Hello, I am a Georgia student and go to a rigorous high school. I am currently a rising senior and don’t know how to go about picking a good college for me.
A bit of background:
I have 3.45/3.74(unweighted/weighted) GPA -low, I know-
I have a 28 ACT
Most of my classes have been honors, I have a few on-level and have had 5 APs throughout my freshman-junior year
Chorus (4 yrs)
Been a part of a ambassadors program club at my school (2yrs)
Been a part of a leadership program club at school (1 year)
Done TWD out side of school (11 yrs, held leadership position in the team)
Volunteer work at a hospital (180+ hours)
I know I don’t have much to offer but I’m very driven and have a lot of potential (I just slipped up my freshman year) I have ambitions to be a doctor so I want to be majoring in biology/cellular biology and want to minor in something related to business or law.
I am looking at colleges that will look good to medical schools since that’s is my end goal. I have tried talking to my school counselors but they haven’t been much help to me and my parents only have limited views on what advice to offer. I want a school that I will thrive in academically but will also be able to have some semblance of a social life in. I am not looking to join a sorority and am not much of a partier, but I will be living in the dorms and enjoy social activities.
I am currently thinking about applying to:
- Georgia college and state university
- Oxford college of Emory
- Kennesaw University
- Georgia State University
- Augusta University
( for Kennesaw or Georgia state I would consider going there only to finish my core classes in order to have a high GPA base and would transfer after two years)
I am really, very nervous about college any tips on where I should look to go or on the college I am looking at is deeply appreciated. (I can’t go out of state for financial reason!)
Thank you guys so much!
Med schools don’t care where you went for undergrad, what they want is you having grades indicating you ranked top 10-20% in basically every class you took.
So a key criterion for choosing your undergrad should be how supportive the school is, how collaborative the students, whether they “weed” a lot.
What about Georgia Southern and Georgia College’s honors College? Berry?
If you’re a girl, Agnes Scott is VERY GOOD for B+/A- serious students.
Can you look OOS? What’s your EFC and what’s your budget?
I can’t look out of state because of financial reasons(my parents would like me to have Hope since I am eligible). I’m not exactly sure what my EFC is because I haven’t begun filling out my financial aid report yet. I haven’t looked at the honors programs for these schools, I didn’t even know further offered it; are those any good? From the little bit that I have been able to speak to people about colleges they all have said that Georgia Southern is a very “party”-oriented school?
Is the 3.74 on a 4 point scale? If so, I wouldn’t call that low.
I would try for UGA and G Tech due to higher name recognition. and large alumni base. G Tech has a good transfer program if you can’t get in out of high school.
I would also consider Georgia Southern, because it has more name recognition.
I assume EMory will be expensive as a private school.
No 
we have students who have weighted GPAs in the 4.5+ region!
Your college list is pretty good! As recommended above, I would also recommend applying to UGA and Georgia Southern (not for the name recognition, but because they are great schools). Your ACT scores are smack in the middle of UGA’s middle 50% range, so that’s a good match for you. Georgia Southern would likely be a low match or a safety for you, as your scores and GPA are in the top 25% of their applicants.
I’d only apply to Georgia Tech if you have a specific interest in what they have to offer - namely a more technical education. They do have great name recognition, but that’s not necessarily the most important thing and they’re a bit reachy for you.
You might also consider:
Berry College: A private college in Rome, GA. The campus is absolutely gorgeous. Would be a match for you.
Oglethorpe University: A small private college in the Brookhaven neighborhood of Atlanta. I think it would be a match for you
Agnes Scott College: A small private women’s college in Decatur. Very diverse and offers good financial aid. Would be a match for you.
Mercer University: A medium-sized private university in Macon. Would be a low match for you, but tends to be relatively expensive.
Wesleyan College: A small private women’s college in Macon. Would be a safety for you.
And other Georgia public universities, all of which would be safeties for you:
Armstrong State University
University of West Georgia
Columbus State University
Valdosta State University
Clayton State University
University of North Georgia
Georgia Southern is much like any other big university in a small college town. Many of the students make their own fun, and that includes college parties. But at a university of nearly 21,000 students, I’m sure many of them don’t party and you can find your niche.
There’d be nothing wrong with staying at Kennesaw State or Georgia State for all four years and then going to med school from there.
Yes Georgia Southern is very party oriented. That explains the low graduation rate compared to relatively strong stats for the entering class. Many students spend their evenings getting drunk in the bars across the street. However they’re not too demanding for their full tuition scholarship and the Honors college is OK.
Georgia state is more commuter and Kennesaw students aren’t especially studious.
Agnes Scott honors HOPE and the students there will be more studious overall. However be ready for the fact that regardless of college there will be lots of parties. It will be up to you to have the willpower to say no to weekday parties.
EFC is actually calculated before you apply for financial aid. (Use your search engine). You need to know if your parents can pay it and whether it’s low.
Depending on your parents’ income, some “meet need” colleges may offer more scholarships… Or not.
Run the NPC on Dickinson, Mount Holyoke, Drake, Rhodes, St Olaf, Connecticut College, Trinity College for instance: is any of them affordable?
Even without HOPE, Truman State would likely be within budget compared to a Georgia public, and it’s known for the quality of academics and students. Run the NPC there too.
Name recognition matters when getting a job, and a larger alumni base makes it easier to network. A college like KSU probably doesn’t have much name recognition outside of Atlanta.
Keep in mind that Armstrong in Savannah and Georgia Southern are merging. A whole lot of issues have yet to be finalized.
Hello everyone!
I have a few questions about GCSU. I’ve heard a lot about the school in regards to its academics but I was wondering if anyone knew what the social life was like? I don’t plan on going Greek but I don’t want that to mean I will be lacking to have an enjoyable time at the college. I’m not very party oriented, I much would prefer having a small party with a few friends or going out to downtown and hanging at somewhere instead.
If anyone has any insight or tips on the social life/student life at GCSU it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.
Nobody can force you to party at any school. There are going to be some people that party at every school, some that don’t.
@apraxiamom : how is that going ? Will some programs be relocated?
@apraxiamom : I feel as though the merger would make GSU a better university, no?
Delete, posted on wrong thread.
GA Tech is known as the place where hope goes to die. If you wasn’t dependent on hope or needed a high GPA for med school, than GA Tech would be a great choice. In this case I think UGA would be a better fit for you.
Not necessarily. Resources may be spread thin, programs eliminated (duplication of services only 60 miles apart). We really won’t know impact until fall 2018.
The “60 miles apart” is what gives me pause. I could understand merging two adjacent universities but two universities with such different cultures&missions, located so far apart, that worries me as the potential for wrecking chaos for stusents, faculty, and administration. An issue also is course normalization: if two different classes are seen as equivalent, that’s okay, but sometimes college integration means colleges have to offer the same classes and often that doesn’t work.
Look at websites for both colleges. Both of them talk about the merger. You can also google the Savannah paper and search for Armstrong merger. That’s where I’ve gotten what little I know. And yes, I don’t know what Georgia Regents was thinking.
Agree with above post about looking out of state at schools that meet full need. You can run net price calculators right now on all college websites, and you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at how much your final cost would be at some of these private schools. In many cases, it’s significantly less than the cost of in-state public.
Also, my daughter applied to Agnes Scott and the entire experience was lovely. The admissions rep for our area (the northeast) was really personable. My daughter ended up at a different school but it made a very positive impression, and they did throw a bunch of merit money at her. 