UT Austin Honors vs. Emory

College Search & Selection
1

To keep this short and sweet, I’ll give the bare facts.

UT Austin Honors (Polymathic Scholars) (24k per year after 2.5k merit scholarship)
Emory (47k per year after 22k merit scholarship)

There’s also my dream school Duke at full sticker price (about 76k) which would mean no money for additional study abroad and result in me taking out loans in medical school. If I went to either UT or Emory, my parents have generously agreed in paying most/all of my medical school costs.

Major: Neuroscience
Goal: Medical School

Which will set me up best to get into medical school? If I hadn’t gotten into UT honors, I would have certainly gone with Emory since their Neuroscience major is one of their signature ones and ranked at like 30 something in US News World and Report compared to UT’s 120 placement.

However, do you think that being in honors at UT (which comes with research starting from freshman year, smaller classes, and a multidisciplinary thesis) will outweigh the inherent benefits of an Emory education?

If you could, I’d like one response considering the monetary difference and another without regards to the cost.

Thanks in advance!

2

This is a super tough choice. I would choose UT-Austin, as it seems the program you have been placed in offers ample opportunities for research throughout your four years there, which is very important for an aspiring doctor. I do not know much about what schools are good for neuroscience, but I do know that both UT-Austin and Emory are very well regarded. While rankings give an okay idea of school performance, it is never the full picture (especially depending on major). Given the cost difference and the program, that’s why I’d go UT. You’ll have lots of research on your resume, do better in smaller classes, and have money leftover for medical school, study abroad, international service trips, etc.