<p>Do you need to attend a top college at an obscene tuition? I really just aim to become an MD, not a PhD. So, even if I am qualified for admissions to top colleges, would it be financially wiser to attend my state school/private school at a reasonable tuition (in fact, I'd get full tuition at Rutgers)? I've heard that practicing physicians need not attend a top undergrad/med school in order to be successful. Is there any advantage at all (for people intending to become physicians) to attend top colleges? Thx</p>
<p>If your goal is simply to become a doctor, you definitely need not attend a highly prestigious college. I am pretty sure that most doctors went to their state U’s, some of which are a a lot less prestigious than others.</p>
<p>Where ever you may go, it is important to do well in your courses, acquire some knowledge of what medical practice will be like, engage in other activities that make you look interesting.</p>
<p>If it is going to cost you a fortune to go to one school, vs much less somewhere else, it will be almost impossible for the the higher priced place to be worth it. Unless there is something drastically wrong with the cheaper college, it is almost certain to be the better choice. The money you save will come in handy when you are in med school.</p>
<p>It’s funny because on one hand, that’s the answer that I wanted to hear; but, on the other, a part of me wanted there to be a justification for attending a top college other than the feeling of pride and accomplishment that accompanies it. </p>
<p>The whole idea that it would be a better decision to attend my state school at no cost makes me ask myself: “Why the hell am I trying so hard in HS then?” </p>
<p>Anyway…Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>Because you do have to work at least somewhat hard to get scholarships so that you attend at no cost.</p>
<p>Rutgers requires a certain minimum GPA (not too high) and a minimum 1500 M/CR SAT score for their full-tuition scholarship…that’s it…that means much of the other stuff I’ve done (overloading on APs, solid EC involvement) is somewhat pointless.</p>
<p>You’re better as a student and probably better with time management for having done all those things.</p>
<p>Op, why limit yourself to Rutgers? Why not try some other full-tuition or better UG’s? WashU, Vandy, Furman, Tulane, USC, UMiami, Pitt, and several very good LAC’s offer at least a few scholarships that make the costs reasonable (or zero) for a WOW kid. Do you really think it’s a waste? Hopefully you won’t let college fly by without doing something academically just for fun or just for you, evn if it doesn’t fit in a playbook. My high stat science nerd kid now has her sights set on a Religious Studies Minor. I didn’t see that one coming. 
Hopefully something will blow your skirt up, too.</p>
<p>WashU, Vandy, USC are pretty good schools but I wouldn’t leave the East Coast to attend them nor do I think I’d qualify for any great scholarship at any of them (maybe USC, though I’d assume they’d favor in-state applicants anyway). I don’t view Furman, Tulane, UMiami, or Pitt as worth me passing up full tuition at Rutgers quite honestly (there are certain other advantages to my staying around here = new BMW offered by my parents etc). </p>
<p>Another question: Would any of you guys (who are intent on becoming physicians) honestly consider or have gone forward with this particular course of action? Why or why not?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>If your parents can afford to get you a new BMW…chances are pretty damn high you can afford a private school. Why the hell are you worrying about finances?</p>
<p>And USC is private.</p>
<p>And Furman,Tulane,Miami and Pitt can easily be considered better than Rutgers. And Pitt’s full tuition scholarship is easy to get.</p>
<p>I’ve never been offered a brand new BMW, so I can’t help you.</p>
<p>For raw career goals, I think there’s three reasons to go to a top school, and none of them is overwhelming. First, they often provide you with better extracurricular opportunities, particular in research fields. Second and more importantly, you get more of a GPA-cushion. Third, if you change your mind, top-ranked schools help you retain flexibility.</p>
<p>I think there’s a lot more to a college education than that, and I think it’s profoundly – profoundly – shortsighted to give up something like that for a car. It depends on the school we’re talking about, of course. Rutgers is a fine place. But there are some communities – academic families, really – that will broaden and enrich your growth as a person vastly beyond anything they provide you in actual career benefits. These schools will vary from person to person, but there will be some places at which you can grow much more powerfully and profoundly than others. If Rutgers happens to be the place, well and good! If Yale, then why on earth would you think about the car?</p>
<p>If you miss out on this because of a car… well, in that case, maybe you don’t really belong there anyway. And goodness! Schools like this are worth traveling for! Are you so narrow-minded about geography? Seeing more of the country is a bonus to programs like these, not a cost!</p>
<p>And, from what I’ve seen, my classmates from high-powered undergrads have adjusted to medical school much more easily.</p>
<p>If you are going to fit in as a premed, med student, resident, and doctor, then working hard for its own sake, and delaying gratification had better be integral to your personality. If not, you are aiming at the wrong field. </p>
<p>I can’t judge your priorities, although, like BDM, they do strike me as strange. People do fine in med school from all sorts of colleges. The pure academic preparation can be had at hundreds of colleges across the country. </p>
<p>I do agree that drastically limiting your choices, without good reason, seems short sighted. For example, most college students do not have cars. Most don’t need them. Take a longer view. </p>
<p>Now, for all I know, there may be some good reason, that is none of my business, why staying local is important, and if so, then by all means do what is best for you and your family, and don’t worry that it will keep you out of med school. Just keep your priorities straight.</p>
<p>ok, I think I was definitely misinterpreted…I’m not choosing a BMW over the chance to go to a top school (why would anyone do that!!!). I’m thinking about choosing my state school over a top school…that’s it…that’s the bottom line. As an added incentive to choose that path, my parents have offered me a BMW (which would amount to only about 1 yr’s worth of tuition/costs or probably even less at a top college). I really do want to consider JHU/UPenn/Columbia, but my whole point is that it might not be worth it. My parents’ income bracket is comfortable enough…but, with the exorbitant costs of (certain) undergrads and (most) med schools, I’m trying to decide if it’s wiser to choose to save undergrad. At least in my case, if I choose to save money undergrad, then I will choose Rutgers (it’s not a bad school…I’ve been doing an unpaid research internship there over the summers and I’d be happy to attend). In any case, I figure that the fewer debts I need to pay off after my education is through, the better. </p>
<p>As a side note…I like cars…the BMW would end up being a slightly enhanced graduation present or something because my parents know I really want one. If I go to a top school… the education is my (really enhanced) graduation present. I’m indifferent as to receiving the car…but, I still feel like there must be some worth to the top-flight education. Hundred of thousands of people before me have chosen to attend top undergrads while intending to become practicing physicians…they couldn’t have all had it wrong…Thanks for the comments though, I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Its more about risk analysis than it is about net cost. Say person A paid twice as much as person B in order to be a doctor with person B incurring a 50% chance of not making it to medschool while person A incurred a 10% chance. So its obvious that person A got the better deal even though he had to pay a higher net cost because the risk that he incurred was much lower. Often we pay to be insured. So why not do the same with undergrad?</p>
<p>I see your point, but I’ve also heard it said a lot on this forum that it’s not so much the school as it is the student that affects the outcome of medical school admissions.</p>
<p>In game theory, “risk” is highest when the probability of an outcome is near 50%. 10% is not risky, it’s just bad.</p>
<p>Well, then, judging by the admission rates of some schools, we can say that the chances are just bad.</p>
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<p>True to an degree. But we can’t ignore the differences between schools.Look at it this way, in sociology, we know that some backgrounds generate better social capital than others. E.g, if two kids had the same IQ, then the one being born into a family with a higher social and educational status will be likely to fall in the same echelon while the latter will not reach the same status as the former. The same goes for the undergraduate institution one attends. Going to a better school means better academics, ECs, social networks etc. All these things matter.</p>