<p>Which is a better option?</p>
<p>It depends. </p>
<p>What major? </p>
<p>Are there any financial considerations? (like incurring large debt to attend one school over the other)</p>
<p>Biology major. Got 9k to go to rochester and 5k a year to go to maryland out of state. Plan on going to med school, so debt is debt whether it is 100k or 200k</p>
<p>Debt is NOT debt when it comes to med school!!</p>
<p>There are lifetime loan limits for federal loan programs. If you max out your loan limit as an undergrad, you won’t be able to get additional loans to attend med school. </p>
<p>(And believe me there is very, very little FA for med school except for loans. I know. I have one D in med school and another applying!)</p>
<p>Additionally if you take out large private loans for undergrad your credit rating will suffer and you won’t be able to take out ANY loans–private or federal–to pay for med school. How much would it suck to get accepted then not be able to go because you can’t pay for it?</p>
<p>The average indebtedness for medical students upon completion of med school is over $120,000 for med school alone. (Assuming they attend their state med school. At private med schools, it’s even higher.) Add to that another $100,000 in high interest private loans and you will paying off $3500.00+ a month for the next 25 years–and you still might not have fully repaid those loans.</p>
<p>Doctors may make a good income, but very few doctors can afford that kind of debt.</p>
<p>Also as a doctor, you will not be making a huge salary straight out of med school. You will first have a mandatory year of internship (salary–typically $30,000-35,000/yr) followed by 1-7 years of residency and fellowships (salary–typically $38,000-$45,000/yr)</p>
<p>UMD is a great school. UR is great school. But BOTH schools are too expensive for someone who plans to go to medical school. You really need a less expensive option.</p>
<p>WOWM, you’re jumping to a conclusion. My bet is the amounts listed were merit awards. Or they mean the family can afford to pay and the debt won’t be wholly the student’s for college. </p>
<p>But if the numbers are debt for college taken on by this kid, then I agree a cheaper school is a really, really good idea.</p>
<p>I see so many kids assuming that becoming a doctor will mean they can pay off huge debt once they get thru med school. It doesn’t work that way. It really doesn’t.</p>
<p>Pre meds are advised to minimize undergrad debt. Only borrowing to Stafford UG limits at the most.</p>
<p>If the family is paying–then it’s a different case, but that’s not what the student seems to be indicating.</p>
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<p>family is paying.</p>
<p>There is a huge size difference between UR and Maryland plus a hundred other differences that are subjective. Like do you care about Division 1 athletics? Do you want a school where it’s much easier to be involved in large number of things? Thing about UR is that it’s a small university; it has the resources of a much larger school but is 5k undergrad. That means the school is large enough that you don’t get sick of everyone but small enough that you can at least recognize everyone and can know a large number. It means that clubs and interests can connect you to a wide cross-section.</p>
<p>I have nothing against large schools. Just pointing out there is a difference.</p>
<p>UMD is more diverse school with a much wider range of students, course offerings, course instructors, activities, sports and things to do off campus. (And Div 1 ACC basketball–it is almost worth going to the school for that reason alone.) Honors college students do get special perks–like early registration for classes and first choice for housing. There is a broader range of research going on at UMD than UR. At UMD, you have access to DC and all the culture and politic that entails. But it will be more difficult to get into medical volunteering at UMD since the nearby hospitals aren’t particularly close to campus.</p>
<p>UR is a smaller, less diverse school with more limited course offerings. However, it has excellent funding for medical research and the med school hospital is literally across the street–which makes it easy to access if you want to volunteer there. It less difficult to get lost in the crowd at UR than at UMD and probably easier to make personal contact with your instructors. At UR, you won’t get any special perks.</p>
<p>At both schools, you will have large lectures for intro level courses–though UR’s large lecture are around 200-250 while UMD may be even larger.</p>