Why Samford over UGA or Furman (Helllp!)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Samford University
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<p>My DD has just gotten accepted to Georgia which kind of throws a wrench into the whole College decision process. She had been accepted to University of Alabama, Auburn, Samford and Furman. At that point we were seriously deciding between Samford and Furman. She currently attends a small private school and is not a huge football/sports fan. She is undecided on a major, but loves to read and is a great writer so we are throwing around majors like communications, journalism and maybe pre-law track. She is very involved in performing arts (ie. both theater and dance) and would like to continue her involvement in college as an extracurricular and possibly a minor. </p>

<p>I realize that the money difference is huge. I have not gotten a FA package from Furman yet but assuming it is negligible here is the breakdown for us (we live in Georgia).</p>

<p>University of Georgia (Instate after Hope) $9,334
Samford (after $8k per year scholarship) $20,966
Furman (assume zero merit) $47,660</p>

<p>We have overnight visits scheduled and she will attend a class for both Samford and Furman. She also plans on attending a "Masters Dance Class" at Samford. We are also planning on going to one of the Accepted student days at UGA (I don't think they have an overnight program).</p>

<p>I personally really like the idea of Samford/Furman, and don't know a whole lot yet about UGA but want to know more. I specifically want to understand the quality of education as compared to Samford and/or Furman. Furman has a very high acceptance rate to prestigious graduate schools for outgoing undergrads. Does anyone know the UGA stats or Samford. </p>

<p>I am also a little concerned about the overall environment at UGA (#1 Party School). My DD has a good head on her but I also believe that ones environment can influence ones character no matter who you are. I do not want to shelter her but Samford and Furman are very conservative relatively in reputation. </p>

<p>I can afford both Furman and Samford without going into debt (I have 4 years in savings to cover either of these). I dont want to be stupid however and waste money where I could spend it to support her in other areas of her life. </p>

<p>So help me determine if I can justify spending about 5 times more a year to send her to a small LAC versus the large state school in terms of quality of education, support, and quality of student life. </p>

<p>As for DD, she is just beginning to process this decision as she wanted to keep an open mind until all her decisions were in. </p>

<p>Thanks </p>

<p>Confused & Conflicted</p>

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<p>My son #2 is deciding between Samford, Furman and SMU. His older brother went to a large state school, and it was a disaster. So even though son #2 got into the honors college at Bama, Clemson and other state schools with scholarships, we’re not going down that road again. We thought #1 son was pretty well equipped to handle the big school and greek party scene – but he wasn’t. Obviously some kids can handle it well, and almost nobody experiences the disaster we did. Maybe your kid would be okay, but I am now sold on the smaller school environment for my kids. I just think it is a smoother and less risky transition coming out of high school. My son is also going to be doing overnight visits at Samford and Furman. He favors Samford at the moment. I think Furman entails a more rigorous academic environment (students work hard there), and my son (who is very bright but not a disciplined worker) would probably struggle more at Furman. As you likely know, the schools have a lot of similar attributes. They both have about 2,900 undergrads; both have greek life (though fairly tame); both schools are in the Southern Conference and have a football program; both emphasize the liberal arts; Greenville and Birmingham offer comparable nearby nightlife, etc.; Furman is pretty close to Clemson (for big time football and bigger party scene) and Samford is close to Bama; both have good study abroad opportunities; Samford uses the 4-1-4 semester system and Furman has its Maymester concept; both are about 2.5 hours from Atlanta (if that’s where you live); both have heavy girl to guy ratios (though Samford is heavier), which excites my son. So, a lot of similarities. Both have a Christian influence, but Furman ended its formal church affiliation and there will be much more of a “structured” religious element to Samford (we view that as a plus). Furman clearly has an edge from an academic reputation standpoint, and is stronger than Samford in placing students in graduate schools. Of course, Samford has some graduate programs, including a law school, which increases the total student population to about 4,600 and gives it a bit more of a “university” feel, and my son likes the bigger overall student body. At Samford, a student has to live on campus for the first 2 years; at Furman, the student is required to live on campus all 4 years (utilizing some on-campus apartments as an upperclassman). My son prefers the flexibility of being able to move off campus at some point. If I had a higher level of confidence in my son’s work ethic and ability to handle the workload at Furman, I might be pushing it more. But for my son, I think Samford will likely be a better fit, and fortunately he seems to favor it at this point. Hope this is of some help.</p>

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<p>P.S. I know A LOT about UGA. The toughest thing about UGA is getting admitted. It does not get high marks from an academic quality/teaching standpoint. It is huge. The nightlife in Athens is loved by the students, but it is serious partying and can easily become a problem for a lot of students. I haven’t yet done my exact calculations on the costs for my son, but I’m basically looking at $52k for SMU, $43k for Furman, and $18k for Samford. I can afford any of them, but …WHY? I think the savings at Samford gives it a huge edge over Furman for our particular situation, and I would send my son to any of the 3 over UGA (even with in-state tuition and HOPE).</p>

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<p>After reading all factors in your post, I think Samford would be your daughter’s best choice. It seems you are thinking a smaller school would be better, so that rules out UGA. And since money is not an issue, that does not bring UGA back in. So that leaves Samford and Furman. Judging from your daughter’s possible majors and interests, I think Samford fits her strengths better. You said she is interested in theater, dance, journalism and communications. Just check both websites in those areas and you’ll see that Samford has better programs in those than Furman does. And it is also good that you are going to visit, so you can check out those majors while there. To me Furman is better in the sciences and engineering than the arts. Does she know about Samford’s annual Step Sing? The whole school gets involved! And I was impressed with the freshman blog found here: [FINALS</a>, Blog: Follow a Freshman - Admission, Samford University, Birmingham, AL](<a href=“http://admission.samford.edu/follow_a_freshman.aspx?id=6442466515]FINALS”>http://admission.samford.edu/follow_a_freshman.aspx?id=6442466515). Good luck with your decision! Our son is also still trying to decide (with Samford being one of his choices).</p>

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<p>Actually Furman has extremely strong music and theater program.</p>