Picking between UT Austin CNS Honors, UC Berkeley, and Emory

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

Would love some advice on this.
I’ve been accepted to the Polymathic Scholars honors program (50 students) at UT as well as the Plan II honors major so I would be double-majoring with double honors at UT Austin. It also feels more homely to me since I’m from Texas and is the cheapest of the options. At UT, my major would be Neurosci. I was pretty set on it before I was accepted to Emory and Berkeley.

UC Berkeley and Emory cost the same for me. At these schools, my major would be Cognitive Science for Berkeley and Neuroscience & Behavioral Biology for Emory. I know both of these schools have great programs. California is a great place to be and I’ll be around amazing people. Everyone I know has said Emory and Berkeley! They’re significantly more expensive for me (like 18k more than UT). Is it worth it?

2

I wouldn’t pass up UT for Berkeley at higher cost because Berkeley has budget issues which impact class sizes and even getting required courses.

3

Congrats @ai4525 - the 2 programs at UT Austin are excellent for grad school transcripts & will include access to great advisors, etc. I agree with @JAMCAFE - it doesn’t appear you will be in a selective group at Berkeley so you may be frustrated with course picks, etc. Good luck to you.

4

I’d choose between UT and Emory but frankly it’s hard to beat what UT offers and since it’s cheaper that’s what I’d choose.
The only upsides to Emory :

  • private school = more comfortable learning environment
  • grade inflation
  • more geographical diversity (less socio-economic diversity though.)
  • living in a different part of the country and discovering a different ‘culture’ of our nation’s.

Still, I think Plan II + Polymathic Honors + cheaper wins hands down.