Hi everyone! I am seeking detailed comparisons of South Carolina’s Honors College vs UGA’s honors program. I know both are well regarded. I would love to know advantages/disadvantages between the 2 programs. I think at the end of the day the tuition for both schools will end up being close enough to not be a deciding factor.Thank you in advance!
This is a great question and I hope that people with experience at one or both respond. I imagine that these two schools have a lot of overlap applications.
Take a look at the opportunities offered by each, visit, and choose the best fit for you. My D is in the honors program at UGA. It’s a tight-knit community with numerous opportunities. I can’t think of any disadvantages.
Thank you for your reply. Would you be willing to share more details? How many of her classes (especially core classes) are honors and smaller in size? Did she stay in the honors dorm? What were some of the other benefits that were the most impactful? Did she look at any other honors colleges? Thank you in advance
I’m not a lot of help, but I’ll tell you what I know. Many years ago my spouse was in the honors college at UGA and one of my nephews is currently there. I was not in the honors college and my spouse’s classes were definitely smaller, had better professors, and were more engaging. My nephew takes mostly honors college courses and likes them a lot, but according to him the best perk is being able to select any major without meeting any other criteria. You need to verify that. He was very undecided when he arrived, so that gave him time to figure it out.
Are you close enough to visit both schools and ask tough questions about the honors college?
@Henry111 You can research courses to see if they interest you. UGA posts their course schedule online. There’s a good variety of honors courses each semester. They are small and generally have the best profs. They are extremely popular so they try to limit students to 2 per semester, but it’s not a hard limit. Lots of students take 3+ per semester.
My D did live in the honors dorm. It’s a nice dorm and sits on the main quad. The down side is there are no floor TV lounges. Students make do, however. If she had to do it again, she would live in one of the high rises or ECV (far though) because they are more social and better for an introvert . Most honors kids make their close friends in the honors program though. My D says the honors program is a bubble even though students take lots of regular classes. There are honors only events (social and enrichment), internships, and clubs, so you can see how the bubble develops. Lots of research opportunities. There is a capstone requirement and most fulfill it by doing research.
Priority registration is worth it’s weight in goal.
My D only looked at honors at the colleges she applied. Some are better than others. You really need to dig into the details. I highly recommend the Public Honors book and website (google the website).
Good luck with your decision.
@AlwaysMoving - actually that was extremely helpful!! He is getting to attend an honors evening event in March and learn more about the program the following day but it is not until the end of March. For UGA, we are closer drive wise but hard to take off the extra days from school with his current courseload. He got a chance to talk this weekend with a peer currently at USC in the honors program, so that did help as well.
@itsgettingreal21 - thank you so much!!! I will definitely take a look at that book. He did not apply to honors at every school - and some schools he is waiting still for notification in Jan/Feb before he is allowed to apply. That was all really helpful information!!
When we toured UofSC this summer they told us that it was ranked the number 1 Honors college. I am not sure where they got this stat, but it was on banners around the campus too.
The University of Georgia Honors College is as good as it gets for large public university honors colleges/programs.
The University of South Carolina Honors College is outstanding.
USC has a higher percentage of out-of-state students, but Georgia has a very diverse and sophisticated population–especially in the Atlanta region.
If COA is about equal, pick the one the feels right as there is no wrong choice in your situation.
so where did you decide, @Henry111 ?
my son is trying to decide between honors UGA and honors USC
He was originally thinking of studying biomedical engineering (or some type of engineering, maybe mechanical), but now he is not sure. Any advice would be appreciated!
Bringing back this topic - where did you end up - or anyone who’s been at U of SC Honors, UGA Honors, or even knows about C of C - step up!!
My daughter is in at both U of SC Honors and UGA Honors. She’s also in at Charleston Honors and is an Intl Scholar there - so a small cohort within Honors of kids interested in international studies.
As she’s studying International Relations, UGA is the clear winner. However, she liked but didn’t love the campus or off campus area . I think part of UGAs issue for her is the campus is enormous - lots of bus taking, whereas she loved both U of SC and Charleston including their surroundings. Neither has a formal International Relations major and UGA is really strong there. Honestly, while U of SC is allegedly #1 in Honors, UGAs average student is - off the charts strong with a 1500+ SAT.
She’s down to the two South Carolina schools - but I keep re- introducing UGA.
U of SC has a lot going for it:
- traditional school and spirit
- gorgeous campus and manageable
- Honors College
- About $28K a year.
C of Charleston has:
- smaller - but not too small
- everything walkable - it’s right in the heart of downtown
- strong Jewish life - which is important to my daughter.
- in a smaller co-hort within Honors
- While less majors, they have urban studies which few schools offer and it appeals to my daughter. As an Intl Scholar you need a 2nd major.
-About $34K a year - Her worry is - their average student via their ACT isn’t as strong - and she’s concerned about the name/pedigree or lack there of - but I’ve heard nothing but great things about C of C.
UGA, by the way, about $38K.
Eliminated - by mom and dad for financial reasons:
- Washington & Lee - $81K
- American (daughter’s top choice) - $57K
- Miami - $53K
- Florida - $43K - honestly, this is more about - from people you talk to online and who have been - it’s so large it seems it’s very impersonal.
Ultimately, my daughter will decide and we’ll go with it. But - it’s a tough time. I’m always interested to hear what people think - especially about the differences in their experiences between her two finalists.
thanks
Did anyone reply to you? What was your student’s choice? My daughter is interested in UGA honors.
My daughter took UGA off early. Last two were Charleston and SC.
She chose Charleston.
So In her case rank didn’t matter. Sue loves the city.
She nixed UGA early in part because the campus is huge and a bus is required (it seems to be) and the size was just too big for her.
Sue wanted to be in the city, got awarded the Charleston Fellow and is very happy with her choice.
She’s had a tremendous amount of extras and we are pleased as parents.
UGA is obviously wonderful. Good luck to your daughter.