#Amherst College vs UT Austin Honors

27 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

random crescent
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Schools: Amherst College, UT Austin (Dean's Scholars + Plan II)
Intended major: Neuroscience/Cognitive Science
Similarities: Honestly nothing
Costs: Didn't apply financial aid for Amherst at all (will for sophomore year), In-state Tuition for UT Austin

Amherst College
School 1 Pros:

  • Prestige
  • Graduate School Placements (I might do PhD or at least some graduate level education)
  • Genuinely deep relationships with Professors
  • Better Weather (I don't like the heat)
  • Not Competitive
  • Open Curriculum (I don't know exactly what I want to do, just know it's somewhere in the Neuro, Psych, Linguistics, Philosophy, Cognition area... could also decide to completely pivot if I want)
  • First Neuroscience Program in the country (idk if this makes it necessarily good, but it's something worth mentioning)
  • Love the nature there
  • Great for future on East Cost/NY (where I want to live)

School 1 Cons:

  • Small (I really enjoy meeting a lot of new interesting people)
  • Pretty Rural (I love the city)
  • So different from where I came from (I did ISEF, went to research summer programs, etc... so did not expect to end up with a LAC as my top choice)
  • No financial aid (My parents say money is not a concern because they saved up a lot for college, but we're upper middle class at maximum, it should still be worth noting)

UT Austin (with Dean's Scholars and Plan II Honors)
School 2 Pros:

  • Hometown
  • City
  • A lot of people I know, and get to stay with all my hometown communities (church, clubs, etc...)
  • Both liberal arts education and mentored research guaranteed
  • Good relations with professors
  • Much cheaper
  • Big campus, more social life, more "fun"

School 2 Cons:

  • Not as high prestige
  • Kinda stuck in Texas career-wise
  • Not as flexible as Amherst on majors

Tiebreaking considerations
Amherst students- Tell me how the social life as a non-athlete is. Is there exclusion? Can I go out and meet kids from the other 3 colleges? How accessible is the nature? Overall, is it fun?

indigo spoke
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Why didn't you apply for FA at Amherst? Wouldn't polymathic scholars fit your multidisciplinary interests?

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Based on the NPC, how much would you pay for Amherst sophomore year?

random crescent
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my parents just told me to not apply financial aid

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because they thought we weren’t gonna get any

random crescent
random crescent
random crescent
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hi! i dmed you, let me know if you can’t see it

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also anyone else with feedback on my schools please continue to respond!!!

indigo spoke
indigo spoke
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Do this

random crescent
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dean's scholars comes with FRI guarenteed

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so i alr got it

random crescent
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for the quality of education i'm gonna get at amherst compared to UT austin

indigo spoke
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"we would have to pay full 😭😭😭" makes it seem like $400k would be a very big expenditure for you family

dusk bolt
random crescent
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i’ll talk over it with my parents

snow quarry
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Hi I go to Amherst. @random crescent since Amherst is need-blind you should apply late for FA (I'm pretty sure that's a thing that you can do) just to see what happens. Generally I do not suggest going to a school for full pay if you have to even question it for a second even though I very much adore my experience here

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this also depends on if you will be incurring any debt for yourself. do you know what your situation for paying for college is?

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i will also note that this server (/reddit/etc) is extremely conservative on cost and would probably recommend someone with a $10 million per year family income to go to their "cheapest option" (i have legitimately seen examples of someone being told to choose x over y because x costs $1000 less per year). if it's not a real financial burden then go with your heart

random crescent
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hey! yeah, thanks. I'm definitely going to apply FA next year as a sophomore, and also my parents say money is not an issue at all, especially for a school like amherst. so, I am learning towards amherst right now.

random crescent