University of Georgia
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Double major in Finance and Real Estate
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Female
Summary
Volunteer head soccer coach for 4 years, in a sorority, In the Real Estate Society
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private school in Atlanta, GA with a graduating class of 200. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Majors: Double major in Finance and Real Estate
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: Volunteer head soccer coach for 4 years, in a sorority, In the Real Estate Society
Did any of your extracurricular activities have an especially big impact on your experience?
Definitely the sorority. I made all my friends through it and I lived in the house my sophomore year. I also met a lot of older and younger people through it.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your majors?
For Finance, I did not have much homework I had to study a lot of tests. We had some case studies here and there. For Real Estate, we had case studies, group projects, and also a lot of studying for tests.
Is there anything that you feel either of your majors’ departments do especially well or especially poorly?
Real Estate did a really good job of giving you real-life situations and prepping for the real world. Finance didn’t give you a good base to learn from, so I felt underprepared in later classes.
Can you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
Both. People collaborated a lot and they are super open to helping you study. I was competitive so I think I just wanted to do just as well or better than other people. People would sometimes discuss grades but not that often. I think it’s more collaborative than competitive.
How accessible have your professors been?
Fairly accessible. I could walk into office hours whenever I wanted.
What were your favorite classes in your majors?
Finance: Mergers and Acquisitions
Real Estate: Real Estate Investments
What were your least favorite classes in your majors?
Finance: Corporate Finance
Real Estate: Real Estate Development
Why did you choose your combination of majors? Are you happy with your choice?
I knew I wanted to do commercial real estate after graduation. Both of those majors go hand in hand because you use a lot of finance in real estate, so I wanted to be a standout candidate.
Reasons to Attend
1) Great education. It looks good on a resume when you get out of school.
2) You have tons of connections and there are lots of places [to work] around Athens.
3) There are so many different groups of people you can fit in to.
4) The football program is awesome. Saturdays in the fall are awesome.
5) Greek life is great if that’s what you’re looking for.
6) The downtown area and town are awesome.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) I knew a lot of the people that go there already because I’m from Atlanta
2) Sometimes, if you’re in Greek life, it can be kind of pretentious. It can be kind of caddy.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Single in Brumby Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Sorority house with one roommate
Junior & Senior: Off campus house behind the baseball field with four roommates
What was your favorite living situation?
I liked living in my house the most because I always had someone to hang out with and my best friends lived next door.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
Pretty safe, I’ve never felt a time where I didn’t feel safe. At night I didn’t park in certain areas because there were stories of people lurking around late at night. Athens is an interesting town at night.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Five Bar
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
I really liked going to the intramural fields to Lake Herrick. I liked walking around there and they had good running trails.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you participate in at Georgia?
I like to go to the bars. When I was younger, I would go out Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. When I was older, I’d go out Thursdays, sometimes Fridays, and Saturdays. Saturdays are day parties in the spring and gameday in the fall. When you’re younger, you have swaps with fraternities on Thursdays. For those, you’ll start at the frat you’re doing it with and then go to a bar that has a bar tab [for the event].
What have been some of your favorite times at Georgia?
I loved spring parties a lot. My favorite times was going to the Georgia-Florida football game and traveling to St. Simon’s Island [in Georgia] with all my friends.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
For me, it’s pretty big. Everyone I saw out was in Greek life because we all went out to the same bars. But, everyone who wants to go out goes out. You can find anyone out.
How happy are you with the nightlife? Is there anything you would change?
I was pretty happy with it. I think people were pretty over seeing some of the same people over and over again. It was pretty much the same thing every night going out once you’re four years in.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met a lot of them through my sorority and also through being from Atlanta and playing high school sports. I also met some through Brumby.
How would you describe the social scene?
I think it’s great. There are so many people hang out with. You meet so many people through classes, Greek life, and there are also lots of clubs to be involved in.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think so. I wouldn’t say as much in Greek life, but Greek life is such a small part of Georgia. There are so many things people are involved in, I don’t think diversity is a big issue at Georgia.
Do you think people are happy with their choice of Georgia by senior year? Do you think people leave loving Georgia?
I definitely think so.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes, I got my job through someone whose son went to Georgia that I knew. I met with a bunch of girls at the company I’m for at Georgia and a lot of people at my company went to Georgia, so it’s a nice thing to talk about and have in common. I’ve also met a lot of people I’ve been able to network with because of Georgia through the Real Estate Society.
Have you used the career office?
I don’t think I went once. I did go to the career fair and I got a few interviews through that.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be helpful to you professionally through your coursework?
I’ve learned Excel through Finance and Real Estate. It’s a huge thing because you have to use it a lot in Financial Modeling and in projects in Real Estate. I’ve also used ARGUS in Real Estate classes.