Choosing Baylor over "more prestigious" schools

STV
Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:57:20 +0000

I am fairly confident that Baylor is where I want to be next year. I like that it is strong in the health sciences (planning on going on into pharmacy), that one of my best friends is going there and rooming with me, that I got into the honors program, and that I got a good amount of financial aid and can stay pretty close to home. However, I am passing up on schools such as Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Tulane (Honors), Texas A&M, and Purdue. All my friends are telling me that I shouldn’t pass up acceptances from these other schools to go to Baylor because they think so little of it, while I think that it is a pretty good school, where I can get a good education. Also I know a couple of National Merit finalists, super smart, that are going here as well and are passing up on some very good Universities, much better than the ones I listed. So how much does prestige really matter for undergrads? And am I making the right decision, or at least not the wrong decision, by choosing to go to Baylor?
Also… I know that BU and BCOM are different, but what is going on with BCOM’s large drop in the medical school rankings this year? just curious