<p>I'm probably guessing most, if not all, responses will be a resounding yes which is understandable bc UGA is more highly regarded than GSU. However, the catch is that I'm leaning towards pursuing a career in the medical field which will mean medical school, dental school, podiatry school,etc. I just want to know if there is such a huge disparity between factors like undergrad research opportunities, challenge of premed, and the overall prestige of the university,etc between UGA and Ga state? I mean, is UGA that much better in those aspects and give me so much of an upperhand in admissions to warrant me transferring from GSU to UGA? The thing is, transferring is very disruptive in that it will prevent me from developing strong relationships with professors(weaker letters of rec), limit my undergrad research, and hamper the time I will have to participate in volunteering in the community and in student organizations(all of which I guess will make me a weaker applicant) which would not happen if I stayed at one place for four years. I know I have to make a decision soon bc i need to know if I should begin doing all of these things now to prepare for med school at GSU or wait until I get to UGA. I haven't posted on cc for a long time but the last time I did I received great advice and guidance and I'm expecting no less this time:)</p>
<p>Med schools will understand that if you transfer schools, you won’t be doing the EXACT same thing all four years. However, you can still get involved with your community now and if you transfer to UGA, then you can continue doing the same thing here. They wouldn’t fault you for that. As for your professors, you can still try staying in touch over email. I got a rec from my freshman prof even though she went to a different school. I kept in touch with her. And about research…UGA has plenty of labs and opportunities to get you into a lab. I’m not sure how coming here would limit your ability to get into a lab and do research (though I will say that what your major is might have an effect on how easy/hard it is to find a lab that will take you). About the time commitment…you just have to figure out how to time manage. There is plenty of time to do school, volunteering, and student orgs - you just have to plan and make the time. Through college, I didn’t participate in some things thinking I didn’t have time. But really, I probably did have the time…I just needed to time manage better.</p>
<p>Don’t wait until you get to UGA to start doing something about helping your community and stuff. Start now. Perhaps you don’t really need to move to UGA. There are a lot of other considerations - friends, the inconvenience of transferring, etc. Do I think that just having UGA as your alma mater will help you in getting into med school? No. I think what you do at a school matters more than what school you went to (at least in terms of UGA vs. GSU…there might be an obvious difference between UGA and Johns Hopkins). But the prestige of going to UGA versus GSU is nice :)</p>