[Part 1 of 2]
To those who were accepted, some things you might want to consider as you’re deciding among various options, including regular undergraduate programs:
- Ask if you can go back and take a tour of the UMKC medical school again. Unlike interview day, when you were probably tired from the very long day, and may not have been paying attention by that point w/a glazed look in your eyes, you now have the opportunity to really get a fresh look, take note, and understand the characteristics about the school, and get to see the school in a totally different mindset (interview day vs. now fact-finding). This time, you can might meet current med students along the way in which you can ask actual very real questions about the program one on one and get their honest and candid takes about the school. Or if they are relatively busy at that moment, you can maybe give them your email and phone number to talk with you later on in the week when they have time, after their work day – this is probably best as they can give you comprehensive answers then, rather than while a tour is going on. Remember, you’ve already gotten the acceptance at this point, that decision has been made. So now it’s just you finding out the nitty gritty about the school that you were either too afraid to ask on interview day for whatever reason, or I guess as some families did, decided they would put it off and wait until AFTER decisions were out to finally start asking questions – not exactly a great game plan, but if that’s you, you have a lot of work ahead of you to catch up. Remember with any combined program – you’re committing to 2 things at once as a high school senior – the undergraduate school and the attached medical school.
To those who will ask me whether as regional/out-of-state students is it worth it to do the tour again, I would say yes, on the condition, that you truly take advantage of asking current students your questions (so be prepared), especially those who are also regional/out-of-state, as their view will likely differ in significant ways from those who are in-state for a variety of reasons. UMKC med students are very friendly people (on average), so they’re more than happy to help those who are genuinely deciding whether to go the alternative route thru a combined program. Even for undergraduate institutions, people do “second looks” all the time, which happens also during the traditional medical school application process in which some have “second look” days, so this is not at all unusual.
- Financial Aid – your parents are probably looking very intently over these forms (some probably freaking out at the potential cost!). For those who are regional and out-of-state, you can find out from current regional/out-of-state students how likely it is that you’ll be able to get in-state tuition eventually, and if they know anyone who has been successful in doing so, whom you can also get in contact with or they can put you in contact with if you give them your email/number to find out what the requirements are. Ask what scholarships are available and how much it truly cuts at the total cost. If you’ve hired a financial analyst (as I recommended earlier in the thread), this will also be very helpful to navigate the financial aspect, with regards to what your total principal amount and total accrued interest thru the program would be, seeing when you’d have to start making student loan repayments and how much taking into account your budget and salary as a resident, calculating different life scenarios like eventually getting married or buying a house, student loan repayments based on certain govt. programs – PAYE, IBR, etc., what your loan repayments per month would be if, at a minimum, you matched into Family Medicine and did a 3 year residency with the median salary for that specialty, and of course, how long it would take you pay off your student loans, etc.
A book that was helpful to me: http://www.amazon.com/AMA-Physicians-Guide-Financial-Planning/dp/1579478751, although a little dated now, but the concepts are the same.