Let's say you were considering purchasing one of two houses: one costs 150K and another costs 300K. Under normal circumstances you would want to obtain something tangible for selecting the more expensive home: more space, better construction, better location, etc.
In your current dilemma you are essentially proposing to pay a great deal of money for something of no predictable, tangible benefit. I think part of this stems from the so-called
pain of paying, a pain we are able to psychologically avoid by taking out loans (essentially paying for med school on credit).
The pain will come, eventually. I feel it now each month when I direct money towards debt rather than retirement savings, a 529, or a Porsche.
Perhaps we also overly romanticize our future at the top ranked school. The simple truth is that every M1 in the country starts out the same way: with a huge pile of basic, standardized medical knowledge to digest and the same Step 1 to conquer. The name on your med school diploma is going to be pretty far down on the list of things that influences your career. In the end you are going to dictate your success by how smart you are, how hard you work, and how well you can play the game.
