UW Madison Vs UTK for Pre-med

College Search & Selection
1

My daughter is a HS senior and she’s trying to decide between the following. Please share your thoughts. TIA.

  1. UW Madison - Genetics major No money was offered, we'll be paying full OOS tuition ($55K/yr)
  2. UTK - Neuroscience major She got In-State tuition covered with scholarship. We will be paying room+board.($11K/yr)

Her plan is to eventually go to med school. She has her heart set on Genetics at UW.

For both the choices, what could be plan B?

What kind of career options are there with Genetics vs Neuroscience?

Would there be any other related majors that she should be exploring at UTK?

2

How much of that 55k figure is tuition and fees? Are the housing and meals estimates for UW Madison higher than for UTK? I think UTK is a no-brainer unless the total price difference for four years is petty change for you. If she sticks with the med school goal, she’s going to need every cent of the money saved, and more, to pay for those medical studies.

Med school admission doesn’t require any particular major, just excellent grades, excellent MCAT scores, the courses required for med school admission, medical volunteer work/job shadowing, good letters of recommendation, and a fair bit of luck. Genetics, Neuroscience, Meteorology, French literature, Theater Tech/Design - all of those are perfectly fine majors for pre-med students.

There are a fair number of entry-level jobs out there in bio-tech and agbusiness that could hire people with bachelors degrees in science. Truly, she needn’t be overly worried about that just yet. But If she is, she can ask the career center at each campus where their XYZ majors end up.

Wishing you all the best as you sort through this, but truly, I say “Go Vols!”

3

37k

[QUOTE]
Are the housing and meals estimates for UW Madison higher than for UTK?

[QUOTE]

Yes.

4

[QUOTE]
Are the housing and meals estimates for UW Madison higher than for UTK?

[QUOTE]

Housing/meals estimates are same.

5

I’m a UW-Madison alum, as are most of my family members, and I still live near Madison. I think UW-Madison is a great school but I don’t think it’s worth $44,000 per year in additional costs.