Hi all,
So I am having a lot of trouble deciding between these two schools, and my parents, my dad especially, have been making the choice excruciatingly difficult. Besides these schools, I also got into Duke and Rice, but my dad did not even bother filling out financial aid info because he firmly believes I will not receive enough financial aid to go. Since I am undecided between pre-med/public policy/economics, my dad understands that UT is the better choice for liberal arts, and plan II will really help with that should I choose to stay the pre-med track. I got a $10000 scholarship from the Natural Sciences department at UT, but my dad still thinks UT costs too much. He outlined my options as such:
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Go to UT but live at home (I live 30 minutes away, which means I will have to ride the bus every morning/evening to and from campus).
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Go to A&M which has a significantly worse reputation in liberal arts, but I would get to live on campus and I would not have to pay.
Overall, I like UT Austin a lot more because of downtown, the liberal atmosphere, and the more prestigious programs, and I am adamant about living at home, but I am beginning to consider it. Also, I plan on moving out of state after college, and I will definitely be attending grad school.
Would anyone be able to offer me some guidance? My dad says I need to make a decision right away.
Thank you in advance!
If you want to go to medical school, be aware that Texas public medical schools and Baylor are quite inexpensive as far as medical schools go, at least for Texas residents. That can be helpful if you want to finish medical school with much lower debt than most medical school graduates will have. This can give you more freedom to choose career paths without having to chase the maximum amount of money to pay off a huge debt.
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/
https://www.aamc.org/download/447254/data/debtfactcard.pdf
Unless you really want to leave home, choose UT-A, because:
- you’d rather go there (from what you indicate)
- Austin >>> College Station
- UT-A reputation > TAMU
Do you qualify for need-based financial aid? If so, Rice is quite generous with aid (free tuition for families under $80K from what I’ve heard) - I would definitely see what they would offer. And if you want a smaller school (and arguably better college experience), then Rice is excellent (and you’re not living at home).
Plan II + HSS make UT a no brainer, whether you want to attend medical school or work in public policy. I’m guessing your dad is a die hard Aggie who sees UT as a rival but for your goals, UT is better (less grade deflation, which is crucial for premeds - which doesn’t mean easier! + quality of the liberal arts curriculum simply doesnt compare + reputation outside of Texas) AND you got Plan II which is considered of of the top ten honors programs in the country, which you only pass on for Harvard or Stanford or such (it’s that prestigious and excellent) AND you got hss, which means dedicated advising, guaranteed research, clinical experience… Essentially everything you could wish for wrt your goals.
While living at home will be a bummer, especially since there’s a dedicated hss living learning community with activities and classes that you’ll hang out with but won’t live in, you can plan to be on campus from 9am every day and stay till all activities are complete and the library closes, so, basically, midnight. It’s be as close as possible to living on campus as possible.
Try to work part time and save your money so that you can move to an off campus apartment your second year.
For the record, you can run the NPC yourself and see whether you’d qualify for financial aid at Rice and Duke. These days, even families. That make 180-200k qualify for aid at top colleges.
In any case, considering the adequation of UT with your goals, plus the scholarship, plus Plan II, plus hss , Tamu doesn’t make sense - remember that the best value isn’t always the cheapest.
I wish the dad would post here because I don’t feel like we’re getting the full story. Regardless, UT would be the best place academically. Can’t beat Plan II. It’s a shame he’s making you live at home, but you don’t seem totally opposed to it.
This is a hard one. I attended Texas A&M but my entire family (sisters, cousins) went to UT. Plan II is incredible and as was stated earlier Texas students have much less expensive medical school costs. Having said that, I am old and a mom but when I was younger I would have never wanted to live at home in college. I wanted to live in a dorm get involved in activities and experience college. College is a great time to learn about yourself, make new friends that perhaps are different from you and learn to deal with all types. If money is not the issue, I would definitely live on campus or right by it. Austin is so fun with live music and beautiful hills and lakes. However, A&M is fun because you really get to know the people since you see them all the time as its a small town. It is really about you and what you would like. It is cheaper to live in College Station than Austin. If I was advising you, I would say live on campus and attend UT. It is more liberal and you might fit in better there and Plan II is a great program.
People who want to go to medical school should be aware that it is a long road ahead and you will need another 125-150k even to go to medical school in Texas (although Dell might let you stay home and save money).
It sounds like your dad seems to feel A&M is a good enough choice for you since they are giving a full ride and is not willing to pay for room and board at UT. Is he willing to give money to attend medical school?
You can borrow without your parent’s help is about 5500 stafford loan and work to make up money if you want to stay in a dorm or outside home. That will accumulate 20-22k before you start med school and the loans keep adding up.
Hi guys, I’m also deciding between a more prestigious but expensive school and an in state school. I’m planning to major in computer science and then master in Business Admin. I was accepted to Georgia Tech without a scholarship and also The University of Kansas with a $68,000 scholarship (I am in state so basically, free education for 4 years). I would love to attend Georgia Tech due to their high ranking CS program and the chance to live in Atlanta. My parents are able to pay the out of state tuition, but I am just wondering if it’s worth it. I know this should not be relevant, but I also have a boyfriend of 2 years here who I really care for and that has impacted a lot of my hesitance as well, as much as I wish it didn’t. Anyways, any sort of advice/information you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
@xkatiel13 start a new thread with your question; thanks.
When I commented earlier I hadn’t read the title and noticed the Plan II + HSS at UT-A. I’d say that makes it almost a no-brainer - Plan II is hard to pass up. The draw back is living at home, but remember that you might find a way to change that over the course of the 4 years.
Do you think you could talk your dad into letting you dorm just for the first year, so you could find it easier to integrate into UT and make friends? Especially with a dedicated Living Learning community for HSS, it would be nice to be on campus. Then you could move home for the following 3 years to save money.