<p>I've been accepted as a biomedical engineering student to both SMU and UT.</p>
<p>SMU has offered me a generous financial package including the Hunt Scholarship which will allow me to study abroad for free and pays for half of my tuition.</p>
<p>I received no financial assistance from UT.</p>
<p>In addition I am a minority, and I am a little concerned about the diversity at SMU.</p>
<p>Your thoughts?</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering in UT is hard to get in. Congrats! Look closely at your financial package from SMU and see what your family will have to contribute after the pkg. My friend’s son received the presidential package award from SMU last year and family still has to pay 30K out of pocket. I assume you are in-state.UT in-state tuition for engineering is $10480/year and room and board start at $8500 and up depending on the dorm you will be in.</p>
<p>If cost is not a problem, UT Austin all the way! but i agree with sunndayfun though, you should sit down with your parents and talk about the financial situation. However if the cost of tuition (after deduction of the scholarship) are relatively similar, then Texas all the way!!</p>
<p>UT… SMU will throw money at you to get you to matriculate, but once you are there you might find academics do not seem not terribly important to the university overall.</p>
<p>The Hunt Scholarship is a nice scholarship which pays full tuition LESS the cost of tuition at your in-state flagship college. Because you have not disclosed if you are instate (I am assuming yes due to the knowledge of your UT acceptance) it is hard to determine but basically the tuition playing field is even. I say even because the study abroad office at UT gives plenty of opportunity to students to secure scholarships for study abroad, outside the regular financial aid of the University.</p>
<p>The biomedical program at UT is ranked number 14 in the nation. SMU’s program was not ranked (US News) I do not know if that is important to you or not. Just a piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>UT housing costs will be around $9000-10,000 including food. SMU housing costs average $8800 but do not include food, but a dining plan is required if you live in the dorms and they start at $4500. So living at SMU is more expensive and the area surrounding SMU is super high dollar.</p>
<p>The choice ultimately is where you feel more comfortable. It feels good for a University to offer a high dollar scholarship, but just because the starting cost is higher does not mean the education is better. UT will offer you a much more diverse learning environment and Austin a much more diverse and IMO fun living environment.</p>
<p>Biomedical engineering is an exciting field - congratulations on your acceptance to both schools!</p>
<p>Academics are incredibly important to SMU, despite zebbadimday’s post. That’s why SMU is also a top nationally ranked university! We value our strong academic atmosphere which is why we like to keep our classes small and our student to faculty ratio low! This means better interaction with your peers and professors both in and outside of the classroom. </p>
<p>In terms of diversity, it grows every year. At SMU, we are proud of our diverse campus - it’s part of what makes college fun and interesting! If you have not already had an opportunity, please come visit SMU and get a feel for the campus and the student body fro yourself! </p>
<p>Financial aid is obviously important - attending school anywhere is expensive these days. The Hunt Scholars are a very prestigious group on campus and SMU is keen to keep those students happy!</p>
<p>This is a thread from April, so I’m closing the thread.</p>