University of Texas at Austin, UTD, or Emory for pre-med?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

I was accepted to UT Austin, UTD, and Emory, and I definitely want to do pre-med. I was wondering if anyone out there had any ideas/suggestions about which college I should choose?

For Emory, i would pay about 40k (they gave me a merit scholarship), UT (full price which is about 28-30k), and UTD (full ride + stipend so i pay nothing). I really like Emory’s campus, atmosphere, and emphasis on teaching, plus i love that the CDC is next door - I’ve been working on med research for a while so that’s perfect for it. I’ve heard that Emory premed is really hard though, and that there’s a low medical acceptance rate for Emory? ~60%, same as UT though.

On the other hand, UT didn’t give me any honors, so i’ll be stuck in huge classes. I don’t really like the atmosphere of UT when I visited, because it just felt really scattered and has too much of a party scene. (These were my impressions after visiting, I’m sure other people have differing opinions though). Still, UT is a good school and has plenty of research/med experience opportunities.

For UTD, financially it’s definitely a good option but I’ll have to live at home and the atmosphere of UTD is that of a commuter school/I want more of a college experience (though without too much partying).

For med school, I know the undergraduate school doesn’t matter, only GPA/MCAT/experiences, but what are your recommendations? I do want to take atmosphere/fit into some account. Thank you so much!

2

Choose the school that offers the best combination of fit, affordability and opportunity.

See: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1484178-if-you-high-school-please-read-before-posting.html

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-picking-premed-school.html

If you have school-specific questions, ask the forum for that school.

3

Just curious. When did you hear about Emory scholarship? A friend’s is waiting for the news? Was it a phone call or an email?

4

UTD is no longer a commuter school. 5 new residence halls within the past few years, and Northside at UTD opening next year adding an additional 600ish beds. I was a student at the time the school still had the commuter label. It no longer applies. You can live on campus for at least freshmen year and get a more traditional college experience, then decide what you want to do later. It’s worth the extra cost.

Honestly wouldn’t even consider Emory at this point. It should be between UT or UTD. In the end, you’ll probably end up at the same Texas med school no matter where you went to undergrad. I would choose UTD because I’m biased and I had a great time there, great education at no cost to you, and all my friends successfully made it to med school.

5

I heard about the Emory scholarship in January (merit based). It was a link to the Opus account. Thanks to everyone for the input!