I was accepted to UT Austin, UTD, and Emory, and I definitely want to do pre-med. I was wondering if anyone out there had any ideas/suggestions about which college I should choose?
For Emory, i would pay about 40k (they gave me a merit scholarship), UT (full price which is about 28-30k), and UTD (full ride + stipend so i pay nothing). I really like Emory’s campus, atmosphere, and emphasis on teaching, plus i love that the CDC is next door - I’ve been working on med research for a while so that’s perfect for it. I’ve heard that Emory premed is really hard though, and that there’s a low medical acceptance rate for Emory? ~60%, same as UT though.
On the other hand, UT didn’t give me any honors, so i’ll be stuck in huge classes. Also, I really don’t like the atmosphere of UT when I visited, because it just felt really scattered and has too much of a party scene. (These were my impressions after visiting, I’m sure other people have differing opinions though). Still, UT is a good school and has plenty of research/med experience opportunities.
For UTD, financially it’s definitely a good option but I’ll have to live at home and the atmosphere of UTD is that of a commuter school/I want more of a college experience (though without too much partying).
For med school, I know the undergraduate school doesn’t matter, only GPA/MCAT/experiences, but what are your recommendations? I do want to take atmosphere/fit into some account. Thank you so much!
I’d choose Emory. They have a strong focus on the med field and you can’t ignore the CDC right next door! It is competitive, but worth the struggle. Cost is a factor though, and it is the most expensive option you have, but also the best it seems. If you have the means, go for Emory, if not, you might have to go with UTA or UTD (I’d recommend in that order).
All will be fine for premed prep. UTD would be best based on cost. Why would you have to live at home there? Can you negotiate that with your parents? I know I didn’t want my children to be at home if they went to school locally.
I won’t be forced to live at home (sorry that was a bit unclear!) but it’ll mean a lot of interaction with my parents. I’m ok with that, but UTD is also a really commuter school… so either way I wouldn’t really get a ton of the independence/college experience. I don’t know if I’m really ok with that, but you’re definitely right about the fact that UTD is best based on the cost. 
UT Dallas has about 60% of frosh in the dorms, so it looks like it has both a significant resident student population and a significant commuter student population. If you attend UT Dallas, you may want to live in the dorm in frosh year, then re-evaluate commuting versus living on or near campus based on cost and other considerations (frosh year tends to be the one where living in the dorm is most beneficial).
Given how expensive medical school is, it may not be a good idea to spend a lot of money or run up a lot of debt in undergraduate. However, Texas public medical schools and Baylor are relatively decently priced for Texas residents.
https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/