<p>Hi I have a strong interest in math and science and have gotten accepted at both schools. Which one should i choose? Which is perceived as a better degree from either UGA- Honors, or Georgia Tech?</p>
<p>I think i may go into pre-med, but i also am very interested in other aspects like Chemistry and Biology...
Help any insight would be great!</p>
<p>if your pre med go to UGA, tech will destroy your gpa. If you think you want to be an engineer, go to tech.</p>
<p>Tech will not “destroy” a GPA. Tech is clearly the more difficult school, and has lower GPA’s in general, but this is because of the prevalence of Math/Science majors. For every 2.8 CS major at UGA, there’s a 3.8 GPA forestry major to raise the average. At GT, that’s not the case. </p>
<p>In previous posts about GT’s pre-med program (over in the GT forum), we gave the statistics for the two schools. The most striking is that 80% of GT’s student that work with the pre-med adviser are admitted to med school (typically, that number is around 40-50%). </p>
<p>In the GT forum, I also posted a plan to avoid lower GPA courses in a Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Biology major. Following that plan (which required some community college transfer courses) would raise an “average student” from a 3.0 at GT to a 3.67. At that level, you’d graduate in the Top 1% of a first tier school, and with good MCAT scores, would have a very, very bright future. </p>
<p>In summary: you’re in a much better position coming from a first tier GT than a second tier UGA (even the honors program - did you apply for honors at GT?). With some planning, you can graduate at the top of the class at GT and be in excellent shape for Med School.</p>
<p>If you decided to not pursue med school, GT has a higher average starting salary and more job offers/student than UGA in both of those majors. Remember the old rule: if it’s business, math, science, or engineering related, go to Tech. Otherwise, go to UGA.</p>
<p>GP Burdell: While I have no issue with you promoting GT, as I think it is a great college, I ask that you take off the gold-colored glasses and give UGA some credit. Second tier, even the Honors program. GT has the edge in business and sciences? I would suggest you do a little more review of the strength of UGA before making comments like these. Just a quick glance at UGA Honors shows a group that is above and beyond the average GT student (4.09 GPA, 1460 SAT, etc.). And when you look at the wide range of great programs in the Terry College or in Franklin A&S, and the strength of the students and faculty, you need to at least give UGA some credit. Again, I think GT is a great place, but UGA is dang impressive as well.</p>
<p>UGA is a fine school. GT is just a better one. </p>
<p>For example, Terry has had an MBA for 30 years and is ranked #55 in the country (2nd Tier). GT has had a program for 7 years and is ranked #22 in the country (1st tier). </p>
<p>As for the colleges of science: For Chemistry, Tech is #26 (first tier), UGA is #50 (second tier). For Physics, GT is #36 (first tier), UGA is #76 (second tier). For CS, GT is #9 (first tier), UGA is unranked (third or fourth tier). </p>
<p>Overall: GT is ranked #35 (first tier) and UGA is #58 (2nd tier). For public schools, GT is #7, UGA is #21. </p>
<p>And all of that conveniently ignores that Tech is the top engineering school in the south east and a consensus Top 5 in the world. Even if you’re not an engineering major, there are some benefits to that fact. For example, engineering and manufacturing companies target Tech engineers for positions. But since they’re already on campus, they also interview business and science majors. </p>
<p>As for stats… UGA has a 1460 SAT for the Honors College. GT has a 1460 SAT average for all admitted students this year. UGA has a 4.06 weighted GPA for the honors college (probably around a 3.8 unweighted). GT has a 3.92 unweighted GPA for admitted students. So it’s more difficult to get into Tech than it is to get into UGA honors.</p>
<p>I’m not throwing these numbers out to degrade UGA. I’m simply making the point that while UGA is a perfectly respectable school, it is not on the same level as GT. Graduate schools and employers know this, hence the difference in admission rates to graduate schools and starting salaries.</p>
<p>(Disclaimer: I do not know very much about Tech. As such, I cannot tell you who’s better or if Tech has the same things UGA has. UGA and Tech probably share many of the same things. The following laundry list is not exclusive to UGA. This is just what I know and the highlights I can think of at the moment)</p>
<p>There are many things you need to consider when deciding between these two schools. What kind of college experience do you want in terms of location? Athens is a college town. As such, housing is MUCH cheaper than Atlanta. It’s a much smaller town. Atlanta is…well…Atlanta. Where would you like to spend your four years? </p>
<p>What kind of social experience do you want? We have all kinds of student groups covering many different interests. We have a TON of Greek organizations if you’re interested in that. We have fantastic intramural sports and athletic facilities. There is a social niche for EVERYONE at UGA, and we are a very social group (some more than others). You can party every day of the week if you want (though I wouldn’t suggest it), or you could get by never partying. There are people at every end of the spectrum and all in between. </p>
<p>What kind of services are looking for? The dining halls are GREAT here. You pay one flat fee for either 5 day or 7 day service, and you get all you can eat. You can get into the dining hall each day as many times as you want whenever you want (as long as they’re open). There are four dining halls conveniently (well, sort of) located around campus that serve basically the same food, but some places have their own special things (smoothies at ECV…yummy! Coffee house at OHouse…awesome on those cold winter days…and you don’t have to pay for your coffee…well extra at least). </p>
<p>The health center is really nice too, and the fee is already included, so you can see a doctor for “free.” </p>
<p>What kind of academic experience are you looking for? I won’t deny that Tech is much harder than UGA. I have a few friends there who say it’s study…study…study at Tech. If you want to have a good amount of time that you can spend NOT studying, I would go to UGA. You won’t have to take community college courses to help with your GPA because the science intro classes here are not that bad. As a premed, you want your GPA as high as it can get, and you have the best chance at UGA to get a higher GPA. I’m not sure what med school goals you have, but UGA is MCG’s biggest feeder school. They know us and know our classes. </p>
<p>There are a plentiful amount of research opportunities at UGA which I would suggest for any serious science student. You may not do it for a living, but it’s a great experience, and there are PLENTY of labs to choose from that would gladly take in an undergrad.</p>
<p>Overall, I’ve very much enjoyed my experience at UGA. I’m a premed science major. It isn’t a walk in the park, and it takes some sacrifices on the social life, but I’ve still been able to do many things here. It’s a beautiful campus for the most part and is walkable (though not without some lovely hills). The school spirit in the Fall is fantastic, and football games are a LOT of fun. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. If you have any questions, let me know. </p>
<p>GO DAWGS!</p>
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<p>Athens is UGA. Really all there is to do is visit the college and go to college bars. That’s why every Friday night there’s a caravan down 316 to Atlanta. In Atlanta, you not only have restaurants, bars with people you don’t see in Biology class, but you also have the arts, international houses, top notch shopping, shows, events, parks, and generally many more things to do. In addition you still have the college nightlife at GT and at the surrounding colleges (GSU, Agnes Scott, Emory).</p>
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<p>Of course, you’ll find that at any college, including GT. GT has over 350 student organizations, 50 greek organizations, 33 intercollegiate club athletic teams (in addition to the varsity teams), and 30 intermural sports. </p>
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<p>The same thing at Tech. Flat fee… two dining halls in either housing area plus restaurants in the center of campus… again, nothing unique. </p>
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<p>Tech has 13 doctors on staff, a dentist, and several psychiatrists for “free”. In addition, there’s a specialist for sports related injuries (for everyone, not just athletes), and an OB/GYN.</p>
<p>Not to mention that Tech’s workout facility are world class. Literally, they were originally designed and constructed for the 1996 olympics and were upgraded in 2003. Three swimming pools, a diving pool, several dedicated studios for spin class, martial arts, and self defense classes, a rock wall, smoothie bar, and a very large weight and machine area with the latest equipment that digitally track your performance. Next to the building is formerly the world’s largest astroturf field for outdoor events, and next to that is the actual grass sports fields.</p>
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<p>So, to summarize: if you want a higher GPA and easier classes, go to UGA. Of course, you could take that a step further and say that if you want an even higher GPA and easier classes, go to Valdosta State.</p>
<p>The fact is that if you’re fine with MCG, UGA is a fine school. If you graduate as a top student at UGA, you’ll be fine for MCG. But if you want to go to a top medical school, you need a top undergraduate education to get there, and GT is the place for that. Also, if you’re not a “top student” (and although most students think they are, the vast majority are not), keep in mind that GT’s pre-med program’s placement is over 80%. UGA’s is under 50%. </p>
<p>While Tech is more difficult and has a lower GPA, schools do consider the college’s profit in making an admission decision. At UGA, you have “animal husbandry” and “sports and leisure” majors running up the average GPA at the school, while science majors struggle. At Tech, you have the Aerospace Engineering and Chemical Engineering majors keeping the average GPA down, while science majors benefit. </p>
<p>If you understand the system, it is very easy for an “above average student” to earn high marks at GT and graduate in the Top 1% of the class - science majors get a boost relative to the engineering majors. You can’t do that at UGA. At UGA, science majors are at a disadvantage compared to the non-science majors, and an “above average student” is lucky to finish in the top 25%. </p>
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<p>UGA research expenditure in 2008: $349.7 million
UGA students: 35,000</p>
<p>GT research expenditure in 2008: $525 million
GT students: 20,000</p>
<p>For medical work, keep in mind that GT is the #2 biomedical school in the country. It has a direct research link with Emory’s Medical school (there’s a bus that goes back and forth between the schools), and they are always begging for undergraduate research assistants. Some research in that department with LOR’s from GT Biomed professors/Emory Med School professors would go a very long way in a medical school admission process.</p>
<p>That alone makes GT the obvious choice.</p>
<p>jenmarie–I appreciate your seemingly sincere efforts to introduce prospective students to UGA.</p>
<p>G.P. Burdell–I in no way want to challenge your sound facts/statistics/etc. about GT. GT is a national–even international–leader in some fields, and you are correct to note that GT outranks UGA in many fields. You do not, however, need to intimate that there are enough “animal husbandry” and “sports and leisure” majors to appreciably raise the average GPA of UGA students. You might want to go to our website and discover how few graduates UGA produces in these two fields relative to others.</p>
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<p>I did not mean to intimidate anyone. My point was that at UGA, a major like chemistry is one of the more difficult, and thus lower GPA majors. At GT, chemistry is one of the less demanding, and thus higher GPA majors. </p>
<p>Regardless, I did look before posting. But if you want the numbers… the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Science has 1,750 undergraduates. Then you have Education with 2,500 students (not mentioned, but again, it’s a major that tends to have very high GPAs for minimal work). Family and Consumer Science has 1,400 students. Forestry has 500 students. </p>
<p>Franklin has 14,000 undergraduates, but many are in programs like Dance, Religion, Foreign Languages, Theatre, etc. When you look at a program like Chemistry, you have 50 undergraduates. </p>
<p>So, yes, I think the comparison of low Chemistry GPA’s (all 50 of them) being balanced by 1750 Agricultural Sciences and 500 Forestry majors is appropriate.</p>
<p>GP: Again, way to make assumptions! First, there is not a major for animal husbandry, and also no major for sports and leisure. Second, do not make an assumption about the majors in Franklin, as a quick look at the fact book would also show 1,900 students in Biology, 1,385 in Psych (which GT has as a major), 362 in Biochem, 257 in microbiology, etc. As well, you make the assumption that the students in specific programs raise the GPA, such as forestry, but you actually have no data to back this up. And when I ask you about your statement about UGA Honors and gave you the numbers, you suddenly became very quiet about it and went into the social life on the two campuses and again made assumptions. Did anyone here bash GT based upon bad info (there were no attacks on male/female ratios, location, etc)? Yet you had to go into how Athens in your mind is nothing but ATL is great, while not looking at reality.</p>
<p>Both UGA and GT are very strong universities, and should be seen as such. All I am saying is that if you are on the UGA board, have actual facts, not distorted ones, and leave off the assumptions, errors and personal bias.</p>
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<p>Excuse me. Replace “Recreation and Leisure” for “Sports and Leisure”. </p>
<p>Animal Husbandry is an old major at UGA which has since been replaced by Animal and Dairy Science, Entomology, and Poultry Science. You can still take classes in Animal Husbandry and there are faculty specialized in the field. Apparently, you must now choose an animal class before studying the husbandry of an animal.</p>
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<p>There are 14,000 students, and you just accounted for about a quarter (by including psychology, no less). My original claim that “…many are in programs like Dance, Religion, Foreign Languages, Theatre, etc.” still stands. In fact, you could probably change “many” to “most” based on your assistance.</p>
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<p>I’m not attacking UGA. I’m giving the view of why GT is a better school for a pre-med major. The assertion was made by jenmarie that Athens is a better location because it’s a “college town” while Atlanta is “…well…Atlanta”. I was replying to obvious negative insinuation by demonstrating the advantages of attending college in a major city vs. a small town.</p>
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<p>And they are. I’ve said that three times already. But we’re not comparing GT and UGA to the general body of post-secondary educational options in the United States, we’re comparing them to each other. As such, GT has many very distinct advantages over UGA for a pre-med. GT is a higher ranked school, with more respected programs, has more research opportunities, and has better employment opportunities. The argument for UGA so far has been based on campus life, location, and health services. I replied to those arguments demonstrating GT’s competence in those areas.</p>
<p>I mean, if you have substantial evidence to counter my argument or indicate that UGA is a better pre-med school, that would be valuable to the OP. Ad hominem attacks because I used “Sports” instead of “Recreation” are neither constructive nor effective.</p>
<p>I think the issue is that you guys want the PC answer: “Go to either school and try your best and you’ll be fine! They’re both great schools!”</p>
<p>And that’s fine if you by “try your best” you mean “finish at the top of your class” and “you’ll be fine” means “you’ll probably get into MCG”. But I can’t be that PC. Someone’s entire life depends on this decision - and that’s not an exaggeration. </p>
<p>The fact is, GT is the school that sends people to Wash U. (on scholarship), Vandy, Tulane, Harvard, Duke, Hopkins, etc. UGA is the school that sends people to MCG. If you’re an average pre-med student at UGA, you don’t get into med school (less than 50% acceptance). If you’re an average pre-med student at GT, you do (over 80% acceptance). If you’re an average Chemistry major at UGA, you’re below average for the University. If you’re an average Chemistry major at GT, you’re above average for the Institute. If you seek research at UGA, you might get some on-campus work. If you seek research at GT, you’ll get cutting edge research at Emory Hospital with world renown researchers.</p>
<p>While you might feel OK with the PC response, to me, it would be irresponsible. Med school’s don’t give you PC responses. They give you Accept/Reject.</p>
<p>GP: Again, thank you for doing no research, ignoring the facts (no explanation about your errors in GPA, in admitted vs enrolled?), or even wanting to know what UGA is like now vs your knowledge about it when it had animal husbandry. Did you even look or know about CURO? UGA has med students at Yale, Harvard, Wash. U, Vandy, Michigan, Hopkins, etc. Just look at the CURO, Honors, and FF programs and you will see the list. GP, do your research before posting about UGA, or else just stick to GT info. Your information may have been accurate 20 years ago, but not now! I have not insulted GT, but you are going out of your way to insult UGA. To say doing research with people such as a world renowned expert on cloning is “on-campus” work is showing your bias.</p>
<p>one other thing G.P. Burdell: one should not compare average GPAs and SAT scores of ENROLLED students vs. ADMITTED students, yet you compare the stats of enrolled UGA honors students with the stats of those admitted at GT. Most schools–save the very elite schools–loose some of their strongest admits to other schools. In other words, the average SAT score of enrolled GT freshmen will be noticeably lower (30-40 points maybe) than the average of the group of students they accepted this spring. Does GT have a higher average SAT? Yes, it does. No one is challenging that reality. Does GT have a higher average SAT than the honors students at UGA? No, it would appear not. If you’re going to use stats, I think people on this board should use the common data set as a “better” source.</p>
<p>UGA is a fine school. I just don’t understand why UGA students feel the need to not only compare their school to GT, but to make assumptions that their school is even of the same caliber.</p>
<p>If you want to study engineering you go to GT.
If you want to study science you go to GT.
If you want to study business you go to GT.
If you want to study pre-med you go to GT.</p>
<p>If you want to better your odds of having better grades in any of these areas, you go to UGA (except for engineering since UGA really doesn’t have any).</p>
<p>I really think the UGA students get a big head since the admission requirements are ballpark to GTs. UGA is in a nice seat, as far as admission selection goes, because it offers many things - all together - that most colleges in Georgia don’t. Great college life, great academics, great sports, affordability. So yea, UGA gets to kick their feet back and select the best since so many kids are trying to get in for whichever reasons. It’s almost a defacto school for kids who want to stay in GA, who don’t want to deal with the workload at tech (if they could get in), the scattered college campus of GSU, or the price of Emory (if they could get in). This probably makes up a large portion of the freshman applicants. As a result they get brighter admissions candidates and can increase their requirements over time. Georgia State could afford to be that selective if they had the same flux of kids trying to get in. </p>
<p>More power to UGA for having these advantages, but I fail to see where UGA is nationally ranked with elite status for their academics outside of the vet school. GT is the engineering school of the south, but it’s also one of the best engineering school in the WORLD. So any comparisons to math, science, or engineering are silly. Consequently, other majors similar to UGA (outside of the ones mentioned above) are taught at a higher level because of the schools reputation and because of the student body.</p>
<p>I mean compare two similar degrees like Business Administration/Management (which used to be UGAs bread and butter). Tech requires a computer science class and Calc1+Calc2 (or Finite Mathmatics). UGA requires no CS class and precal + calc 1.</p>
<p>So you tell me, who would you rather higher assuming all things being equal?</p>
<p>I’ve had friends graduate from an array of undergrad disciplines at UGA (business, chemistry, CS, international affairs, accounting). Of these the chemistry, CS, and accounting guys had the most work. None of them tried comparing their workload to GTs because they knew they weren’t close.</p>
<p>I apologize for any negative thoughts I implied when I said “Atlanta is well…Atlanta.” It followed the sentence saying “[Athens] is a much smaller town.” What I meant about Atlanta was that it WASN’T a small town.</p>
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<p>If you think about the analysis for a second, you’d realize that I took the correct numbers. Admission to UGA honors is not the same as admission to GT as a whole, as a student not selected to UGA honors would still have been accepted to UGA. You’re comparing two different types of samples.</p>
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<p>GT had a 3.67 average applicant pool, and an under 50% admission rate. You can attempt to infer the final matriculation statistics from those numbers, but unless the distribution has extreme kurtosis (and it doesn’t), the average should be above 3.8. </p>
<p>But really, let’s not get into these debates…</p>
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<p>UGA still has animal husbandry, as I stated previously, and I know all about CURO. It reminds me quite a bit of UROP. </p>
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<p>Recently? If you have source data that would help the OP compare the schools, that would be extremely helpful.</p>
<p>GP: The stats from UGA Honors are enrolled students, not admitted. The GT stats you gave were from admitted, where as I gave you the enrolled stats. Thus, you were not comparing equal information. Both GT and UGA have higher admit stats than enrolled stats.</p>
<p>The GT stats are directly from GT admissions for enrollment, so I would suggest you speak to them about the data.</p>
<p>UGA does not have animal husbandry for a major (as you said so yourself), so enough said.</p>
<p>If you would like, you can look at a small group of the FF alums to get an idea of where they are now. It gives details about the different classes that have graduated and where they are, and lists the graduate schools and the med schools. The 2008 FF class is a good example. I have been able to see on the GT website, [about</a> premed -](<a href=“http://www.cos.gatech.edu/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=129&func=view&catid=2&id=54]about”>http://www.cos.gatech.edu/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=129&func=view&catid=2&id=54), that GT had 94 students admitted to med schools in 2008, and their stats were shown at [url=<a href=“http://www.prehealth.gatech.edu/premed/stats.php]Statistics[/url”>http://www.prehealth.gatech.edu/premed/stats.php]Statistics[/url</a>], where they said they had 136 applicants from GT. Unfortunately, GT did not give a listing of where each of these 2008 grads went. UGA does not have this type of data. Can you let us know where you are getting the data on specific med school attendance for both GT and UGA? Then we will all know the actual data, and not just rough guesses?</p>
<p>Again, all I am shooting for is correct information.</p>
<p>(Note: these are just for Med School; Law School, careers, and other graduate programs are just as impressive. While many of these are Foundation Fellows, there are a number of non-fellows as well): </p>
<p>This year (I’m not as aware of these since I’m no longer at UGA… and I don’t know about scholarships for all of 'em):
Johns Hopkins
UVA
WashU (full scholarship) </p>
<p>Last Year:
Stanford
Harvard
UAB
UVA
WashU
Columbia</p>
<p>2 Years Ago:
Mayo
Vanderbilt
Harvard
Michigan (full scholarship)
Yale</p>
<p>Also note that in the last 3 years, UGA has produced 2 Rhodes Scholars (7 finalists), 3 Truman Scholars (5 finalists), 2 Mitchell Scholars, 4 Goldwater Scholars (plus 4 the year before), a ton of Fulbrights (not going even to bother to tally them up), and several NSF Graduate Fellowships as well. Clearly, UGA attracts and nurtures a significant number of nationally competitive students. </p>
<p>Before anyone rags on Agriculture too much, I’d like to say that Agriculture classes are actually fairly difficult. I had a roommate who was an ag major and I also took an ag class for “fun” and found out it’s fairly difficult material with a lot of specific scientific knowledge required. Definitely not a free pass. </p>
<p>As far as programs where UGA is ranked in “elite” status, the Classics program is superb, the public administration master’s (which a significant number of undergrads take) is ranked 4th in the country, individual professors in the sciences have nationally-known labs (including the Stice stem cell lab), the Education program is ranked highly, and many individual professors in a number of the humanities are well-known in their field. Also consider this: program rankings are often done on the basis of research, not on the quality of teaching. It’s all well and good if your professor is an amazing researcher, but there’s certainly not a strong correlation. Rankings matter much more for graduate programs where the reputation of the professors and research going on is really key. </p>
<p>UGA does have an engineering major and I believe they’re planning to add more. The program is also fairly good, from what I’ve heard and seen. One of my friends got funding to go to Uganda and help field test a milk-refrigerant in rural villages, which sounded pretty darn awesome. </p>
<p>The workload at UGA is really as much of it as you want to make- it’s easy to cruise by if you’d like, taking the minimum courseload and selecting easy classes, but UGA also allows undergrads in Honors to take a number of grad classes and even get BA/MAs in many programs. If you’re looking for an academic challenge, you can definitely find it at UGA.</p>
<p>Socially, it’s no contest. A common sight of interest at UGA parties is the Tech wallflowers, usually high school friends of some attendee who gawk at the nightly social interactions, particularly those involving females (I exaggerate, but only slightly). Athens is not just some “boring” town like some have implied; there’s a thriving arts and music scene, a number of neat attractions nearby, plenty of awesome college-student-oriented places to eat/drink/study, and an extremely walkable downtown. I’m now in a huge “awesome” city and I would trade it any day for the compactness and culture of Athens. </p>
<p>So people thinking pre-med at UGA or Tech? I’d say UGA, fairly easily. If you’re thinking engineering and/or some specific parts of the sciences (physics esp.), then probably Tech. </p>
<p>Completely anecdotally, the only GA Tech grad I know, who graduated last year, is currently substitute teaching and living at home with his engineering degree. Make what you will out of that!</p>
<p>As a Floridian with no affiliation to either school, I would say UGA, as you will get a traditional college experience and have a higher GPA comparatively. </p>
<p>Some of these GA Tech supporters clearly have nothing better to do because Tech has such an awful social scene and terrible m/f ratio.</p>
<p>Besides, doesn’t Georgia Tech have like a 60% acceptance rate? A couple of average kids from my school who got rejected from UF are going to Tech next year, so some of these Tech supporters need a reality check.</p>