UGA c/o 2021 Hopefuls

[lhmhtd]

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Obligatory UGA applicant page for those of us applying. 🙂
I currently live in Athens so I might be able to help answer questions regarding the city; I also worked at the necropsy lab at the vet school for a year so I gained a little bit of insight into the program and some of the professors. Good luck to all!

 

[brownswissfanatic]

I'm applying to UGA as well! Out of State.

 

[peteypie]

So excited!

 

[Great Butts]

Applying OOS, hoping to get into their MPH program!

 

[brownswissfanatic]

Any other 2nd time applicants?

 

[peteypie]

What is everyone putting for the 14 hours of Humanities courses?

 

[lhmhtd]

I have a music in western civilizations, US history since 1877, sociology, western religions.... Can't think of all of them off the top of my head but those just came to mind.

 

[lhmhtd]

Any other 2nd time applicants?

I'm a 1.5 time applicant? I applied in 2014 to only UGA but wound up having to withdraw my app after fall semester and a bad physics grade. I was going to apply again last year but decided I needed a break from school. I'm retaking phys this fall.

 

[Great Butts]

What is everyone putting for the 14 hours of Humanities courses?

I put my four semester of languages and an intro psychology course. I have some other literature courses from the Honors program, but I only made B+'s on them.

 

[Great Butts]

Obligatory UGA applicant page for those of us applying. 🙂
I currently live in Athens so I might be able to help answer questions regarding the city; I also worked at the necropsy lab at the vet school for a year so I gained a little bit of insight into the program and some of the professors. Good luck to all!

What's the weather like? How small is the city and how diverse is it?

 

[lhmhtd]

What's the weather like? How small is the city and how diverse is it?

The fall and spring are absolutely beautiful. Winters can be wet and windy, making it feel quite cold sometimes. Summers are brutal. I try not to go outside at all during the month of August because you'll literally start sweating going from your front door to your car. The humidity is killer. I've lived in quite a few place across the country and this place by far has the hottest summers.
Actual Athens is fairly tiny. It is very much a college town. There's always something going on downtown as far as music/festivals/food events/etc. We have 3 breweries which is super cool. Every Saturday afternoon, Terrapin sells glasses for $12 and you get 6 "half" pours, which are basically full pours. That's always a fun time. Immediately surrounding Athens is pretty much the typical rural Georgia that people think of when they think Georgia. Lots of farmland.
We are about an hour from Atlanta, but honestly Atl traffic is horrid. We don't go out that way nearly as much as I thought we would.

It's a nice place and just about everyone loves it here. Personally, it's not my favorite place. It's probably super fun if you're 21 and have a good group of friends. As a 25 y.o. married female, I've had a really hard time finding my niche here. I'm either far too old or far too young, or at least it feels that way. Of course, that probably is not the case when you're a vet student and have a good cohort to be a part of.

 

[Great Butts]

The fall and spring are absolutely beautiful. Winters can be wet and windy, making it feel quite cold sometimes. Summers are brutal. I try not to go outside at all during the month of August because you'll literally start sweating going from your front door to your car. The humidity is killer. I've lived in quite a few place across the country and this place by far has the hottest summers.
Actual Athens is fairly tiny. It is very much a college town. There's always something going on downtown as far as music/festivals/food events/etc. We have 3 breweries which is super cool. Every Saturday afternoon, Terrapin sells glasses for $12 and you get 6 "half" pours, which are basically full pours. That's always a fun time. Immediately surrounding Athens is pretty much the typical rural Georgia that people think of when they think Georgia. Lots of farmland.
We are about an hour from Atlanta, but honestly Atl traffic is horrid. We don't go out that way nearly as much as I thought we would.

It's a nice place and just about everyone loves it here. Personally, it's not my favorite place. It's probably super fun if you're 21 and have a good group of friends. As a 25 y.o. married female, I've had a really hard time finding my niche here. I'm either far too old or far too young, or at least it feels that way. Of course, that probably is not the case when you're a vet student and have a good cohort to be a part of.

I don't mind the college town feel! I think a lot of uniqueness springs from that, but I am hesitant of the small town feel. I am a huge lover of food, ethnic foods to be specific, so is there much of that at all? Living in a small college town now with a lack of authentic ethnic foods is driving me absolutely crazy. Is there also anything in Atlanta worth visiting for?

 

[lhmhtd]

I don't mind the college town feel! I think a lot of uniqueness springs from that, but I am hesitant of the small town feel. I am a huge lover of food, ethnic foods to be specific, so is there much of that at all? Living in a small college town now with a lack of authentic ethnic foods is driving me absolutely crazy. Is there also anything in Atlanta worth visiting for?

The food choices are pretty awesome here. I'm a vegetarian and NEVER have a problem finding a meal anywhere we go. The vast majority of restaurants cater to many diets (gluten free, veg, etc). We have a couple good Greek/Mediterranean places, a super yummy English pub, and a really great Indian place. Of course there are several Chinese and Mexican restaurants as well. Oh, we also have a ton of good pizza places!
A good number of people live in surrounding towns, most of which are ~15 min away.

Things to do in Atl: there's the CDC! The aquarium, ikea, fox theater, plenty of good concerts, Braves games, and I'm sure other stuff.

 

[Great Butts]

The food choices are pretty awesome here. I'm a vegetarian and NEVER have a problem finding a meal anywhere we go. The vast majority of restaurants cater to many diets (gluten free, veg, etc). We have a couple good Greek/Mediterranean places, a super yummy English pub, and a really great Indian place. Of course there are several Chinese and Mexican restaurants as well. Oh, we also have a ton of good pizza places!
A good number of people live in surrounding towns, most of which are ~15 min away.

Things to do in Atl: there's the CDC! The aquarium, ikea, fox theater, plenty of good concerts, Braves games, and I'm sure other stuff.

That's actually pretty awesome! Are there ever any opportunities for internships or partnerships with the CDC while at UGA? Other than the MPH program, which I know of and would like to enter.

 

[brownswissfanatic]

What is everyone putting for the 14 hours of Humanities courses?

History , 4 different religion classes ( I graduated from a private university run by my church so we were required to take several religion classes as part of our studies), and also many many many many French classes (I was a double major in French and Animal Science with a Chemistry minor. I took so many French classes, including a year abroad, that I probably have 14 hours + of French courses!).

 

[brownswissfanatic]

Obligatory UGA applicant page for those of us applying. 🙂
I currently live in Athens so I might be able to help answer questions regarding the city; I also worked at the necropsy lab at the vet school for a year so I gained a little bit of insight into the program and some of the professors. Good luck to all!

How is the cost of living in Athens?

 

[lhmhtd]

How is the cost of living in Athens?

Cost of living is pretty good. We live about a mile from campus in a great neighborhood. We rent a 3 bed, 2 bath house with a huuuuuuge fenced in back yard for $1050 a month. The houses are all old in our neighborhood (mostly built in the 30s), but you pay for location.
Going to a bar, a beer costs $2-4 depending on what it is- not too shabby. There are a lot of wealthy folks who live here so there's definitely stuff catered toward that crowd, but most places know they survive because of the students, so most places are fairly reasonable.

 

[brownswissfanatic]

Cost of living is pretty good. We live about a mile from campus in a great neighborhood. We rent a 3 bed, 2 bath house with a huuuuuuge fenced in back yard for $1050 a month. The houses are all old in our neighborhood (mostly built in the 30s), but you pay for location.
Going to a bar, a beer costs $2-4 depending on what it is- not too shabby. There are a lot of wealthy folks who live here so there's definitely stuff catered toward that crowd, but most places know they survive because of the students, so most places are fairly reasonable.

Any idea about the average apartment cost?
Is pet friendly (particularly cat-friendly) housing easy to find in the area?

 

[lhmhtd]

Any idea about the average apartment cost?
Is pet friendly (particularly cat-friendly) housing easy to find in the area?

I have no idea as far as apartment costs; I am sure there are plenty geared to student budgets though. A lot even provide free transportation to and from campus via a bus.
I really don't think you'd have any trouble finding a place that allows cats. With the vet school being such a large part of Athens, many places are competitive as far as pet policies and pricing.
You could always search on apartmentfinder or something just to get a better idea.

 

[Adambuff]

Anyone applying with having 1-2 classes still to be taken during the spring?

 

[bnaseam]

Good luck everybody!

 

[jtaylor721]

Any idea about the average apartment cost?
Is pet friendly (particularly cat-friendly) housing easy to find in the area?

Well, I can only speak from my experience. I just finished my search for my own apartment (which you should start looking much earlier than June or your options will be small). 1-2 bedroom apartments are 500+. I had plenty of options since my budget was less than $700 a month. You can find decent 2 bedrooms that are a better deal for your money than the 1 bedrooms. But the nicer places are above 600.

All of the places I visited were pet friendly, so there are plenty of options...for a fee. Most have a per pet one-time fee (~$300) and monthly fee (~$10/month). Technically, I know that I could have saved plenty of money if I would have went with the options of having roommates. So if you can muster sharing your space and dealing with other people's habits, then you can spend less than $350/month and have a yard, no pet fee, etc.

Good Luck and start as early as you can!

 

[Awapi]

1st time applicant, non-traditional, IS! For humanities I used a mixture of psychologies and one history class.

@Great Butts I have an MPH - let me know if you have questions about that stuff from an employer perspective 🙂.

The vet student that works for me has her own 1 br appt for $750 and she pays $15/month for her dog. She said that's reasonably high, but she's a little "older" like me and married (though her husband lives in Atlanta so she splits time there) so she wanted a slightly nicer place. She also referenced that a lot of people have roommates and pay $350 or less like @jtaylor721 said.

 

[Great Butts]

1st time applicant, non-traditional, IS! For humanities I used a mixture of psychologies and one history class.

@Great Butts I have an MPH and am in an upper-level epi position in zoonoses. I'm applying to vet school because I have maxed out with my masters and want to advance to a medical epidemiologist position and am very...very...like crazy passionate about zoonoses. I am currently funded by CDC and worked there for some time both domestically and internationally. Right now, I have a UGA vet student working for me full time for the summer (a rising 3rd year, she already completed her MPH, but I would have hired her even if she was just working on it). She had to choose between the job I offered her and a lab position at the main CDC campus. I did my MPH at Emory and CDC is right next door, they take advantage (in a good way) of available students and have a lot of internship programs and opportunities that are open to MPH students from any school. Let me know if you have questions about that stuff from an employer perspective 🙂.

The vet student that works for me has her own 1 br appt for $750 and she pays $15/month for her dog. She said that's reasonably high, but she's a little "older" like me and married (though her husband lives in Atlanta so she splits time there) so she wanted a slightly nicer place. She also referenced that a lot of people have roommates and pay $350 or less like @jtaylor721 said.

This is a little bit late, but thank you for the reply! With an MPH only, did you find employment with the CDC quite readily? I'm asking this because my partner is currently attending school at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for his MPH. Our plan is to hopefully settle together in Georgia if I get into UGA this cycle and to have him find employment at the CDC. It would be an absolute dream of mine to find an internship with zooneses researchers from an epidemiological standpoint during veterinary school, so thank you for giving me that hope!

 

[peteypie]

So I got this email today about the deadline reminders and this part confused me:
"We understand that VMCAS will accept them until October 15th, but we will only accept those that VMCAS has received by Spetember 15th. Also,they must be sent directly to our GRE code (5752)."
Do we need to send our scores to VMCAS and UGA or just UGA?
I've only sent mine to UGA thus far...

 

[bnaseam]

GRE scores need to be sent directly to UGA and any other school you're applying to. Transcripts are sent directly toVMCAS right now. If you are currently taking classes you send your updated transcript directly to the school by the end of January (unless they've changed the send date from last year).

 

[Awapi]

So I got this email today about the deadline reminders and this part confused me:
"We understand that VMCAS will accept them until October 15th, but we will only accept those that VMCAS has received by Spetember 15th. Also,they must be sent directly to our GRE code (5752)."
Do we need to send our scores to VMCAS and UGA or just UGA?
I've only sent mine to UGA thus far...

For what it's worth, I sent my GRE score directly to UGA only, but the VMCAS got a hold of them as well. This happened when I applied to MPH programs, if you sent it to a school on the lists of schools of public health then SOPHAS (MPH version of VMCAS) also got an official copy. But others are right, you just have to follow the school's requirements and UGA just requires that the GRE scores are sent to them directly.

 

[Awapi]

This is a little bit late, but thank you for the reply! With an MPH only, did you find employment with the CDC quite readily? I'm asking this because my partner is currently attending school at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for his MPH. Our plan is to hopefully settle together in Georgia if I get into UGA this cycle and to have him find employment at the CDC. It would be an absolute dream of mine to find an internship with zooneses researchers from an epidemiological standpoint during veterinary school, so thank you for giving me that hope!

I'm super late too! I never get one here 🙂. I will PM you so I don't spam the others not interested in public health!

 

[peteypie]

For what it's worth, I sent my GRE score directly to UGA only, but the VMCAS got a hold of them as well. This happened when I applied to MPH programs, if you sent it to a school on the lists of schools of public health then SOPHAS (MPH version of VMCAS) also got an official copy. But others are right, you just have to follow the school's requirements and UGA just requires that the GRE scores are sent to them directly.

Thank you! That's what I thought but I wanted to make sure VMCAS didn't need it too.

 

[Great Butts]

Hope this isn't too late or too odd of a question - but for the supplemental application's essay, the instructions aren't too terribly specific. Do we have to talk about each word in the order the pairs are listed?

 

[bnaseam]

I don't think so, the way I wrote is is I talked about each word, how they applied to me and how they were necessary in the veterinary world. I tried to make it so I could drop each word naturally into the essay and then go deeper into it instead of it being a structured essay of "I am ... because ... reasons." I think it flowed a lot better because of that. I think they made it so open-ended so it could be more open to interpretation for how applicants wanted to structure their essay.

 

[Awapi]

Hope this isn't too late or too odd of a question - but for the supplemental application's essay, the instructions aren't too terribly specific. Do we have to talk about each word in the order the pairs are listed?

I agree with @bnaseam - I actually did structure it in the order they were listed and did more of an "I am" sort of approach, but used it to "tell a story" adding each word in as it came. I agree that I think it's left open ended so you can choose the format you feel most comfortable with.

 

[Great Butts]

Thanks guys! I used the words out of order so it would flow a lot better to convey the message I wanted. I was just wondering because everyone I've asked in person used the words in the order they were listed.

 

[REB_23]

Hi everyone! I'm applying OOS, with UGA being my #1 choice. Nice to meet you all

 

[coffeelauren]

Hi guys! I'm in no way ready to apply any time soon, but im an undergrad at UGA. I'm in a pre-vet club, so i go to the vet school every now and then. Might be able to answer any questions you have about UGA or Athens if you have any!

 

[bnaseam]

Hi guys! I'm in no way ready to apply any time soon, but im an undergrad at UGA. I'm in a pre-vet club, so i go to the vet school every now and then. Might be able to answer any questions you have about UGA or Athens if you have any!

I loved my years in Athens, enjoy! If you have any questions about classes feel free to ask.

 

[coffeelauren]

I loved my years in Athens, enjoy! If you have any questions about classes feel free to ask.

Thanks! i really like it so far! Except chem 1 is terrible and everyone is failing ahahahah

 

[Awapi]

Hey guys - I saw in last year's UGA thread that the school starting contacting people about IS residency verification around the end of October. In the supplemental this year, they had us upload a copy of our driver's license. This is my first year applying - does anyone know if they also had you upload a copy last year and still asked about residency?

Just curious about touchpoints this year (I know they sometimes ask about residency, then your references may be called, then decisions in Jan/Feb). I like having shorterm things to look forward to, lol. If they didn't ask for a copy of a driver's license last year, but did this year, then I'd assume that touchpoint might fall off.

Not an important question, of course - just curious 🙂.

 

[bnaseam]

Hey guys - I saw in last year's UGA thread that the school starting contacting people about IS residency verification around the end of October. In the supplemental this year, they had us upload a copy of our driver's license. This is my first year applying - does anyone know if they also had you upload a copy last year and still asked about residency?

Just curious about touchpoints this year (I know they sometimes ask about residency, then your references may be called, then decisions in Jan/Feb). I like having shorterm things to look forward to, lol. If they didn't ask for a copy of a driver's license last year, but did this year, then I'd assume that touchpoint might fall off.

Not an important question, of course - just curious 🙂.

This was the first year they've had us upload our liscense in the supplemental application, and normally for residency verification they've had you email them a photocopy of your drivers liscense around that time. I'd not be surprised if this year that touch point falls off given that.

 

[Awapi]

This was the first year they've had us upload our liscense in the supplemental application, and normally for residency verification they've had you email them a photocopy of your drivers liscense around that time. I'd not be surprised if this year that touch point falls off given that.

Thank you!

 

[Great Butts]

Is everyone's checklist on UGA eLearning Commons still not finished yet, other than GRE scores and supp app/fee?

 

[peteypie]

@Great Butts , all of my items got checked off on October 3rd. Hope yours get checked off soon!

 

[Awapi]

Is everyone's checklist on UGA eLearning Commons still not finished yet, other than GRE scores and supp app/fee?

Mine were not checked off as of 9/14 and I was afraid they needed to be by 9/15 (clearly not the case since @peteypie 's checks came in on 10/3 🙂 ). I emailed to check-in and it turned out, at least in my case, they did need something from me. Esther had the whole list checked within 20 minutes after I sent her what she needed.

There were extenuating circumstances to my application, so if you're VMCAS was complete then they probably just haven't checked them off yet. However, they are really nice and very approachable, probably wouldn't hurt to check in with them via email if you're wondering.

 

[Liquid_Phoenix]

@Great Butts , all of my items got checked off on October 3rd. Hope yours get checked off soon!

What do you mean by checked off? Everything on mine says 1/1?

 

[peteypie]

What do you mean by checked off? Everything on mine says 1/1?

Yes, mine say 1/1 like they are complete (or checked off).

 

[Great Butts]

Well guys, just checked again today...and the rest of the page is completely blank other than the first three items. Guess who just sent a frantic e-mail?

 

[clau005]

Well guys, just checked again today...and the rest of the page is completely blank other than the first three items. Guess who just sent a frantic e-mail?

Mine is the same..

 

[Great Butts]

Mine is the same..

They replied to my e-mail with this - "
Applicants will only be able to see supplemental application, supplemental application fee and gre scores until all applicants have been reviewed by my office." So I'm not sure why they showed the rest of it in the first place!

 

[Awapi]

They replied to my e-mail with this - "
Applicants will only be able to see supplemental application, supplemental application fee and gre scores until all applicants have been reviewed by my office." So I'm not sure why they showed the rest of it in the first place!

I just went in and checked mine again and now I can only see the first three as well. My full list was complete (I took a screenshot last month for no real reason, I'm fastidious with record keeping) but it does appear that they have updated to only allow those three items to be viewed 🙂. I guess that means they are probably getting started!

 

[peteypie]

Mine has also changed to just those three. Odd.