UC San Diego vs. Emory Oxford

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Oh look, another one of these threads....</p>

<p>First of all, sorry for the lack of information, but I was writing a really in dept forum post about this thread, but College Confidential logged me out and alas...
I'm a recent high school graduate who put deposits on UCSD, Emory-oxford, and UGA. I've visited UGA and I know the types of students that go there (and a near 1/3 of my high school graduating class will be attending). It is most definitely not the school I want to go to. </p>

<p>This boils it down to UCSD and Emory-Oxford. Because I was fortunate enough to place deposits on all 3, when Emory inflated their price to nearly 4x the initial estimate, I wasn't locked with them. </p>

<p>Regardless, here is what I know of them:</p>

<p>EMORY:
Oxford campus is only a 2 year deal, then I would get an immediate transfer to Emory University in Atlanta. However, I'm not sure this necessarily justifies going to Oxford, and I'm not crazy about Emory. Firstly, I've visited Oxford for students' weekend. I was incredibly surprised to see that a student I knew who had been expelled for blowing an airhorn in class had been accepted as well even with his mediocre grades. And to be blunt... the campus is just terrible. Imagine The Shire from the Lord of the Rings, except a college campus. The entire population is only slightly larger than my Senior graduating class. The town is incredibly small and a fair distance from main campus in Atlanta. On my visit to main campus, I was very impressed by the... architecture, but I never saw the inside of any labs (just a computer lab with the most expensive Macs you've ever seen). More importantly, the academics. Emory is renowned for its strong core curriculum which I agree is an important part of the undergraduate experience. However, Emory tends to attract mostly pre-professional students (pre-med, pre-law, etc.). I see it as foolish to decide the fate of my educational career so early, especially for a fairly common spot in the labor force (and I'd like to think a little bit bigger too). Although I'm going to offend a couple of readers (flame sheilds up), I somewhat agree with stereotype that pre-proffesional is the scourge of mankind. Linking back to the idea of a strong core curriculum, while the school may offer several courses, that doesn't necessitate they have substance. I prefer the Aristotelian approach to knowledge that it should be learned for the pure sake of it. Classes should be about questioning the fundamentals behind knowledge and pushing questions that expand a field's disciplinary ranges. I feel as though because so many attend for the purpose of pre-proffesional jobs, I'll be memorizing textbooks. And by matters of reciprocation, I can only expect that the students at Emory agree that rote learning is a basis of true knowledge. Being around such people would surely drive me mad. As a concluding summary, being in Oxford would be torturous, going to Emory 2 years later might be OK, but if the ideas surrounding the university don't hold value, than I would be dissatisfied. </p>

<p>UCSD:
I don't live in California, nor have I been there in several years. What I do know, however, is that California is a whole different country compared to the sleepy state of Georgia. UCSD seems to be the college of students who were not accepted to Berkeley and LA. However, I think that the sole fact that these high-hopes students had not been accepted to Berkeley and LA, the school earns its own prestige. According to US News and Student Dream Tantalizer report, UCSD ranks 37 compared to Emory's 20 (Oxford isn't mentioned). I'm not one to believe in the advice arbitrated by some anonymous internet stranger (Oh wait, why am I--), but I know ranking does indeed mean something in deciding these matters. UCSD seems to have a strong reputation in the humanities while also maintaining an extremely strong reputation in the sciences. Also, by merit of it existing as a UC school, the curriculum is probably strong. However, my kritik on this idea is already expressed in my thoughts about Emory. Again, UCSD tends to attract a multitude of pre-proffesional students (mostly premed). Even though I feel as though they both offer great courses, it seems more likely people who want to build hydron colliders live in California. One thing to note, compared to Emory, UCSD is enormous. Although it is split up into 6 separate colleges, (I would be attending Revelle) class sizes will be guaranteed to be at least 3 times as large. But with a larger population of students come a larger course catalog. I don't really seem to care as much about class size as I have a tendency to stick out in conversations, but this may be a big key factor. Finally, California is broke. And the UC system is taking more cuts than my lawn on chore day.</p>

<p>I'm quite sorry if this post comes off as intrusive or malicious to anyone. And I'm not trying to leech the easiest information possible. I've done a lot of research (and CC lurking) on this already, and the threads on this website that pose the exact same question don't fully go in detail. And once more, I wish I could go into even more detail but I'm thoroughly frustrated after losing my first post...</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>China called, they wanted their wall back</p>

<p>I can’t really tell if I’ve offended so many people that nobody wants to post or that they got lost in the wall of text. Bump. Sorry if this is rude.</p>

3

<p>Unless you really really want to go to Emory, there’s no reason to choose Emory-Oxford over UCSD. Almost no reason - Oxford is small and close-knit if that’s appealing; it’s in a less-than desirable or exciting exurb. If you’re judging the State of Georgia by Oxford, sleepy would be an apt description. Atlanta would be more exciting (and more hopping than La Jolla though you can’t beat the beaches in La Jolla) if you know where to go.</p>

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<p>I go to UCLA and I can tell you the CA budget cuts haven’t really been noticed. UC’s get a lot of grant money to offset the cuts. UCSD is doing perfectly fine and will not go down easily. Don’t let the CA cuts scare you, UCSD is the best school on your list.</p>

5

<p>If you can easily afford UCSD, go for it. Otherwise, I’d choose UGA…it’s a good public school in a college town and probably a lot cheaper than Emory or UCSD.</p>

<p>La Jolla and UCSD are pretty sleepy too. UCSD is sometimes called University of California, Socially Dead.</p>

6

<p>Thanks everyone. I very much appreciate the help. UGA is definitely by far the cheapest since I am an instate resident, but I feel as though I would be wasting 4 years of my life at a very lackluster school</p>

7

<p>Go to UGa. The other schools are not worth the ridiculous costs they charge. You can get a great education at UGa.</p>

<p>But then again, I never understood why several people from one’s high school also attending lessened the appeal. If it’s because you think you are ‘better’ and somehow you all going there means they performed just as well…keep in mind that you are likely to perform better at UGa too. Jobs and graduate schools are looking for smart, motivated, top students at any school.</p>

8

<p>Great point, John Black. In these economic times, incoming students must strongly consider what university will not put them in financial constraint.</p>

9

<p>UCSD is not worth the OOS price, unless you are in BME. (SD has a gazillion of those preprofessional premeds, btw.)</p>

<p>(If you had the chops to get into UCSD, why not Emory main campus as a Frosh?)</p>

<p>Between the three choices, UGa is a no-brainer. But note, every public Uni has plenty of preprofessional types.</p>

10

<p>I would go to UCSD if you can easily afford it. If you can’t, or the expense will be felt by your family, go to UGa. It also depends on what kind of social life you want. UGa has plenty of D1 sports and that “big college” feel to it while UCSD is more mellow but still fun.</p>

11

<p>Why were these alternatives on your college list…it’s not like they have changed their spots since you applied to them.</p>

<p>All 3 schools will give you a good education. All 3 attract certain kinds of students, though…can you find a group of students with whom you will fit?</p>

<p>As far as Oxford/Emory goes…the student who blew the air horn? It’s not going to nix college anywhere…a stupid prank, maybe…but it’s not like the prank caused damage or danger. And as far as your being unimpressed with that particular student’s grades? Do you really have intimate knowledge of his gpa and scores? And financial package? And what environment he desired? Oxford can be a very good choice for a student who wants a small and nurturing environment no matter what other choices may be available. </p>

<p>And after all, none of us know the contents of your application…but you too are looking at starting at Oxford and not the Emory main campus.</p>

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<p>While Emory@Oxford is my dream school, if you don’t like it, and don’t really like Emory either, don’t pick it. You shouldn’t spend your college years somewhere “torturous” haha… That’s just not right! </p>

<p>I’ve never been to UCSD, but if it came down to in-state tuition at UGA versus OOS tuition at UCSD, I’d go to UGA… I see you’ve visited UGA, so you know it has a pretty nice campus. I visited and learned most of its classes are pretty small too, which was definitely a concern for me. UGA may not have as high a quality of students in general, but it does send about as many students to top graduate and professional programs as Emory, and it does have a very strong alumni network in Georgia. UCSD does have stronger programs than UGA, and a nicer location, but to me it wouldn’t be worth the extra money.</p>