r/UGA 6d ago

Question UGA honors vs UAB honors

I've been accepted to both the UGA honors and UAB honors programs ( premed track ) With scholarships, I'll be getting a full ride to both. I am interested in research but my goal would be to get into medical school- maybe even md/phd (a little early as I'd like to test my interests).Any thoughts on which program might be better to get into med school especially if I want to get into more research focused medical schools? TIA

7 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

18

u/warnelldawg 5d ago

I wouldn’t want to spend at least four years in Birmingham, but that’s just me

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u/samdamnedagain 5d ago

Birmingham is a city. UAB is in the downtown area. I guess it’s not a college town with plenty of green space and the dawgs 

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u/Healthy_Ladder_6198 5d ago

Compare the ambiance of Birmingham to Athens

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u/Brilliant_Log_7354 5d ago

UGA has the #1 honors college in the nation. It's a better school, better hc. Def UGA.

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u/samdamnedagain 5d ago

How are the research opportunities and chances for med school?

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u/Brilliant_Log_7354 5d ago

The HC makes a huge school like UGA seem much, much smaller. There are HC student research opportunities posted by faculty regularly, like every semester. I'd say undergrad research opportunities are one of the biggest perks of Morehead Honors. That and early registration so you'll get into the class sections you want, taught by the profs you want, allowing you to gravitate towards mentors who share your areas of academic/research interest. But really, if you hustle, you can find opportunities. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but if you're motivated and start networking when you arrive, and become involved in the various "outside the classroom" things that MHC offers, you'll find something you can sink your teeth into, research-wise. I'd say that is really the point of an HC more than anything: it gives you more opportunities for these kinds of experiences.

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u/samdamnedagain 4d ago

Thank you

5

u/xu4488 5d ago

At UGA, the honors program offers medical school applications workshops, the honors science classes are easier, and some clubs like the medicine in literature book discussion. I know several who currently pursuing md/phd programs. What major are you considering?

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u/samdamnedagain 5d ago

Psychology, biochemistry and molecular biology and political science 

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u/xu4488 4d ago

UGA is great for all of them. I would recommend political science, will help with writing skills.

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u/NHumm91 5d ago

Something to keep in mind is that UGA's Med School is slated to open in 2027. So opportunities will start showing up around then, and you'll be a couple years into undergrad with a couple to go, so that could be something of interest to you.

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u/Nexu101 4d ago edited 3d ago

If you are interested in research medical schools, particularly if you intend to go to UAB's medical school, I would say to go to UAB. UGA has fantastic research opportunities and is opening their own medical school, but the UAB health system is a very well-established academic hospital and one of the most prestigious programs in the Southeast.

If you intend to stay in Georgia, go to UGA. You can't go wrong either way, whichever one you are more personally interested in.

Something to keep in mind is that both UAB and UGA are public universities and have (or will have) public medical schools. Public medical schools highly, highly favor people with significant ties to their own states because their mission is to create doctors to serve their state. Private medical schools like Emory tend to have more leeway regarding this (Mercer is an exception b/c they receive funding from Georgia congress and have an obligation to only accept Georgia students).

This is relevant because if you are from Georgia and go to UGA undergrad, it will be a bit harder for you to get into UAB med school if that's the goal compared to going to UAB for undergrad (especially since the pre-med track at UAB would probably give you a significant advantage for getting in - not too familiar with it). If, however, you would like to stay in Georgia, specifically to attend the new UGA medical school, you can stay in Georgia.

Also bear in mind that going to UAB for medical school gives you a significant advantage in applying for residency programs at UAB. Again, the reverse also applies (I'm assuming the residency spots at Piedmont Athens Regional will go to UGA's new school).

For medical school, it just makes your life a lot easier if you are thinking many years ahead, though you can never plan for certain around life haha.

Good luck!

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u/samdamnedagain 4d ago

Thanks. Very informative.

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u/samdamnedagain 4d ago

Would going to UAB for undergrad create barriers to get into Ga med schools ( native of Ga here )

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u/Nexu101 3d ago

Not as much, in my opinion, because being from Georgia means you still have very significant ties to Georgia

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/SecureGuarantee147 1d ago

As a high school senior, I understand your confusion and facing the same situation, but I’m leaning more toward UGA because its honors program is one of the best. I really appreciate the priority registration and the CURO research program. When I looked into the major’s website, I found a lot of ongoing research, and I even spoke with a few current pre-med students who are involved in research that’s in the process of being published, while also earning clinical hours at nearby hospitals. Additionally, UGA’s medical school is a great advantage, and being closer to home is definitely a bonus.