<p>I will be taking my son to visit UGA in the near future. We have scheduled the usual campus tour, admissions presentation, meeting with academic dept, etc. However, I would be interested in hearing any other suggestions/recommendations for things to see or do during our visit that would help us get a good feel for the university and campus. I realize this is a rather vague question but am open to any suggestions. We will be arriving in Athens the evening before our campus visit, so any suggestions on places to eat, check out, etc. would be appreciated too.</p>
<p>If you son’s going to be a science major, I would suggest walking around Cedar St., or more commonly called “Ag Hill” (if you need to ask for directions, use “ag hill”). When you come for an official tour, they show you North Campus, but most science majors never go up there. Ag Hill houses the physics, chemistry, and biology buildings. Anything south of this area is where science majors are mostly located. </p>
<p>If he’s not a science major, I would still suggest looking up the main buildings where he will be and taking a look. If you tell me what major he is, I could try pointing you to the main portions of campus where you may or may not visit on an official tour. </p>
<p>I would also suggest taking a peak at the dorms (at least the outsides - you won’t get too far going inside). You’ll be able to get a feel for the distance between the dorms and the class buildings and where he might want to stay. </p>
<p>You might also want to try sitting in for a little bit on a lecture to get a feel for big lecture halls (I know there are big lecture halls in the Instructional Plaza, Biology, and Chemistry buildings that would allow you to sneak in and sneak out).</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, I could try answering them. I’m no expert, but I have been here for almost three years. I’m a science major, so that’s my area of expertise, but I can try others :)</p>
<p>jenmarie…
My son applied to the Business School. He’s focused on the Music Business area and UGA has a program that offers a specialty in it as part of your Business degree. He’s also an accomplished blues/rock guitarist that has performed at major venues, openeing for Derek Trucks of th Allman Brothers and Lesle West of Mountain. He’s been an intern at a a NJ recording studio and has appeared on several CD’s. We haven’t been to Athens, but he’s keen on attending a college that is in a big music scene location. If he is accepted we’ll be visiting the school as it has exactly what he’s interested in.
Any insights you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks</p>
<p>jenmarie, thanks so much for your suggestions. Should my son attend UGA, he would be in the college of environmental design, and he has an appt to meet with someone in CED during his visit. Any other suggestions regarding things to look into on campus, or in Athens in general, would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Well, I’m going to be honest with both of you…I don’t really know much about the Music or Business school, but…</p>
<p>The music school buildings are located in a walking distance from the visitor’s center and are worth a look. I’ve never actually been in any of them.</p>
<p>The business school is located in what we call North Campus. You’ll definitely be shown the school during your tour (or you should at least). Both of your sons will stick around the area where they show you on the tour, so you won’t have to do too much extra sight-seeing to get a feel for the area of campus where they’ll mostly be. The journalism building and the MLC are also buildings where their classes are likely to be.</p>
<p>If you guys have the gas money, you could always just drive around Athens. It’s probably really difficult to get lost as long as you don’t go into any neighborhoods. Last Resort is my favorite restaurant downtown. They’re kind pricey, but good. I don’t really know how to describe what kind of food it is, but you can google it if interested. Utage downtown is also good - it’s a sushi/Japenese sort of place. However, parking downtown is hectic during the week. There is the usual applebees, chili’s, olive garden, etc in the town. </p>
<p>Oh, if your sons like to exercise, you could check out Ramsey, which is super close to the visitor’s center (just cross the street in the opposite direction of the main road). The health center is also close to the visitor’s center if you want to see it. </p>
<p>dgialanella - I’m not really into the music scene here in Athens, though I hear it’s really good. I think it would be wise to walk around the downtown area (adjacent to North campus - when they show you the Arch, you’ll see it). There are a lot of areas downtown than are music-related and maybe your son could pop in and ask questions.</p>
<p>Thsnk you jenmarie…appreciate the information</p>
<p>Thanks jenmarie, I appreciate your help!</p>
<p>From an alum and current parent: First, stroll around North Campus and downtown Athens, which is just across Broad St. Grab some breakfast at the Mayflower Grill, if it’s still there (I believe it is). See the special collections at the main library. Head south, stopping at SLC (Student Learning Center),Tate Student Center, and see Sanford Stadium from Sanford Bridge. Pass thru south campus on the way to East Campus Village, and get lunch at ECV Commons. (You will be amazed at the food service quality at UGA; they have an outstanding, non-outsourced, not for profit operation. I could go on and on…) Check out the Ramsey Center and the Health Services, one of very few accredited by the AHA (?) Come back to Lumpkin Street and head up to five points for coffee/dessert/snack at Aroma. If it’s your thing, go over to the University Golf Course off of Milledge Ave., and see how nice it is. Buy a much better golf shirt w/ a UGA golf logo…After you visit, post for us what you saw, did, and think about it all. Enjoy, and welcome to UGA!</p>
<p>Last winter my son (then a senior in HS) knew a current freshman in Russell Hall and went up to spend the night in the dorm, eat in the dining halls, ride the busses, visit downtown Athens and go to classes with him the next day. Next week, he (now a freshman) is returning the favor to a prospective student for Fall 2010. This is a way for a prospect to get the feel of things without parents present.</p>
<p>Correction: Health Services is accredited by the JCAH, not the AHA. Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospitals-the big guys. Seriously impressive. H1N1 shots were no extra fee this fall.</p>
<p>Great suggestions, merkur, thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks th1921 for the great suggestion about the overnight stay. Unfortunately we are OOS so this may not be an option…at least not for this trip.</p>
<p>So, Psi, did y’all get to visit the Classic City?</p>
<p>Merkur…we did visit…
my son loved the school and Athens so much we came home and sent in our deposit…he chose UGA over U of Miami, American, Fordham, Skidmore, Ithaca…
the visit was great…sat in a class, met with someone from terry, spent an hour with an advisor…
UGA is everything he wants…we’re in NJ and he’s the first student to go there from his HS, which is a highly competitive and highly ranked school…his HS advisor was delighted he’s going to UGA as he said its a wonderful insitution…</p>
<p>All right, fantastic! Congratulations. I’m so glad you had a good visit. Do you think his HS classmates will look at him oddly when he begins barking? Oh, well… So where’dya eat?Seriously, I hope he has a great first year and is really, really happy at UGA.</p>
<p>I was glad to see this thread because I am currently planning a visit to UGA in July as part of a swing through several Universities in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. My son is interested in the UGA Honors Program and the Athens music scene. </p>
<p>I would appreciate any additional comments of places to see, things to do, where to eat or stay, etc., either on campus or in Athens to get a good feel for UGA and Athens.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Raschu,
I went through the same process with my son this year. He chose UGA over Miami, American, Fordham and others because he loved the campus and Athens was fantastic. He’s a pretty accomplished blues guitarist so he sees himself joining a band and making money playing on weekends and aas a sessions guy.<br>
Our trip included a meeting with someone from Terry (he wants to study business), a session with an advisor and he sat through a business school class. They folks were wonderful and went out of their way to make Andrew feel comfortable.<br>
We satyed at the Hotel Indigo. When we were there a pretty noted blues guy actually played in the patio, so Andrew was quite impressed. The Hotel is great and appeals to the music scene folks. Its a 5 minute walk to the arch.<br>
I can’t remember where we ate…one place was a trendy Asian fusion restaurant…quite good. The town has numerous clubs…like the 40 Watt Club and others. The Athens scene is both trendy and a real college town atmosphere. Everyone complains about the traffic, but we’re from the NY area so for us it was a cake walk.<br>
I research everything and until I did that for UGA I really didn’t know much about the school. It’s a top notch institution and my wife and I are very impressed with the academics as well as the sports scene. One concern Andrew had was the frat scene, as he doesn’t see himself joining one…that may change as his band played at a frat party at Drexel in Philly and he got a real education on frat life. The advisor at UGA said about 20% of the students are in frats.
Hope that info helps.</p>
<p>dgialanella;</p>
<p>I was surprised to see how much we have in common. My son, also an Andrew, also sees himself joining a band and making money playing on weekends. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, while he has a guitar, he has had all but one lesson and is much more likely to see your son playing some night at a club than playing any time soon for anyone who has actually paid a cover charge.</p>
<p>But thats okay, maybe someday. In the meantime, I am trying to help him identify top quality schools which are located in a great college town or city. Athens and UGA certainly looks like a good option. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. A couple of questions…</p>
<p>Since we are visiting in the summer, our options may be limited, but with respect to the meeting with Terry, your session with an advisor and attending a class, how did you go about setting that up? Had your son actually applied and/or been accepted when he visited. We are in the early stages of this process (Junior next year).</p>
<p>Good luck to your son next fall.</p>
<p>Anyone else with suggestions about what to see or do in Athens to give a prospective student a feel for college life at UGA?</p>
<p>raschu,
Andrew was accepted when we set up the meetings but had not yet made his decision. It was between UGA, University of Miami< Skidmore and American. I connected with the Terry professor who runs the Music Business Program and he met with Andrew for an hour and took him to a class. The advisor he met with I arranged by e-mailing that department. They responded quickly and made the arrangements.
We did pretty much the same thing at Miami…he sat through a class, met someone from the Business School, etc. We had visited American twice and met with a Business School rep and also had a chance to meet the dean of the Business School.<br>
All of this took time, but given the size of the college investment, I wanted to make sure Andrew got as much information as he needed. I would have put UGA low on his list given the distance issue and overall size. But his visit and meetings made him realize that this is the school for him.<br>
You’re smart to begin your process with Andrew early. Its an education and a maturing thing that will enable him toeveluate his choices. For UGA, Andrew had the grades, strong ACT scores and great EC’s, he was a Junior Olympian Gymnast.<br>
All the Best</p>
<p>Thanks again for the information.</p>
<p>You might want to call the school and see if he qualifies for Explore Georgia.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Georgia :: Undergraduate Admissions :: Explore Georgia](<a href=“http://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/explore_georgia.html]University”>http://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/explore_georgia.html)</p>
<p>We received an invitation for our daughter to go and we’ve picked June 25th. Sounds like a very focused tour.</p>