Hey guys,
I’m currently in need of some much needed advice. Recently, I got accepted to USC for Biology, and I was also admitted into UCI for their honors program (also for Bio). Though I know USC has a larger alumni network and I get free tuition, I’m still debating whether or not USC is still worth the cost. I’m a prospective pre-med student hoping to become a general surgeon. Any advice helps!
What is your COA at both schools? And how much debt would you have to take on for UG? This is important because medical school costs a lot of money with few scholarships/grants so it’s mostly funded with loans.
Free tuition is better than paying for it. I vote for USC.
I forgot to mention, I’m a highschool senior going into undergrad
Yes, but what’s the total cost per year for each school?
What is your net price at each?
Debt at each?
Medical school at an in-state UC is probably around $70-75k per year ($280-300k total), but those few who get admitted to a medical school typically have only one admission (out of 15-30 applications), so they cannot choose a lower cost one, so you should expect to pay about $100k per year ($400k total) for medical school if you get in. So you do not want to take a lot of undergraduate debt along for the ride, and if you can save money in undergraduate to reduce the medical school debt, that can help.
Also, biology does not have that high paying bachelor’s degree job prospects, so avoiding debt also means that if you do not get into medical school, you will avoid struggling to pay off the debt on the pay level of those with biology bachelor’s degrees.
UCI is ~$10k per year and USC is ~$20k per year, and I haven’t taken into account financial aid (FAFSA).