Also I’m considering UT Austin, and I would be in honors, but honestly honors just seems like a dud and doesn’t really do anything
How do you feel about a giant university versus a small school? That is one clear difference. Another: major sports versus not.
@lollypip : At some places it may be, but it always depends. If they have “true” honors science courses, it could be really good. If honors means: “This is now at the same level as standard courses at places like Berkeley, Emory, etc” (when at those schools and you want something beyond standard, you simply choose a professor who is unorthodox or more rigorous than other sections. And yes, it is possible that not even an honors course at a top state flagship will reach the same level, though Michigan and Berkeley are certainly exceptions I know of in STEM at least) then maybe not. Honors STEM courses can be really nice because you get the additional rigor with a smaller section size than most elite non-LAC privates, and usually either A) A softer grading curve or B) More low stakes components contributing to final course grade (as opposed to grade riding on lab performance, a little HW, and a series of somewhat challenging high stakes exams). This also assumes you have the credits to place into such courses.
If you are merely talking about you maybe not getting extra non-academic perks/being treated special outside of academics versus non-honors students…I would rethink that concern (it is a giant school, you are ambitious, they shouldn’t have to move hurdles out of the way for you. In addition, there are plenty of those who start out non-honors students who will rise as stars and also deserve similar ease of access to opps based upon, you know, their college performance). In reality, you perhaps shouldn’t be much different anyway. Having access to lower tuition as well as accelerated and enriched academic opps. and resources should be enough IMHO. What exactly did you expect it to do?
@bernie12 Thanks for the compliment! The money is from an external scholarship, however, and as an honors students, people only take one honors course + a couple seminars total during their four years, which makes me wonder how much of a distinction honors really is.
@nehiker Honestly UT is way too huge for me, which is bad for class sizes, but I think that’s the only negative part because being in honors will give me a small community to counteract the hugeness. Hmm as for sports, I don’t really care haha so that’s not a negative for Emory
Sports aren’t all about the actual game. It’s a big social event. You’ll enjoy it when you go
But you’ve decided on Emory you just need to say it out loud and go have a blast and kick butt
Of course 401k assets don’t count towards efc
I mean don’t have them take loans out of theirs to fund college. Many do and it’s a financial blunder.
Especially if they change jobs and don’t have the funds to repay. It becomes taxable income and subject to the 10 percent penalty if they not at least 59 and 1/2
And the extra income may change the school aid potentially
How much would the total loans (parent and student) be for a 4-year degree at Emory?
@lollypip Can your parents afford to take out 5-10k a year on your behalf?
@privatebanker : I think they also know it is a social event, but believe it or not there are those who are neutral towards or don’t care for sports or Greek centered socialization and that type of fervor. It is a particular type of socializing. Some can care less despite it being drilled into the American psyche that it is a part of the “traditional college experience”. I am relatively neutral and honestly prefer professional sports for some reason. I can easily find other reasons to have affinity towards the alma mater without having sports as among them. However, I recognize that many can’t since it was a large part of HS social scene and pride especially for many who grew up in the south like myself. Emory is kind of rare in that the lack of D-1 sports, despite it leads to much less rah rah pride, can easily accommodate the true bookworms, quirky types, and tons of others who don’t perfectly fit the “well-rounded” or “work hard play hard is a way of life” stereotypes without it creating much of an obvious splinter in the campus social scene (there indeed seem to be some elite privates and publics that still have sort of this “Greeks and jocks” and then “everyone else” vibe outside of times when there is a major sporting event). I personally haven’t heard of UTA fitting that sort of profile, but I know Emory is much less likely than it to have that going on.
I will agree that they should break the bank or touch a 401k to pay for college.
Totally agree.
But I know that my bookworm daughter who is introverted and doesn’t care about any sport. She did find it incredibly fun to be able to gather in a group and throw on the school sweatshirt and have a day to blow off some stream. It was a way for her to make friends and push herself to get outside and join the crowd. The American psyche has its roots in a lot of collective memories during college fondly remembering these types of days
To each his own though
The opportunity cost for Emory is 64k. You take on 34k more of undergraduate debt and lose 30k post grad scholarships by going to Emory. That is a lot of money for a med path student. UT is a top top school with a med school. Not sure I’d walk away if money is tight.
Are you in Plan II honors at UT? I’ve heard really good things about that program.
Yes Emory will be a different experience than UT. No football team at Emory and sports are really low key. But they do bring speakers and bands and have social events.
It sounds like you really prefer Emory but costs are holding you back. So, you need to have an honest discussion with your parents, explain how you’ll contribute (work part time now full time over the summer *take the 4.4k federal loan…) And check they wouldn’t be using their retirement money nor mortgage the house today or Emory.
@privatebanker @bernie12 Thank you again for commenting on my post! I do agree that I’m not the type to enjoy sports, even though I attend a typical ‘southern’ high school now who loves their football, etc, I’m open to trying it out as a student, instead of as a band member which made games boring. I personally never got the hype, but I could see myself having fun at these events, plus I’m always open to adding one more thing to the list of what I’m interested in.
I wish I could go back and do it all over again. You’re going to have so much fun and great memories wherever you go
@austinmshauri @gearmom Total, I’d estimate the amount of loans over 4 years would be…around 30k loans for Emory, and 20k loans for UT (I’m accounting for scholarships I have a pretty good chance of getting). Honestly I’m so fortunate to have the parents I have, they are the type of Asian parents that don’t want finances to be an obstacle to my education and will pay for the whole thing, and even offered to split med school with me (I’m definitely going to contribute for undergrad and won’t let them pay for med school, but I think this shows how amazingly generous they are). Because of this, however, they won’t tell me anything about how difficult it will be for them, although they did say they wouldn’t dip into mortgage/401k stuff that another poster asked about.
If it helps, our FAFSA efc was around 25k, and my family’s income is around 115k for a family of 5.
@MA2012 hahaha unfortunately no, I was waitlisted there (still stings a little lol) 
I’m in the health science scholars program, which is an honors program in cns (college of natural sciences).
Good luck!