Which school do you think I should attend?

College Search & Selection
1

For various reasons, I will not be disclosing the name of my prospective universities.
I am having trouble choosing between two colleges and would love some input from this community! My parents have told me that it’s up to me, but I know that my dad lowkey has the final say as he is the one paying for my education.

I unexpectedly got accepted into my dream school. This school has everything I wanted in terms of the academics and student life. They offer many volunteer opportunities, alumni connections, and internships, which is good as I’m aiming to go to medical school! However, it is very expensive (~$40k/year) and I would have to take loans out to cover my rooming costs. I’ll most likely accumulate $200k+ debt with medical school (regardless of which school I go to) on top of what I have after undergrad if I go here, so I’m unsure as to what I should do. The pre-med directors there and STEM program is great, very very well known for their nursing program, too!! And, many of the alumni have gone off to top 10 medical schools. Although it is an out-of-state (private) school, I have lived in that area before so it offers both familiarity and a new environment at the same time. When I visited, the school had a very tight knit community, which is an aspect that I find important. I would gain so much more independence as well. Going to this school could open many doors for me in terms of medical schools as my goal is to go to NYU and into a higher paying specialty. I’ve been doing a lot of research on personal finance and the White Coat Investor in order to see how other med. students have paid off their debt. So far, it’s not as difficult to pay off the debt as I had originally believed, but obviously it’s still hard to owe that much and would require a lot of sacrifice.

My second option is in-state and private. It has roughly the same population as my first choice, but I’d have to commute with my brother and work around his class schedule as he usually takes really late or early classes. The commute is about an hour and there’s ZERO possibility of rooming. However, the school is located right next to a lot of medical and research centers, so it’d be easier for me to get my volunteer hours. Its STEM program isn’t as great and a lot of students (and my brother) have told me that it is difficult to get involved in school activities as a commuter. On top of this, there aren’t many extracurriculars that are offered in the first place and I’d love to experience living apart from my family. The cost is significantly lower (~10k/year), I’d come out of my undergrad debt free, and medical schools here are required to accept ~90% of all applicants, so there’s a safety net, but it’d be more difficult to gain acceptance into out-of-state medical schools like NYU.

I would really love to have some fun and experience college life before I head off to medical school and into all of that stress. For that reason and many many more, I am leaning towards my dream school and willing to accumulate that debt as I will have tons of it no matter where I go, so might as well…? I really cannot imagine myself at the other school for the next 4 years.

2

You can only borrow ~$5500/year. Are your parents going to co-sign for the rest? What would the total debt be for the first school?

An hour commute one way every day is harsh. It will be more difficult if you’re working around your brother’s schedule. You need top grades to be eligible for med school. If your parents will co-sign loans for college would they get you a car so you can commute and set your own schedule?

3

They most likely will. The total debt for the first school would come around ~$60k total by the end of all four years. I have my own car, but it’s more convenient if I travel with my brother because the drive there is difficult, the drivers in my city are aggressive, and it cuts down on gas costs as quoted by my parents. I would probably take an Uber/Lyft when I volunteer at the hospitals nearby and take out 0 loans if I choose to attend the my second option. I completely agree that a two hour commute each day is harsh and my brother has gotten home as late as 12 AM as he waited out the long traffic hours or frequent storms we have here.

4

How much is room and board at the school close to you? Seems like it would still be cheaper than your unaffordable dream school.

5

Live your dream. Then see what your dad says. After that it’s a negotiation.

6

You can’t borrow that $60k on your own. You can only borrow a grand total of $27k over the four years with the federal loans. Your parents would need to co-sign for the difference or they would need to borrow themselves without you co-signing.

With two of you at that local university, your family might come out ahead by finding a place for you and your brother to live near campus. Is that possible at all? Your brother is usually taking really early and late classes for a reason. Those might be the only sections that he could get a space in. So you might find yourself in the same situation. Ask him about that. If you both have crazy schedules, all the more reason to try to come up with a place to live for at least part of the week near campus. Lots of students in my area commute to colleges and universities near hear. Many of them make friends with students who live on campus, or in apartments near campus, and so have places to crash when it gets late or they need to be there super early. If you are sociable, you might find that that is possible for you too.

7

Even small towns or overcrowded college towns have 2bedroom apartments for rent, especially right now, definitely for family members (in many college towns, there’s usually a clause against non related people living together which may make renting harder for college students except those in your situation).
So, first, investigate 2-bedroom family rentals around college B. With 2 kids in College it’d likely be worth it for your parents, especially due to the long drive in at times treacherous conditions.

Haven’t you gotten into any other college?

8

Yes they would most likely co-sign. There is no possibility of finding a place nearby as we recently invested in some property. My brother has told me that he just prefers having the afternoon open by taking the earlier/later classes. I do consider myself a very social person, so making friends isn’t the biggest concern I have!

9

We may look into that! I have gotten into 7 other colleges, but those were ruled out for various reasons such as the higher cost. This coming fall will be my brother’s last year in college and then he’ll head off to graduate school somewhere, so the plan was for me to commute with him during the first year for experience and then drive myself the following year. At this time, it just doesn’t make sense for us to get a place nearby college B with him leaving after my first year.

10

Commuting, especially considering your goals (which will require you to be on campus or near campus extensively), especially with the treacherous weather… really is suboptimal.
Without the name of “Dream school”, we can’t evaluate if it’s worth it to borrow for rooming costs and without your EFC or other information nor the rooming costs you’d have to borrow, it’s hard to evaluate whether it’d cause an undue burden on your family or if they could weather it.
It’s especially complicated because as a premed you should be involved with on campus activities (volunteering especially) where you’ll need to be seriously involved by junior year, which would require you being there all day long. Also, as a parent, I’d be very worried about you driving at midnight after a full day of classes and work and labs and study groups.
BUT most students whose intention is to be premed don’t make it into med school so should you decide based on med school? If you change your mind and switch to another major or goal, then you might not have to stay on campus as much. Then of course, you’re thinking of not borrowing for dream school because you’re worried about borrowing for med school, but if like most students you don’t actually make it to med school will you feel you should have attended dream school since you sacrificed it for a dream that didn’t come true?

If one of the 7 colleges you got into is less expensive than dream school but allows you to live on campus, wouldn’t it be a good compromise?

11

OP, you understand that when posters suggest “getting a place” they mean renting, not buying right?

And, if your family’s debt load from buying the investment property is too heavy to leave room to help with rent, will they have the ability to co-sign a loan for school A?

The fact that your brother would only be your flatmate for one year is entirely irrelevant. There is a whole world of student rentals out there- joining a share house near school B, for example.

12

OP wrote: “medical schools here are required to accept about 90% of all applicants”.

13

I saw that, @Publisher- and think the “required” part is so unlikely that. it must be missing part of the sentence (eg, “…from in-state”., which would mean a 10% cap on OOS students).

14

@collegemom3717: Thank you.

My pre-morning coffee read left me confused.

15

You need to go cheap, cheap, cheap for your undergrad (wherever that may be) because if you plan to go to medical school, you have to pay rent there and feed yourself along with paying those crazy fees. Don’t have your parents take out crazy loans because you have to pay those back and they accumulate INTEREST. Don’t do this to your parents. Even though you think it’s easy, it is not. Some loans are due 6 months after you graduate. It really depends on the lender.

At your undergrad college, your focus has to be your coursework because med school is so competitive. We’ve gone through this with our daughter, and her friends. You will be on campus at all hours with your study groups and volunteer clinics. That mean’s renting a place and not buying it. It doesn’t matter if it’s only for a year because you will find roommates for the next three years.

You will need to have letters of recommendation from professors, clinical directors, and lab supervisors, so you really need to live near or on campus. The best “jobs” on campus require interviews and if you don’t have actual “lab” experience, you will not be hired for those “volunteered or paid” positions. My daughter was accepted into a med school, for pharmacology, and was fortunate because she had biotech classes in high school where she learned how to operate test equipment. She then worked at my friend’s vet office- learning how to sterilize and autoclave instruments, preparing injection fluids, practicing sterile cleaning procedures, conducting intake procedures, while practicing universal precautions. Plus, she’s bilingual, so when she interviewed for lab or clinical positions, she was always the first choice.

You are making these “easy” plans for something you have limited control over and need to be aware that a lot of students don’t get into med school.

Most of my daughter’s friends graduated and studied for the MCATs for a year. Most people can’t do that effectively while completing undergrad coursework, and you need to support yourself (or your parents will) while “working” in a medical facility, in an area that “stands out”, and is conducive to a med school application.
A lot of my dd’s classmates didn’t get into med school because there are only so many med schools and there are too many strong applicants.

Focus on an affordable school where you can be readily on campus to meet with your study groups and get your clinical experiences.
Commuting, in harsh weather, will put you so behind in your coursework because you will miss crucial course information in any class or study group.

16

Yes, sorry that is what I meant. Let me clarify, medical schools here are required by law to admit ~90% of in-state applicants.

17

@“aunt bea” I am very well aware of the difficulties of getting into med. school and I believe about less than 42% of last year’s applicants were admitted. I understand the investments that are needed to make it and had also began preparing my education in high school as your daughter did! I understand that the realities of getting in are difficult, and apologize if I implied it was easy in some way :slight_smile: I know plans are inevitable to change and have some experience with that, but I wanted to provide the outline I’d come up with for more context as to what my goals were and have made some backup plans in the case I don’t get admitted. I’d honestly just be grateful to any medical school that would accept me. I, too, have a few family members in the healthcare profession to help guide me along this path! Thanks for your point on the renting aspects (I know we wouldn’t be purchasing it, I just wanted to note my parents may not be ready to allocate money towards more property)!! I have also been studying up and getting more information on loans. That’s the main reason I haven’t committed to my first choice as I’ve come to understand the burdens of that over the past couple of months. It’s not something I’m going to take lightly, especially if it hinders my younger siblings of their future educational endeavors. If I had thought they were easy, I definitely would’ve committed a looooong time ago.

18

My exact dilemma and that’s definitely something I’m considering. I do hope to take on grad. school regardless of what I pursue, though!

19

Absolutely go to your dream school! Do not live at home, commuting with your brother and having fewer options for all the pre-med activities that will shape you. You will have loans for medical school, but there are several loan forgiveness programs, or perhaps you will go into a speciality and easily pay them off. Or you will meet another doctor to marry and you will both earn enough to dispense of your debt. or Bernie Snders will get elected and student debt will be forgiven. I think you only go to college once, and this is your dream school. Go for it!

20

If you can’t rent a place, is it possible for you and your brother to compromise on schedules? For example, going in the morning and just staying the whole day, and whenever one of you has free time you can go to the library or a nearby cafe, or even taking a nap in the car? That would give you time for jobs, internships, volunteer experience, etc.

And if thats’ not possible, is it possible for you to take a train or some other public transportation to campus? If there’s a train station near your house, you’ll probably be able to take it to somewhere near your campus and walk/uber the rest of the way.