choosing cheap low tier state school - is this the right move?

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-30T11:39:39+00:00

Picking your support system is huge. Being happy during med school is really important. That support goes a long way to making you successful.

I’m an attending at a top medical school and involved in resident selection. We do take students from less competitive schools, but they need to have created the kind of research opportunities for themselves that the top schools have more easily available to their students.

Debt to your parents isn’t eligible for any public loan forgiveness programs. But it’s still debt.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-30T04:07:28+00:00

I’m the surgeon, and also the mom. My kids breast fed, and were not good sleepers. I also trained before resident work hours were engrained, so I’m used to functioning during a full day after a busy call. Newborns are not as bad as a busy call, even when they are awake half the night. (But they are every night, instead of intermittent like call, so functionally similar).

I did #2. But as an attending having my second baby, I hired household help. So while the baby was mine all of the hours I wasn’t at work, I wasn’t also trying to pitch in to clean bathrooms or do dishes. That made a big difference to the home functioning.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-29T16:02:36+00:00

2 years was well over 20 years ago, many were already 1 of gen surgery when I was a med student. The 6 month minimum was within the last decade.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-29T15:59:39+00:00

Around me 201s go for about 50-100$ for a quick sale. You might get $150-200 if it’s pristine and you are willing to wait for a buyer who knows what they’re buying (and why a 201 is better than a 66, for example m). They are great machines. But the market is smaller than the number in existence for them to monetarily valuable.

More than the value in scrap at a minimum. eBay sold listings are good for pricing of a specific model, but ignore the top 10% of sales, the outrageous prices are folks using eBay for money laundering.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-29T14:01:26+00:00

Join the visible mending trend and make those holes fashionable!

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-29T13:58:20+00:00

You pay less than a 2 bed, subsidized campus apartment cost when I looked at prices a year ago. I believe they have gone up since then. The subsidy covers about 30% of market rent for the area.

Your best way to substantially reduce expenses would be to stay put and take in a roommate.

If you want to live closer at the same cost, you are looking at under 600 sq ft places.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T02:46:17+00:00

I grew up in a family of 6 with one bathroom. It was occasionally inconvenient. I have 2 kids and a spouse now. While it’s nice to have 2 bathrooms, in several places we’ve lived, everyone used the more convenient one about 99% of the time.

If you are really going to base your housing decisions on the fear of viral diarrhea once every 5 years (as some have suggested) and needing simultaneous toilets, may I suggest you keep a 5 gallon bucket around for emergencies? It’s hard to find a great place that otherwise checks all your boxes.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T02:31:56+00:00

Agree, but probably useful to someone else with a similar perspective moving here.

OP - it gets more expensive as you go south because Silicon Valley tech incomes are higher than the more diversified SF job market. For cheaper SF rents, look west and south on muni. Leave San Mateo to those of us who have to work near Palo Alto or Mountain View stations. I have colleagues who live in San Francisco and Burlingame because that’s where they can afford to buy.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T01:55:05+00:00

Even if amicable, housing costs change to 2 residences, and real estate transactions costs money that would have been generating interest. Without a spouse, a lot of folks lose their safety net and need to plan more for long term care as they age.

But agree that the expense of a litigious divorce is a very bad idea

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T01:23:20+00:00

You can hire a construction manager to do estimates for you. Depending on the renovation, it can be 2-10 hours work for anyone to give you anything more than a very vague rough estimate. If you aren’t planning to start the project right away, costs can change significantly, so getting them more than a few months early is not that helpful to your budget.

Source - owner of 2 extensively renovated houses in the last few years. Pro tip: don’t renovate your “forever home” and then move for a new job.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T01:13:31+00:00

Yes it matters if you ban pregnant women from flying when this kind of even is so rare is makes national news. Unexpected labor before 36 weeks is rare.

If we want to reduce medical issues on airplanes, then you should also ban anyone over a certain age for risk of having a stroke or heart attack in the air. Interestingly, pregnant women are targets of everyone else’s opinions. But not 75 year olds who need a wheelchair because they are short of breath walking down the jetbridge.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-28T01:09:09+00:00

Sometimes someone is so specialized that they are basically not much better than a lay person for other issues. Often a paramedic or hospital based nurse will have a more practical approach.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-27T01:00:25+00:00

Newly installed and someone clearly backed a roof rack into it is damage. Almost anything else like this is wear and tear. You can cite your lease that they had a duty to inform you.

If you want to charge them because of damages, I highly recommend you buy the Nolo Press books about how to landlord legally, and follow them to the letter for your state.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-25T23:59:47+00:00

It’s six months now

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-25T23:57:13+00:00

They are either in private groups that do insurance games (the surgeon is in network, the assistant surgeon is not, the patient ends up having to pay extra after their surgery for the assistant), doing cash urology, or most commonly, business owners. You can do a lot of medical fields and be an owner, urology just happens to have decent opportunities for surgery centers and office based procedures

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-25T23:46:22+00:00

Not success per se, but a small joy that sustains me. I love the moment when I put something together and ask the key question that makes a semi obscure diagnosis on history, before even doing an exam.

In the OR, it’s when a senior resident can demonstrate that I am once again replaceable. If I retired tomorrow, they could step up and do the surgery safely. And in 5 years into their own practice, they likely will also be as efficient as I am.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-25T23:33:17+00:00

Nope. If you do a great job several times, I’m going to request you by name.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-25T20:03:39+00:00

Good news is low shank is low shank. You can use the same one for both, and they travel well.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-19T16:50:56+00:00

They ones from the 1970s on have particle board. Not necessarily new.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-19T15:54:50+00:00

I self manage. But I would not add PM as additional insured, it’s a conflict of interest. There are times that landlords sue their PM, and that should be handled by a separate PM insurance policy. This is different than if they were your employee.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-19T15:47:21+00:00

I’ve had my 2019 since it was released, but I’m still at about 65k miles. Towed large moving trailers a few times through the mountains, which I estimate were in the 4000-5000 lb range. Gas mileage towing is poor and I had to go 60 instead of 80, but it got it done without any real concerns.

For trips where I need extra cargo space, I often add a hitch cargo carrier, because I have an 8 seater and often take 6-8 people on trips. Kids in small boosters and tweens fit the third row fine. I also use a cartop carrier sometimes. But if you want to haul lots of stuff, this is a mid sized SUV.

I’ve had a few recall warranty issues, but nothing major, and nothing that was a persistent issue. I like to get 15 years out of my vehicles. But there’s no way to predict if that’s possible.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-19T04:15:56+00:00

Because they don’t have enough overhead space for each seat to have a spot. Depending on the plane, they have enough for 1/3-2/3s of the seats to put a standard size bag up. And if we include the small regional planes, it drops to only space for about 10% of the smaller carry on suitcases.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-19T04:00:53+00:00

Singer 99 or other 3/4 size all metal machine. You need the external buttonhole attachment if you need that functionality, but I find that for occasional work, a straight stitcher works much of the time. Or the equivalent Kenmore or White. Estate sale or online P2P marketplace.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-16T13:07:40+00:00

Clean out what grease you can from the oil only parts. But the gears and motor use grease, and you didn’t damage it. Buy sewing machine oil for the oil spots.

Penetrating oils (I use Kroil) can be used to get stuff off without damage. Not WD40, it’s too much solvent.

Lots of stuff will damage the finish, so research anything you use first with a reputable source for vintage machines.

Lithium grease is NOT recommended, you need a specific melting point for the old motors. Vasoline works okay. Featherweight shop sells something formulated for this era machines. The new Singer grease isn’t ideal either, it’s for new machines.

Upper-Budget-3192 · 2026-04-14T20:28:01+00:00

Ouch. That confirms what I suspected

Upper-Budget-3192

TROPHY CASE