Going back and forth between Tulane and Michigan. I am well aware that Michigan is more prestigious and that is a big thing for me, as I worked hard in high school and am proud I was admitted to UM. The big negatives of UM are the zero financial aid for OOS and cold weather. Tulane’s cons would be its lower ranking and lack of Big Ten sports (though I know they have nice new stadium and happy students). Tulane’s offered me $27000 yearly scholarship. Want to major in history or political science and also take the prerequisite science courses and if do well in them maybe consider med school.
I am not so scared of graduating with huge debt (yes I know med school is costly!) if it can be paid back slowly over long period time. Haven’t done the math/interest yet but will I regret my choice or can the monthly payments always be negotiated to be a reasonable monthly payment (like a fancy car payment or another such luxury, which I will give up to go to UM)? Thanks for any advice.
You can only borrow ~$5500/year on your own. Are your parents saying they’ll cosign a loan for the full COA for Michigan each year for 4 years? You can’t assume they’ll qualify for all 4 years and it would be foolish to borrow that much anyway. And you intend to go to med school after? If that’s the case, I’d suggest taking on as little debt for your UG as possible.
“Want to major in history or political science and also take the prerequisite science courses and if do well in them maybe consider med school.”
for many years, Michigan’s political science has been ranked #1 to #4 in the country; there are few departments which are finer; in this case I would pick Michigan;
history for many years has been ranked #7 to #12 or so; in this case I would pick Michigan;
you mention science courses, but Michigan is competitive in the fields which you mention (i.e., history and poli-sci), so I question the likelihood of you managing those challenges in conjunction with very difficult science courses; I also question why you would mention those disciplines first while targeting medicine as your end state…it would seem that the knowledge and skills acquired thereunder would match more effectively with a trajectory toward law school, not medical school;
I actually made this exact decision last year, even the same scholarship amount. I can honestly say that choosing Michigan was the best decision of my life and definitely worth the money. If you have more specific questions feel free to message me.
Michigan is obviously the better university. Nobody is going to argue that. But no university is worth that much debt, particularly if you are premed, or intent on majoring in History. As appealing as the prestige of attending an elite university like Michigan is, it is not worth taking on a huge debt. If you are certain that the debt is manageable, go for Michigan. But if you feel like the debt will be too much, go for Tulane. It is a very good school in its own right.