Deciding between University of Louisville Traditional Route to med school vs Saint Louis Univeristy Med Scholars Program
Cost is a factor, though not too huge.. UofL is nice since I can go to undergrad for peanuts compared to SLU
Would appreciate help or thoughts on Med Scholars or UofL Traditional Route
I would consider the costs of medical school in both cases. Once you get to the medical school portion of your schooling, it’s going to probably cost you $100,000 a year. Federally funded student loans are now limited to $200,000 including any federally funded loans you get as an undergrad. AND the most you can borrow in a year is $50,000. So…think about your finances through undergrad and medical school…and have a plan to pay.
UofL’s med school for in state is approx 47k while SLU is more expensive at 70k. I can pay for undergrad without the need of student loans for most of the time. Med School is a different animal, though. I could pay most of UofL or SLU without a loan but would need some to help
Looks like SLU Medical Scholars is a program where you apply during junior year (one year early) to SLU’s medical school, so if you get admitted (not guaranteed or assured), you do not have to go through the medical school application process in senior year.
Requirements include earning a 3.65 college GPA (overall and in sciences) each year (meaning considering only that year’s courses and grades, so a 4.0 one year and a 3.6 another year would not qualify).
Is the extra chance to apply to medical school worth the extra $140k+ for undergraduate (not including any differences in cost of medical school)?
If you can afford both, I vote U of L but live on campus.
I think the med school loan thing is going to be huge - can you stay under $200k including undergrad.
Of course , most won’t go to med school so in the chance you don’t, where would you be happiest ?
Also, SLU is Jesuit - if that’s of interest or not. I think SLU will get you a better education than U of L but for med school, money matters.
Given what you have shared, I would attend U of Louisville.
I would choose Louisville, although I would consider living on campus at least for the first year.
Can you afford to live in campus at UL without taking any loans?
yeah.. louisville undergrad won’t require any loans
I’m guessing you must be in Honors at UofL, right?
I would cosign the suggestion to live on campus for at least the first year, adding that there’s an Honors LLC that would likely be your best housing option. There’s also a Biology-themed LLC.
Then seconding the idea of living on campus in the honors dorm, at least for the first year. You’d have all the benefits of living on campus (easy access to class, labs, library, study groups and review sessions..), perks and socialization in Honors, and still would have no loans. Win-win!