Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I grew up in Atlanta and went to private school there and found that many of my high school peers couldn’t afford to go out of state for college. Private schools are significantly cheaper than say, DC or NYC, and many more middle/upper middle class families send their kids to private schools there. And the private school educations meant their families weren’t able to save as much for college. Also, PP that said that UGA is a cultural thing in GA have it right. Families in GA are obsessed with it (ask me how I know, given an ex-boyfriend whose family owned a store in an Atlanta suburb selling UGA gear). I went to an ivy league school and a college counselor at Pace Academy told the admissions counselor at my university that students at Pace weren’t interested in New England colleges. That Pace students wanted to go to UGA and participate in Greek life. And when I was working for a state legislator after college and I was applying for law schools, everyone congratulated me when I got into UGA Law and assumed I would go there over the top-5 law school I also got into. In GA, people legitimately think you can’t do better than UGA.

It’s not that they think you can’t do better; it’s that they think you don’t need to.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I grew up in Atlanta and went to private school there and found that many of my high school peers couldn’t afford to go out of state for college. Private schools are significantly cheaper than say, DC or NYC, and many more middle/upper middle class families send their kids to private schools there. And the private school educations meant their families weren’t able to save as much for college. Also, PP that said that UGA is a cultural thing in GA have it right. Families in GA are obsessed with it (ask me how I know, given an ex-boyfriend whose family owned a store in an Atlanta suburb selling UGA gear). I went to an ivy league school and a college counselor at Pace Academy told the admissions counselor at my university that students at Pace weren’t interested in New England colleges. That Pace students wanted to go to UGA and participate in Greek life. And when I was working for a state legislator after college and I was applying for law schools, everyone congratulated me when I got into UGA Law and assumed I would go there over the top-5 law school I also got into. In GA, people legitimately think you can’t do better than UGA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got into UGA a few years ago. Was the only one from their school. High GPA. Didn't send SAT scores because it was optional. Most students are in state and most go home on weekends, unless they are in greek life, like to party a lot, or it's a home football game. She did not have a great time and ended up leaving. Beautiful school and campus. Just wasn't the right fit. And shocking she has ended up in a "lesser" Virginia school and doing remarkably well haha

Huh. My daughter is a freshman there, and that hasn't been her experience at all. She's not a big partier, and isn't in Greek life. But she's never bored on the weekends. We have visited twice and don't get "suitcase school" vibes at all.

But you did say it was a few years ago that your daughter went, and I understand the school has changed a lot in even just a few years.

Same with mine. Comes home 3 times a year at breaks only. Never at a loss for things to do and lots of Georgia friends who are in town on the weekends.

The “suitcase school” claim is just odd. Athens is always in the lists of “best college towns.”

Not a claim, it was the experience my child had when they were there. Pretty much everyone around them was from Georgia and they went home on weekends. It's also a very tough school if you are not a big drinker. Downtown Athens is a "best college town" because they don't check ID's and you can drink when you're 18. No one cares about fake ID's. And most kids in college want to drink. And if you don't believe me then join the UGA parent's facebook page and you will see posts from parents with information on where to get your child's fake ID.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got into UGA a few years ago. Was the only one from their school. High GPA. Didn't send SAT scores because it was optional. Most students are in state and most go home on weekends, unless they are in greek life, like to party a lot, or it's a home football game. She did not have a great time and ended up leaving. Beautiful school and campus. Just wasn't the right fit. And shocking she has ended up in a "lesser" Virginia school and doing remarkably well haha

Huh. My daughter is a freshman there, and that hasn't been her experience at all. She's not a big partier, and isn't in Greek life. But she's never bored on the weekends. We have visited twice and don't get "suitcase school" vibes at all.

But you did say it was a few years ago that your daughter went, and I understand the school has changed a lot in even just a few years.

Same with mine. Comes home 3 times a year at breaks only. Never at a loss for things to do and lots of Georgia friends who are in town on the weekends.

The “suitcase school” claim is just odd. Athens is always in the lists of “best college towns.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

I live in GA. Most, if not all, of in-state students accepted to UGA will start off with the Zell scholarship as you need grades that meet (and in most cases exceed) the Zell minimum requirements to be accepted at UGA. Where some kids run into trouble is that you need a a 3.3 to renew Zell. Hope requires a 3.0.

Our DD is at UGA on Zell. It pays for 100% of tuition, but we do pay for room and board and other miscellaneous costs.

Hope covers approx 80-90% of tuition. You must have a 3.0 GPA in high school.

Zell covers 100% of tuition. You must have a 3.7 GPA and at least 1200 on math and reading on the SAT or at least a 26 on ACT.

(The GA legislature just passed the budget to bump Hope up to 100% of tuition for the 2024 fiscal year.)

Okay but as there is more to UGA than just tuition, it is certainly is not free.

That doesn’t include the various fees, room and board. Facilities fees; etc. I also live in GA with a kid at a different state school with “free” tuition and I can show you the statements.

Please stop the myth that school is free for in state. The tuition is the smallest part of the bill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

I live in GA. Most, if not all, of in-state students accepted to UGA will start off with the Zell scholarship as you need grades that meet (and in most cases exceed) the Zell minimum requirements to be accepted at UGA. Where some kids run into trouble is that you need a a 3.3 to renew Zell. Hope requires a 3.0.

Our DD is at UGA on Zell. It pays for 100% of tuition, but we do pay for room and board and other miscellaneous costs.

Hope covers approx 80-90% of tuition. You must have a 3.0 GPA in high school.

Zell covers 100% of tuition. You must have a 3.7 GPA and at least 1200 on math and reading on the SAT or at least a 26 on ACT.

(The GA legislature just passed the budget to bump Hope up to 100% of tuition for the 2024 fiscal year.)

Okay but as there is more to UGA than just tuition, it is certainly is not free.

That doesn’t include the various fees, room and board. Facilities fees; etc. I also live in GA with a kid at a different state school with “free” tuition and I can show you the statements.

Please stop the myth that school is free for in state. The tuition is the smallest part of the bill.

Damn, girl. It's not that serious. But ok, let me rephrase: most, if not all, students at UGA go there tuition free. The $15k/year or whatever they pay for room and board and other incidentals thus makes it a teeny tiny fraction of the cost that they'd pay to go to most private schools, out of school publics, etc. For that reason, you see a LOT of high achieving GA residents staying in-state, to take advantage of this wonderful deal. It's (usually) not because they're provincial, or because they can't get in anywhere else, which is what OP seems to be implying in her post. It's because it's a crazy good financial deal that is very hard to turn down unless you're really, really wealthy or have some other extenuating circumstance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

I live in GA. Most, if not all, of in-state students accepted to UGA will start off with the Zell scholarship as you need grades that meet (and in most cases exceed) the Zell minimum requirements to be accepted at UGA. Where some kids run into trouble is that you need a a 3.3 to renew Zell. Hope requires a 3.0.

Our DD is at UGA on Zell. It pays for 100% of tuition, but we do pay for room and board and other miscellaneous costs.

Hope covers approx 80-90% of tuition. You must have a 3.0 GPA in high school.

Zell covers 100% of tuition. You must have a 3.7 GPA and at least 1200 on math and reading on the SAT or at least a 26 on ACT.

(The GA legislature just passed the budget to bump Hope up to 100% of tuition for the 2024 fiscal year.)

Okay but as there is more to UGA than just tuition, it is certainly is not free.

That doesn’t include the various fees, room and board. Facilities fees; etc. I also live in GA with a kid at a different state school with “free” tuition and I can show you the statements.

Please stop the myth that school is free for in state. The tuition is the smallest part of the bill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got into UGA a few years ago. Was the only one from their school. High GPA. Didn't send SAT scores because it was optional. Most students are in state and most go home on weekends, unless they are in greek life, like to party a lot, or it's a home football game. She did not have a great time and ended up leaving. Beautiful school and campus. Just wasn't the right fit. And shocking she has ended up in a "lesser" Virginia school and doing remarkably well haha

Huh. My daughter is a freshman there, and that hasn't been her experience at all. She's not a big partier, and isn't in Greek life. But she's never bored on the weekends. We have visited twice and don't get "suitcase school" vibes at all.

But you did say it was a few years ago that your daughter went, and I understand the school has changed a lot in even just a few years.

Same with mine. Comes home 3 times a year at breaks only. Never at a loss for things to do and lots of Georgia friends who are in town on the weekends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

I live in GA. Most, if not all, of in-state students accepted to UGA will start off with the Zell scholarship as you need grades that meet (and in most cases exceed) the Zell minimum requirements to be accepted at UGA. Where some kids run into trouble is that you need a a 3.3 to renew Zell. Hope requires a 3.0.

Our DD is at UGA on Zell. It pays for 100% of tuition, but we do pay for room and board and other miscellaneous costs.

Hope covers approx 80-90% of tuition. You must have a 3.0 GPA in high school.

Zell covers 100% of tuition. You must have a 3.7 GPA and at least 1200 on math and reading on the SAT or at least a 26 on ACT.

(The GA legislature just passed the budget to bump Hope up to 100% of tuition for the 2024 fiscal year.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?

What a myth. UGA is not free or nearly free for most in state residents.

Anonymous wrote:UGA is a high quality school that students can go to for free or nearly free.

Why are you concerned?