<p>Congratulations on your decision! Based on your interests, UGA’s going to set up pretty well for what you want to do. </p>
<p>UGA students in the Honors program are on average on par with those at most top private colleges (i.e. Duke, Northwestern, etc.). And of course you will find a decent number of students who turned town the super-top schools, usually for financial reasons. UGA students are probably more laid-back than at those other schools, but that’s a good thing in my opinion; people are certainly motivated, but they don’t get crazy intense. </p>
<p>UGA’s international relations program is much better than advertised. I’d encourage you to look into trying to get a combined BA/MIP (Master’s in International Policy) or MA degree in 4 years through UGA since that would give you a major boost when applying to top-tier PhD or Master’s programs at some of the schools that you mentioned (and through Honors at UGA, it’s entirely possible to do this combined 4-year program; my roommate’s doing it). If you want, PM me and I’ll give you the rundown on good professors who like to do research with their undergrads (and some who even pay for research assistants). Getting into a top graduate school takes a strong commitment to research and good faculty recommendations, particularly if you can get them from people well-known in the field, so it’s best to start early if you know that’s what you want to do. </p>
<p>People certainly do go on to good graduate schools. I know one student going for a Master’s at Chicago, one going to Law at Georgetown, and another at Georgetown’s security studies MA program (part-time while working in DC). UGA actually has a pretty significant presence in DC and although the name itself won’t open doors, there are plenty of alumni you can get in touch with who can help open those doors. I’d say there are more students interested in law school (we’ve had plenty of placements with large scholarships at places like Michigan, Duke, UVA, Emory, Vanderbilt, etc. in addition to people getting into Harvard and others) or going to work immediately in DC after undergrad, but there are some people who do go on to graduate work. </p>
<p>Foreign languages are foreign languages; in the classroom it depends on the teacher you have, but at UGA you’ll be saving enough money that you can actually afford to go abroad and get fluent. I’m not the biggest fan of UGA’s study abroad programs, but they are pretty good about offering a wide array of programs/classes and you can always go and study abroad on your own or through another program (there’s a group of programs where you can pay UGA tuition instead of the fees for that program specifically- ask the Office of International Education for details).</p>