Hi I am a senior from Fort Wayne, Indiana and I am horrible at making decisions. I am trying to decide whether I should go to Clemson or University of Georgia. I want to major in either Biology or Genetics and I feel like Georgia is a better college for these majors but Clemson feels more like home as I have visited it longer and more than Georgia and I know a few people nearby. I just feel like Clemson’s campus is a better fit (besides the smallness of the town), but the academics are better at Georgia also it would be a closer ride to the airport at Georgia as Athens is close to Atlanta. This is a really hard decision and I am unsure as to which factors I should consider more.
Is there a significant difference in COA (cost of attendance) ?
no because I got scholarships from both making it around the same COA.
Personally, I love both schools, but slightly prefer Clemson’s setting. You have two great options.
I don’t think UGA is any better than Clemson in those fields. Clemson has a stronger brand in science fields in my view.
Where do you plan to live/work after you finish your degree? UGA has a strong alumni network in Atlanta where the economy is booming. Also, UGA is ranked higher on both Forbes and USNWR and trending in the right direction. The student body at Clemson may lean a little more conservative politically, if that matters to you. You can get a fine education at Clemson too.
The schools are very similarly ranked and Clemson being more of a STEM school, would consider it as perhaps having an edge in sciences, either way, being similar, go where you like the best.
Random thoughts and questions to ponder. If you can respond to posts and give more details, other posters can offer more personalized responses.
My D was accepted at both Clemson and UGA. We visited both campuses. We live in Georgia, so the cost difference was huge for us. Glad you have the option of choosing without having to factor costs. My D ended up attending a private college in Georgia, but would easily have picked Clemson over UGA for a better fit.
Clemson feels more like a small campus, and the professors are more focused on teaching undergrads. A summer program for incoming freshman was of interest, and I do not not if UGA would offer something similar. It was a 4-6 week research program, and we liked the idea of D getting familiar with the campus before the entire student body arrived.
My D hated the big size of UGA, and we basically made her apply. It was a last resort option for almost free tuition. She exclaimed at one visit “Mom, the college has a huge fleet of city buses running constantly. It is not a college, it is a City!”
UGA is a fantastic college town. Very walkable, I think you would be fine without a car. Easy access to Atlanta events and of course the airport. (It is a two hour + ride to Clemson from the airport, although if money is not a problem, you can more easily fly into Greenville, SC. The ticket prices will be much higher flying into the smaller Greenville SC airport.) UGA has a big music scene vibe, and the surrounding area has a lot of off campus housing possibilities. UGA school spirit is huge.
You can find every type of student, every non-academic hobby/interest, every type of religion/non-religion, and both conservative and liberal viewpoints at UGA. But it is a sprawling campus, and if that bothered you on visits, then you need to pay attention to that gut feeling.
Can you tell us which Honors/scholarships you have for both UGA and Clemson. The top programs at each school would offer a significantly different experience for you.
Clemson is also full of school spirit, and alumni are very loyal, so I imagine networking would be good. The city of Anderson is where you would shop, and having a car might be more helpful. Check out internship possibilities at Clemson as compared to UGA. You might find more options in Atlanta. But Clemson is just a couple of hours away from Charlotte, and that city is full of internship opportunities as well.
Also, where do you want to land after college? If you want to live in Indiana, then you might scope out what the locals know about the two schools. Overall, I think they are similar in rank and reputation, but you could consider how well known they are in the region you where will be trying to get your first job.
Will you go on to grad school? Do both schools offer the grad degrees you might want? Or can you check acceptance rates from each school into the grad schools you might apply to?
You might form deeper relationships with teachers at Clemson, but that is not a fact, just a perception on my part. A lot of how you succeed in college is based on YOU, and you have to make the effort at any large college to engage with your professors. Letters of Recommendation are important for grad school, and so ease of getting a research position might be a factor you consider.
Do not underestimate your gut feeling about Clemson feeling more like home. Fit is an important factor, once you have secured adequate funding for college expenses. And having some people you know living nearby would be a great safety net. Just getting off campus and enjoying a home cooked meal with people who know you is a blessing. If you had a medical issue pop up, would you feel close enough to these folks that you could count on them to help you? If you experience some homesickness (very natural thing for freshmen) would hanging out with them for an evening boost your spirits?
Clemson might have more of a conservative vibe, and might (again, this is perception and not fact) have less diversity in student population. But it is still large enough for you to find “your tribe” of people. You will still have choices of religion/non-religion and lifestyles.
The pressure is real as you make your choice. Either school can provide an education. So you can focus on which factors matter most to you for the kind of college experience you want to have.
Clemson definitely has a bunch of liberal professors and students. I laugh when I see it described as a conservative university. This past year, a Clemson professor advocated violence against GOP voters on facebook and he was not fired for it.
I think Clemson has a better location, next to a large lake and near the Blue Ridge mountains. It has a large experimental forest to the north and south of campus with many bike trails. I
Clemson’s campus layout is much better in my view, and it is not as hilly as UGA’s campus. UGA’s layout is a long skinny rectangle. The campus seems kind of cramped with the athletic stadiums and arenas located in the middle of the academic buildings.
Another cool thing about Clemson is downtown Greenville is 40 minutes away. It has a fantastic Main Street with a park around a 30 foot drop waterfall with a massive pedestrian bridge right over the falls.
Clemson and UGA are both great universities. If you prefer Clemson and think it’s a better fit, you should go there!
Any academic or rankings differences between the two are pretty small, so as not to really mean much. For example, in USNWR, Clemson is ranked #67 and UGA is ranked #54. That may seem ‘big,’ but Clemson’s overall score is a 59 (out of 100), whereas UGA’s is a 62. That’s smaller than the margin of error, which means it’s as likely due to random variation as it is due to actual differences in the schools. On Forbes, they are similarly not that far apart (again, the absolute difference - #112 for UGA, #133 for Clemson - may look big, but if you look at it in context of how many schools Forbes ranks and especially since their LACs and universities are in the same ranking, it’s really not that different. Similarly spaced are Michigan and the College of William & Mary, or Claremont McKenna and Wesleyan University).