University of Alabama Tuscaloosa vs University of Tennessee Knoxville

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! I’m a senior in high school still unsure of where I want to attend school this upcoming fall. I’ve narrowed down my choices to the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee. I want to major in either psychology and or neuroscience (I’m leaning more towards neuroscience now) and I am on the pre-med track. In college, I want to begin working on undergraduate research and continue volunteering my time to my community. While I have not formally conducted research, the idea of research excites me and being involved in it is very important to me.

At the University of Alabama, I have gotten into the Randall Research Scholars Program and the Blount Honors Program. At the University of Tennessee, I have gotten into the Chancellor’s Honors Program.

I am very conflicted as to what school I want to attend because while I have never stayed in Alabama (except for the interview weekend), Alabama’s research program would be a great opportunity for me. The program only takes in 40 students each year.

UTK’s Chancellor’s Honors Program takes in about 400 students per year, meaning the attention would not be as specialized there as it would be at Alabama. I am also worried about not getting the opportunity to perform research. However, being a TN resident, I know more about Knoxville and am more comfortable in the city.

Money wise, the University of Alabama would cost me about $24,000 a year and the University of Tennessee would cost me about $15,000 a year.

I am not planning on joining a sorority and do not enjoy that type of environment. I do however love the idea of being involved in a smaller community within a larger university. I am attending undergraduate school with plans of continuing to medical school.

If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/advice that they will be willing to share, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

2

If money is at all an issue, go to UTK. Others will disagree, but I don’t see that much difference between one public flagship and another. Both Bama and UTK are SEC schools, though Bama is obviously more successful in football. The price difference is significant: nearly ten grand!

If the research opportunities and selectivity of Bama’s honors makes it worth the extra money (and only you and your family know if you can afford this), maybe Bama makes more sense. If not, you know UTK well, and since it too is a large research university, I find it difficult to believe that an honors student would have zero research opportunities. I do get that Bama’s program is specifically for research scholars, and that must sound very attractive.

It sounds like you know where you should go: Bama. But if the money is a dealbreakeer, you’ll have to go to UTK and make the best of it, as lots of students have to do when money is a significant factor.

3

The advice above is spot-on. If money is not a concern, go to Bama, if it is, go to UT-K. The concern you should think about is that there are few, if any, scholarships for med school. So, if that is really want you want to do, then you do not want to encumber yourself with much undergraduate debt, because you likely will be with med school debt.