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Should I take the offer and leave or drop the offer and run?
thefuturedoctor
26 replies4 threads Junior Member
My grandpa has offered to pay for my full college tuition to become a doctor (4 years of undergrad and then 4 years of med). I live in a different state of the school he wants me to go to so I would have to leave my senior year of hs to go there to get the residency fee. My only problem is that this school is not as top notch as all of the other schools and I am worried that i will not have the full preparation i need or the proper research opportunities. Am i being selfish or is this the reality I am facing? TIA
35 replies This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Should I take the offer and leave or drop the offer and run?
- What is the school? No one can give you good advice without that specific info.
- Do you want to be a doctor?
- What are your GPA and test scores? How are your math & science grades?
- What happens if you change majors? Many pre-med students wash out of pre-med.
- Why can't he just pay for the state flagship in the state you live in now?
Yes
My gpa is very high 4.2 or so and I havent taken act or sat yet
Took calc as a sophomore
And he believes the UC system in california (where i live) is too competitive and I will flunk out
Thank you!
Go to the webpage for the school and look up the requirements for instate residency. It might direct you to a state statute. It will likely say that a parent must be a resident for 12 months before residency will be established for instate tuition purposes.
What about a compromise -- maybe go to a different school, but he contributes up to the UA in-state amount?
I saw one of your other posts -- there are tons of college you can get into med school from. And trust me, if you can't get through the UC system as a pre-med, you can't get through JHU, either.
You need to be financially independent of your parents, or you will be considered a resident or not based on whether your parents are considered resident or not. So it does not look like his plan for you to get Arizona residency will work.
Will your grandfather contribute an amount equivalent to in-state UA/ASU undergraduate and UA medical school toward the cost of whatever undergraduate and medical school you attend?
Or will he pay the out-of-state costs for you to attend UA/ASU undergraduate and/or UA medical school?
However, your grandfather's plan to get you Arizona residency is unlikely to work unless your parents also move there.
Also, medical school admissions is competitive enough that there is no way to guarantee that you will be admitted to UA medical school (or any other specific medical school, or any medical school at all).
I also tend to agree with your Grandpa regarding at least UCB and UCLA. It would be tough to get medical school worthy GPA from either of them unless you are an exceptional student. Premed is going to be very demanding at pretty much any universities (including UA).
I think that you and your parents and Grandpa need to have an understanding regarding what "plan B" is in case you decide against premed, or in case you don't have the GPA to support medical school admissions. The large majority of students who show up for freshman year of university thinking that they will be premed eventually end up NOT getting into medical school, either because they change their mind about premed or because they don't get accepted. It is a long and difficult path.
Graduating from medical school without any debt at all would be quite an accomplishment. However, it seems like a lot could go wrong with this plan.
I.e. your grandfather's plan is something that the UA in-state residency policy is intended to exclude.
It is not a matter of trying to "shoot for something higher". It is that his plan is not supposed to be allowed. Even if he and you get away with it initially, if the fraud is discovered later, it could jeopardize all of your educational achievements at UA.
So do not worry about the quality of UA medical school.
But do worry that his Arizona residency plan is likely to be considered fraudulent.
This is the question on the FAFSA for guardianship v. custody. It is unlikely your parents will give up legal rights to you and that's what's going to be required. You need to be independent financially and that's pretty difficult to do as a 16 year old.
I think the answer to your grandfather is 'thanks, but it is not possible.'
For undergraduate, the difference between in-state and out-of-state costs is about $24k. Depending on whether UA offers scholarships to lower that cost, and what financial aid and scholarships you get at in-state UCs/CSUs, UA may be price competitive if he subsidizes it up to the in-state level.
For medical school, the difference between in-state and out-of-state costs is about $22k. If he subsidizes it to the in-state level, then the remaining $22k would be price-competitive with other medical schools, including in-state UCs.