<p>My daughter is deciding between UGA and Tulane right now. We just visited Tulane last weekend for the Honors Weekend, and she loved it... loved NO etc. She has been a NO fan all her life.</p>
<p>We have visited UGA once, and she really liked it too. That was before she was admitted to the Honors there and got the Charter Scholalrship. We will return for a visit there April 3-5. I want her to really fall in love.</p>
<p>I VOTE UGA! ( I have to admit, it is partly because it's going to cost half as much as Tulane.. she got a scholarship there too.. but still...). I think the Honors program is better at UGA and she'll have the full college experience with football (she is a big fan) and other sports and activities. I don't think she'll get the full experience at Tulane. And, the people in UGA are sooooo friendly!</p>
<p>I know the ultimate decision will be hers, but can someone help me with some GREAT things about UGA that I can share with her? We are very serious about this. Is anything wonderful going on in town on the April weekend we are going to be there? Any current student's input would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>If you're going to be there April 5th, you'll get a nice preview of UGA sports as the G-day game, an intra-team scrimmage, takes place. This is a great opportunity to see all the fun of UGA sports without too many of the crazy tailgating on real game days.</p>
<p>When you come visit, here are some things I'd recommend you and your daughter do to help get the feel of the place:</p>
<ol>
<li>Walk around downtown Athens, especially in the evening hours. On Thurs and Fri you'll get a taste for the nightlife and probably hear the sounds of some of the many bands. </li>
<li>Visit the Honors College building and talk to some of the students who are hanging out in there between classes. </li>
<li>See if you can meet a professor or two or three in an area of interest- some of the best experiences for me when looking at schools was contacting professors directly and seeing what they had to say. They can often point out academic opportunities that you may not have known about and often provide an honest take on the academic level of a given department.</li>
<li>Get acquainted with the buildings on campus where your daughter will be spending a lot of her time- walk through the Student Learning Center and the Library and see what the study spaces look like. </li>
<li>Read the student publications. While they aren't always the most authoritative source of info, they can provide some interesting insight into the campus psyche. </li>
<li>This may be a bit presumptive, but don't be afraid to see if your daughter would try to attend some campus organization meetings on Wed. and Thursday, especially ones she might be interested in, or just any you happen to run across. At the very least, take a look at the billboards that list the on-campus events. Yes all schools will have different kinds of organizations and events, but it will give you a good idea of just how much there is out there to do. </li>
</ol>
<p>So those are just some general ideas for the visit; be sure to do a lot of digging around on the UGA and Honors websites to see what all they have to offer too. It may just come down to a "feel" for the place, and I think UGA can offer a lot of positives in that regard but there's no guarantee.</p>
<p>I've visited about a dozen colleges in the Southeast in the past year, and the Ramsey Athletic Center at UGA is probably the most impressive student recreation complex I've seen. It's huge, new, clean -- top shelf. Don't miss that.</p>
<p>Definitely walk around downtown in the daytime, have lunch, check out the cute shops. She'll get a feel for the college town atmosphere. April 3-5 should be beautiful - the dogwoods and azaleas should be in full bloom (or almost). Walk from downtown through North Campus (the most picturesque part of campus). The dining halls are first rate. Check out the dining hall at East Campus Village. The choices are amazing and its a new, modern facility. It's close to the Ramsey Athletic Center which is supposed to be incredible. Take her to Myers Hall (the honors dorm). It is the most newly renovated dorm and the lobby area is really nice. Myers is on a quad, so maybe she'll see kids playing frisbee, outside studying, etc. One hint. If she even thinks she might be interested in UGA, if you haven't already, you should go ahead and register for housing and pay the $35 fee. Housing assignments are done first come, first served. If she wants to live in Myers, she should get her request in as soon as possible. If she doesn't go to UGA, you'll be out $35, but the longer she waits to request a particular dorm, the more chance there'll be that it will not be available. I went to UGA many years ago and my DD is a freshman there this year in the Honors Collge and loves it.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks everyone! C's mom... will you write me an e-mail and tell me more about your daughter's first year in Honors and in Myers? And.. I did think about the $35 investment and took care of that earlier. :)</p>
<p>maleahhpluvr,
I sent you a LONG email the other day (or at least tried). When I hit send, it said that I wasn't logged in (maybe I got timed out?). Then I logged back in and tried to email you to ask if you'd gotten my original email. It said I couldn't send another email for 51 seconds (something like that). So, anyway...did you ever get either email from me?</p>