Vera T., M1

I applied to schools all over the country and I was incredibly fortunate to interview at a number of fantastic institutions. I quickly went from worrying about whether I would get in anywhere to how I could possibly choose. As I weighed my options, I had two major concerns. The first was obvious: to get into a strong program that would set the foundation for the rest of my career and provide me the most opportunities possible. The second emerged as I travelled around the country interviewing and often staying with student hosts. I started out imagining that I would sacrifice anything to make my ambitions a reality, I’d live in a shoebox, eat ramen every day, live the most frugal possible existence, if that is what it took to go to the best school. Then I looked at my real life. If I’m stressed about money, it’s hard to focus and learn. Living in a tiny place would mean giving up hobbies and re-homing pets. I get sick if I eat ramen too often. I started looking at schools in terms of how I would live my whole life while being a student there — academics and career a big part, for sure, but supported by all the rest of it. When I came to interview at WashU I had been reflecting on this and worrying that I’d have to sacrifice going to the best school in order to live comfortably enough to be the best and most effective version of me in medical school. I knew about the low cost of living in the Midwest, but being here and seeing how well WashU would support me in all the career goals I have while also seeing that I could live well here — I had this moment of “Oh my gosh, this is it, I can have both.”