<p>Hello there, I have accepted to all the college i applied for in Texas, and down to two college:</p>
<p>UT Dallas- Great scholarship money
UT Austin- No scholarship money</p>
<p>I have been working diligently applying to various private scholarships( I do not qualify for FAFSA), because money is the only things from keeping me from UT Austin. I want to do Pre-med but am afraid of my opportunities if I attend UT Dallas. If I attend UTD for undergraduate will I be able to attend good med schools- John Hopkins, Washington St. Louis,stanford, Etc. </p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on your acceptances. I will say appreciate the offers, many would love to get acceptance to any of those schools. That being said. MONEY MATTERS as well as FIT & BALANCE.
As for pre-med…your undergraduate institution is not the only factor, if at all it plays into it - rather, your GPA, MCAT, recommendations, voluntary experiences, research etc… helps push your package to the next level.
The question is, which school will you be able to settle down and study with “PEACE OF MIND”, and not have to worry about working 40 plus hours a week to pay for additional college expenses, or worry about excessive loans after graduation etc… all these can increase your stress level leading to a poor college experience in general.
UT Austin is a great school, and so does UT Dallas, so choose carefully and off-course my personal motto; let “FIT & BALANCE” be your guide.
BEST OF LUCK to you.</p>
<p>Thank you ccco2018, i really want to attend austin but i financial cannot. And as a premed student I know that i will have a min of 8 years of schooling left. </p>
<p>Exactly. That makes it more important to attend an undergraduate institution that will not render a bad experience due to finances. Truth be told… THE SOCIAL SCENE in a school can mimic the student body there… rich vs poor and isolation… all ending up with bad experience. Visit the schools, talk to financial counselors there and discuss the final data with your family and go from there. Maybe a school like Austin college, Trinity University, Southwestern University could even be a better fit for you - private, highly rank and great financial package. But I think the dead line is passed for those school. Anyway…BEST OF LUCK.</p>
<p>I met someone who was in a similar situation to yours. His single mom could not afford an expensive undergraduate school (and he had also screwed up a little in high school so his grades were not super high - not saying this is you) so he went to a state college, applied himself, graduated top of his class, did great on the MCAT’s and applied only to Stanford Medical School and got it:) He told me he never in a million years would have gotten into any of the top academic schools for undergrad but look where he ended up! He is now a cardiac surgeon in northern California. Pretty cool story.</p>
<p>Quite a great one. Anything in life is possible…especially here in the GREAT USA…</p>
<p>WOW thats awesome, Good for him, but i feel like having a single mother adds to his success.</p>
<p>If you want to go to med school your two main criteria should be 1° minimize debt 2° maximize GPA. In other terms, choose the cheapest school where you’re likely to have the highest possible GPA. Med schools don’t care where you went to school, all they want is a high GPA, a high MCAT score, and research/professional experience - all of which you can have through UTD Honors.
If you plan on doing a MD/PHD the situation is different.
In any case, if you can’t afford UT Austin… then there’s really no question, is there?</p>
<p>
That’s a very strange way of saying he overcame his odds. Imagine what it really could have been like:
- his mother works two jobs, they have to live in subsidized housing and he doesn’t own a single book. His entertainment is whatever is playing on the TV because his afterschool caregivers are his teenage cousins who spend their time talking on the phone. He can’t participate in any afterschool activity because they can’t afford it.
- his mother spends every single free moment with her son, the love of her life. She has a nice corporate 9-5 job, which allows them to have sensational vacation excursions. The only reason why he didn’t do super well in high school was because he partied too much, but that was because his mother was too open and rarely put limits.</p>
<p>My point: don’t assume a particular lifestyle when you hear of a single component.</p>