<p>You can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Its USC for me on a trustee scholarship, forget the long, cold winters of the IV league. Plus, compare LA to any city most IV league schools are in- no comparison. Columbia is basically in Harlem, and you should visit if you have questions. If you got a scholarship to USC and nothing but loans at Columbia- it’s a no brainer. Fight on! Ever hear of Columbia excelling in any sport? Ever hear about USC football or 230+ Olympic medal winners-more than ANY other college?</p>
<p>Dave61 - Of course she should go to USC and save $200K. I graduated medical school in 1989 as did my husband. He went to UCSD and I went to Loyola Chicago for undergraduate. As per the previous comments, where you do your undergraduate is not that important if you do well (top GPA and MCAT scores) in your school of choice. With the same grades, a “better” undergraduate school might give you a more of a chance at a “better” medical school, but then after that you have to get a residency. It’s more about how good of a physician you are than where you went to undergraduate (my patients really don’t care - they never ask). </p>
<p>Also, can you humor the readers of this tread by posting your D’s stats? I want to know what it takes to get into Stanford (my D was rejected EA), USC with scholarship (my daughter is spring admit), and Ivy’s (didn’t try).</p>
<p>I am also a doctor. Even if obamacare is repealed, taking out loans for undergraduate work is insane if you want to go to medical school. There will be no way to pay back these loans on TOP of medical school loans! You might be talking 400K of debt! USC is a top 25 school and amazing. my bias is my son turned down Harvard…Vandy…UVA Echols program,…money at multiple other schools including UNC CH…and I am totally east coast person( WFU/UNC/ Georgetown) my son plans on grad school…maybe med school…just do the math…calculate your loan payments As someone else said, in medicine, you are only as good as the last place you trained. Good luck!</p>
<p>I was a trustee finalist bumped to presidential, and I plan on attending Columbia or UChicago in the fall (leaning toward Chicago). The two were my dream schools, and I’m very happy and lucky to have been admitted-- that being said, the “rejection” from USC really hurt, especially falling in love after ExploreUSC. Congratulations to your daughter, she has two amazing choices where she can’t go wrong. I agree with the other posters; especially if she’s planning on grad school, consider the scholarship! Getting the Mork is amazing.</p>