-I- can’t answer that with any first hand experience and I don’t have a behind the curtain data on the applicants, admissions success or where the students end up out of the Biological sciences in either institution. (My MBA is from UNC, my two undergrad degrees and my professional degree are from UIUC, but I am a DVM not an MD // My daughter has just finished her undergrad at UT-A (Geosciences) this past fall and is looking at grad/professional school combos for next fall // my son is at UNC Chapel Hill as a Sophomore (Econ/Poli Sci / Pub Policy) currently and we live in Raleigh).
My -SWAG- (scientific wild ass guess) is UNC-CH likely places a larger percentage of it’s students into medical school and ‘higher rated / prestige’ medical schools.
Carolina has a pretty consistent reputation as one of the Top Five Public Ivies (Berkley, UCLA, Michigan, UVA, UNC), and a tier one research institution. University of Texas - Austin is frequently one of the top public schools as well but just not quite as frequently or as highly regarded. Is the UNC reputation earned / deserved, I don’t know if it is /isn’t, but the fact is that it exists.
However, my personal feeling is that if they are even reasonably close, then it’s far more important for student fit to the campus, the culture, the region etc - because the student is going to have to perform in whichever field at whichever campus to have an opportunity at having their choice of medical school - as as a few of the human physicians have argued with me previously - then it’s the medical school you have to perform at, because for many things it will be the institution of the residency/specialty one does their study at that will be more career impactful m(as a physician).
Personally, I think if you are considering academic institutions that are reasonably close in their academic reputations and offerings in the areas of your child’s current interests, I would choose my kids fit and comfort level with the culture/vibe/feel over strictly externally ranked prestige. They need to be able to hit the ground running right out of the gate as freshman and be setting up their successful routine while their class cohort is still trying to figure out where the laundry room is and how to get soap in the machine.
If these are your child’s two major choices - I would really encourage a visit to both campuses for a 2-3 day visit each. They are not really similar situations - and I love both UT-A Campus and Chapel Hill - but they aren’t remotely alike. From most cities you can get to Autsin direct or via one stop and then in and out of Austin Airport pretty easy - and use an Uber to be on UTA campus in 20-25 minutes. In fact, I wouldn’t rent a car to visit Austin for a three or four day trip - I’d use Ubers etc. And there are what I consider both reasonable as well as swank hotel options right around campus (Try booking a dinner at Acre 41 in the Otis Hotel first floor, lunch at Interstellar (over Terry Blacks BBQ) and then hit the ‘bat cruise’ off Lady Bird Lake (if going in March+).
For UNC-CH, you’re coming thru RDU which has plenty of direct and one stop flights in, and it’s a smaller airport with easy in and out access (except during major holidays, then drop off/pick up or parking are a nightmare) - you can Uber to Chapel Hill (about 20-25 minutes) but the difference here is that while you can uber around chapel hill, it’s not a city, it’s a small town, next to a small town (carrboro) and while parking immediately on campus can be a bit of a hassle, parking and traffic arent an issue off campus -and only really an issue in the “Triangle” during rush hour traffic so it’s probably preferable to have a rental car to drive around the campus to the edges and be able to hit some of the regional spots in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle.
And then there’s the climate difference - it’s substantial.
