Anonymous wrote:OP here. This thread is funny to read now! Happy to report that DD is now a sophomore at BU, still loving the science/pre-med thing, and has no regrets whatsoever. Kinda crazy to me that we even considered Yale!

OP-my DC (class of 22) chose BU over SLAC, ranked within top 5, due to significant merit, location and most importantly, DC’s major was the best fit at BU. Also, there is no comparison between private (BU) over public (UVA) education. For UVA lovers, it is still a public education with no international reputation. BU has been more selective than UVA with 18% acceptance rate this year:
Academic Profile—class of 2023
62,210 applications. An incoming freshman class of 3,100 students.
Average Rank in High School Class Top 7%
Average Overall High School Grade A-
SAT Composite (average) 1468
ACT (average) 33

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think she should pick Yale. She'll have a great undergraduate experience (the journey is important too; it's not all about the destination). Plus, she will have a lifetime to benefit from some amazing undergraduate friends from all over the world.

For a gap of only $60k I'd try to make it work.

This. The debt burden will not be huge. The experience will be better, she will benefit from going to college with an amazing peer group, and she will enjoy whatever cachet and "benefit of the doubt" come from a Yale degree for her entire life. BU is a fine school, but Yale is very special opportunity.

$60K times four is $240,000. You don't think that's a huge difference?

Anonymous wrote:I think she should pick Yale. She'll have a great undergraduate experience (the journey is important too; it's not all about the destination). Plus, she will have a lifetime to benefit from some amazing undergraduate friends from all over the world.

For a gap of only $60k I'd try to make it work.

This. The debt burden will not be huge. The experience will be better, she will benefit from going to college with an amazing peer group, and she will enjoy whatever cachet and "benefit of the doubt" come from a Yale degree for her entire life. BU is a fine school, but Yale is very special opportunity.

What are the implications of paying for Yale?

Grad school is what really matters, and if paying for Yale leaves everyone in the family in debt, it is just not worth it.

If you have tons of money, then Yale.

Anonymous wrote:I had a similar choice years ago. Princeton vs Uva (virtually full ride). I chose Uva because of no loans and my parents could not afford to pay much for my college. After Uva, I ended up at at Harvard medical school and top residencies afterwards. So going to Uva did not hurt my career and I had no debt until medical school.
However:
1. At least 80 percent of my medical school class came from top 15 universities and top 5 LACs. So undergraduate prestige is not essential, but certainly helps at top medical schools.
2. Over the years, even though I have had a successful medical career, I still wish we had the money to make Princeton work.

IMO, if you can make it work financially, I would choose Yale for my child. Congratulations and best wishes.

BU and UVA are different levels. I would choose Yale myself. If BU was top 30 then it would be different, however, you might not have gotten a full ride. Did you get a significant scholarship at schools between Yale and BU, like Vandy, Emory, Tufts, UNC type of school?

OP, thanks for the update. I went through the whole thread not realizing it was two years old.

I definitely would have chosen BU as well. The full ride plus seven years med school are great but the close to guaranteed admission to med school is beyond compare. I have no doubt that your DD would have a really good shot at getting admitted to med school otherwise based on likely high GPA and MCAT but the BU program allows her to to get into med school with far less stress.

She can afford to fluff one of the required courses and not stress that her chances for med school have evaporated. And while I am sure she is pursuing research, volunteer hours, shadowing, clinical time etc., she doesn't need to put in the extreme amount of hours other med school hopefuls do just to get a shot at one acceptance.

Much of what people have written about med school on this thread is not accurate. Undergrad matters very little, and same for med school but less so (assuming we are not talking Caribbean). Where you do residency for your specialty does matter, but even then if you are very entreprenurial you can do very well financially.

OP here. This thread is funny to read now! Happy to report that DD is now a sophomore at BU, still loving the science/pre-med thing, and has no regrets whatsoever. Kinda crazy to me that we even considered Yale!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you share what makes your daughter a 100% lock for medical school? Are you or your husband doctors? Are there certain ECs she's been doing for a few years?

I think it's a wise move if she's 100% convinced. But at least 75% of the kids who enter college wanting to be doctors never even end up sitting for the MCAT.

+100' I agree and this is exactly why I wouldn't send my kid to BU over Yale on the assumption that she would be going to med school. Almost everyone I knew that started college wanting med school switched by junior year. Hopefully, that won't be OP's child.

yeah.. because they realize they won't be getting into any. however OP's daughter has a guaranteed slot.

Didn't read through all this but when I was apply to college my dad, who was a stat prof, said that studies indicated that for most students going to a well regarded school (like a state flagship or I'd imagine BU) over an ivy is basically a wash for smart, driven kids. The exception is if you are URM then it's better to go to the ivy. But...this was awhile ago so grain of salt. I say go to BU and just give your child the college money for medical school.

Anonymous wrote:Can you share what makes your daughter a 100% lock for medical school? Are you or your husband doctors? Are there certain ECs she's been doing for a few years?

I think it's a wise move if she's 100% convinced. But at least 75% of the kids who enter college wanting to be doctors never even end up sitting for the MCAT.

Her daughter is a lock for medical school because she got accepted into the accelerated program.
So technically she has a guaranteed spot, read the details.

Anonymous wrote:Can you share what makes your daughter a 100% lock for medical school? Are you or your husband doctors? Are there certain ECs she's been doing for a few years?

I think it's a wise move if she's 100% convinced. But at least 75% of the kids who enter college wanting to be doctors never even end up sitting for the MCAT.

+100' I agree and this is exactly why I wouldn't send my kid to BU over Yale on the assumption that she would be going to med school. Almost everyone I knew that started college wanting med school switched by junior year. Hopefully, that won't be OP's child.

Can you share what makes your daughter a 100% lock for medical school? Are you or your husband doctors? Are there certain ECs she's been doing for a few years?

I think it's a wise move if she's 100% convinced. But at least 75% of the kids who enter college wanting to be doctors never even end up sitting for the MCAT.

Mazel tov!

You will also enjoy this choice when she is offered a summer job that pays next to nothing but is otherwise a great opportunity, and you don't have to tell her "no".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congratulations, OP. Your DD made the right choice. Enjoy being a doctor with no medical school debt.

I don't think free medical school is on the table. Merely ACCEPTANCE to medical school was.

This is OP. Yes, PP is right, no debt medical school is on the table. With the money we save from paying $0 for her undergrad and her shaving a year off med school with the 7 year program, we'll be able to pay her medical school in full.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments!

Congratulations! Your daughter has a very promising future ahead of her.