<p>I’m sort of interested in why you wouldn’t want to attend Caltech or Cornell. Those are superior pretty schools. As others have suggested, I would visit UGA and just see if you feel anything when you visit. I know when I visited UGA for the first time, I knew it was where I wanted to go. I just got this vibe that I loved and I just really liked the feeling I was getting. It was something I didn’t feel when I visited other schools. If you don’t have time or if there are no more openings, you don’t have to go on a tour with the visitor’s center. You could just come to campus and walk around and check out the place for yourself. That might be an even more real view of UGA because you won’t be biased by the tour guide, who is obviously going to show UGA in its best light (and take you to the prettiest parts of campus). </p>
<p>Whether your college experience is dominated by parties and football all depends on who you hang out with. There are plenty of people who do not like to party or who aren’t into football. Getting away from football might be a little hard on game days, but it doesn’t have to be your life if you don’t want it to be (but seriously…you should at least attend one game! It’s a great experience regardless if you like football!). </p>
<p>I don’t think UGA is THAT conservative. It might be more conservative than average, but it’s also a southern school, and some conservatism is to be expected. But there are definitely a good number of people who aren’t conservative, and most of the teachers here aren’t conservative.</p>
<p>Make friends during orientation, make friends in your hall, make friends in the dining hall (during the first couple of days, it’s completely acceptable to just join a random table and introduce yourself to the people there), go to club meetings and try meeting people there, make friends in your classes - these are all ways you can meet new people and make friends on campus. I’d say we’re a pretty friendly campus, and it’s easy to meet new people during the first couple of weeks of school when everybody is sort of dazed and confused and still feeling out the place. Among all the people you meet, you’re bound to meet a couple people that you click with and share the same interests that you do. I have no doubt that you’d find your niche at UGA.</p>