<p>$80,000 in debt will be really tough if you do not get into medical school (most pre-meds do not get into any medical school). Even engineering or CS majors would find that to be a heavy burden.</p>
<p>Even if you do get into medical school, that $80,000 will be added to $280,000 or so of medical school debt for a total of $360,000.</p>
<p>Even at physician pay levels, as listed at <a href=“Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines - Today on Medscape”>Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines - Today on Medscape; , that is still a lot of debt to pay off. That debt can pressure you into seeking the highest paying medical specialty, even if you would rather do one of the lower paying ones.</p>
<p>Obviously, $160,000 of undergraduate debt is worse than $80,000 of undergraduate debt.</p>