Ivy vs. State med school

I've been asked, "If you had the choice to attend a Top Ivy league med school or a state school, which would you choose."

My question in response - "Do I have a full scholarship to the Ivy league school?"

All things equal, I can't see a down-side to attending a top rated med school. However things aren't always equal. Most top schools do not need to lure students with amazing scholarships to get people to attend. With that in mind, I would not pay to attend a top med school if I could pay a fraction of the cost to attend a state school.

For residency programs, USMLE scores are the great equalizer. If you have a great Step score, you write your own ticket. Do lesser known med schools produce students with good numbers - yes. Do lesser known med schools have as many students producing big numbers compared to Ivy schools - no. However, this is expected because the "smartest" (best test-takers) students are more concentrated in big name schools. If you take the same intelligent student, he/she has the ability to thrive at any medical school.

Case #1. JD attended Texas Tech HSC School of Medicine. A good school - yes. Ivy - not even close. JD studied hard and scored 240+ on his step 1. JD expressed interest in research to the anesthesia department from day 1 at TTUHSC and subsequently published over 40 papers in 4 years of medical school. Incredible - yes. True - yes. JD decided anesthesia wasn't for him and switched during 4th year to apply neurosurgery. JD was offered an interview at every program he applied to and matched at Mayo neurosurgery.

Is JD an exception to the norm - of course. Still, this is only 1 of numerous success stories that has happened in just the past 3 years at one of the smaller Texas state medical schools. Could JD have done the same at an Ivy league school - of course. Would it have been worth paying the extra $30,000+/year to attend a Top Tier med school? I won't answer that question for you.

The answer to the original question posed to me is that I believe that anyone can have just as much success no matter the school you attend. If it makes you happier to attend Harvard and you don't mind the bill, by all means attend Harvard. When I applied to medical schools, I had offers from a few out-of-state schools (Georgetown, GW, Miami). They aren't Ivy schools by any means, but even these schools cost a fortune compared to most state schools.

I pay approximately $8000/year tuition for my state school, and between grants, investments, and a loving family, I just may graduate completely debt free. In my opinion, debt-free is priceless!