I got accepted into these three schools, and I would like to know just some general opinions about them. I’ve been getting conflicting views from people with some saying these schools are all good to some saying they’re okay to not that good. Cost isn’t too much of an issue. For some context, I want to maybe do something business related, maybe investment banking, but I have not decided yet. Pre-med/environmental stuff also interests me. Cost isn’t too much of an issue.
You are lucky to have these choices. They are all good but all very different and you should be able to figure out what you want.
BU obviously very urban without a clearly defined campus and without much green space. But lots of hustle and bustle and energy. Diverse but with a Northeast predominance.
UGA is the big rah rah public with a huge sports scene, massive packed stadium on football Saturday’s. It’s got a lot of smart kids but classes will be bigger and there will be less personal attention. College town.
Wake is like a smaller version of UGA with a beautiful campus, still with school spirit, very undergrad focused with small classes and lots of advising. But less diversity and not much of an off campus cultural scene in that town.
Academically they are close. UGA prob a notch below the others but still a fine place if it’s the scene you are looking for.
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Love Wake and UGA but prefer Wake. Both have excellent business schools. Diversity is almost identical at both. Can’t speak much about BU other than a Google search. I spend a lot of time in Athens and Winston-Salem and both are great towns.
UGA is right downtown but the campus is enormous. Wake is a couple miles from downtown but Reynolda Village is right off campus and have some great shops and restaurants. They also have Wake Downtown where they hold classes which are mainly biomechanics if I recall. My daughter’s friends mom run that facility and it really nice. Both campuses have shuttles to get you around.
Are you in state for UGA? Hope and Zell could save you a bundle!
Pre-med can be done anywhere. I see lots of environmental programs and activities at both Wake and UGA.
My UGA football season tickets cost me tens of thousands and at Wake they are about the price of one good UGA game. 
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You have so many interests - what’s the cost differential of the three?
As everyone said, you have uber urban, traditional and small. You’ll have less majors at a school like WFU - but you’ll find one to fit… The campus size between Wake and UGA is enormous - so that should sort of give you the answer you want, assuming you been to all.
Are you international? You got into the schools but does not appear you visited or know much about them from this thread. - they are all excellent schools.
BU is urban. There are 4 seasons - it’s cold. If you want to live right in a city / this is your campus.
UGA is the warmest and most rural location of the three but it’s a city itself and Athens is a great small town with cute shops, restaurants and music scene. Its big but you can make this big school feel small. School spirit is high. UGA reputation on rise where the other two choices are more well established nationally.
Wake has the mildest weather. It can get cold but you mostly won’t need a winter jacket. Small intimate class size. Greek life rules the social scene. Academics is known to be intense here but manageable and professors really get to know you. It’s a beautiful campus with a well known business school.
They are all very different environments. Pick the one that fits closest to what you are looking for it an UG education.
Don’t know much about UGA but very familiar with BU and Wake. Lived in Boston for many yrs and know many people who attended BU. S attended Wake. Both great but VERY different. About as different as you will find, so fit must be able to help guide you.
BU is VERY urban. It’s campus lines many blocks on Commonwealth Ave (a major road in the city). At the far east point of campus, it sits across from Fenway Park and is one of the major T lines (subway) for Fenway Park (lots of people, like thousands, per game will be close by at each home game). The BU bookstore is right across the street from the subway. The campus itself basically lines Comm Ave and is large enough to have two T stops. Imagine typical city noise, cars, shops, restaurants, etc. The city of Boston (great) is basically your campus. A few T stops away from the Commons, North End, Quincy market, etc. Lots of colleges near by. When we took our tour, the guide used an microphone / speaker set up to be heard over the street noise. Again, it’s urban. Not good or bad, just urban. Lot of international students. No basketball or football to speak of but intense hockey fans. BU certainly has good UG academics but is known for it’s Graduate schools and research.
Wake - Winston Salem is much more like a town than a city. I think population is approx 200k. It does have a defined downtown (Wake Downtown is located there as are many microbrews, good restaurants, etc). Campus is 5-10 minutes away via shuttle. Campus is a beautiful serene classic college campus (think quad, plenty of green space, dorms, dining halls, gym, etc.) You can walk the campus in 15 minutes so you are never far from anything. Wake is very UG focused (more like an LAC) with small classes that emphasize the professor / scholar model. Profs teach essentially all the classes (not TAs). They do research but their focus is on teaching. Big ACC sports atmosphere (but not to the level of Duke kids camping out for tix). Very strong academics. Very close knit campus community (required to live on campus for 3 yrs, even if in greek life)
So you basically have a much larger, less intimate school in a wonderful city vs. a small intimate school with a lot of spirit. Those are two very different environments. Hope that helps.
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We have toured two of these schools w my DS23 (BU and WF). I’m not sure where you are coming from or what type of atmosphere is important to you so the recommendation is a little uninformed
- Boston is an international and vibrant city with a huge population of students
- BU in particular is very international with over 25% international population - I also found the BU student body way more diverse than Wake Forest (if that’s important to you).
- they have a strong finance / business program but allow their student body to move within their colleges and double major
As others have said it is an urban campus but after walking the area for a couple of days what I noticed is that it’s an urban 1 mile campus of almost entirely BU students walking around up and down Commonwealth which I found pretty cool. Like I mentioned, my very suburban son couldn’t get his head around it when comparing it to traditional campuses like WF and others but I thought it was really cool. Any the academics are strong at all the schools.
Wake Forest is a beautiful campus set away from the town. Great academics, serene cohesive campus, smaller student body, better Greek scene (in case that’s important). Traditional sports culture (football team, basketball team). Their business school is very good and has a new beautiful building. Students look happy.
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What does this mean? Can your parents pay your net costs without taking out loans?
Are you instate for UGA?
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Yes. I’m in state for hope/zell, but my parents are willing to pay the tuition for Wake or BU.
I’m from the US, and I’ve visited all three. It sounds hard to believe because these schools are all so different, but I like all three of them and I can basically see myself at all three. I was just wondering what other people thought of these schools before I committed to one.
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These are all fine schools. I think you need to look at the other attributes for a college…location, climate, price to do things off campus, size, etc.
What about Harvey Mudd?
If you got the Hope for GA, it’d be pretty hard to pass up. You’ve got nice parents.
Georgia and Florida seem to lock up their smartest.
My company is based in the ATL - and of all my colleagues who live there - they don’t have these college debates. Their kids (if they get in) are headed to UGA. If not, it may be Kennesaw or GA Southern - but they stick to the GA schools - just too good a deal.
Here’s one way to think of it: you are a complex person and each of these schools appeals to a different aspect of your life. The key is to ask yourself, which “self” do you want to emphasize for the next four years? The urban undergrad? The student who thrives in a quasi-LAC setting? The student who deepens her in-state roots? There is no bad answer to this question. Go with your gut.
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Go where you think you will be the happiest, and where you can find your tribe. I would have loved for my kids to stay in GA but I also told them if they earned it they could go to school wherever they chose and I planned accordingly. I would have loved to have saved some money but I more happy knowing they are where they want to be instead f where they had to be. Good luck!
Why do people always have to point out cost issues after posters have said that cost is NOT an issue? For some, it REALLY isn’t. So why doubt the poster?
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If you read enough you’ll figure out why they do it and it’s not for the students sake
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Very often it is a HS student who says cost is not an issue, and sometimes they assume it’s not, it hasn’t been discussed, parents might say they will pay but are not up to date on how costly these schools are now, etc.
And….sometimes cost really is not an issue.
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That’s totally fine if. But if someone starts by saying cost is not an issue and then someone responds with cost as a point, it makes zero sense. And it happens a LOT. That’s why I mentioned it.
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I get it, but I also think people bring it up because sometimes it’s students who say cost is not an issue. People just want to make sure that finances were discussed. And of course- finances might not matter at all!
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