We visited UGA twice last year: Once for admitted students day and returned when our daughter was named a finalist for CURO. I wouldn’t lose sleep about UGA for a few reasons:
-I went to college and grad school in an urban environment and I found Athens disconcerting: Homeless people getting in our face, guys yelling things at us in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. Cute town but neither of us felt safe. University downplays it, but I couldn’t shake the unsafe feeling I had.
-When we went to the Science presentation (that we were invited to) no one showed up to present it, so an advisor did his best with a freshman to present. Was rather unimpressed given people had travelled for this (either locally or from out-of-state).
-Huge campus, UGA buses were late everywhere we tried to go, Honors was kind of underwhelming. I actually got a parking ticket in on-campus parking (apparently they love to give out tickets 
as I learned firsthand).
-It’s a really good school, but I wouldn’t lose sleep if your child doesn’t get in. There’s lots of equally good places in my view to go instead.
I really doubt it was that bad in Athens 
I was just there with my daughter. Downtown left a lot to be desired. Lots of empty storefronts, persons experiencing homelessness, rundown. I have fond memories from my own college days at Clemson of spending time in Athens so I was telling her how its such a great college town, etc before we went there. Athens is in need of some revitalization.
Interesting. We are waiting to visit depending on application result…What is your view of Clemson in that regard if one would have the option to go to either school?
You know, thank you for this. I needed this.
First, I will say that while that was my impression of downtown Athens that my daughter still really liked the university itself. It only surprised me because 1) I hadn’t been there in a couple of decades so my memories of it colored my expectations, and 2) we’ve seen that type of atmosphere near other schools but they were in larger cities (Seattle and Austin in particular). We never felt unsafe in Athens, but there were also lots of people around even considering it was the Saturday of the Georgia football game in Texas.
We also toured Clemson on our trip and she loved it. The “downtown” next to the campus is MUCH smaller than the Athens one, but it is really kept up well and some new construction has also occurred. So it resembled the one I loved in the 90’s, but with some newer taller buildings and several newish apartments. Our old haunts were still there and thriving as well.
She wouldn’t use these words, but I’m finding that a “sense of place” that extends off the campus is really important to my daughter. That seems to include a walkable downtown area that has some fun things to do, with local coffee shops and a little bit of atmosphere.
I went to school in the Bronx (Fordham) and then Queens (St. John’s), both urban campuses obviously and my son is in school in Baltimore City, so we aren’t afraid of urban. I think the difference is you expect to be on your guard in the city, whereas Athens is this cute town, so when you are drinking boba tea in broad daylight and a homeless person decides to sit next to you and your daughter and start acting kind of weird, it’s disconcerting. The guys yelling at us (not students, but locals) on a Sunday afternoon also made us nervous. We were there right after that poor girl was murdered, and I told myself that can happen anywhere, but it was in my mind since we have a daughter. I leave it to you to judge for yourself, but it wasn’t what I expected/hoped for.
I like the ‘sense of place’ phrase, I would call it institutional fit but that’s more about the school. To your point, my daughter didn’t feel UGA was her place, just not a fit. So, she went with her instincts and is happy where she landed. My son was the same way in Baltimore - we visited a lot of schools, but when he got to his, he knew it would be home for the next four years. Good luck!
does anyone know if Creative Writing is included in Core UGA GPA? I think no, but then somewhere it did say writing… I am guessing they meant composition. At this point, I don’t think they want you emailing about it anyways, right?
I think it’s counted as core. I remember reading something on the admissions blog in the questions. Someone was taking a dramatic writing class in addition to their AP English class as an elective. The dramatic writing counted as a core class.
My question to you is, what would you gain by knowing the answer to your question? Either it is or is not. Your understanding of that answer is unlikely to change your admissions decision. If so, I would not email them this question.
If, by chance, you omitted this class from your transcript and UGA is unaware of it, then an email may be in order. That, however, poses another question in why you would have left out a class.
Only 5 more days until the in-state decisions get released! So exciting!
In-state EA admission stats have been released.
Nervously waiting for 4:00!
The test score range is brutal…
last years stats
25th percentile ACT was 30 last year, now 31
50th percentile is between 31-34. 25th percentile would be below a 31.
And interestingly, this is a situation where scores are required with the application. I would have expected the scores to remain the same or possibly drop a little.
That dashes my hopes for a direct admit to honors college 