University of Georgia or Georgia Tech?

<p>I have been accepted to both schools via early action but I am still having a very hard time deciding which school to attend in the fall. I live in Georgia so distance and money is not a problem. I'm planning to major in biology and hopefully go on to med or pharmacy school in the future. I know Tech is more prestigious but I'm afraid of taking the GPA risk and having it drop to a point where med school is too difficult to get into. I've been accepted into UGA's Honor's Program so I feel that it can be a great substitute for Tech. </p>

<p>Here are my main pro's and con's for each school:</p>

<p>GT
Pros: Academics, reputation, science program, "smarter" people, higher employment rate, connection to Emory.
Cons: Big risk for med school, GPA killer, mainly an engineering school, less AP credit.</p>

<p>UGA
Pros: Honors Program, well-rounded school, School of Pharmacy, more AP credit, less stress.
Cons: Party school, lower academic levels, centered around football.</p>

<p>I feel that GT would provide a higher quality education but I am really concerned about the risk I would be taking for graduate school. Right now I'm leaning towards UGA but I'm going to tour the schools again and still waiting for my Emory decision. What do you guys think would be the better choice for me? Thanks so much for your time! :)</p>

<p>Where you go to school matters very little to the graduate schools. It’s what YOU do there that matters. So, where are YOU going to do the better work? which offers the better chance at the kind of GPA you want? which has the teachers who will motivate you to excellence? which offers a curriculum that will enable you to explore in case you decide that after all you don’t want med or pharm or even bio? are you more a UGA bio major or a GT bio major? where are you going to be happier? This college process is all about finding out who you are and learning how you work, play, stress, relax, etc., and where you’ll do them best. There’s no getting around the need to know these things about yourself and trying to figure them out about the colleges. You have visited them both, right? Have you done an overnight or, better, a Thurs thru Sunday at both? Where do you think you fit better?</p>

<p>Georgia Tech is technically more prestigious than UGA, but that’s largely for engineering and technical fields and not necessarily for a biology major. I wouldn’t assume that the academic quality is that much lower at UGA for a non-engineering major. (I’m also not sure that party school is a con - I mean, if you don’t like to party, you could simply not go to parties. UGA is a big enough school that you can find a niche of students who also don’t like to party - especially being in the honors program - and do non-party things.)</p>

<p>The setting is very different, too. GT is located right in the heart of Atlanta, and although there is a campus there’s a very urban feel to it. UGA is located in Athens, which is a college town that more or less grew up around the university. The experience is going to be very different.</p>

<p>I agree with jkeil911. Since you are a GA resident, see if you can go for an overnight visit and maybe visit a class or something, walk around campus, see if you can picture yourself as a student.</p>

<p>For whatever it’s worth, GT had 129 applicants for med schools in 2012, while UGA had 401 (and Emory had 350).</p>

<p>It’s more common to select UGA for pre-med than GT, likely for all of the reasons you’ve stated.</p>

<p>I don’t think med schools will care if you take Biology at UGA or GT. I would guess at least 1/3 to 1/2 of GT’s applicants are Biomedical Engineering majors (and/or other engineering fields). UGA also has a much larger Biology department, so you’ll likely have more options, such as degrees/electives in cellular biology, ecology, entomology, and microbiology. </p>

<p>Based on what you said and due to the fact you’re in the Honors Program, UGA sounds like a better fit.
However as others have said i strongly advise you spend at least an overnight at both (at UGA, overnight with honors college freshmen).</p>

<p>Although I personally love GT, UGA is probably a better choice if your main concern is getting into the best grad school. But GT would probably be a better overall experience.</p>

<p>The only thing that really matters is how you preform when you get there, not where you go.</p>

<p>For life sciences, UGA is the way to go. Don’t worry about “academic levels” or anything, there are many smart kids at UGA.</p>