I missed that you were accepted into Plan II at UT. Wow! That’s an amazing program. If it were me, I would pick UT. I don’t see how you can beat a full-ride scholarship and the privilege of being in Plan II.
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Note that Stanford does not offer a neuroscience major. They do have a neuro concentration for symbolic systems and psychology majors. The majority of premeds major in hum bio, which has a lot flexibility in what areas you want to emphasize and can include an emphasis in neuroscience. Bioengineering/biomedical computation major may also be relevant for the intersection between neuroscience and CS.
I wouldn’t focus much on the “placement rate.” Much of placement rate differences can relate to how strongly the college discourages students from applying, who are unlikely to get in, and differences in stat reporting; in addition to differences in selectivity.
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Tip: You’ll get better feedback if you answer some of the questions that have been asked.
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If you can leverage financial aid to Harvard, I’d take that. Otherwise, the guarantee for Baylor is difficult to beat especially for how great of a medical school it is.
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I know countless students who went in as freshmen as pre med who ended up not being pre med for various reasons. (I went to Penn if that helps. I also got accepted to the medical undergrad program in the UK since i thought i was destined to be a doctor in high school, decided I didnt like the uni i was accepted to so went to Penn bc of liberal arts and it being an ivy and all. The parental pressure was strong for prestige names)
Unless you think you will die in hell if you don’t become a doctor in your future, eliminate the premed factor from your decision making process. Consider your personality fit and the money factor. Do not. Overload on student debt if you can avoid it. The high interest debt will bury you as an adult esp if you do end up going to grad school.
Re culture fit - imo Stanford is more social / outgoing and big emphasis on sports which I think helps w strengthening the community feel than Harvard, which is more academically driven.
Re Academics, at the end of the day you are not gna go wrong with any of these options. Unless you want to research and become a nobel laureate (or a PHD program if im not being facetious), going to a university based on a “ranking” of a major or a specific famous professor, is, imho, futile. At the undergrad level btwn prestigious universities, you are optimizing for the nth degree that really doesnt come to play unless you are in their graduate programs.
I was in a similar position many years ago. Soon my daughter will be making the same choice, hence the reason for my reading this post now. I am a specialist physician now, and I chose the state school scholarship path. After finishing at the top of my state medical school class and doing well on the USMLE, I attained a top residency spot. My debt load was very low, and it did help when starting a young family. I will tell you that in the very competitive field that I now practice most did go to the HYPSM-type schools for undergrad, but what matters most is performing well where you are. Also, UT is a well thought of state school and would absolutely never limit your possibilities.
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