<p>As I have to send in a deposit tomorrow, any input would be great. I want to major in biology and have pre-med intentions. I have been accepted to the Honors Program at the University of Georgia and have received a small scholarship from them and would graduate basically debt-free. The UGA Honors Program is amazing and has many opportunities for study abroad and internships. However, Notre Dame, my dream school, would leave me roughly $50,000 in debt by graduation. ND has great biology dept. and pre-med advising, and I love the campus. However, I am a little nervous about being so far away from home (I live in Atlanta) and ND is in Indiana. I know I would eventually get used to being away from home but the first semester might be a little rough. Is the prestige of an ND degree worth the extra cost and anxiety of being away fro home?</p>
<p>In your post I didn’t see anything that was worth $50K for four years. Maybe you should honestly think about what makes it your dream and if those features are still that important to you - maybe it isn’t really your dream school any more. Congrats on the UGA Honors program - that sounds great!</p>
<p>I would second what GeekMom63 said. You describe ND as your “dream school”, but don’t really do much to further that beyond great academics and campus. Is there anything else that makes you think ND is so great? In contrast you describe the opportunities from UGA Honors as “amazing”-- certainly a lot stronger than anything you said in support of ND.</p>
<p>An ND degree is certainly more prestigous, but if you’re going pre-med, both should be fine to get you into good med schools. When you have a graduate degree, the prestige of your UG degree is much less important.</p>