<p>I'm completely confused. My choices are all so different and I like them all.</p>
<p>University of Georgia: Pros:Athens -- great college town; big time sports;great school spirit; good business school (real estate program ranked #2 according to USN&WR); sibling attends. Cons: big classes, just a number for the first two years; some classes hard to get.</p>
<p>Elon: Pros: reputation growing immensely; small classes; hands on experience; personal relationships with professors; chance for undergraduate research; great overseas program. Cons: no college town; out in the middle of nowhere (okay suburban); sports secondary; less school spirit</p>
<p>College of Charleston: Pros: The City of Charleston; Beaches nearby; they have a Historical Preservation (HP) program (that interests me); if I went here I would probably combine business and the HP program. Cons: sports secondary (no football); less school spirit; probably not as academic as Elon or UGA</p>
<p>I'm oos at these schools, therefore money will only vary about $3,000/year; not enough to influence my decision.</p>
<p>We've seen them all and all are wonderful choices. UGA has the most "wow" factor (especially if your not from in-state) and has great business, Elon admission keeps getting tougher, since popularity is on the rise-great communications dept., and Charleston...love the atmosphere.., but definitely less academic than the other two choices. However, my son liked it over
Elon- must have been the high percentage of girls and beach near by!</p>
<p>My son and I have seen all 3 as well. Son has UGA and Elon on his short list, not C of C (having no football team is not an option in his mind). He favors UGA (over Elon), because he believes it will give him a "fuller" college experience, but the trade-offs between UGA and a smaller school like Elon are pretty obvious. So it's really "to each his/her own." The C of C campus is only about 52 acres in size, which is tiny (especially for 9,000+ students), but obviously the entire city of Charleston is at its doorstep. You seem to have a good handle on the pros and cons -- you just have to step up to the plate and make one of the toughest decisions you'll ever make. Welcome to the real world, and growing up!</p>
<p>Interestingly, the "cultures" of each school are quite similar - distinctively Southern, healthy social scene with a large Greek influence, lush Southern campus ambience. Looks like it's: School - big, medium, or small; and Football - big, medium, or none.</p>
<p>Our s looked at UGA and CofC, too. UGA blew him (and us) away. Both my husband and I wanted to go back in time right then and do our college experience all over again in Athens! </p>
<p>Did you ever find out more about the transfer rate at CofC? (I just searched back to check on it and saw that you had asked the same ?'s we did) That would worry me a bit.</p>
<p>Just a thought about UGA. They do have a Master's of Historical Preservation degree. Here is the link to the information on it:</p>
<p>Their College of Environment and Design is absolutely wonderful. In fact, our s has said that he may want to go and get his master's down there some day he liked it so much. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. They are all very nice schools, each with some great attributes. You have good choices at least!</p>
<p>kanksmom -- no I never did get an answer about the high transfer rate at CofoC and that does to a degree concern me . From what I hear, people either love CofoC or hate it.<br>
Thanks for the info about UGA's master program -- that is certainly something to consider.</p>
<p>My daughter is a junior and has her heart set on cofc for 2009! If you have to have the greek life and football scene, etc., it won't be the place for you. I can see how a lot of people wouldn't like CofC.</p>
<p>As for my D, she grew up Charlottesville VA and our weekends were always at UVA football and basketball games, so in a way she's had that. She loved the town feel of the college of Charleston, loved the relaxed atmosphere, loved the way she could have flexibility in her majors. She really doesn't know what she wants to do but is good in a lot of areas so wants to keep her options open. The feeling on campus, to us, was just relaxed.... the kids are always walking and biking everywhere & they own the town -- I never saw so many young people in one place, it was great.</p>
<p>I know that a lot of money is going into the school because there's a beautiful new library, an arts center is being built, new dorm, and a new arena for basketball is going up.... lots of stuff on the up and up from what we saw. But again, we could see it wasn't for everyone by any means. </p>
<p>She also knows a girl who goes there, a studious girl with a good head on her shoulders. She said as she goes higher in her studies the kids that shouldn't be there are weeded out and she finds herself surrounded by like-minded students. All the kids we met were bright, fun, motivated and articulate - I'd be proud to send my D there!</p>
<p>We have visited Elon twice and were really impressed both times. The communications school is very impressive, complete with their own very professional television station. The campus is beautiful. The President met us at the door. Definitely on the rise. Now, on the other hand, we had our meeting with our daughter's college counselor and he was very negative about the quality of education. However, he wasn't specific, so we take each opinion and weigh it against our own. We were disappointed in his reaction. Good luck. It appears to be a good choice and on the rise.</p>
<p>252525 I was surprised to hear your counselor was negative about the quality of education at Elon. What's kept it in the running for me is everyone seems to be very positive over its quality. Was he comparing it to Wake Forest or Davidson? I know those are supposely a step up. (Altho, I know someone that got declined from Elon and accepted at WK ..... go figure.)</p>
<p>Anyone else? I've narrowed it down between Elon and UGA. I know these are opposite schools, but I really like both for the reasons already stated.
Any thoughts on small private liberal arts vs. big state university experience would be appreciated.</p>