seekingknowledge

My twin daughters are interested in the University of Georgia. Since we are out of state (Missouri) and they won't be able to visit until November (after the cross country season), we were hoping to gather some information from the College Confidential community.

They are interested in international relations, foreign language and the pre-vet program. The Honors College and Greek System are also of great interest to them.

Briefly:

GPA: 4.17+

AP Classes: currently 4...8 by the end of this senior year

They have taken the most challenging courses and load

ACT: 34 for one, 33 for the other

ECs: many...very involved in theater, NHS (very community service oriented)
to name just a few. Also work during the summers (one at a marketing
firm and one holds a job year around with the school district as a
lighting technician)

Athletics: 4 years cross country, 4 years track and field (their 4x800 relay
team placed 12th at state this year) Captains.

Some Awards and Leadership positions too.

We would appreciate any insight or comments. Chances for OOS admission, OOS merit aid, quality of the Honors College, quality of the programs they are interested in, and Greek Life to get started...they would love to learn more about the University of Georgia! Thank you!

seekingknowledge

We would really appreciate so feedback from a current student, alumni, or parent...

merkur

Seeking-

First, thanks for starting a new thread; this forum has been too sleepy lately. Where are you students!!?? Having too much fun?

S is a Freshman at UGA this fall. I'd say your daughters' chances for admission are quite good, for regular and even early admit. Early admission is based only on grades and test scores, no EC's or essays. You getadmitted in December if you make the cut, but can still apply regular after that if not. Merit aid is decent, but very competitive. About 70 Foundation fellows or Ramsey scholars per year, and 250 Charter Scholarships. FF is full ride, Ramsey about half, and Charter $1000/yr. Vet School is outstanding, as is School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) Foreign language is about average, but I haven't heard much on that. Greek life is pretty strong, about 20% participate, but I don't know many details.

I'd be happy to try and answer any more questions for you. Be sure to check out the university web site at uga.edu.

merkur

P.S.

The Honors Program has a top-notch reputation, and so far that is beginning to prove true for S, who is only now two weeks into his first semester. If your daughters earn 4s or 5s on their AP exams, they should start with a good many credit hours, giving them lots of options.

razordad

One correction to post #3. If you apply early action, UGA will either admit you, defer you or deny you. If you are denied, you do NOT have the opportunity to reapply under the regular decision process. Since UGA only looks at grades and SAT/ACT score for early action applicants, you need to be reasonably confident that you will either be admitted or, at least, deferred, based on those fundamental stats. If you are borderline on the stats, and strong on the ECs, you may want to wait and apply regular decision. The instructions to the UGA application reads: "Applicants denied admission through Early Action will not have the opportunity to submit additional information or to reapply under the Regular Decision plan..." (I'm looking at the Fall 2007 application form, so need to check to be sure nothing was changed for this year.) But in light of the GPA and ACT scores you show, you are very likely for Early Admit success, and stand almost no chance for a deny if you choose to try for Early Action. Just thought you should know.

seekingknowledge

Thank you for all of your replies. We would really like to keep this thread going to get a better picture of UGA and all it has to offer.

We have been looking at the website. Here is a question...how does EA impact merit aid?

merkur

Can't say for sure how EA might affect merit aid, except I think applications for FF are due in the fall, and most EA applicants may also apply for FF. So, by the time regular admissions are due, you may be at the "back of the line" for merit aid, behind all those EA folks. I present this last bit as anecdote, not hard fact, but I think the FF weekend for finalists is in January, around the time regular admissions applications are due. Maybe they hold some number of Charter Scholarships in reserve for outstanding regular applicants.

I agree that your daughters should fine with EA, and worst case would be deferred. I see no down side for EA application, especially where merit aid is concerned.

On a different note, you may have learned already that UGA has perhaps the best university health center in the nation-it is certified by the Joint Committee on Accreditation for hospitals- and a truly outstanding food services operation. No kidding, they really try to take care of the kids, and they eat like kings (and queens). While perhaps secondary considerations, these things can become important in day-to-day life for your student.

seekingknowledge

thank you for the feedback. You are right, all things...right down to the food...can impact a college experience!

Does anyone have any experience with the School of Public and International Affairs?

vig180

UGA is unique in that the international affairs department is a separate entity- it's not a subsection of political science or some weird amalgamation of anthropology and other subjects. SPIA as a whole also boasts excellent faculty including a number of real superstars in their fields as well as many promising up-and-coming professors. There's a lot of research going on that professors are happy to let undergrads get involved with. Outside of class, there's a thriving political scene with all the major parties having strong organizations on campus and lots of local politicians showing up. They had a major conference on the Carter Presidency last year that a number of undergrads in the honors program got to present at.

Unfortunately, the university administration hasn't been able to keep up with SPIA's growing popularity. Although some efforts to limit enrollment have been successful, they've been arbitrary and classes are still full beyond the normal limits while too many upper level classes are being taught by grad students or non-tenure track professors. We're working to change it, but in light of the upcoming budget cuts across the board for the state of Georgia, things are likely to get worse before they get better.

In short, SPIA is an amazing school- it's just overcrowded and takes more effort to navigate than any other school at UGA. But I'd say the educational experience is worth it, and hopefully the situation will improve.

vig180

Other things:

Definitely recommend applying EA. It saves a lot of time and effort and is relatively painless. Use that time to work hard on the fellowship application, since it also serves as an application to the honors program and the other university-wide scholarships they offer. From just the stats, it looks like your daughters would certainly be competitive for the fellowship, but as mentioned above it's a highly competitive process- out of 800 applicants, only 60-70 get invited to interview and out of those only 25 or so are awarded the fellowship. But the benefits are certainly worth it: full ride plus $9k travel stipend, plus all-expense paid spring break trips like a cruise through the Galapagos Islands, a week at a remote Buddhist monestary in South Korea, or a trip down the Nile in Egypt, plus numerous dinner seminars and discussion groups, plus additional funding for research and conferences, among other perks. So it would definitely be worth your while to give it a shot, although the Honors College also offers many of the same opportunities afforded to fellows, albeit with much more limited funding (i.e. there are study abroad scholarships and research fellowships available via honors, but they're all around 3k to 5k and are one-time only).

Being OOS can't hurt, especially since I've only met one other person at UGA who hails from MO. If you get a Charter Scholarship from OOS, you also get an out-of-state tuition waiver, which is a nice touch. Some people also try to transfer their residencies to GA so they can take advantage of the HOPE scholarship for tuition halfway through their time here, but I'm not sure about all the legalities of that.

Feel free to ask any more questions if I didn't cover something. I'm not all that familiar with Greek Life, but it's certainly strong.

seekingknowledge

vig180-thank you for taking the time to share so much information! We are going to take some time to understand the admissions process for the university (EA/RD), Honors College and International Affairs. We need to understand the process and cover all of the bases...in the correct order. I wish we could visit before November (cross country prevents it) and speak face to face with the UGA ACs and Professors.

My daughter wonders if an email or phone call to the IA department might help? Do you think that they have additional information that might assist us prior to a visit? D is very excited about the department. She has been searching for quality IR dedicated undergrad programs that she can afford and that grad and PHD programs will respect. Though extremely competitive, the fellowship sounds like a dream come true!

Again, thank you everyone! We are open to all suggestions...please keep going.

jenmarie

I'm not sure if you've visited this website, but this page contains a lot of information about admissions:
UGA Undergraduate Admissions - First Year Admissions

Important:
2008-09 Application Postmark Deadlines*

Early Action – October 15
Regular Decision – January 15
Spring Admission – September 15

Required Material on a Complete Application
Early Action

* Part I of application
* $50 non-refundable application fee
* Official high school transcript
* Counselor/School Evaluation Form
* Official SAT or ACT scores with writing assessment


I'm sorry I can't be much help...I'm a south campus student (science majors). If any parents have questions about science, I'd probably be able to answer those!

It might be a little early to visit this website, but Bulletin - Home has information about majors.

seekingknowledge

Thank you jenmarie! We have visited the extensive website and will continue to do so. May I ask if you applied early admission? We are trying to decide if it is to the girl's advantage/disadvantage in re to general admissions, scholarship potential, etc....

jenmarie

I did apply EA and was accepted in December (4.0GPA(highest my school gave), 1170SAT, 3AP's, 2 Joint enrollment, in-state). There really isn't any hassle in applying EA, so I think your girls should go ahead and apply (I highly doubt they'll get rejected with those stats, so even if they get deferred, at least half of their application is finished). That way, if they do get in and they've decided that's definitely where they want to go, they can stop worrying about college applications after that and only have to focus on other applications (scholarships, etc). I don't really think getting deferred EA will hurt their chances for anything (but I'm not part of admissions, so I can't say that with 100% confidence). Getting IN EA definitely won't hurt anything. Getting in early can only help.

seekingknowledge

jenmarie, thanks for the info. Do you mind sharing your impression (thus far) of the University of Georgia?