Georgetown SFS vs. UNC CHapel Hill

NCStudent12
Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:55:59 +0000

Hey,

I am having an incredibly difficult time deciding between Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
My eventual plan is to attend law school, so I am wondering about the importance of what college or university you attend for undergraduate studies on your acceptance to law school. I have heard that for law school in particular, what undergraduate university and the type of caliber school it is plays a more heightened role for law school acceptance than for some other graduate studies. I.E. It bout easier to get accepted to one of the better law schools in the nation coming from a more “elite” private university than a decent public school.

I ask this as I was accepted to Duke, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Emory, and UNC Chapel Hill. I do not have any particular interest in attending Duke or Emory as they are not as oriented towards what I wish to study as Georgetown, which is international relations and eventually international law (I am a Swedish and French citizen, trilingual, hence my interest). This leaves me with Georgetown SFS, my number one choice as I find the school provides me with exactly what I want to study and wonderful resources, and UNC Chapel hill, which is not as rigorous academically as the other schools but which is an excellent choice and to which I received a half ride. My grandparents are going to help me out substantially paying for college, so I would be able to afford to attend Georgetown for undergraduate, but would then have to take out some loans to afford law school. I was wondering if I should make this commitment to attend a top university for undergraduate school in the hopes of attending a better law school, or save my money, go to UNC to which I have to pay substantially less due to the scholarship, which is obviously a slightly less competitive public school. If I went to UNC, I would most likely have to take out much fewer loans, if any when it comes to affording for law school.

Could you guys tell me about some of the advantages of attending Georgetown and how it could eventually aid me in my future endeavors. What is the student/teacher ratio, for example. The proximity to central Washington D.C. also seems tremendous for internship opportunities. Also, I was wondering how hard it to adapt to a school like Georgetown, especially the self-selective SFS. Is it hard to excell when all the students around me are going to be quite goal-oriented and academically gifted. Would I get a lower class rank and grades than if I attended a slightly less rigorous UNC. No doubt has a tremendous amount of gifted students, probably just as many as Georgetown. However, Georgetown does only have 6,000 students while UNC has about 17,000, so there is no doubt going to be more “slackers,” and I feel like it could be more difficult to place higher in a school with such a large proportion of gifted students when compared to the total number of students. Could you guys shed some lights on these issues. Why would you attend Georgetown over UNC. Thanks.