<p>My EFC for Rice is significant (we'd have to take out loans), but manageable, not completely terrible. My EFC for Bing though is pretty insignificant and extremely, extremely affordable. I haven't visited either school, and can't because of time/school/transportation fares. I'm from NYC. I'm still not sure what I want to study or do after college but I am leaning towards the premed track/med school. I'm concerned about the cost of med school; that's what's drawing me to the cheaper option, Bing. Should this be a real concern? Or will the professional salary make paying off med school/UG school debt bearable, and, in that case, I should choose Rice?</p>
<p>Things I like about Rice:
Houston, weather, down to earth, friendly, diverse student body, great for premeds, research opportunities, small class sizes/community feel, prestige</p>
<p>Why I wouldn't HATE Bing if I went there:
Social scene, decent academics, big school so lots of new people and never feel suffocated, cheap! - I know I wouldn't be putting a strain on my family to pay for my education</p>
<p>I am already discussing it with my family but any input would be appreciated especially from people with experience trading up prestige for economy or vice versa and experience with paying for medical school w/ or w/out UG debt.</p>
<p>If you are 100% set on going to med school, go to bing and work your ass off to get a high gpa. However, Rice is a MUCH better school and if there’s any doubt in your mind about what you want to do, you’re better off there.</p>
<p>I faced a somewhat similar decision in my senior year. I was accepted to a good school in Washington DC (a city I’ve wanted to live in for a very long time) and Binghamton. I got no financial aid so I would have needed loans to go to the DC school. I knew I was applying to law school and I eventually decided it wasn’t worth the money in loans to go to DC. Binghamton is a great school (it was about equal to the DC school in terms of academic quality) and if you plan on going to grad/professional school at all, I would suggest going to Binghamton, saving a ton of money and getting a kick-@ss GPA.</p>
<p>^Are you happy at Bing? Are most of the other kids happy? How’s college life there? I actually don’t know much about Bing aside from its reputation.</p>
<p>I’m happy at Bing. Most of the people I know are very satisfied here (Bing has a pretty high retention rate, meaning not many are transferring out). You should check out the other threads on this board that talk about live at Bing… They are really informative. In general, Bing is what you make of it- there is no coddling in academics and you need to find a good group of friends to make it great. But once you do, it’s awesome.</p>
<p>Go to bing if you are thinking about going to grad school. I love it here, and was in the same boat when deciding. Bing was actually my last choice. NEver thought I would be saying how much I love Binghamton 4 years later.</p>
<p>If you look on Student Doctor Network (great site for planning for med school) they will tell you that you should go for the cheaper option. You will most likely have to take massive loans for med school and there is no reason to do that for undergraduate.<br>
Getting into med school is all about GPA, MCAT scores and the right extra curriculars (volunteering in medicine, etc). You should look at what support pre-med students have there and also what volunteering/shadowing opportunities there are in the surrounding area.</p>
<p>Although it is a good institution, Rice does not have the credentials (as a university) that would make it worth taking out a crazy amount of loaned money to attend it instead of going to an “extremely, extremely affordable” (and academically strong) public university, like Binghamton.</p>