I am a current HS senior deciding between 3 colleges. I am going in as an intended slavic studies/Russian major, but I plan on picking up a second major, I just don’t know what yet. It will likely be polisci, international relations, history, or anthropology.
Both Georgia and Wisconsin offer a Russian flagship program, which is federally funded and provides a certificate at the completion of the program. It entails roughly 5 years of Russian in 3, plus a capstone year in Kazakhstan.
Sewanee is a smaller school in Rural Tennessee, one of few small, southern colleges to even OFFER a Russian major. Because the school is only 1700 students, there is a very small department with only 1 permanent professor (+1 visiting professor). However, the college is in my ideal location, and being a small LAC offers individualized academic attention that state schools cannot. They also offer an Appalachian studies program that I am interested. Despite the small Russian department, they still have a Russian immersion house which is an appealing way to be able to practice the language.
UGA I have visited multiple times, mostly before college decisions came out (in my head I always compared it to UNC because that’s where I thought I was going). The campus has always felt huge and overwhelming. The slavic studes department only offers Russian (and maybe Ukranian due to high demand). The campus feels really large, but the flagship department would give me individualized attention, but only in my major.
UW-Madison is very similar to UGA in the way that it has a Russian flagship program. The slavic program is a little larger than UGA’s and offers more slavic languages such as polish. It is also in a larger midwestern city, with some eastern-european immigrants in the community. I have not toured UW-Madison, and I don’t know if I will be able to by May 1st.
All three schools are roughly the same cost for me. The flagship is high-intensity but yields the best results in terms of proficiency. Sewanee I think would be better suited for me as a school, but UGA and UW-Madison have better-fitting programs. Which is more important in making a college decision?
Reading the descriptions you have provided, I’d lean slightly towards Wisconsin Madison because of the availability of other Slavic languages. Also the general college environment differs between UGA and Madison, not sure how important that is to you.
As for Sewanee, I have heard good things about it and the location is great. But I’d be concerned that there is only 1 professor. What if he leaves?
I’d go with the Russian flagship at Wisconsin.
To make it feel smaller, you should also apply to the Honors College
If you’re not admitted you can submit your housing application for the Chadbourne Residential College, which fosters a small community of students in the liberal arts, with classes in-house, smaller sections, etc.
Finally, you can participate in International House where I’m sure you won’t be the only person who likes to speak Russian (and perhaps Ukrainian).
I agree. In fact, I just happened to be looking at Sewanee yesterday because I discovered someone from my daughter’s school will be going there and I didn’t know it well. As it happens, I stumbled on an article specifically about hiring plans and cuts to some language programs, specifically Spanish and Italian: Sewanee’s Controversial 2023-2024 Hiring Plan
It looks like they also cut Japanese a few years back, citing future enrollment problems as they did in this round of cuts…I would be very worried if I were that one Russian prof.
Sounds like you have other options that look more secure, good luck with your decision!
I know nothing about UGA’s slavic or Russian departments. But I toured it recently with my daughter and we were impressed. The campus is big, true, but it’s beautiful and manicured and green. Athens was right there and offered lots to do. My daughter made friends quickly and easily with other admitted students and some freshmen. the professors that were part of the admitted student day were approachable, dynamic, and loved to teach.