Baylor v. UConn

College Search & Selection
1

High School Junior here going Environmental Science premed. I have decided at this point that I would rather go to an inexpensive “decent” school and save money rather than attend a very expensive college and blow my college fund on undergrad.

I am in-state for UConn and after an SAT based scholarship, the annual cost would be $24k. For Baylor after an SAT and class rank based scholarship, the total annual cost would be $34k. *

I want to go to med school and have a $250k college fund, but prefer Texas to Connecticut and Baylor to UConn. Is the $10k a year difference a deal breaker?

With UConn, I would have $156k left in my college fund for med school and at Baylor would have $116k left for med school.

*I am still eligible for other scholarships at both schools, these numbers are just based off of “point-based” scholarships and scholarship calculators on the respective schools’ websites.

2

Personally if it were up to me, I would go to UConn. It’s your state flagship school and your saving precious money when saving up for Medical school. According to US News, UConn is ranked #63, while Baylor is ranked #79 (that really doesn’t matter but they’re about similar in reputation and UConn is ranked a bit higher). UConn and Baylor have pretty reputable medical school if you decide to pursue them.

They’re student population size are almost identical. When it comes to getting into medical school, which is the hard part, its more important to have a solid MCAT score, GPA, extracurricular activities, strong letters of recommendation, and solid research than what undergrad school you come from. For me, it’s going to be hands to down better to got UConn because the reputation is the same and you’re saving $40k which is nothing to scoff at when you have such a long path to becoming doctor with residency, med school, and getting all your certifications to become a doctor. All those cost a pretty penny. If you want to live in Houston, apply to med schools there.

As a Florida kid, I would love to go to Connecticut one day! So many great universities are there like Yale, Wesleyan, and Trinity College. The only reason why I would pass up on your offer to UConn if an Ivy League school came calling, or if I got into elite universities like Northwestern, WashU, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, Notre Dame, or any of the top UCs, universities that are so highly regarded that it would be hard to pass up. I know it sucks to stay in-state, I know first-hand because I turned down UVA for my state-flagship school in UF, but trust me, your wallet is going to thank you later. If you really, really, really, don’t like UConn, you can always transfer to another university. Make the best of your time in your undergad at UConn and then go to an amazing medical school in Houston.

Trust me, UConn is your best bet and best wishes in your college admissions process for next year!

3

Although the differences in cost & location are significant, this is really a matter of campus culture as one is a Christian environment while the other is a state flagship.

4

We lived in Waco for 15 years and I worked pretty closely with the environmental studies program at Baylor. I was a HS science teacher in Waco and did some joint wetlands projects with environmental studies professors at Baylor and knew them socially over the years. Couple of comments:

  1. Baylor is a good middle-of-the road school and the environmental science and life sciences are decent respectable programs. They have good facilities. It isn't Vanderbilt or Rice or Washington U, or any high-powered highly selective school. But it is a respectable program. I don't know how it compares directly to UConn but it is decent. The have some excellent professors and good resources.
  2. Coming from the CT, Waco TX and Baylor is going to be culture shock for you. The area is very conservative and Baptist. Both the town and the university. And very Republican. It is large enough to find any niche of students who's interests and beliefs match yours. But the dominant and prevailing feel of the place is going to be conservative Southern Baptist. If that is what you are looking for, then fine. Just be aware it is what it is. Baylor isn't like say Georgetown or Boston College in that it is mostly religion in name only. It really is Baptist and a large percentage of students, and especially faculty and administrators are going to be of that persuasion. It will permeate your experience.

I had a LOT of former students as well as former colleagues who attended Baylor and mostly they were very positive about the experience. But they were mostly Baptist Texans to begin with. If that is what you are looking for then go for it. Just don’t think Baylor is a random Big12 school that happens to have Baptist roots. It is far more than that.

EDIT: Responding to Tire2024 above, Baylor does not have a school of medicine in Waco. There is a Baylor College of Medicine in Houston but it has been completely independent from Baylor University since 1969. The only thing they share today is a name. Everything you see about Baylor Medicine in Texas is connected to the Med school in Houston not Baylor University in Waco. Baylor Scott & White is also a large hospital and HMO chain in Texas but again, no connection to the University.