<p>I want to go to a top-tier med school, and I got accepted both at UGA Honors, Tech, and Duke university. Taking GPA importance, cost of attendance, and research and internship opportunities into consideration, which do you think I should attend? Duke gave me no money, so I have to pay almost full cost (50,000) per year, whereas with HOPE, Tech and UGA Honors would only cost around $10,000 or less. I want to either major in Biology at Duke or UGA, or Biomedical engineering at Gatech. Which should I choose?</p>
<p>If you have a good amount of interest in engineering, then I suggest going to Tech so at least you would have the choice between bio and engineering. If you went to UGA, you wouldn’t have the choice of doing engineering.</p>
<p>Considering you want to go to med school, I would rule out Duke. There’s no point in paying more when UGA and GT are great schools and will get you into top tiered schools if you get good enough grades and MCAT scores. You’ll be racking up a lot of debt if you go to Duke (assuming you’re taking out loans). You won’t want that debt when you have to add med school to it. </p>
<p>Following from that, UGA is probably a little easier than Tech, and in the end, schools are going to care more about your GPA than the school you went to.</p>
<p>^^agree. Save the privates and OOS for med school. And yes Tech is very rigorous I would take that into account. Also consider the environment. All the rich snobby semi-genius scumbags at your school will probably be going to UGA. If youre fine with that (or if youre one of them lol) then that would be better for you. The super geniuses who were rejected by the Ivies will go to GaTech (if any). UGA is also notorious for wild partying.If you are a die-hard football fan, then choose UGA. If the smell of booze and semen isn’t your cup up tea on a mon/tue/wed/thu/fri/sat/sun night, then I would highly consider Tech</p>
<p>There’s very little overlap between Tech and the Ivy League. Tech’s primary competition for students are MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UIUC, etc.</p>
<p>That’s a little unfair. You only have to deal with it on Thurs/Fri/Sat :P</p>
<p>Let me just reiterate…you can come to UGA, not like football, not like alcohol, not like partying, and STILL have a good time. Not everyone is into that scene. While I will admit that most of us probably have done SOMETHING related to any of those things, a lot of people’s social lives do not revolve around this kind of scene.</p>
<p>The only reason UGA is known for it’s partying is because of the existence of downtown. If you just avoid that part of town on the weekends, then partying and drinking won’t really be part of your life. Well, okay, you have to avoid that and Milledge, which is where most of the Greek houses are.</p>
<p>But on the public schools, Tech is around 13 and UGA is around 27 ranking. @FutureVpFinance, no lol, im not exactly a snobby party girl. At my high school, im ranked top 10 and applied to all the ivies. The only reason I’m staying in GA is because of financial issues, but I don’t know which medical colleges tech graduates have gotten into, whereas I’ve heard that UGA Honors graduates are now at Yale, Harvard, NYU, UMichigan, and Johns Hopkins. Then again, there’s the reputation of UGA being a party school (voted National #1 Party school). I mean, even when i went to visit WashU, the students there knew of UGA as “the party school.”</p>
<p>According to US News Top Public Schools…</p>
<h1>7 Tech</h1>
<h1>18 UGA</h1>
<p>[Top</a> Public Schools | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public)</p>
<p>Top National Universities </p>
<h1>35 Tech</h1>
<h1>56 UGA</h1>
<p>Note: These rankings have a lot to do with research money.</p>
<p>This discussion of UGA as the #1 party school is very tired. If you want to see all the arguments for and against that ranking, just search #1 party school on the CC forums. You’ll likely find hundreds of threads about what the party school ranking actually means and whether it’s accurate. Obviously UGA – like any other state school – has a strong partying side. That’s DT on Thurs/Fri/Sat nights. If you don’t go downtown on those nights, then you probably won’t experience a pervasive “smell of booze and semen.”</p>
<p>As for academics, some of my friends at Tech say the biological sciences are more focused on research and development in them. That leads me to believe UGA might be a better choice for someone planning to go on to Med. School, but my knowledge of the sciences is limited. There are quite a few UGA posters knowledgeable about the life sciences @ UGA and I’m sure they’ll find this thread of interest.</p>
<p>I agree with jablalf completely. I’m sick of everyone referring to UGA as the “#1 party school”. Obviously, there will be some type of partying at ANY type of college - from a local community college to the Ivies. Common sense says that with over 30,000 students at UGA, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a group of people who don’t “party.” and just because someone refers to a school as a “party school”, that shouldn’t stop you from deciding to go there. I do realize that UGA has garnered a reputation as being a school mainly known for it’s football and not so much it’s academics, but (at least from what I’ve heard) nobody has regretted choosing UGA Honors.</p>
<p>I am in sort of the same dilemma as the OP. Was accepted by GT, UGA honors, Emory, and Vassar College (but didnt really like LAC even though the financial aid was amazing). So right now, it is between the in-state schools (I live in GA and receive HOPE). I would like to pursue a medical track as well and I also did get the feeling that GT was focus more on the research aspect. I know Emory is very well known for its “pre-med” however I would have to do a work study (15-hrs a week) which I feel is a little much to go along with the rigor of Emory. At UGA honors, I have questions as to its value. I did not receive anything besides HOPE so it would be about 13k for me… Is it worth it?</p>
<p>Idk how to explain it, but I get the feeling that UGA honors is not all that it is said to be, but instead just a means for registering for classes before everyone else. I feel as though I would be paying too much to attend UGA honors. In that light, can someone please change my mind on this? I really want to go to UGA Honors, I just need some way of justifying it over Emory.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>@kasmokia - what will it cost you to go to Emory vs UGA?</p>
<p>it would be about 16k for Emory (but 8k would come from loans and work study) and 13k for uga and only about 8k for GT ( I got a 5k scholarship there)</p>
<p>If I look between UGA and Emory, I feel that for the 3k difference, the Emory education is well worth it and UGA not worth the money.</p>
<p>What do you think gamomof3?</p>
<p>@op: if you can pay the money, go to duke. comparing duke to uga honors is laughable unless money is #1 factor. you can major in anything and still go to med school. I would go to uga honors before tech unless you got into the tech honors program. </p>
<p>@kasmokia: if 3k is the difference, emory would be a better choice because you will be have more opportunities and be more accessible to resources like the their hospital. also, even though you will be in honors, intro classes are huge and you will be competing against over 200 people per class for professor attention. emory’s intros classes are much smaller (I think about 80 people) and once intros are over, its mostly like about 20 people per class. you will get to know your professors more which helps when you need them to write recommendations. also, as much as uga people don’t like that uga is #1 party school, it is, and the reputation for uga outside of georgia is still that. uga is great if you plan to stay in georgia or become a teacher. the good thing about uga honors is that you are among 300-500ish top students of the school. and you can get myers dorm but spaces run out quick because they don’t have enough for all honors student. the worst dorm at emory is still better than the dorms at uga. emory has better food too. also, remember that uga’s tuition/fees are going to rise and hope does not cover any increases in tuition which means the amount you have to pay will increase over the years. emory has good aid and you still get the $4000 from hope and the other $750 from tuition equalizer thing which mean, the amount you will pay will probably stay the same. so you might think that you are paying 13k a year for uga but when tuition/fees increases without hope covering it, it might end up being 16k a year.</p>
<p>@ keystone and kasmokia:</p>
<p>First, all the schools you folks are considering are very good – academically, you can’t really go wrong with any of them. Much of the information you’ll find about UGA and GT is rumor and often it’s just not true (e.g. post #13 above me). To get a better idea of whether UGA Honors is the right choice for you, I’d urge both of y’all to visit and spend some time around campus. Have both of you already visited UGA?</p>
<p>To respond to ilikepizza’s [mis]characterizations of UGA:
Comparing on what basis? Prestige? In that case, Duke is clearly superior. In terms of access to professors, research opportunities, ambitious peers, etc., I think UGA Honors and Duke are about equal.</p>
<p>
Again, saying “Emory=more opportunities, UGA=fewer opportunities” is a fallacy. UGA Honors is particularly good at connecting its students with all kinds of social, research, and other academic opportunities inside and outside the Honors program.</p>
<p>
What kind of “professor attention” is needed in a 300-person core curriculum lecture?</p>
<p>
That’s just downright insulting. UGA certainly has a regional reputation, and Honors certainly has a national reputation. If you need evidence of that, consider that a good number of Honors alumni attend well-regarded graduate schools. Among public universities, UGA “produces” one of the largest numbers of Rhodes, Truman, Goldwater, etc. Scholars.</p>
<p>
While the HOPE scholarship won’t pay for increases in tuition, the Zell Miller Scholarship will. I assume that most folks capable of getting into UGA Honors are also capable of qualifying for the ZM Scholarship (1200 SAT, 3.7 GPA in HS). As for fee increases, all public (and many private) schools are having to raise fees because of decreased support from the General Assembly. Although UGA’s fees increased by $200 per semester, I believe the fees at Tech. went up by $250 per semester. I understand that Emory is also raising some of its fees for the coming school year.</p>
<p>My purpose in posting this is not to blindly support UGA (although it sometimes feels like it ;)) but I hope that you folks, as prospective students, have access to multiple perspectives on UGA. When I was making a decision, I know I found the information from UGA posters to be particularly helpful (thanks vig, jen!). </p>
<p>@ Keystone and kasmokia: Best of luck in the decision-making process!</p>
<p>@jablalf if you go to duke, you will have better connections. it is more prestigious and the long run return if you go to duke is way better than uga. as for “ambitious peers” duke will obviously have more of them. most people who go to uga could never have gotten into duke. now there are people in uga honors who have been accepted to the ivies but still ended up at uga honors because they couldn’t afford the ivies. those are the people getting the awards you mentioned. I know a guy who got into yale 2 years ago but couldn’t afford it so he went to uga honors. if money is the #1 issue, go to uga honors. also, % of people getting jobs coming out of tech is higher than that of uga even if you are honors. now that might be due to that tech is more engineering but their business school is still much better than uga honor’s.
emory does have better resources for premed people. they have hospitals(winship and the regular one), cdc, and a lot of professors do research which is right on the campus so it’s very accessible. getting to know the professor is very important because if you are going to apply for those prestigious awards, you will need very good recs. also, if you have a connection with the professors, if they have something coming up, they might notice you first and recommend you to do it. when your class is over 200 people, it is hard to standout. uga’s professors don’t even know half of their students’ names. sorry you though I was insulting uga but I wasn’t. uga is a great school if you want to be a teacher or go into the education field. but if you are going into business, uga is not as respected as duke. yes, uga’s regional reputations is relatively good compared to the other public schools in the region but that regional rep mostly stays in ga, alabama, and maybe florida. really, outside the south, it is known as the party school.
Zenn Miller scholarship is the HOPE scholarship. yes emory might raise their cost too but because emory covers 100% of financial need, the amount you pay will likely to stay the same. my point is, if money is an issue, go to uga honors. but if you can afford it, go to duke or emory</p>
<p>Keystone & Kasmokia: Would like to second the opinion that you both have great options to choose from and should be proud of what you have achieved. </p>
<p>There are numerous inaccuracies in post #13. UGA’s Honors sections have 20 or less students in them. I have a daughter in the Honors Program and in her first semester the largest class was orchestra. Besides the mandatory Honors 101 and an Honors seminar, she didn’t take any Honors section courses that first semester. The calculus class (non-Honors section, regular science/engineering calc) had less than 30 students in it. Every one of her professors knew her name and she had no trouble having access to them. This semester her largest class is calc based physics. Started with 130 students, not sure how many are left after the withdraw date. Again, no problem with professor access.</p>
<p>Your academic career will be what you make of it. All of these schools have amazing opportunities available to their students. You have to have the maturity and drive to seek them out. In general, participation in an Honors Program facilitates that process. Honors has staff to help direct you to research opportunities (CURO program at UGA is excellent), study abroad opportunities and scholarships, and has groomed top students for prestigious national/international scholarships.</p>
<p>Not having personal experience with these particular schools dorms and food services (Emory, GA Tech, Duke), I can’t really comment there. But I will say that UGA’s food services is top among schools i do have experience with such as UVA, UMD, and Furman. And dorms are basically dorms. It won’t likely be as nice as your room at home, but that’s life.</p>
<p>All of these schools are likely to experience tuition/fee increases in the future. That is the national trend. Keystone, as a full pay student, you will likely have to absorb 100% of that increase at Duke. Since you both likely qualify for the Zell Miller scholarship, your tuition will be covered as long as you maintain a 3.3 gpa in college. Keystone, I’d have a serious talk with your parents about the $50,000 for Duke versus the instate prices for GA Tech or UGA and whether the difference might be available to help with your medical school costs.</p>
<p>If you guys are concerned with medical school admissions, you’d get better advice from directly contacting either the pre-med programs at these schools or better yet the medical schools that you are considering. As has been said a million times on cc, your MCAT scores and gpa are the largest determinants in medical school acceptances.</p>
<p>As far as the party reputation goes. I agree that this is a tired story. Try googling Duke and parties and see what you get.</p>
<p>[Duke’s</a> party scene in spotlight’s glare - Education - NewsObserver.com](<a href=“http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/22/936442/dukes-party-scene-in-spotlights.html]Duke’s”>http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/01/22/936442/dukes-party-scene-in-spotlights.html)</p>
<p>Not a pretty picture, but I as an adult wouldn’t say that every Duke student is accurately represented in stories such as that one.</p>
<p>Athens is a great college town. If you like to party, you will surely find parties. If you aren’t into that scene, you will also have many opportunities to have fun that don’t involve alcohol. You can even enjoy the sports scene (football, basketball, gymnastics) without alcohol.</p>
<p>Keystone & Kasmokia: Hopefully by this point you have attended Admitted Students days and made contact with departments and programs that interest you. Actually meeting with these people will answer a lot of your questions. Another point to consider is that you should remain open to possibilities. You haven’t even started college yet. Most college students change their majors once in college. You might find that college biology isn’t what you thought it would be or that another subject is what you truly emjoy and excel in.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>^ I was talking about the intro classes like english, bio, and chem that everyone takes first year. not the extra classes for honors kids</p>
<p>English classes are small, believe similar to the size of the calc classes (which I considered to be intro level as well). Since these posters were interested in Honors, they have the option of taking the Honors sections for almost any intro level class they’d need.</p>
<p>In my experience, almost all English classes are less than 35 people, and the Honors versions are generally around 15-20 people. Almost all Honors classes are 30 people or less. Don’t have firsthand knowledge of Honors science sections but I’ve heard from friends they are generally 25 to 35 people (popular classes like Intro. Bio/Chem. sometimes have more, while smaller ones like the Honors science sequence might have less.)</p>
<p>Outside major classes, I don’t understand this obsession with access to professors. I’ve taken 2 or 3 large (100-300 person) lectures and hardly ever need to contact my professors. You show up, listen to lectures, and take the test at the end of the term. When I’ve had questions/comments, both the professors responded to my emails promptly. In any case, hardly anybody goes to office hours, so if making yourself known to professors is a priority (even in large lectures), go to office hours and you’ll do that quickly. I’m sure this is advice is true at most other schools, too.</p>
<p>^thats really weird… both of my friends who go to uga honors tell me that intro classes are around the 200 range, and my teacher who graduated from uga also support that.</p>