I’ll be a freshman at UT-Austin this fall. I’ve been super excited about it up until this past week. I turned down Oxford College at Emory to commit to UT, but, I’ve started feeling massive regret about it.
I’m thinking it all began a few weeks back when one of my tutors seriously questioned my decision to go to UT over Oxford, though I had reassured her that I had my reasons and so forth. I walked away from that conversation feeling confident in my decision to attend UT.
I chose UT because I thought a bigger school would give me a greater diversity of opportunities (as opposed to being more isolated at Oxford’s campus) and because I loved Austin. I also heavily considered the fact that I plan to do premed; UT has three hospitals around its campus, a medical school, and (obviously) is very urban. I thought I’d have the best shot at getting into medical school there.
I turned Oxford down thinking that it’d be like high school all over again, with such an isolated a tiny campus. I also was worried about the potential dearth of premedical experiences I’d encounter there - despite knowing that I’d still end up at Emory College after two years. Finally, I also was uncomfortable about making my parents pay ~60k (minimum) a year as opposed to just going to UT for much, much cheaper (free).
But now I’m mentally beating myself up for turning down a top 20 school for a large public - despite the fact that I know I’ve ALWAYS wanted to attend UT. Moreover, I think it’s possible that I’ve seen myself attending UT for so long that I didn’t give Oxford a chance. I can’t help but focus on the fact I’ve missed out on Emory’s prestige, the closer student-professor relationships, the campus’ beauty… the list could go on. And it’s really starting to take a toll on my mental health. I’ve been having panic attacks, I can’t stop obsessing over it, and my parents, though initially sympathetic towards my feelings of regret, are getting quite sick of hearing about it and are starting to get stressed themselves. I feel like I’ve ruined a better future by turning down Oxford for UT.
Can anyone here share their thoughts on my ordeal? I know I should go to UT with an open mind, and other people I’ve talked to (people who have gone to UT and have now went through/are in medical school) have reassured me that I made the right decision, but I still can’t shake off these feelings of anxiety and regret… even when I do think of the multifarious reasons why I chose UT.
And another note - I’ve already called Oxford asking if they have any more spots this semester. They do not.
You had very good reasons for choosing UT. There is nothing to be gained by rethinking your decision. UT is a fantastic school - go confidently and embrace the opportunities you will have there.
If you are a Texas resident pre-med, UT is the better choice, because you need to save money for medical school and stay near your (relatively lower cost) Texas medical schools for more convenient interview access.
Think of it this way: UT costs about $140,000 less for undergraduate than Emory. If you pass the gauntlet of the pre-med process, when you start medical practice, would you rather do so with $140,000 less debt? More debt will limit your career and life choices.
@happy1 Thank you for your reassurances. It’s certainly true that there is nothing to be gained from rethinking my decision at this point. I will do my best to embrace my opportunities there! I suppose I really have to run and not look back.
@ucbalumnus Yes, I am a Texas resident. I didn’t think about the costs of the interview process, and that does makes me feel better about my decision. Flying in and out of Georgia in itself would definitely add on a couple thousand over a course of four years.
I was thinking that Emory would cost me at least ~$240k if one year of tuition is around ~$60k (I think more, but I could be wrong). Versus UT… which I’m essentially going to for free. I have a tuition plan that allows me 5 years worth of study there for only $20k. And considering the costs of medical school, my residency, and starting my own practice…
Right. UT would save me and my parents thousands. I also want to make sure my sibling can go to college! Thank you for pointing the financial aspects out to me in greater depth.
It is normal to have doubts… remember there is always a road not taken when making a choice. You made the choice (a good one), look forward now. The path to medical school is tough and both schools can get you there. Best wishes for a wonderful freshman year.
@privatebanker Phew. I’m glad I’m not the only one who (initially) thought that UT would have more opportunities than Oxford College - even if it is part of Emory.
I had no idea that medical schools like top students from top flagships now. I wonder why that’d be the case? If anything, I thought that being a top student at an elite private school would be more helpful in med school admissions, all other factors considered equal… but then again, I haven’t looked at any numbers to make that assumption. And your paid counselor at Brown probaably knows what he/she’s talking about!
I feel that my counselor might have been so upset about my decision to attend UT over Oxford because, well, she’s my private, paid counselor who’s been helping me with the application process and whatnot for a while. She regularly sends kids to other top privates, so my decision to attend UT over Emory may felt underwhelming and disappointing for her.
I try to tell myself that, in the end, my family and I are the ones paying for my education anyway. Not her. Even though I’m sure she means well.
@Pelotonridermom Thank you so much for your wishes and reassurances. You’re right about not taken roads; I always forget about the opportunity costs when it comes to making decisions. I’ll do my best to make it into medical school at UT.
This particular woman is an industry veteran and really plugged in. She’s a former brown admissions official and has a private practice nearby.
She was referring specifically to her close friends who are dean of admissions or equivalent for some ivy level med schools.
She said it had to do with the personal preparedness and lack of pretense as a group. Not a commentary of any one or two or twenty students. Of course the top students at Emory or anywhere that good are all rock stars.
You might have inflated – in an ironic furtherance of your self-doubt – the level of the school you will not attend. When compared to all U.S. colleges and universities by a rough surrogate for selectivity (standardized scoring), Emory did not place within the top 50 in this fairly recent analysis: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10.
Wishing you the best of luck at the excellent UT, @okradiocomputers!
Learn from this experience. When you make big adult decisions, and you will many more times over a lifetime, look forward and focus on your choice and all the positives you will gain. Don’t look back, the choice is made. Regret is very much a wasted emotion. Congratulations!
Oh, my gosh, I’m so envious of you! I loved my six years (BS and MS) at UT. It’s a wonderful school and you will have LOTS of opportunities. You won’t be spoon fed, but you can do anything you want there. My son was doing research in the biomedical engineering lab as a freshman. And there is so much to do! You’ll have a wonderful time and also get a top-notch education.
There will always be a road not taken, but UT seems like a very smart choice for you.
I mean, if you qualified for need-based financial aid and could have gone to Emory for the same price as UT, then there would at least be a level playing field to weigh their merits. But as @ucbalumnus says… a $140K difference? UT is an excellent school that many students are heartbroken they can’t go to.
Since there’s no point in telling you not to obsess, let me suggest a thought exercise to redirect the obsessing. Sit down and make a list of your top 20 things to do with $140K. For starters, if you’re concerned about med school admissions, that will cover the cost of any additional preparation you might need, from a postbac program to a masters program in public health or bioethics, or whatever. But even aside from that… how about buying a condo near your future med school? A gap-year trip around the world? Use your imagination… but actually try to envision all of the other things that money could buy you, and then see if it’s really a convincing argument that Emory would have been worth UT+that. Shoot, if you’re really sad about missing out on the Emory Experience, you can forego a summer job every year, attend open-enrollment summer classes at Emory, and still come out ahead.
You made a good decision, and six months from now you will be appreciating the things you would have missed out on if you had not chosen UT. Because (see above) there will always be a road not taken. Overthinking is unavoidable sometimes, but try to finish overthinking soon, and start getting excited about the opportunities in front of you.
You won’t know until you go. UT sounds like the smart decision based on everything you’ve written so far. Try it for a year, and if you don’t like it, transfer.
From reading the original post, Oxford may have been a riskier choice in this instance and if a transfer is under consideration, Emory College (in Atlanta) might be a better fit for @okradiocomputers than Oxford/Emory. Emory also has two hospitals on campus as well as the CDC. As others have said, if finances are at all an issue, then the correct choice was made. Nobody’s future is determined by choice between two great schools. It can be ruined by how well you perform in one of those schools.
This is a pretty late reply, but I’d like to give everyone a big thanks for your commentary and reassurances! I was really pleasantly surprised by the amount of support I got from everyone. Really made a stressed out summer senior feel better.
@MaineLonghorn That’s awesome! My best friend is going to UT and majoring in biomedical engineering, and I’m really excited for her. And now that you mention it, one of the reasons why I chose UT was actually the fact that I wouldn’t be spoon-fed. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I also am really excited about UT has to offer!
@aquapt Thanks so much for the thought exercise - it’s immensely helpful. It’s actually crazy how many other worthwhile things I can think up of to spend on with the $140k difference. A gap-year trip around the world and a condo close to my future medical school sounds awesome.
@ljberkow Right. I too thought Oxford was a riskier choice than UT from an economic aspect. One thing I would like to mention is that I actually got waitlisted by Emory College (but I did not get off the waitlist - I don’t think anyone did this year, actually). I’ll admit that finances aren’t really all too much of an issue for my family. They honestly could have afforded to send me to Oxford. It just, like you said, would have been financially riskier than UT, and it wasn’t a risk I personally wanted to take (I don’t know if that was foolish or not). But had I gotten into Emory College instead, I likely would have chosen to go there over UT. That said, I definitely will apply to transfer to Emory if I end up disliking UT.
Not gonna lie, I think another reason why I started getting anxious about my decision to choose UT was because of, well, prestige. One of my closest friends is going to an Ivy, and while I’m happy for her, I feel a little insecure about going to a public school - even if it is a great one. It’s making me really under-appreciate my acceptance into UT and may be why I started wanted Emory these past few weeks. Does anyone know how to get over feelings like this? I know prestige isn’t everything, nor should it matter much for the premedical route, but it’s been nagging me a whole lot. I almost feel like I underachieved by choosing to go to UT instead, even though I know it’s a great school, I have my reasons for going there, and it’s a place lots of other students are dying to go to.
I may be a bit late coming to this thread, but I think that UT Austin is a great choice. It is a very good university. I have heard great things about Austin. Saving money is going to be a BIG win if you end up at medical school.
I think that you made the right choice for good reasons.
Plan to work very hard as a premed student. Keep ahead in your classes. Expect university to be harder than high school. Best wishes and congratulations!
