many plastic surgeons vs. pediatricians is something that we can discuss on another thread.</p>

<p>But I am observing the “invisible hand” of the Market taking care of that problem. Pediatrics is becoming a sought out field for doctors looking for a good life/work balance (certainly easier to achieve in Peds vs. Thoracic surgery) and therefore, the income disparity accounts for the “soft” appeal of the field and not just the monetary compensation.</p>

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<p>There is some very helpful info about the med school and other prospects coming out of “less than Ivy/elite” schools, which hopefully the OP can use to help shape the conversation with her father. </p>

<p>To rebecca and others who asked about how this thread got onto UW – UW is very common choice for strong students from Chicago area, both public and private high school students. OOS UW costs run about $38k, not including travel (which, for a Chicago area student, is a less than a tank of gas or a $30 round trip bus). Tuition is about $27k and room and board is lower than at many privates, running us under $10k for freshman year on campus year, and less than that now that student is off campus. </p>

<p>While the overall stats of admitted students at UW are not impressive, as many folks have noted, there are all kinds of ways to self-select at larger schools to create a smaller environment of like-minded, serious students. It does take initiative and drive, for instance, for students to apply for and get freshman year research posts etc, but such opportunities are plentiful at a big school like UW, UIUC or U MN Twin Cities. </p>

<p>For students concerned about managing full pay costs, flagships can be an incredible experience – the faculty and opportunities are top notch. A student does need to be prepared to seek out opportunities which, at a smaller private university, might not take as much effort to identify – students need to actually go into their advisor, since no one will drag them or make sure they go, as opposed to a smaller private where it happens because of the way the institution is structured. A motivated, hard working student at publics can do very well, while managing costs.</p>

<p>And I agree that, while the OP, as a legacy at Yale may be a credible applicant, no one should have the illusion that they are a “lock” at an elite school. Most of us adults who have gone through college admissions cycles with our kids were astounded to learn how much the landscape had changed from our own application days. Every spring, we read about double legacies rejected from elite alma maters. </p>

<p>The OP sounds like a very grounded, thoughtful, sensible student, and I wish her well with the added stress of the divorce on top of college apps. </p>

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<p>“Just as not every premed student is the same (some major in music, philosophy, Classics- so they aren’t picking the cheapest school from which to apply to Med school, they are picking the best educational environment for them to flourish in their intellectual pursuits independent of Med school), not every physician is the same.”
-Yes, any major will do for Med. School and any combo of major(s)/minor(s), it does not matter. And the same goes for the UG, which ahs absolutely nothing to do with the specific student’s intellectual pusuit (which im my D’s case was to paly it down, she had enough of the personal push without push from anybody, while for many others, it is to paly it up). On the other note, those who need any intellectual push and not a self-reliant person, much more likely than not, will not get in, no matter hwere they are. Actually this type most likely than not will not get into Ivy’s / Elite UG, so it is not clear at all what we are discussion here. Everybody knows that the cream of the crop who gets in at the very selective places (for god sake, including very selective HS’s) are NOT the kind who needs any type of outside intellectual push, they have enough of it within. They are also engaged in a variety of activities and are getting educated outside of academics anyway.<br>
So, if Ivy / Elite fits personally and financially, and a dream of the life time, go for Ivy / Elite. If not (and most peope here do not have unlimited resources to pay for both UG and Med. School), then choose whatever, you will find plenty, PLENTY of kids on your own standing and higher and absolutely any place and plenty of very rigorous classes which are more frequently taught by profs and not TAs at state publics than Elite college (another point), because Elites are gaining their status a lot from the Research Grants and guess what is primary focus of the faculty there?
I guarantee that no Ivy can afford having 3 profs in the class at the same time (as in one of D’s UG classes) each teaching their subspecialty of this class. Nope, they are busy producing results for their research.</p>

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<p>Students attend different schools for different reasons. I have a wealthy former HS classmate from Chicago that has 3 kids - one chose UW-Madison, one chose UICU, and one chose Purdue.</p>