<p>I know, I know, debated many times, but...
I really don't know which college to go to. I have no idea what I want to do in college. I've been accepted to both.</p>
<p>UGA, I guess. Offers a broader curriculum. Choose Tech if you’re sure you want a science/technology based education. Screw rankings in this case b/c you don’t want to be at Tech if you figure out that you actually want to do something in the social sciences/humanities. UGA offers more room for experimentation. I like Tech, but it really isn’t for the completely undecided.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How undecided are you? Have you at least decided on Math/Science vs. Liberal Arts? That would tell you what to do.</p>
<p>If you don’t even know that, you need to sit down and figure it out soon. Different degrees require different classes, and if you take the wrong classes, you’ve lost a semester (i.e. you took 16 hours of classes that don’t count for your major). That’s how people end up in school for 6 years. </p>
<p>Degrees start out general, then get specific so it’s OK to be undecided for a while, but you can only be undecided to a degree. For your first semester, you need to know if you’re Math/Science based (you take Calculus, CS, Chem I) or Liberal Art based (you take English, History, Philosophy). By the second semester you need to decide on a specific field (e.g. Engineering, Math, Science). By the third semester, you need to choose the specific major. Any more than that and you risk delaying graduation. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many students wait until their second year to decide on a major, and by then they’re forced into a major that has requirements that best fit the classes they’ve already taken.</p>
<p>See, I guess that’s why I recommended UGA. At a place like it (we’re similar), you can generally have the cake and eat it too. For example, most freshmen here (I imagine same for UGA) who are pre-med/science majors (many who are also double majors w/a science major and a liberal arts oriented major. Like, I see music and psyche/or neuroscience and even CS/Physics/pre-engineering a lot) take courses in the humanities and social sciences along with their freshmen science courses. The again, we have the very large set of general education requirements (About 17 courses worth: doesn’t UGA have it too?), so almost all students have to more or less go outside of their comfort zone (Even lots of AP credit isn’t enough to prevent it as we only take up 24 now). Point is, at a school like UGA, it’ll certainly be easier for the student to play around w/both starting freshmen year (and perhaps sophomore year).<br>
Like, honestly, I didn’t declare my biology major till this year (I basically have most of the classes done), but I also gathered enough courses to almost minor in political science and religion, while also having taken a huge amount of chemistry courses (deciding on BA or BS eventually. I really want to take more grad. level chem. courses, but then I have to PChem if I want the BS which blocks the opp. for more grad. levels and perhaps some of the harder bio classes I wanted to take). How I had time? Some AP credit, taking orgo. as a freshmen w/bio, awesome intro. religion course as a freshmen, sometimes overloading, and generally keeping a diverse schedule each semester (never filled w/just science and math, I always tack on a class of interest outside of it to a) quench intellectual curiosity or b) fulfill GER )
Point is, undecided/high experimentation is more easily accommodated at these type of schools (non-engineering dominated). If you aren’t sure about science or one of the highly ranked programs in Ivan Allen (Public Policy being one right?), then I’d shuffle on over to UGA.</p>
<p>well I’m pretty sure I want a science type degree, because I don’t think I can take another history or lit/lang class ever again, well maybe a few more, not 4 years more. Oh and computer science is also out of the equation. My fav subjects right now are calculus and chorus, but neither gets me anywhere.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a science-based degree, Georgia Tech is the much better option.</p>
<p>Go to Tech or apply here (if interested or if you think it’ll be affordable w/fin. aid or scholarship). Again many people here (I know like a whole hall) major in a science and music (which means they also get to be a part of awesome concerts).<br>
If you want engineering, I only recommend Tech. We’re very good in the natural/biological sciences. Also, don’t underestimate the way social science, English, and humanities courses are taught in college. Taking one could perhaps change your mind at least to the point where you may consider minoring.<br>
Actually, I’m guessing you were already accepted into both. In that case, go Tech.</p>
<p>well I’m waiting on Emory (Decision comes out next week) but I doubt I’ll get much financial aid because of my average scores (31 ACT, 3.7 GPA) and my (parents) high EFC (110,000) a year. I’d rather spend more money on graduate school, so I don’t really consider Emory an option.</p>
<p>In the sciences, graduate school is free. In fact, they’ll pay you a salary while you’re in school. You’ll really only have to pay for professional school (Medicine, Law, Business).</p>
<p>Emory doesn’t really do merit based unless you applied for Scholars (I imagine you didn’t as they’ve already made their cuts. It’s Scholars’ week now, and lots of them are staying this week), so your stats(if admitted, seems as if you certainly have a shot) will not effect eligibility for fin. aid. Only EFC (your parents’ incomes probably add to 110K, not your EFC, or does it?) and other things determine this. Best to fill out the FASFA and CSS Profile:that’s(CSS Profile) really helpful for those who have incomes slightly above the threshold for Emory Advantage. Trust me, the packages for those slightly above it are actually more generous than expected (know lots of people in that boat).</p>
<p>But I understand you, if you fall in those middle-ranges, you get kind of screwed. And Emory does cost too much when you can go to Tech and get a similar (at least in terms of quality/rigor, and certainly better if you do Math, Physics, and engineering) education for far less. I would be there if it weren’t for fin. aid, and I’m sure I wouldn’t regret it. Both are excellent.</p>
<p>no, my parents EFC is 110,000, so I’m not expecting much. I applied to NYU ED, and they only offered me 2k in FA (thankfully it wasn’t that hard to get out of it)I never applied for scholars.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in a science-based degree, there’s no reason not to attend GT, especially if it’s free (or mostly free) through HOPE.</p>
<p>Yeah, go to Tech. I’m surprised NYU offered any money. That was fortunate. Yeah, you shouldn’t get much (or any from us). </p>
<p>Careful, I chose Emory over Tech and both would have been free to me. Once the money is no longer an issue, it could become debatable if you are considering another school known to be excellent in the sciences. You generally choose Tech hands down when you know you want to be an engineer, CS, math, or physics major, but chem, bio, neuroscience, psyche (treated more like a science major), anthro.(which is also treated more like a science major here), and many things in natural sciences are up for grabs. Many top non-engineering schools do very well in these areas. While there may be technically no pressing reasons not to attend it, there may be compelling to choose somewhere over it. No school is perfect even in its niche areas. I’m sure I would have been happy at Tech, but probably not as happy as I am here now. The experience within and teaching quality for my areas of interest just seem to be richer here. “Struggling” through a school only means but so much. And if I am going to struggle, I want to be at a place where I certainly know it is only “me” b/c most teachers is putting in as much effort as possible to bring about success. That way, I at least learn. Sometimes too much “struggling” can lead to an inclination to only want to “get by” and you don’t retain info/make connections when the exams/the course is over. It may indeed worth in the end, but the same could be said for lots of schools, especially when you attend them for free 
. Often people do indeed choose schools (especially top privates) ranked lower in certain areas b/c of that reason. The additional nurture can be really beneficial and could allow for greater access to opportunities (simply by easier access to faculty) for a student that speak far louder than the rank of the dept. There is a tendency for faculty members at such schools to “hook students up”. Like even in our physics dept, the faculty members do pretty interesting research, and have awesome connections, and since it’s so small, the UGs often reap benefits of that. I think you’d be surprised. Dept. ranks don’t tell the whole story.</p>