<p>Hello. I love UNC and I really want to go there, however, I am questioning it. I am an Out of State student who did not receive any financial aid or merit scholarship. I am pretty upset about the lack of a merit scholarship, but then again my college process turned out to be kind of a nightmare anyways (rejected from the 5 ivies I applied to + Stanford). It's funny because before this, I actually considered myself to be a strong student/candidate for scholarship. Anyways, the cost of UNC is worrisome. I was also accepted to Pitt, and they gave me a $10,000 scholarship. This makes the cost of Pittsburgh more than $15,000 less than the cost of UNC per year (and I have a feeling UNC's costs are going to keep going up significantly). My heart is set on UNC, I have family that lives in NC, but I don't know if it is the smart decision. It is definitely a better school than Pitt, but since I plan on going to medical school (Pitt also has a great pre-med program, I believe), should I just go to Pitt and save the money? Also, I have yet to hear back from UNC about whether or not I got into Honors Carolina or received the SURF fellowship or the study abroad fellowship. Judging from my lack of merit scholarship, I think my chances are pretty low, however, if I do get into one of these programs, should that be a deciding factor in determining whether or not I go to UNC? </p>
<p>I got in OOS and it was my first choice school until I started looking at the financial aspects. What decided it for me was I did not want to pay 4X the tuition for the same education as instate kids. If you are planning on med school, save the $! FYI, I will be at Georgia Tech in the fall with a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>If Pitt has a strong pre-med program that will prepare you for the MCAT then I would go for Pitt. Most posters feel that if you are planning to go to medical school then you need to minimize your undergraduate debt. It sounds like UNC will add an additional 60K plus interest to your debt load. From what others post, your GPA and MCAT scores are more important then the name of the undergraduate school.</p>
<p>What should be the deciding factor is what school best prepares you for medical school without crushing debt.</p>
<p>thank you both for the responses! It is a tough decision to make. I’m kind of at a loss. I am at the top of my class and I feel like people will judge me if I tell them I am going to Pitt (like in a disappointed way), but then again I know I shouldn’t worry about what others think because I will be laughing all the way to the bank in the end. Dunno what to do :/</p>
<p>Look at the pre-med advising at Pitt, and all the opportunities for shadowing, volunteering, getting involved in research and then compare to UNC. My dd was disappointed last yr with her admission results (esp ivys) and went to Pitt with a nice merit scholie, and looking back - the opportunities she’s had at Pitt this yr - outside of class, she would’ve never had those chances at Columbia or Penn. But I understand the UNC dream - it was mine too way way back in the dawn of time, very pretty place but “definitely a better school” - I don’t know if that is universally true and I think Pitt has a big edge over on med/health sciences. UNC certainly has the edge in weather, I will grant them that. <a href=“http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/health-professions-advising”>http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/health-professions-advising</a></p>
<p>All good points, thank you! @amandakayack</p>
<p>The outside of class opportunities mentioned above are all readily available at UNC. Remember, UNC Hospitals is right on campus, as is UNC Medical School and there are certainly tons of clinical and departmental research opportunities in a variety of disciplines for UNC students </p>
<p>You might want to reach out to the UNC pre-health advising office to understand more about the opportunities UNC can assist you with. <a href=“http://careers.unc.edu/students/pre-professional-advising/pre-health”>http://careers.unc.edu/students/pre-professional-advising/pre-health</a></p>
<p>You make it sound like Pitt is much less prestigious and respected than UNC, but I don’t think that’s quite right. UNC has a slight edge on Pitt, but they are both in the “nationally known and respected but not quite elite” category.</p>
<p>In the OPs defense, it is indisputable that most, if not all, published college rankings puts UNC ahead of Pitt. With some of them exceeding a 150 place differential (examples: Forbes: #38 vs. #192 or Parchment #22 vs. #182), one can certainly appreciate the perception they promote.</p>
<p>We have this same dilemma
And for the record, our Ds’
admittances were quite positive- Dartmouth, Rice, Vandy, USC. Pitt is a top contender. Why? Because Pitt is an incredible value w a scholarship. And with med school looming value must be a consideration for us. However, you need to feel comfortable at a city school to enjoy Pitt. While visiting we met a lovely girl who is going to UC Berkley for law school. Her fnd is going there also from Pitt on a NSF scholarship. She gave sage advice; financial freedom is worth a lot. </p>
<p>It’s true that most rankings have UNC ahead of Pitt (though 150 places is really pushing it), but I think that both are in the same tier.</p>