UNC vs UGA Honors? as a transfer

College Search & Selection
,
1

Hey there! I’ve been reading numerous threads across many platforms that I thought would help me make my decision, but nothing is working so I thought I would just make one that pertains specifically to my situation!

I just finished my freshman year at SMU and am transferring to UGA or UNC. I have the chance to get into the UGA honors via an application, and am pretty confident I will get in as I was in the honors college at SMU.

While at SMU, I really missed the tradition, pride, and school spirit I had in high school and my friends continued to have at their universities. However, I still wanted to go out of state, so I narrowed it down to these two schools.

I am from northwest Florida so most of my friends go to SEC or Florida schools. I like the idea of being in the SEC for college and being able to see my friends pretty regularly, whether it is driving for a visit or away games.

Culturally, I love being surrounded by people who are intellectuals but still love to have a good time. So, the prestige in a school definitely matters to me for the people and the opportunities it presents after college. I definitely will be participating in Greek life at my institution. I also want to try out numerous organizations/philanthropies like Dance Marathon, club soccer, etc. I also love going to sports games, whether it is baseball, basketball, football, or soccer–I grew up a UK fan so huge fan of basketball is an understatement, but I do love going to football games as well.

My majors at SMU were business management and international studies and I plan to continue this at my future institution. I plan on doing management consulting after college, with a little bit of work experience before going to get my MBA

I’m a little worried about the transition time into these colleges. I have one really really good friend at each school, with one being an upcoming freshman at UNC and one sophomore at UGA that could help me integrate into already set friend groups. The idea of UNC being an 82 percent Carolina student school is a little concerning to me.

I have been literally splitting hairs about this for a couple months and have pretty much been paralyzed about this decision. Overall, I just want to have a great, fun college experience that sets me up for my career, and one that I can look back on with no regrets. Thank you so much and sorry if this was a lot of information!!

edit: also cost isn’t too much of a deciding factor

2

Are you already accepted to UNC or UGA? What makes you think that UNC or UGA will solve all your issues? Cart before the horse.

I get the school spirit but you do realize that pretty much every school had a bad year last year? No school had much spirit. Everything was watered down at best.

I suspect UGA is similar to UNC in regards to make-up. I’m assuming a high percentage of UGA kids come from Georgia.

3

I wouldn’t count on getting into UGA Honors even though you are in Honors at SMU. Two very different schools and criteria. Can you even get into honors has a transfer student? I thought only freshman were allowed into honors at UGA.

Also, UGA Honors doesn’t really get you much I don’t think other than priority registration. You have the ability to live in the Honors dorm as a freshman. It is not a separate honors college like at University of South Carolina for example. They just offer some classes in an honor section which tend to be a little smaller.

Also you mention being worried about the 20% out of state situation at UNC. The same percentage of students are out of state at UGA so that shouldn’t be a deciding factor.

From a ranking standpoint, UNC is ranked much higher than UGA. Curious as why not UF? Ranked up there with UNC ,and has the benefit of in-state tuition. It would be hard to justify paying out of state tuition to UGA if you got in-state tuition at Florida because the schools are so similar. We were in the opposite situation: son got into university of Florida out of state and UGA in state and when we compared the schools side-by-side there were so many similarities that UF out of state didn’t make sense for us.

I see you are a business major. If you can transfer into the business school directly at UNC that would be the way to go. It is a top-tier business school and on different level than Florida or Georgia

4

They do. 80 percent are Georgia residents.

1 Like
5

I have been accepted into both and am definitely set on transferring, there are numerous factors, even with the absence of Covid, that have caused me to transfer. In other words, with or without covid, I would be transferring.

UF also wasn’t an option because they require 60 credit hours or an AA to enroll, which I do not have.

Regarding honors at UGA, transfer students can apply for this once they get in. So, I will be applying for this.

Both schools you have to apply to the business school after prerequisites are taken, so I would have to apply for business school separately at both colleges. UGA business school is generally easier to get into.

6

You’ll have transferred once already so I would choose the school that fits best to avoid another transfer. Forget prestige. Where do you see yourself spending the next 3+ years?

2 Likes
7

As you’re aware, UNC’s Kenan Flagler is a very competitive admit. Even though you’re already in an honors program at SMU and clearly have the chops to be accepted as a transfer to UNC, everyone that you’ll competing with to get into KF, will be equally impressive (if not more so). As a transfer student, you’ll have to check into when you’d be eligible to apply to KF - as there are pre-requisites. If you’re able to apply as a sophomore and don’t get in, you have another chance to try as a junior. I would recommend, if you haven’t already done so, talking to an advisor about specifics - so you’ll have a clear understanding about the process.

Terry @ UGA is also an excellent b-school. I believe they have a larger class of students at Terry, and that it’s an easier admit than KF, but still a reputable program.

Greek life: it’s definitely more intense in the SEC in general. I’m not sure of the stats of rushing during freshman year vs. sophomore year at UGA. My daughter was in a sorority at UNC (rushed freshman year). She has several close friends who didn’t rush at UNC until sophomore year and there was no stigma attached to waiting. Both schools rush at the beginning of the year (at UGA PNM’s move on to campus a week or so early to rush). You’ll have to decide if you can manage transferring to a new school, rushing (which is typically an emotional rollercoaster at SEC & ACC schools) and preparing to apply to a competitive b-school.

I believe you will be welcomed at both schools (assuming you are a nice person yourself :blush:). My UNC daughter has many out of state friends and two of her closest high school friends were out-of-staters at UGA and were welcomed with open arms (they also welcomed my daughter whenever she visited UGA).

School spirit is also a big deal at both schools, so you can’t go wrong either way.

I am surprised to hear SMU lacking in school spirit though.

8

Thank you guys so much for your information!

I just looked at the requirements for UNC and I have already completed them due to classes already taken or AP test credit.

Also, I am so sorry if my information seemed to come off as conceited. I thoroughly understand the pedigree of these schools and how competitive they are to get into. I think the only reason I am confident is because I checked the median statistics of students in KF when applying and liked my chances when comparing mine to theirs.

Pertaining to greek life, I was heavily relying on my sophomore friend at UGA to help me with that. She is one of my closest friends in my life and introduced me to numerous people when I visited that would help with rushing a fraternity. She also said she would reach out to her friends in the fraternities I was interested in.

Also, the SMU situation was not a generalization just something that wasn’t a right fit for me. It is a very good school, but I quickly found out that I do not want the big city lifestyle for my college experience.

Seriously again, thank you so much! This is really helping me out a lot.

1 Like
9

Also you say you will definitely be participating in Greek life. Does that mean you have already pledged a sorority and would need to affiliate? Different schools and sororities handle that differently. If that is important to you, I would try to figure out how that is handled at your chapter at the perspective school.

Have you visited both?

My son is headed to UGA for business in state. Had he gotten into UNC as a freshman admit, he would’ve likely gone there. Even with the tougher admit of KF business school, many econ majors at UNC have similar success if they don’t get in. UNC has better placements in investment banking.

As far as applying for honors after admission, that is often a very tough admit. I know multiple students with 17 credit hours and 4.0s who have not gotten in. The evaluation is not really an academic one, although you can be disqualified for academics (you need a minimum 3.8 to apply). If honors is a make or break decision maker, just know that you may well end up not in UGA Honors and treat any admission as a bonus.

10

Completed the requirements for KF that is ^.

11

I have visited both, although I visited UNC in high school when I was generally looking for different things in schools–my top was Duke, a very small private school. Hence, why I went to SMU.

And no, I have not been initiated in a fraternity so I am open to any option greek-life wise.

12

Business Management & International Studies major is a lot to give up without direct admission to another business major at your target transfer schools. (Surprised that the University of South Carolina is not among your transfer schools in light of your current majors.)

Curious as to why you are transferring from SMU. Did you rush a sorority / fraternity & disappointed with the results ? I do, however, understand the attraction to large Southern state flagship universities.

Between the University of Georgia & UNC, it is a tough call. As noted above by others, UGA Honors is not a given. Admission to UGA Honors as a transfer may depend upon your first year college GPA in addition to your SAT or ACT score.

Why are you so sure that transferring is your best option ? If you have a great GPA at SMU, then it might be wise to stay. Is your primary concern about social aspects at SMU or about academic concerns ?

(I ask for a variety of reasons including the likelihood that one of my nieces will be choosing between SMU & UGA.)

13

The primary concern is regarding social aspects. I personally do not want to live in Dallas for my college experience and I want a bigger school. In addition, the stuck up stereotype of SMU is sometimes true. Again, I know that you can always find your group, but I didn’t like the big city culture of the school that isn’t going to change. Rush went great, got the fraternity I wanted, had good friends, but still had problems with the school that were never going to change.

14

Your concern is reasonable and not uncommon.

Between UNC & UGA, I recommend selecting the school at which you are more likely to be admitted to the business school.

15

I certainly wish you the best. There’s no wrong choice. Go with the best fit where you think you’ll enjoy your next 3 years.

Coincidentally, my S20 turned down SMU (Honors and BBA Scholar) and went to Georgia Tech. He cited some similar reasons. Last year wasn’t smooth but I think he’s very happy with his choice. We did visit UNC and UGA. He thought UGA business was too big and just wasn’t feeling UNC. I liked UGA over UNC but that was just me and has nothing to do with the business programs. Good luck.

1 Like
16

Also, just wanted to restate that the only good friend I know at UNC is coming in as a freshman girl, so no real connects for fraternity rush. The only other person I know isn’t involved in greek life and is involved with theatre. Only fraternity connections I have are some from my friend who goes to NC State and mutual friends she has who go to UNC.

17

hahah yes, just changed username. sorry

18

You may need connections at both schools for rush. Popular fraternities often fill their pledge class during the summer both places (nephew at UNC who accepted bid before rush started and son going thru summer rush at UGA right now). Summer rush is invitation only most places.

Did you get a fraternity bid and not pledge? If you were initiated you can’t go thru rush again even at a different school. Best advice either place is to go in with an open mind and not have certain target fraternities for the best outcome.

19

Haha I didn’t catch that you were interested in info on fraternities instead of sororities - sorry about that.

If all things seem to be equal for you, maybe research internship & recruiting opportunities for each program and see if that sways you one way or the other.

20

Also regarding your niece choosing between the schools. Something that i faulted in when choosing colleges was how much I valued tradition, school spirit, and a community that really drives the schools. I was down between UNC and SMU for top two out of high school, knowing I wanted something “prestigious.” However, SMU is a relatively young university compared to the other two in a big city environment that has an insane work hard play hard but high profile culture. Even though the college is in Highland park and is small in population, I really felt like there were no traditions at the school and the community didn’t really connect with the university. More so, students were there for Dallas, not a traditional college experience.
So I identified these two as colleges that fit my wants in a classic college experience. Again, Smu is a great school, just not for me. If I could do it all over again, with the idea of what I want in a college now, I would’ve gone to UNC as they gave me some financial aid, just not as much as SMU with BBA, Honors, National Merit and Provost.

1 Like