University of Georgia | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Elizabeth

Class: Senior
Major: Business
Gender: F

High School: Parkway West Senior High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The best thing about UGA is the city, the football, and the campus! In my opinion, the school is the perfect size, but I was looking for a large school. There are over 30,000 students that attend UGA. The one thing I would change is the minority population - there are not a lot of minority students attending the school and I think that keeps students from inter-mingling with students are different from themselves. I would also change homecoming - it's really not that big of a deal at UGA. When I tell people that I go to UGA, their responses differ depending on where I am. Within Georgia, UGA has a great reputation. In recent years, the requirements for acceptance have drastically risen - many alumni agree they would never have gotten in if they were students now. With the HOPE scholarship for in-state students, Georgia has kept some of the best and brightest in the state and UGA is their best option. Elsewhere in the South, UGA has a great reputation - often for its football. Elsewhere in the U.S., the university doesn't have much of a name for itself, but I think that is going to change with the entrance requirements increasing and the fact that we were the only public institution to have two Rhodes scholars this year. I spend most of my time on the central and north part of campus. This area has the Student Learning Center (a new building with study rooms, classrooms, a coffee shop, and computer labs). Next door is the Tate Student Center where a lot of organizations' activities take place as well as the campus movie theater. Tate 2 is currently under construction and the students can't WAIT to see the completed project. In addition, the center of campus has the football stadium. North campus is the most beautiful part of campus and houses the law school, main library, business school, and numerous other colleges. Definitely college town! There are over 30,000 students in Athens attending UGA. In addition, we have the greatest college music scene in the country!! UGA's administration works hard and does great things for UGA, but they have an air of superiority and do not seem to have casual relationships with students. They really should come down off of their pedestal and mingle with the students. In addition, the Student Government Association doesn't accomplish much, so students often feel entirely separated from the campus administration. The biggest controversy on campus is currently a list of sexual harassment charges against a professor in one of the colleges. In addition, the basketball team has had three or four players dismissed from the team leading to the review of the men's coach. Also, a year or two ago, a freshman died in a dorm from alcohol and cocaine; this led to strict changes in residence hall rules as well as the idea of probation after each alcohol offense and expulsion after the second. There is so much campus pride it's ridiculous. It is most often shown through our football team, but you will always see students in UGA gear, they all have UGA stickers on their cars, some have state UGA license plates, and they all hate schools that wear orange :) The most unusual thing about UGA is the music scene - there are so many great bands to have come out of Athens and that tradition continues today. Whether it's Tasty World, The Georgia Theater, or 40 Watt - a student can always find a group to go listen to! The one experience I will always remember was my senior year trip to St. Simons, GA with some friends for a 5-day vacation over Fall Break. Our fall break coincides with the Georgia vs. Florida football game in Jacksonville and there is a huge beach party and student population that is in St. Simons. Then, everyone takes buses or drives to Jacksonville for the game on Saturday. It's just one big party for the week - AND we won this year!! Go Dawgs!!

Academic Life

Not many professors know your name unless you are in a major that has small classes or you visit office hours. You CAN get to know them, but it is your own effort that will reach that goal. Business classes, for example, are often too big for the teacher to know students by name, but the upper-level public relations courses do allow you to know your teacher. My least favorite class was Introduction to Public Relations because the teacher never followed a schedule, the tests did not cover the material we learned, she actually made a 300-person lecture class sing row-row-row your boat, and in general I learned nothing from her - and that is one of my majors! My favorite class is probably one I am currently taking - Globalization in Information Technology. I know nothing about IT, but the material is fairly basic and I feel like I am learning a lot that other students on campus will never have been exposed to. In addition, my services marketing class is great - the teacher has fair expectations and the material is interesting. UGA students probably only have intellectual conversations outside of class if it pertains to a class their share together. Students are not too competitive - until it comes to finding a job. THAT is where the claws can come out since there are so many students vying for a few positions. The most unique class I have taken is International Strategic Management - it's awful, but unique. The teacher has formatted the course as a business and she is the employer. The constant chaos of assignments, presentations, and debates are 'supposed' to teach the students what life is like in the real world. I would not suggest International Business to anyone because all you are required to do is take an international course in the different business school departments; therefore the degree is extremely broad and not very practical. But all of the international courses are REALLY interesting and I loved all of them for the most part. The Terry School of Business has LOTS of money and therefore has great resources and buildings. In addition, there are tons of business recruiting opportunities delivered through Terry's departments and organizations. Get your pre-requirements out of the way early so that you can enter your major courses ASAP. Terry's Institute for Leadership Advancement is open to all students on campus and give students the opportunity to earn an academic certificate in leadership. I highly suggest that program. The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication has a high-demand Public Relations major that only gives you 2 courses per semester, so apply early to start taking classes as soon as you can. The courses are fairly easy, but enjoyable and provide real-world application. The professors are all great. But beware, Grady does not have the same monetary resources that Terry does and there is only one career counselor for the entire college. I do not spend time with my professors outside of class unless I go to their office hours or they are the advisor for a campus organization that I am involved with. The UGA education is geared towards getting a job - or at least that is how it is with the business and journalism schools. There are always programs and seminars about job-hunting, networking, resumes, etc. Some of the courses are a waste of time and I will never draw on that material in the real-world. The school's academic requirements are doable - but I always suggest finding out what you want to do early!!!

Student Body

Every student can probably find their niche on campus, but because it is so large, I would assume that quiet, reserved students may have trouble finding a group of friends. Students wear anything and everything to class - the idea of dressing up to class is a rumor. We wear jeans, sweatshirts, fleeces, tennis shoes, flip flops, t-shirts, athletic shorts, etc. Some people dress up, but definitely only on days they work, have presentations/interviews. Four tables of students in the dining hall - Greeks, roommates/hallmates, blacks, athletes. Most students are from Georgia and it feels like most of them are from Marietta, Alpharetta, or Roswell (Atlanta suburbs). It is rare to find someone who is not from the south. Virginia, NC, SC, LA, Alabama, and Tennessee also bring lots of students. Most people come from pretty comfortable financial situations, but HOPE really helps that because in-state students who receive that scholarship hardly pay anything for tuition and get $150 for textbooks, too. The out-of-state students are pretty well-off because they're paying out the wazoo for school. Students are politically aware and active - but this could be perception because there are many vocal political groups on campus. I think fairly split - young people are often Democrats, but because we are in the South, there are lots of Republicans.