<p>Let me start by saying that English is my second language, so please excuse any grammatical mistakes.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to the pre-med program at both UVA and Georgetown. I don't know which is the better option for him. I am hoping to get some insight from the wise parents on this forum. May be some advice or direction so that I can help him his decision. </p>
<p>We visited both schools and here is some background:
We live in Virginia (20 minutes) from Georgetown.
Georgetown offered him $20,000 in scholarship. That leaves us with about $35,000 to pay. UVA on the other hand will cost us about $24,000.
Georgetown has the Early Assurance Program for medical school, where students can apply in Sophomore year and based on their performance and GPA can be accepted to Georgetown's medical school after the completion of the pre-med program --> thus making it easier to get into Georgetown's medical school and become less stressful on the students (don't have to take MCATs)
Georgetown is closer to home - but he still wants to live on campus to experience college life to the fullest. UVA is about 2 and a half hours ago.
Both campuses are beautiful and he liked both of them. He felt that UVA had a more college atmosphere. He's been volunteering at Georgetown hospital for the past two years and he is very familiar with Georgetown's campus.</p>
<p>Here are my questions: Which of these two schools has better academics? better reputation? Which one is harder / more demanding? Which one is more of a party school (don't want that)? </p>
<p>Both schools are excellent with very good reputations. Both have plenty of partying if you look for it. Two good choices, I’d lean toward UVA as it’s less expensive and he might not stay a pre-med and it would stretch his wings a bit more. But the Early Assurance program is an awfully nice option. He has two excellent choices and really can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>Our son visited both UVA and Georgetown and preferred the Georgetown campus over the UVA. He also wanted to be in or be near a big city. Since me may major in political science/government and/or international business, he selected Georgetown and will be there this fall.</p>
<p>No way I can see paying $44,000 more to go to Georgetown. And getting into the program at Georgetown med will be very, very competitive. Academics, especially in the sciences, are no stronger at Georgetown (probably better at UVa which also has a much stronger medical school). On top of all this, your son seems to like the campus focused vibe at UVa better. My vote is for UVa.</p>
<p>A lot depends on whether or not it is easy for your family to pay the costs of these two schools after any scholarships. For some families, 35k would not be a big deal. For others, even 24k would be way too much. You could sit down with your son and run the two financial aid packages and sets of expenses through this calculator and see what you think: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>Good luck with everything, and congratulations to your son for receiving such good offers!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input. You raised some good points that I need to discuss with my son before making the decision. </p>
<p>@happymomof1 - The cost difference between UVA and Georgetown (after the scholarship) is not going to break our budget. But I also don’t want to pay the extra money if it’s not a better deal. Anyway… decision time - I will keep you posted. </p>