I won again this week and also $120,000†

†So I won another $20 in Bajio, $15 in iTunes, and another t-shirt from playing Tetrix again this week. At this rate I think I'll win this prize 5 times before summer's out. What about the cash I'm mentioning? No I wasn't on Deal or No Deal, I'm probably dumber than a Fifth Grader, I haven't made it to Jeopardy--yet, and I don't think any other gameshow awards that much money these days after their ratings drop. So where'd the $120,000 come from? University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

So someone between the Financial Aid office and my mailbox goofed as I was apparently supposed to get notification about this scholarship months ago and just got a message this morning after inquiring about financial aid that I had a three-quarter tuition scholarship there all along! The catch is I have until Tuesday May 15, 2007 to decide what one and only one school to keep. It is now a battle between University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (Shown to the bottom right) or University of California San Diego School of Medicine (Shown in the top left). Both are great schools and San Diego has already offered me a great financial incentive for going there, but with Chicago's new ante this drop tuition at Chicago to about half of San Diego's. Housing is financially comparable in both places and academics are par between the two with perhaps a little more respect from residency directors for Chicago over UCSD. The key thing here is can we forgo the amenities of a city like San Diego to save a bit in Chicago with a marginal benefit to my education -- or is keeping the wife and kid happy with prospects of the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and the beach worth the marginal cost of "name brand" recognition? I think it's a very tough call and sometimes wished I didn't even have this choice to make between the two - let alone only two days to make it.
I determine the fate of my future, my education, my career within these next 48 hours.