The time for college decisions is finally upon me. I have toured all of my top colleges but which university I like best is pretty confusing. The colleges I am considering are UGA, GSU, KSU and UNG (I have Zell which covers all of my tuition if I stay in-state, so I have to stay in Georgia). The major difference between the colleges I am looking at is the academic rigor and prestige. Specifically, UGA is recognized for being more rigorous than the others. Since I am going in with an English major with a concentration/emphasis in creative writing, I don’t know if going to a more rigorous school is really worth it. I will only be taking the science and math classes that are required (no more after that) and I don’t know if a more academically rigorous college would fit me if it means the same classes would be harder there and potentially pull down my GPA. How much harder would UGA be than the others? And how much of an impact could this have?
What do you want to do career wise with your English major? Teach, Grad School?? How strong are your high school stats and test scores? If you are above average coming into UGA, you should be able to perform well there. If you have solid stats, I would recommend going to the school that is the best fit.
Between UGA, GSU, KSU and UNG, Georgia is by far your best bet.
Career wise I don’t really need anything super strong since I only plan to work as an editor in book publications on the side of writing my own novels (mostly just to supplement income). I don’t need a very prestigious med or science school or anything. My ACT scores are a couple points higher than the average at UGA (and 5-10 points higher than the requirements at the other universities I am looking at), so while I believe that I could do well, I am not sure if going to a more rigorous school is in my best interests.
Let’s say you have four options:
- University of Podunk
- Podunk State University
- East Podunk State University
- Northern Podunk University
University of Podunk is the most selective, with a 32 ACT average and where most people in the top 10% of their HS class. Many professors ad University of Podunk did their PhD at top schools like MIT and Columbia and they are all at the top of their field. Podunk State University is close, with a 29 ACT average and students are in the top quarter of their class; but Podunk State University only has a regional reputation. East Podunk and Northern Podunk have are less selective and accept 96% of students and have a 18 ACT average.
At Northern Podunk and East Podunk, the English classes are remedial and assume students have poor reading and writing skills. Most students are unmotivated or have to work 20-25 hours a week to support their Students are not academically prepared and the professors have to teach to the level of unprepared students so that they graduate on time. The atmosphere is not very intellectual and there are very few electives that interest you. Funding cuts are looming and there is a very small endowment for the school to fall back on. You are not pushed hard and find school easy and are bored. The degree is accredited, but you have to constantly prove yourself for the rest of your life.
Where do you want to go?
To make it clear, I think you should go to UGA.
You need to be challenged. Hard is how you will grow. UGA is your best bet. You might even want to look at GT, which does have an excellent liberal arts program too.
Wow, that really puts things in perspective! Thank you so much Frontpage! I am definitely leaning very heavily towards UGA now! Thank you so much for the advice!
@RettFet I agree with the above posters. Go to the best school you can get into, especially as costs will be almost all the same, given they are state schools. UGA would have the most prestige and best alumni connections. Also, many students change their majors, and you’d have more options at UGA.
If your ACT is 5 and especially 10 points above the average at the other schools, you may be bored and discouraged by the lack of academic of the other students. You’d actually have a LOWER chance of returning as a soph or graduating at a school where you’d be undermatched.