I would like to answer the “what would you choose for your kid” question. Answer: I let them choose from their affordable options. Neither one of my kids attended the highest ranking school that accepted them.
Seeing what their experiences were and where they are today, they made the right decision.
I have two kids and one would likely be better suited for a UGA experience and the other Emory. They actually attended entirely different types of schools (didn’t even overlap on one visit). Thankfully we are blessed that both had great experiences as students and have become independent and happy recent grads.
I only share this to offer the worst possible advice you can share…it depends. This is very personal to your child and the best person to make that call is your kid. It is an adult decision with consequences but a great opportunity to be self aware and decisive while neither is a bad decision and any “mistake” won’t be fatal.
It is great that you have saved and planned so that she has these options. I can’t tell you what to do but I can suggest you allow yourself to enjoy this process.
appreciate all the answers.
I have little to no doubt that the opportunities available to her in life won’t be impacted by the choice and that it will be up to her and her go-out-and-get-it-ness.
someone did mention that the caliber of the average student might differ, and this did resonate with me a little bit, although I suspect the difference is less than one might think. time will tell. I asked the question in the 1st place because the schools are so close to each other and I assume many kids apply to both (at least Georgia kids).
I also have seen many kids get into Ivies and other top-ranked schools and have not been impressed by many of them (this includes myself, by the way). but that’s a story for another thread.
What’s nice is that you are in the position to let her make her choice. We parents get to pay the bills, but most of us don’t make the school choice.
If she is in the UGA honors, an earlier registration will make her less likely to get closed out of classes she wants/needs. If she happens to decide to change her major, at UGA there isn’t a guaranteed admission to some of the schools (eg journalism), but again she sounds like a strong student so this is again less likely a concern for your daughter.
Athens is a fun college town, but Atlanta is a great place as well. To answer your question, name recognition should be irrelevant in her choice. As a strong student who sounds like she will pursue opportunities on either campus she will likely have great opportunities in and after college with either choice. But as a local, and speaking from my n=2 kids personal experiences, neither wanted a big rah-rah state U so despite how inexpensive it would have been, neither even applied to UGA. And we were fine with it. As an aside, it fries my cookies when parents here tell their kids if they choose the inexpensive option (here its usually UGA instate) they will buy the kid a car. Sends the wrong message, IMO.
Good luck to your daughter. She will do fine at either school. If she prefers UGA, thats the choice for her. But if you asked our opinion, with that choice, personally I’d pick Emory. One of my kids applied to Emory and got in, with scholarship $, but chose a different school. To each his own.
The schools are about an hour and a half apart by car (often worse in traffic). There are many other schools, especially in the NE, that are closer to each other!
you want me to start another Lehigh vs Lafayette thread? Or Ohio State vs Pitt? GW vs Georgetown? Bates vs Colby?
Don’t tempt me…I’ll do it!
Lol. Point is, the schools aren’t all that close together, and don’t get me started about the traffic here!!
[quote=“billythegoldfish, post:23, topic:3638594, full:true”]
"I have little to no doubt that the opportunities available to her in life won’t be impacted by the choice and that it will be up to her and her go-out-and-get-it-ness.
someone did mention that the caliber of the average student might differ, and this did resonate with me a little bit, although I suspect the difference is less than one might think."
As a Georgia resident and an Emory alum, I can assure you that there is no discernable difference in the caliber of students between UGA honors and Emory. I know many students who have turned down elite schools including Ivies for UGA honors and have then gone on to top graduate programs. (Only a few of them were bribed with Hope mobiles. 
)There are many paths in life that will lead to the same destination. It sounds to me like your daughter has made her choice. As others have said, the schools are a very different undergraduate experience. There is no right or wrong answer here. Let her choose what her next four years will look like.
LOL! Great name! Hope mobile or Z Miller mobile!!
If money is not a concern, I would lean toward Emory – private school, more money/resources per student, smaller class sizes for most courses (apples to apples), better academic and career support.
But if her fit preferences steer her toward Georgia, then she should choose Georgia.
Actually, these schools are very different and pulled from very different groups in GA and USA.
My knowledge is limited to the past and local people can correct me for the present. This is very simplified version for demonstration purposes only. Students apply to many schools these days with TO. It was not like that in the past
Back in time, the approach was like that among my circle in Atlanta:
not to make you feel old or anything, but I know for a fact there are kids today who get into Emory and not into UGA, and certainly not into UGA honors. Especially when they apply ED to Emory which increases their admission chances a ton.
Of course. There would be students now that overlap or apply to 30 colleges or apply ED etc. That was not the point of my post. I was trying to say that students were choosing schools based of interests and ability to pay. Hope or Zell cover in state tuition, but do not cover Emory private tuition.
BTW there are students that accepted to one school and not accepted to other even without ED. You can find students that accepted to MIT and rejected by GaTech. Selection process is crazy these days. My own child was rejected at Boston University ( not waitlisted or deffered) and accepted to CMU and UMich. Does it make my child not capable or more stupid than most BU students?
Curious as to what part of the area/state that might have been true. That differs from what we saw in our area, amongst our friends, and at our kids’ school. Granted our kids went to private school and we saw many students go out of state, but also see many others from other schools go out of state (and not just to Bama or Auburn). Many neighborhoods put graduation banners at their entrances and its fun to see where the kids go to school.
The OP asked about “quality of peers” at UGA. I just looked at the admissions stats for the class of 2026 and was impressed.
With respect to your daughter’s tentative major of political science, this site may be of interest:
FYI, OP, the Governor of GA approved a $66M budget cut to the university system of GA which will impact staff and students. No tuition increase at this point, so cuts will hit staff and programs. The total cut is $71.6 M due to earlier cuts Additional State Budget Decrease of $66 Million Will Hurt University System of Georgia Institutions | Communications | University System of Georgia.
well that sucks. I wish you hadn’t told me that…
Apologies. But its one of the risks of choosing a state school. Need to factor it into the decision. Table shows from the $66M, almost $10M is hitting UGA. Not sure how much from the other (previously cut) $5M is hitting UGA.