D is in at Rutgers- NB (in-state, COA if living on campus ~$38k v. Lafayette College COA $67K). She received $25 merit, but the tuition is high, and it went up this year. She is intending to pursue pre-med with a biomedical sciences major. Pros for Rutgers: less $, direct affiliation with RWJ hospital for clinical internships, 73% acceptance rate into medical school. Pros for Lafayette: prestige- little ivy, small class sizes (10-1 average), better fit overall, personalized pre-med advising, 86% acceptance into medical school out of 19 students that applied last year.
Lafayette is almost $30,000 a year more than Rutgers (right now). If she attends Rutgers, will that cash be available to put toward medical school?
Acceptance to medical school will depend on your daughter, and not whether she attends Rutgers or Lafayette.
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I agree either would work well for med school, if she in fact chooses to continue on that path. I note many kids who start off thinking pre-med end up doing something different, possibly in a health field and possibly something else entirely, as they learn more about their options, aptitudes, and interests in college.
I also agree you would need a good plan to pay for med school, and for a lot of families, saving $120K or so on college would make a big difference, possibly a decisive difference.
But if you know you could comfortably afford both college and med school either way, then I think the last question is: which she would prefer if she does in fact decide to do something different? The good news is again both have many great options, but you did say Lafayette was a better fit overall.
The question, again, is whether you as a family can comfortably afford that difference, AND also med school if that ends up being the next step. If so, then it is really a question of priorities. $120K more for college is $120K you as a family can’t spend on something else, but some families would still decide that is a fine choice for how to spend that money. Others not so much.
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Lafayette pre-med advising presumably tells pre-meds with no realistic chance of medical school admission that they should not bother applying, which is probably why the success rate of those who do apply is high (those who would have been rejected do not apply).
Like medical school.
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Can your family comfortably afford Lafayette and any grad school?
ETA For full disclosure my D attended Laf and had a great experience in every respect so I’m a fan of the school.
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You are considering two very good schools. Your daughter’s chances of continuing to aim for medical school and also getting into medical school will most likely be the same regardless of which of these two very good schools she attends.
Medical school is expensive. Assuming that she ever makes it to medical school, your daughter would be way, way better off if you can help with quite a good chunk of the cost of medical school. She does not want to take all of this as debt, and it might not even be possible for her to take all of the cost of medical school as debt.
The large majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. There are lots and lots of forms of “something else” available. You are comparing two schools that are very good for a wide range of “something else”. Rutgers will of course have a far larger range of majors and courses since it is way larger. A small school however has offsetting advantages such as typically having smaller classes.
These numbers can be gamed, for example by only counting students that are in some way approved for a premed program. 19 is a rather small sample size.
And this is the $120,000 question (although of course medical school will cost quite a bit more than $120,000).
One huge question is whether you can comfortably afford to pay for Lafayette and then also pay for a significant chunk of the cost of medical school. If the answer is “this is fine”, then the next question is which school is the best fit for your daughter.
And I would completely forget about any perception of “prestige”. You are comparing two very good schools, and “prestige” does not get a student accepted to medical school (nor to much else).
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Can you afford Lafayette without jeopardizing your family finances and your retirement? Will you need to take loans?
How will medical school be funded, should she actually get accepted. Federally funded loans are now limited to $200,000 total including any federally funded undergrad loans. Medical schools will cost over $100,000 a year by the time your student gets there. The federal loan limit per year is $50,000. I think you can see where I’m going with this.
Your family needs to make the decision about these costs. Disclaimer…we were full pay parents for our younger kid, and also paid living expenses for five years of medical school. Because we could. But you need to think about this for your family…not mine!
Congratulations to your daughter! These are both fine colleges…and she can take the courses for medical school applicants at either.
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