Jason got a phone call Wednesday afternoon from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The associate dean of admissions, Dr. Norma Wagoner, offered Jason a scholarship of $120,000 over 4 years. The scholarship still doesn't make UC cheaper than the University of Washington ($92,000 vs. $89,000 over the four years). However, the University of Colorado mentioned that Jason was number one on their WICHE ranking (WICHE is the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education). The WICHE funding would reduce his medical school tuition to the same price as resident tuition. With his tuition at the resident price, the scholarship would cover the remainder of the cost. We would go to medical school for free. The only problem is that we don't know for sure if Jason will get WICHE funding. WICHE only funds 6 Montana students each year, so they use a ranking system to determine who will get aid. Last year, only 2 out of the 5 Montana students that went to UC got WICHE funding. While Jason is currently #1 on UC's WICHE ranking, we won't know if he will receive WICHE funding for sure until possibly May 10-12. May 15th is decision day for future medical students in that they need to narrow down their choice to one school.
The difficult part is making the decision on what we're going to do. Jason has wanted to go to the University of Washington since he was in high school. We would also be near his family, since we'd spend two years in Montana and two years in Seattle. We'd have access to Indian Health Service facilities, so free check-ups and dental. The University of Washington School of Medicine is also one of the best in the country. On the other hand, the University of Colorado offers an excellent education and won't require us to move 4 times in 4 years like UW will. Denver is a nice city with all the amenities that we've come to enjoy in Provo. Jason also said that they had the nicest facilities of all the schools he interviewed at, having spent nearly a billion dollars over the last 5 years.
The prospect of a free medical education without payback (both service or monetary) is huge. However, we may not hear about WICHE funding before May 15th. In that case, we'll need to decide if we stick with the dream school of UW or go with the dream situation of leaving medical school at UC debt free.
The difficult part is making the decision on what we're going to do. Jason has wanted to go to the University of Washington since he was in high school. We would also be near his family, since we'd spend two years in Montana and two years in Seattle. We'd have access to Indian Health Service facilities, so free check-ups and dental. The University of Washington School of Medicine is also one of the best in the country. On the other hand, the University of Colorado offers an excellent education and won't require us to move 4 times in 4 years like UW will. Denver is a nice city with all the amenities that we've come to enjoy in Provo. Jason also said that they had the nicest facilities of all the schools he interviewed at, having spent nearly a billion dollars over the last 5 years.
The prospect of a free medical education without payback (both service or monetary) is huge. However, we may not hear about WICHE funding before May 15th. In that case, we'll need to decide if we stick with the dream school of UW or go with the dream situation of leaving medical school at UC debt free.
