Oh, I have no concerns about Georgia at all…in fact, I find the perceptions in some circles about the “Deep South” and “freedom in red states” quite amusing. My daughter already has a spot at UGA Honors but applied to UNC as OOS as well, just wondering if it will make sense to pursue that route if she gets admitted there. UNC is ranked higher but
sounds like that ranking may be based more on perceptions in the NE/Mid-Atlantic than in the South.
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I think UNC is looked at as better than UGA in the south, too. But both are great schools, so I am not sure it really matters. I think I’d look at the program if I were deciding between the two.
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Yeah, for UNC, they like a test score, so I’d have submitted anywhere at 25th or above. We know plenty in the lower quarter who submitted scores and got in.
UNC > UGA is most every respect as far as university “reputation,” which means academics and outcomes, etc. But to be clear… UGA is a great school and great fit for just about any type of student - and has it all, really. As to ranks, any one ranking isn’t worth its salt, but you can look at multiples and get a sense of hierarchy… WSJ ranks UNC #59 and UGA #151. US News ranks UNC #27 overall (#5 public) and UGA is #46 overall (#18 public). Forbes ranks UNC #31 and UGA #62. Niche ranks UNC #35 and UGA is #52. In the same way ACC schools on balance are seen as more reputationally ahead of SEC schools. To wit, Duke > Vandy; Ga Tech > UGA; Clemson > SC; UVa > UFla; UNC > UT-Austin; NCSU > Auburn. After those top tier SEC schools are matched, the ACC still has Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, Wake Forest, Boston College and some others on the bench that are, again reputationally in academics, better than pretty much any other SEC school. However, if your thing is football… for now, anyway, UGA > UNC.
I’m aware of the rankings, but the ACT interquartile ranges of the admitted students are very similar which tells me that academically there is probably not much difference.
Chapel Hill( the town) and Cambridge are ultra liberal. Nothing wrong with it. The school( UNC) is arguably one of the most liberal in the south. I’ve lived and went to college in MA, went to school and graduated from UNC. There was little difference in terms of values, politics and certainly the priority it places on diversity. The in state mandate can arguably be used to say it’s “ southern” however wherever it is, it’s as open minded as Cambridge minus the urbanization as you’ve mentioned.
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They were handled as they would be in New England- student activism with administrators heavy handed ensuring the students and university were safe but student views tamped down. On a side note a confederate statue was lassoed and toppled by students on campus since administrators did nothing. Again, a high degree of activism often seen at Northern universities including Harvard( Cambridge MA)
Wow, you even put together a quick spreadsheet. The UGA ACT range for the 2024 admitted class is actually 29-34, per the dean’s blog. Hard to compare GPAs on an apples to apples basis because of different weights, what’s included, etc.
Good to know, thanks. At least the administration handled things well although the leftist activism is concerning. Now that you mention I recall an iconic photo of a bunch of frat guys at UNC guarding a US flag from the “activists”.
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You can’t compare test score ranges because UNC Is test optional (for all applicants with a 2.8 GPA or above, so practically speaking what that means is that it’s likely only some subset of athletes have to submit scores), while UGA is test required. Low scorers don’t submit scores at UNC, so one would expect UGA to have a wider range specifically on the low end. Per the UNC CDS, 29% submitted an SAT, 41% an ACT. Some students submitted both, so make a guesstimate as to how many students submitted scores…maybe 55%? UGA had 70% submit an SAT and 47% an ACT.
Average GPA on the CDS is worthless, unless we know exactly how it was calculated. Maybe UGA’s CDS uses the same weighting as they do in admissions here, but I don’t know that for sure. Plenty of schools calculate GPA on the CDS differently than they do in the admissions process. I am not sure how/if UNC recalculates GPA in the admissions process or for the CDS. Generally the institutional reporting peeps are more than willing to share how they calculate the GPA, and any other numbers of interest.
That’s for admitted students so not comparable to the CDS (which is enrolled student data.) Those admitted numbers will come down a bit whenever they publish their 2024-25 CDS.
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Good points although I doubt the score ranges for admitted vs enrolled students will differ too much in the end
They generally come down, especially for a large public because they typically lose some proportion of the high end students to other schools. I would guess it comes down closer to 2023-24 level, but time will tell. The 2024-25 CDS should be out soon, UNC’s already is.
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Yeah, I just looked at that - 28-34 range. UGA’s will probably end up 28-33. The STEM contingent in Georgia,and that is the one with the highest scores, goes to GA Tech
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That’s what we’re hoping!
My kid has been accepted into Honors college at UGa and it’s an unbelievable blessing but there is no doubt that UNC is a superior university to UGa - by almost any measure (outside of the football field lol). With that said, these are all first world problems. UGa is a great, great school as are so many other schools and our kids are so lucky they have an option to go to any of these schools!
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All good points, to be sure. UNC’s SAT/ACT is from CDS 23-24 and is from about 60% of those who enrolled (29% submitted SAT / 34% submitted ACT). Best not to pluck one particular data point out … but take a more holistic view with a wide range of data, which was why that was included in the overall thread of multiples of rankings and multiples of data points. No dog in this fight by me… if there is better data, bring it.
This ^^^ 100% - our kids will grow where they are planted.
Same, no dog in this fight either. My only points were we don’t know how the GPAs were calculated so can’t compare between these schools, and that test optional vs test required is a big difference, one we can’t ignore, because it does significantly impact the test score ranges, mostly on the lower end.
I actually don’t believe the GPAs or test scores of the final enrollees makes a school better than another school. I think the options and the experience is better at certain schools but again - the quibbles on this topic are at the margins. I don’t consider certain Ivy league schools better than the schools we are talking about right now simply because test scores at that school are better.
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