I have been accepted to many universities, but I narrowed it down to University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Arlington. I did not get full admission to UT Austin but I did get accepted to their coordinated Admissions Program. This is when I go to a UT school for 1 year and transfer over to UT Austin. My issue is that I received a full ride scholarship to UTA. I definitely want to go to medical school and so I am deciding which choice is best for me. I believe that UT Austin will provide me with more opportunities than that of UTA, but UT Austin would be more expensive. Each year I would have to pay about $30,000 at UT Austin. I read numerous articles about making sure to keep grades high for medical school and that going to an easy undergraduate school would better my chances for medical school acceptance. I definitely want to go to a prestigious medical school, so I am debating where I should in order to get the best of my undergraduate experience and secure my medical school future.
When do you have to decide whether or not to transfer? I’d say start at UTA and see how you like it. You may make friends and find yourself happy there, so contented that you decide to stay.
Since Arlington participates in the CAP program, could you start there and retain both the option to continue at Arlington and the option to transfer to Austin?
However, if you still want to do pre-med after your first year, the $90,000 extra cost of transferring to Austin must be considered in the context of total cost and debt after medical school (though Texas public medical schools are relatively inexpensive as far as medical schools go).
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/ (tuition and fees, not including living expenses)
https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf (medical school debt examples)
if i participate in the CAP program I would have to attend UTA for my first year because it is closest to home and I would save on housing. But by accepting the CAP, I loose my full ride to UTA because the scholarship only pertains if you attend UTA for 4 years, so during my CAP and would have to pay full tuition if I wanted to go to UTA. Another option I am still tossing around was attending NYU, but I would have to pay $46,000 a year. NYU is my dream school, but do you think I should save all the debt for a prestigious medical school? I am getting so stressed and lost in this process because I want to make sure I am still in the competitive pool for medical school.
How much can you afford? Are your parents able to help you pay for college? Have you visited UT Arlington? What are UTAs acceptance rates into medical school?
Did you also apply to UT Dallas? UTD awards a lot of scholarships and has well respected STEM programs. Any other acceptances/scholarships you are considering?
If you can afford NYU, go to NYU. (Note this works only if your parents have the money and are OK with this option.) Otherwise take the CAP option for a year and then finish at UT Austin. My concern is that you will start as pre-med and then change your mind. NYU and UT Austin degrees are well respected and will give you more options.
If you want to go to med school then keep debt to a minimum. NY will still be there when you graduate and you can move there then.
Seems like taking the full ride to Arlington would minimize the debt you finish with at the end of medical school. Take a good look at the links in reply #2.
ucbalumnus - that link was very helpful and I also understand that graduate school scholarships are much more competitive and difficult to get so there is no question in my mind that a majority of my debt will come from medical school.
I think the only thing holding me behind to commit is the fact that I believe I will miss opportunities that could have propelled me far. Having the “famous” school degree behind your back will definitely help with the interviews and getting paid internships, but then again I also believe that college is what you make of it and you can be the best where ever you are and still make it far.
txstella - My parents are able to pay around $10,000 a year, but I am trying to find the more affordable option that can still get me pretty far in my education. I have visited UTA and the education there is good enough to challenge me, but campus life is kind of dull for the most part, but I believe I can make it work. I did not apply to UTD ( i think it was a major mistake on my part) but I also received an acceptance from Colgate University, Middlebury College, Texas AM University, and Baylor. These are the other colleges that I am considering. With the liberal arts, I am afraid of the limited options in STEM and whether or not they will be good enough to both challenge me and make me competitive.
If your parents can only pay $10,000 per year, and your cost at Austin is $30,000 per year, then you will need to borrow at least $15,000 per year (in addition to working for pay, which may take time away from your academics and doing pre-med extracurriculars – if you cannot earn enough, then you would have to borrow more, like $20,000 per year). That amount of borrowing won’t be doable without parent cosigning your loans or parent loans, which are generally a bad idea for both you and your parents. Plus, that means that you would be $60,000 to $80,000 in debt even before medical school. In contrast, with the full ride at Arlington, your parents could put that $40,000 not spent on your undergraduate to reduce your medical school debt.
I.e. Austin is not financially realistic (medical school or not), so the full ride at Arlington is the obvious choice between the two.
Do any of your other schools offer anything close to a full ride? Pre-med courses are generally available at any decent college or university that offers the very common biology major.
I don’t think it is too late to apply to UTD but it is likely too late for the scholarships.
How much would A&M cost you? Did you recieve a Baylor scholarship? How much would Baylor cost?
Is your EFC at any of the schools less than $20,000 per year?
I agree that UT doesn’t look affordable for you.