<p>So, like quite a few people on here, I seem to have been totally shafted by financial aid. Hooray for the middle class. I'd like to hear anyone's advice on my situation:</p>
<p>I'm in the middle of the decisions process and plan to pursue either Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience / neurobiology, and perhaps psychology as a double major. At the moment, I'm still unsure of whether I'll go to med school to be a neurologist, or if I might decide on a PHD program to have a more research oriented career. But my interests lie in brain research and work, and I definitely plan to do as much research as possible during my undergrad.</p>
<p>Having received my financial aid packages, the staggering reality of 50k/ year for education has actually hit me. Duke is expecting 49k from my family (all I got was 2k in work study), and Penn expects 43k (after 2k in grants, 3k in work study). This is absolute madness, and if I wanted to go to either school I would probably have to loan way more than half, so I'm looking at 100-120k in debt by the end of my undergraduate degree if I go to either of those schools. I absolutely adore Duke and everything about the campus and facilities, and I'm visiting Penn for the first time next weekend to get a feel for it.</p>
<p>What makes the decision so much harder is that UF will cost me about 1000 / year (I'm a florida resident). I've heard both sides of "undergrad doesn't matter, go to an easier school and get the GPA for med school " vs "go to the best school you possibly can it makes all the difference". And from what I understand, UF has a very nice new neuroscience initiative. </p>
<p>I would be OK going to UF if the caliber of education was approximately the same, and I'd be saving 100k+ to boot. But my issue is that A) I know that I'll be happier at Duke (I'm just not sure if I'll be $100k happier) and B) will it really be the same. I just don't know if starting medical school or a PHD with that much debt is worth it, or even sane.</p>
<p>Friends, parents, counselors, everyone has a different opinion. I'd deeply appreciate it if any of you guys could chime in as well. Thanks so much for wading through such a fat post and thanks even more for any advice.</p>
<p>If Florida gives honors students separate dorms, priority course selection, offers honors only courses & special advising, then that may be an excellent choice for you. I know that it is not your dream school--Duke University--but it is a great alternative if the above benefits apply.(My best friend from high school is the head of neurology at a very well respected hospital, on the boards of trustees at two schools and attended a local college which has only once been mentioned on CC.) The Univ. of Florida is a major state flagship university that will afford you all the opportunities that you earn.</p>
<p>If neuroscience is your strongest interest, at the undergrad level Penn definately has the strongest program of the three schools, having a very high level of interdisciplinary work between the psych/bio/and BBB departments. BBB would actually eliminate your need really to do a bio/psych double major, though you'd have the option of doing a neuroscience concentration in the bio major (this is what I'm doing now) if you decided the PhD route was right for you.</p>
<p>That said, 100k of undergrad debt is A LOT to take on, no matter what you plan on doing, and if you go the PhD route, you'd have a hell of a time paying it off. That said, where you go for undergrad matters a lot more for PhD programs than it does for MD ones, as connections with faculty and research opportunities are major factors in getting you in.</p>
<p>I'm bias but I would go to UF. The program you would want to major in is Neurobiological Sciences. Its a great program and from what I hear from the people majoring in it. I think agree with the above, that say the school will play a major factor in getting into a PhD program. What will matter more is research experience, publications, and academics; all which you can get in UF's programs. UF has the McKnight Brain Institute, Academic Research Building, NIMH Center for the Study of Emotion & Attention, among others. It will be easy to find research opportunities. I would also recommend that you apply to the HHMI Science for Life program, so you have funding of you own to pay for your research. I just personally don't think the $43,000 or $100,000 is worth it. You will have all the opportunities to get into a med, phd, or md/phd program if you go to UF. </p>