Giving this a bump, as an OOS student who is considering UGA. I’m planning to visit this spring, but I’m trying to get a feel for the vibe of the student body. I realize it’s a big school, so there’s likely something for everyone, but does UGA have an overwhelming Southern feel/Greek culture/etc.? At least from an OOS perspective, admission seems to be more competitive in recent years. Does the student body reflect this? Do most kids seem pretty academically focused? Will an OOS kid feel at home here?
I’m pasting my report from 3 campus visits here (we’re from near Atlanta). The students do very well academically. I think an OOS kid will enjoy it, with these caveats that I put in my visit description. P.S. Read the demographics–they give the idea.
UGA—UP, then DOWN, THEN FINE—Luckily, we’re within easy driving distance. The first tour we took was good. The campus is huge, and Athens is a college town with a lot of restaurants. It is definitely not a city, but Atlanta is 90 minutes away. The second tour (First Look for in-state students) was quite bad. Every student they had speak to us on the panel was pre-professional, and they did not speak about academic experiences. On this tour, almost every woman we saw conformed to the SEC sorority stereotype. We seriously worried that the culture would be monolithic. However, on the third visit (choir trip), we saw more diverse students, although very few open “non-conformists.” I would not be happy to live here for 4 years if I were very non-conformist, or LGBTQ+. Some of my daughter’s gay friends will not consider it despite the huge bargain for in-staters. There is a gay community though.
this is hard for me to answer since I am not a student there, but I have a freshman there and she loves it. are there a lot of Southerners? sure. it’s about 80% kids from Georgia- but many of those are from Atlanta or it’s suburbs and these places are not Southern in the stereotypical sense. My daughter is an out-of-stater from NJ, and has a large cohort of friends from the NY/NJ area, where UGA is getting more popular.
There are 30,000 kids so the obvious answer is that whatever you are looking for you can find it- artsy kids, science kids, right wing, left wing…
It’s not diverse maybe in the Northeast or California sense, with more of the students being white than some schools. that’s the nature of Georgia, I guess. but politically I would say the diversity of opinion is refreshing, compared the the overwhelmingly leftward-leaning LACS and Uni’s of the Northeast and California. My daughter is involved in student government and is in the school of political science there and I think she is 100% benefiting from the range of ideologies and opinions that comes with a school down South. Georgia is a purple state and the student body I think reflects that. you won’t see as many overtly non-conformists on campus maybe, but they are there, they seem happy, and I don’t see them struggling (I might be wrong on that).
Regarding Greek culture, it’s not overwhelming. My kid calls herself a girl in a sorority and not a sorority girl. I would say most of her girlfriends are in sororities, but as she meets more kids in classes and activities she is definitely making friends who are not. it’s not overwhelming to me- most of the sororities are a bit removed from campus, and you can certainly frequent the lively bar scene without pre-gaming at a frat.
Southern schools I would say give you a different cross-section of American society than Northeast ones do. For my daughter, from the NY area, I think it’s been a good learning experience and she’s enjoying meeting different people. it’s a different kind of diversity I guess.
I do have to add that she is in the honors college so many of her classes have a very intellectual feel. but even with non-honors classes it’s easy to pick harder classes full of students who are choosing to challenge themselves. classes are no joke and professors can be very engaging.
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