midmo

Obviously Vanderbilt is not free, and even if you can convince them to make it one of the full tuition, you will still be paying some fees and r/b. (Did you fill out the scholarship application for one of the full tuition merit awards?) One of the advantages of the full tuition is that the award goes up with increases in tuition, so there are no nasty surprises there after freshman year. As for tactics, if I were you, I would send an e-mail asking for a phone appointment to talk with someone in the financial aid/merit scholarship office--if I'm not mistaken they are the same office for some questions. Politely explain the financial aspects of your offer at NU, and mention that you are a bit disappointed that your merit offer was not one of the Cornelius Vanderbilt full tuition awards, since that would make your decision easier. If you didn't bother to apply for the Cornelius Vanderbilt awards, this is not likely to go over well. They aren't going to spend a lot of energy on you if they don't believe you are seriously considering them, and that would include, I think, plans to visit and check out your options.

It seems to me you can't do much, though, until you get specifics from Northwestern about their financial aid offer.

I happen to think 200K sounds like a lot of debt, for anyone. But talk to middle aged physicians for their opinion. They would have a better idea of how long it will be before you have the salary to pay off a debt like this.

One more purely personal opinion. Seven years sounds to me like a long, long time commitment for someone just finishing high school. I know these are popular programs, and very prestigious, but it seems like a big loss of potential freedom to change your mind--even at a great school in the best city in the U.S.

Good luck with your decision. All in all, a good set of choices. Congratulations.

Pizzagirl

icy: I've thought it would be interesting to know in general what college spots would go for on eBay. Suppose those who had been admitted to a school and had decided to attend another could sell their slot to someone -- let's make it someone on the waitlist, so we can ensure academic qualifications as opposed to Paris Hilton buying her way into Harvard (heaven forbid). What *would* the market be? That might be an interesting way to ascertain the rarity and value. Someone can start an online game to this effect!

hawkette

pizzagirl,
Who's going to provide the financial aid to pay for the Ebay bids?? (Actually, I think it is a very clever idea)

To the OP,
I'm not sure what value I can add, but I know that there are plenty of students who would love to be in your position. I was having this exact debate with relatives in Chicago who are docs and who attended Northwestern Med School. Their incliination is to send their own offspring to the State U and save the money for the much more expensive med school. And they would rely on the child's (high) ability to produce as an undergrad to get the GPA and the MCATs to reach that top med school, NU or otherwise. I'm normally more undergraduate-sensitive than this and particularly when highly regarded colleges like Princeton, NU, and Vanderbilt are in the mix, but in this example, I think they are probably employing the right strategy.

As for the choice straight-up between these three colleges, Princeton wins hands down on the prestige-meter (but only because it's Princeton but the other two are pretty darn prestigious in their own backyards), but after that, there isn't a lot of difference in the academic experience you'll have at each and you will undoubtedly have a superb undergraduate experience at any of the three.

lvilleslacker

go with nu.

you can't imagine how much better it is to go through school without having to stress so much about gpa/test grades and being able to take the courses/major that you want. a lot of people have to tailor their entire undergraduate curriculum just to play the med school game - the emphasis on numbers in med school admissions was enough to cause me to drop out of premed, as my triple major would interfere with my chances.

with guaranteed admission, you'll be able to get the undergrad education you want and enjoy it much more than you would elsewhere.
(but only if you're sure about being a doctor! ~150k debt will be nothing to pay off if you become a surgeon)

hawkette

lvilleslacker,
Have you ever had to pay off $150k in debt?

Do you know what has happened to salaries of medical professionals, including surgeons, in the last decade?

hitmeandmyfriend

MIDMO, I did apply for the cornelius scholarship, and the freshman ENGAGE program...i didn't get either one, but vanderbilt should know that I'm serious about attending

also, regarding the 200K in debt, I have talked to many middle-aged professionals, and they say that this sort of debt is very common among doctors...with student loan interest rates being held constant, and loans not having to be paid off until after residencies, I guess that this debt is easier to pay off than it seems...even tho it sucks knowing you're 200K in the hole

Hanna

"they say that this sort of debt is very common among doctors"

I agree that it's common. I don't agree that it's easier to pay off than it seems. If anything, it's tougher to pay off than it seems. Also, firmly deciding at age 17 that you will want to be a surgeon when you're 26 is questionable, to say the least...what will you do if you fall in love with a specialty that doesn't pay as much, or if you don't get the surgery residency you want?

hitmeandmyfriend

Well, I guess thats a chance I would have to take...also, the HPME is non-binding, so even if I decide I don't wanna go to med school, I still am going to a school i really like

hawkette

I think your point about being at a school you like even if you opt out of the medical school path is an important one. Sounds like you like NU perhaps best of the three anyway, so that makes that choice a little easier.

I would agree with Hanna that paying off several hundred thousand dollars of debt is not fun. And I think you may want to look a little more closely at the pay trends in the medical field. God knows what it will be when/if you finally get there a decade from now, but chances are it won't be better than it is right now. And if certain politicians have their way, it could be much worse.

Pizzagirl

"Their incliination is to send their own offspring to the State U and save the money for the much more expensive med school. And they would rely on the child's (high) ability to produce as an undergrad to get the GPA and the MCATs to reach that top med school, NU or otherwise. I'm normally more undergraduate-sensitive than this and particularly when highly regarded colleges like Princeton, NU, and Vanderbilt are in the mix, but in this example, I think they are probably employing the right strategy."

I agree that in the Chicago area, many highly educated parents themselves prefer the strategy of UIUC for undergrad and save the money for the grad school. Like you, Hawkette, I tend to think it's worth going whole hog for undergrad too, but I can appreciate their thinking.

icy9ff8

According to a 2008 book on medical schools (I am not sure of the title or publisher, but it may have been a USNews publication), after expenses (including malpractice insurance) the top three highest paid doctors--by specialty-- were anesthesiologist, radiologist, and--in third place--surgeons. The highest paid averaged about $340,000 per year after expenses. Radiologists & surgeons averaged less than $280,000 per year after expenses. These are national averages. Of course, among surgeons there are specialties with substantially higher incomes-- such as heart surgeons.

schrizto

Northwestern's HPME is pretty sweet, but I've heard their financial aid isn't all that great. That said, it's probably easier to have a social life there than at Vandy or Princeton considering all you have to do is meet a set of requirements.

midmo

Slightly off topic, perhaps, but I must say, I find all the comments about how the OP will find it hard to have a social life at Vanderbilt as a premed pretty ironic, given that there are a lot of premeds at Vanderbilt and it is well known as a school with a pretty lively social scene.

To be honest, based on my son's rigorous course schedule (not a premed), I am of the opinion that the party-hearty rep is exaggerated, at least for some majors. Perhaps we on cc will have to adopt a new stereotype for Vanderbilt.

Back on topic:
Many of my middle-aged doctor friends, some in private practice, some on the faculty at Big State U, are sending their kids to public in-state schools for undergrad. One radiologist paid for private undergrad, but then advised his son to reject the medical school admission to Vanderbilt in favor of the lower cost state univ. med school because the final debt load would have been too high by the end of medical school.

Sam Lee

^is state univ. med school means in-state univ. med school?

How about looking from the following angle?

1. if OP plans (knowing NU med school is gonna be too much of a debt burden) to go to in-state univ med school, then obviously HPME becomes meaningless. so the decision becomes
Vandy (76K) vs Princeton (140K)

2. if OP wants to go to a med school like NU's or similar ones, the decision becomes
HPME (105K-123K) vs Princeton (140K).
Vandy drops out because the cost for NU undergrad is gonna be between 105K and 123K. It's only 30K-50K higher than Vandy but you got the guarantee to NU med school and also you get out a year earlier which means you can start paying off debt sooner.

3. if the OP decides not to pursue medicine, then it's the same as #1. But we don't know if this will happen!

LOL! This brings back memory of my decision analysis class at Stanford...

nervedoctor

Just a middle aged MD perspective: If you are concerned about debt, there are medical jobs that will pay off your loans up to 200,000 if you do research or underserved population work for 3-5 years. Some of these jobs are in prestigious research institutions.
PS:
If you want to work off debt, it really helps to delay having children because care costs and responsibility are such that either the mother stays home and foregoes her salary, you put the child in daycare for a minimum of 300/week, or hire a 30-40K plus nanny per year. I love children but am glad that I had no debt by mid 30s to pay for top quality care and education.