<p>I graduated a long time ago! LOL. I am a parent.</p>
<p>where i go to school in CT, UGA gets NO respect, even for the public schools.
i’m the only kid in my class of 400 applying there. </p>
<p>the highly regarded publics are uva, unc, uwisconsin, the UC’s, umich, and penn state. that’s about it. it’s frustrating that no one respects UGA anywhere around this area. when i say that i’m applying to UGA, they assume i’m dumb. </p>
<p>i think they all have a presumption that the university of georgia is some sort of “hick school”. </p>
<p>so essentially what i am asking is, outside of the Southeast, is UGA regarded as the very tough and prestigious public school that it claims to be? i hope so. because in CT, an employer would probably view UGA as no different than university of rhode island, evne though UGA is supposed to be better academically.</p>
<p>I’m holding the same point of view with you SAT696969. That’s why UGA is my back up. Ga Tech is always my first choice.</p>
<p>Swansong-
LOL!!! So does this have the same effect as getting carded? LOL!</p>
<p>So where did you graduate from?</p>
<p>SAT696969 you are right on with that assessment. I also live in CT and get some bizarre looks and comments when I tell people that I applied to UGA. Unfortunately there are a lot of pre-conceived notions about the south up her that carry over to the universities.</p>
<p>Wake Forest University.</p>
<p>And thanks for the compliment! At my age, I need them!</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. I have enormous respect for Georgia. My only bias, which is uniformly applied, is towards a smaller school that is more intimate. If I had to attend a public school, it would have been William and Mary. I just think that smaller class sizes, particularly in the Freshman year are very important. I recognize that not everyone agrees with that point of view. Some people think that going to a large public university is the sine qua non of a complete and fulfilling educational experience. </p>
<p>As to the people above from the Northeast who are concerned about academic reputation, they should take comfort in the US News and World Report rankings and point that out to their friends and family. Georgia is very selective, particularly for out of state applicants. I would pick Georgia over Wisconsin and PennState without blinking an eyelash. </p>
<p>To a large extent, going to college is a right of passage. Employers essentially reward college graduates with a job just for having completed their studies. On the otherhand, the University of Connecticut is no slouch either,from what I hear.</p>
<p>I know a top student who went to University of Delaware for a bio-chem degree and is now working on a PhD at Maryland. So in the end, it sort of doesnt matter.</p>
<p>My freshman son at UGA has 20-25 students in his larger classes. Next semester will be different; but this semester was very small. A few classes only had a dozen.
The major benefit in a small, private college are the connections one makes (attending school w/ COO’s kids, owners kids, people whose names are on the buildings…). However, learning to make your way in a big place is no less of an accomplishment. To each his or her own!</p>
<p>Well that is great! A neighbor kid of mine goes to UGA (OOS) and is a sophomore and complains about huge classes all the time…so maybe your son got lucky or is in honors or something! But I agree with you, to each his or her own! Being happy is what is the goal here.</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone with EA decisions coming out soon.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the major…he is a freshman, but has two courses in his major that are small…he is also in a foreign language class (senior level!) that is small. His English and calculus classes were the largest, but around 25. Next semester he has chem and physics, which will be large.</p>
<p>Swansong, UGA is a great value. It’s rising in the rankings for a reason. I know those who went to top privates, and their advice is that it doesn’t matter so much where you go but how you do. Georgia has much to offer top tier students. The average class size in the honors program is 17, and taught by professors. The mentoring program and honors housing are great, so are the scholarships. For honors students, UGA offers a small school community with the resource benefits of a large school. It’s a better situation for most bright kids because despite what they say, most such kids really don’t know what they will eventually major in. The mentoring and research programs will give them a chance to explore and find out. Athens is a great college town and you can’t beat southern charm and hospitality.</p>
<p>I’m a Yankee, and I fully understand the old northern prejudice against the South. But times are changing, and GA is an economically vibrant area. North Atlanta highschools are among the best in the country. In one quiz bowl competition, Atlanta schools placed 5 in the top 25 out of more than 1100 internationally. Times are changing in the South while the North stagnates, and the universities are reflecting the trend.</p>
<p>I can tell you my son had 9 AP classes, was #1 on a certain national exam, has an SAT of 2290 (800-720-770) and UGA is NOT his back up school- it’s his #1 choice because of the academic opportunites. In about 1 minute from now, he will know if his dream has come true. There are more and more like him-- UGA had 2 Rhodes scholars and 1 Fullbright scholar just this year. How many did your school have? :-)</p>