<p>I am having an incredibly difficult time deciding between Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
My eventual plan is to attend law school, so I am wondering about the importance of what college or university you attend for undergraduate studies on your acceptance to law school. I have heard that for law school in particular, what undergraduate university and the type of caliber school it is plays a more heightened role for law school acceptance than for some other graduate studies. I.E. It bout easier to get accepted to one of the better law schools in the nation coming from a more "elite" private university than a decent public school.</p>
<p>I ask this as I was accepted to Duke, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Emory, and UNC Chapel Hill. I do not have any particular interest in attending Duke or Emory as they are not as oriented towards what I wish to study as Georgetown, which is international relations and eventually international law (I am a Swedish and French citizen, trilingual, hence my interest). This leaves me with Georgetown SFS, my number one choice as I find the school provides me with exactly what I want to study and wonderful resources, and UNC Chapel hill, which is not as rigorous academically as the other schools but which is an excellent choice and to which I received a half ride. My grandparents are going to help me out substantially paying for college, so I would be able to afford to attend Georgetown for undergraduate, but would then have to take out some loans to afford law school. I was wondering if I should make this commitment to attend a top university for undergraduate school in the hopes of attending a better law school, or save my money, go to UNC to which I have to pay substantially less due to the scholarship, which is obviously a slightly less competitive public school. If I went to UNC, I would most likely have to take out much fewer loans, if any when it comes to affording for law school.</p>
<p>Could you guys tell me about some of the advantages of attending UNC and how it could eventually aid me in my future endeavors. What is the student/teacher ratio, for example. The proximity to central Washington D.C. also seems tremendous for internship opportunities. Also, I was wondering how hard it to adapt to a school like Georgetown, especially the self-selective SFS. Is it hard to excell when all the students around me are going to be quite goal-oriented and academically gifted. Would I get a lower class rank and grades than if I attended a slightly less rigorous UNC. No doubt has a tremendous amount of gifted students, probably just as many as Georgetown. However, Georgetown does only have 6,000 students while UNC has about 17,000, so there is no doubt going to be more "slackers," and I feel like it could be more difficult to place higher in a school with such a large proportion of gifted students when compared to the total number of students. Could you guys shed some lights on these issues. Why would you attend UNC over Georgetown. Thanks.</p>
<p>Why do you think UNC is less rigorous than your other choices? Are you worried the faculty is 'dumbing down' the curriculum? Be assured, that is not happening.</p>
<p>Yes, the oos students are top notch, but it is also very difficult for instate kids to get in at UNC as well. I wouldn't draw a conclusion about the quality of instruction or students based on the geographic origin of the students.</p>
<p>Btw...you seem to place too much importance on how your fellow classmates performance might affect your performance. It's not high school, so you can kinda let that go.</p>
<p>One other thing...I think you are misinformed about the importance of your undergraduate school. My brother-in-law attended Colorado State University and was accepted with big scholarships to Stanford Law School. He eventually became editor of the law review at Stanford. He had a good GPA and kicked butt on the LSAT. As far as college ecs go...he was just a big ski bum while he lived in Colorado. ;)</p>
<p>I'm a senior at UNC, and I'll be graduating in three weeks and attending law school in the fall.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Georgetown beyond its status as an elite university, so I can't speak to its academic rigor as compared to UNC. However, I will say that I'm not quite sure what it is that leads you to believe UNC is "less rigorous." If you are basing this assumption on the USNWR rankings or on the in-state/out-of-state composition, I'd advise you to rethink your stance. Like all large research universities, UNC excels in some areas and is lacking in others, but I assure you that I have been sufficiently challenged during the course of my studies here. This is not to say that I have been able to completely avoid classes featuring material or instructors of poor quality (nor were my friends who attend Duke, for the record), but as a whole, I have been extremely satisfied with my UNC education. I would never purport it to be on the level of the Harvards and Princetons out there, but it can certainly hold its own among other elite universities. Also, please do not count on the student body to prop you up academically - with 16,000 undergraduates, you will find plenty of peers whose intellects match or exceed yours. Do not be lulled into thinking that "public" equals "worse" - UNC is a top school, and you will not be significantly advantaged as compared to your classmates, should you matriculate here.</p>
<p>Also, allow me to allay your fears about UNC's name being a hindrance in the law school admissions process. If you have the right LSAT and GPA combo and are able to prove that you're not a complete stiff via some extracurricular involvements, you'll get into a top law school. I, for example, will be attending an Ivy League law school in the fall (don't want to say which for fear of identifying myself). I would also like to add that, that, faced with the prospect of six-figure debt, the fact that I am graduating from college debt-free is a great relief. If you save the money that your grandparents are so generously offering toward attending law school, you will be much happier four years from now.</p>
<p>Basically, if you feel that the resources of Georgetown's SFS will fulfill your personal and academic goals, go there. If you feel that you can achieve the same goals at a lower cost by attending UNC, come here. However, if you come here expecting to skate into a top law school via comparison to a body of less-qualified peers, you will be sorely disappointed.</p>
<p>Nice post Carolinablueskies! Congratuations on the law school acceptance, too.</p>
<p>NCStudent12: My daughter was very interested in Georgetown SFS when looking at schools. However, after visiting and really researching what that program offered, she decided that it was far too restrictive and didn't want to choose such a narrowly focused education (at age 17). Her feeling was that she wanted a broader undergraduate education, and if she was still interested in the SFS after 4 years, she could always go into the masters program there. Ultimately, she never even applied there. </p>
<p>She's finishing up her sophomore year at UNC (was accepted to lots of other top-ranked schools-- higher ranked than Georgetown, by the by) and is extremely happy, definitely feels challenged, and has put together a much more interesting and broader course of study (doing a double-major) than what she would have received in the SFS program. </p>
<p>I will also add that we know someone who attended Georgetown, and who actually transferred to UNC after a year there. She was doing fine academically, but one of her reasons for transferring was that everybody there seemed to be (according to her) obsessed with interning and making gov't. connections. She felt that a large part of the campus was overly concerned with job prospects, internships, and more focused on DC and what if offered (in terms of jobs and connections), than on the campus itself or on any overall college experience. I don't know how true that is--just one person's perspective and experience, but definitely something to consider.</p>
<p>Lastly, and to follow up on what the other posters have said here . . . oh, never mind. Just re-read the posts above. I think you'll definitely be challenged at UNC should you decide to attend. Good luck.</p>
<p>Another point about Georgetown...from someone (me) who lived and worked in DC in "international related activities" for several years. Georgetown is a great school. But its also a school for children of celebrities and senators. The SFS program is top notch, but frankly I think Johns Hopkins program is better. The SFS program is highly geared towards entering the Foreign Service and not necessarily going to law school. Georgetown has amazing (and famous) faculty: Madeleine Albright, George Tenet etc., but that is also a lot of glitz.</p>
<p>If you want to be a lawyer, then UNC will be just great. They send a LOT of kids to law school every year...and they are top drawer schools.</p>