Perfect yeah. The plan is for me to at least get some experience in software like Matlab and then go in-depth with others that’ll be useful for Aerospace, though I’m sure I’ll get that either way at these universities through the AE requirements themselves.
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What’s your home state and what’s your net cost per year year? Have you done any programming? What language?
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I’m from CA, so it looks like Michigan will be on the more expensive side with around 70k a year, and the UC’s are around half that. Georgia Tech is coming out to about 50k a year. I have done quite a bit of programming already with Python, Java, C++, and Matlab, which is part of the reason why I was initially looking to get a CS minor (just to continue building on that).
First of all, CONGRATS! You have done very well espl. given this unusual year of college admissions. I was in a similar predicament a year ago. I had UMich, Gatech, a couple of Ivies, UMD, Penn State honors and Purdue. This is what I found:
- For engineering in general and AE in particular, the state schools are on par or even a touch better than the Ivies (in terms of recruitment, diverse course work, research opportunities etc)
- If you look at AE, Princeton for example has a good program with < 10 professors in AE whereas UMD & Gatech have over 40 faculty members in AE. This means more opportunities for research, and more diverse course offerings. Columbia is me/materials science focussed, but no AE specific courses/research (ex propulsion, fluid dynamics, ae structures etc)
- I chose Gatech and am very happy with my choice. I liked Umich as well but preferred the warm weather.
- I also am interested in doing a Masters and the Gatech MS program seemed to be stronger than UMich, although not by a lot
- Gatech is also known to have a great CS program.
- Also check to ensure that you can transfer from one engineering major to another in any school you go to.
- Another point to check is how much credit you will receive for your AP courses and if you will be allowed to sit for advanced placement courses in Math (like diff. eqns, linear algebra, multi var. calc). You could save a lot of time and money
Bottomline: Where ever you go you will be fine. These are just a few things I looked at. There is no wrong choice with your options
Best wishes!
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If you are planning on grad school, choose the least expensive one. All are strong academically and no reason to go into debt for undergrad if you don’t need to. You say you don’t need to worry about cost - is that because you have great financial aid at all of them? If you are full pay, worry about cost unless you have a college account that funds them completely 
If your parents are willing to pay it, it is coming from somewhere - current or potential retirement savings, etc.
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I think there is a wrong choice…to pay $140,000 MORE to attend Michigan or Cornell. You’re not burning that difference. You’re burning what that difference could grow into…$4M+. Given those costs, UCLA is a no brainer. That is unless you think you might rather stay in ME. Then Berkeley is a no brainer. You can work in aerospace with a ME degree either from the fluids angle or the mechatronics angle. My son is a ME and his thesis was on boundary layer aerodynamics. He did an internship with an aerospace company and has ME friends at both SpaceX and NASA.
My suspicion is that you didn’t apply to Cal Poly, but if you did and you got in, you shouldn’t ignore that option either. They educate students very differently than the schools you’ve mentioned. One of my son’s (CP ME BS/MS) good friends is a CP ME and her brother did ME at GT. When they compared notes, he said that the CP labs and senior project were much more robust than those at Georgia Tech. They have an astronautics concentration. It gets inappropriately looked down on by CA residents because it is a CSU. That’s a BIG mistake. It also gets overlooked because it doesn’t offer PhDs, so it doesn’t get ranked with the schools that do. It is a great school and would be even cheaper.
With your programming background, just take it as it comes in your coursework.
Good luck!
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Well, looks like it will be UCLA!
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Well that should save him some money also… OK… Next student 
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Oh wow looks like I’m in a really similar place as you were a year ago. Do you think you could actually tell me a little bit about your experience as an Aerospace Undergrad at Georgia Tech (even though it’s been less than normal so far)? Also what was the main reason you ended up going with Georgia Tech?
The latter, it looks like the parents are willing to pay for the first/second year at least.
To reply to @eyemgh: Yep, Michigan or Cornell are starting to seem more and more unnecessarily expensive, especially if as we’ve been talking about, the academic/career difference is almost negligible. You’re right in that I didn’t apply to Cal Poly, but yeah I think at this point Michigan and Cornell are out of the question and it’s coming down to either UCLA, Berkeley, or Georgia Tech.
As you know, the past year has been different because of online classes. So my experience is not a ‘complete’ on campus experience so to speak. I took many classes as a freshman, received credit for some and passed advanced standing exams in others. All in all I am happy with my professors. Some have been stunning (more so in the advanced classes.) I hear there are a lot of research opportunities normally, but this past year was an anomaly. I chose GaTech because of the academics/research. For example, this year they are introducing a new course in composites called Mechanical Behavior of Composites. From what I have seen, the recruitment scene is robust for graduates.
The cons of Gatech are the following:
- Tough grading - below a 90 is a B (3.0) - but truth be told, if you study hard and are organised, you shouldn’t have a problem. But most students complain about ‘grade deflation’
- It’s bureaucratic - It’s a state school, so you do not get white glove treatment. My sister goes to an Ivy and they are treated like clients
- As a freshman, it’s sometimes hard to get the classes you want. Once you get an academic standing of a sophomore or junior, things become a lot easier in terms of getting the classes you want.
Hope that helps
Back in my day, grad students in engineering were given either a teaching assistant or research assistant position. And that meant free tuition and enough money to cover room and board. This was true at both the master’s and PhD level.
Anyone know if that’s still typical today?
@hebegebe, funding in PhD programs is the rule. Funding in intentionally terminal MS programs is not (although my son was funded).
@jdomingo, how do you plan to pay for the second half of your education? There are rules on how much a student can take in loans. Remember servicing the loan will be expensive and cut into your ability to do everything else you’ll want to do like save for retirement, a house (maybe, if it makes sense), etc. Do you know your parent’s EFC from the FAFSA they filled out? That could make a BIG difference. Have you received financial award letters from any of the schools or do the prices you posted reflect that?
Pulling up the top 10 employers for each off of LinkedIn referenced with Aerospace yields the following:
Georgia Tech: Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, Pratt & Whitney, Delta, GE Air, NASA, The Aerospace Corp, Bell Flight, Blue Origin
UCLA: Northrop, Boeing, The Aerospace Corp, Lockheed, JPL, Space X, NASA, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, General Atomics, Raytheon
UCB: Boeing, Northrop, Lockheed, Apple, The Aerospace Corp, JPL, Space X, Raytheon, General Atomics
Looks generically the same to me with the differences reflected in locations of the schools.
And not that there’s anything you can do about it, but here’s Cal Poly:
Northrop, Boeing, Lockheed, General Atomics, Raytheon, JPL, SpaceX, Maxar/SSL, The Aerospace Corp, ES Aero.
CubeSat was started there and that’s where Bill Nye chose to build and launch LightSail. As he said, when you want the pinnacle of CubeSat, you go to Cal Poly.
As a parent of a kid who could have gone pretty much anywhere he wanted and chose to go to Cal Poly from out of state, I continue to be stunned at the lack of respect it gets from parents and students from CA.
@shogali Ok, thanks!! I know you probably can’t speak to this completely either, but how has the social life at Georgia Tech been for you? Based on what I’m seeing online, it’s not that great, but is that over-exaggerated?
@eyemgh The second half will probably be a combination of myself and my parents. I have no intention to take out a loan because my parents will be able to cover whatever I want to save or can’t afford. I’ve received the award letters from all of these places (Georgia Tech was the last one to come in and it came this morning), and the prices I put above are what the letters are saying. Also quick question about those employment statistics: Any idea which of those universities leads to the most choices for where to go (if that’s something that’s measurable)?
Those aren’t employment statistics per se. That’s what comes up if you search alumni on LinkedIn, choose engineering for “what they do” and add the word aerospace in the search box. They are listed by rank, 1-10. It’s all self reported, but as you can see, it’s essentially the same among all of those schools, including Cal Poly.
Here’s another list to ponder: University of Texas, US Air Force Academy, Purdue, Cal Poly, Penn State, Caltech, Princeton, University of Texas, Texas A&M, University of Arizona, Cal Poly, UCLA, MIT.
What stands out? The answer is…its remarkable inconsistency. What is it? It is the list of undergraduate institutions attended by all of the technical members (i.e. not HR, house council, etc, but only scientists and engineers) of Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Executive Council, essentially, the group that is at the top of JPL. The point? If there was an obvious lock on on what the best undergraduate institution was, it would be reflected here. It isn’t.
There are only 53 ABET accredited Aerospace programs in the whole country. Go to any one of them, do well and you’ll have opportunities. The opportunities with an AE degree from The University of Alabama-Huntsville probably won’t be better or worse that any of your schools. They’ll just be different.
You will have equivalent, but not equal opportunities at all of the schools on your list. What will be the “best” fit for your final achievements and skill set cannot be known in advance, but you’ll have good companies recruiting at every one of them. There is luck and serendipity in landing your first job.
One of my patients was the head manager of one of the biggest programs in NASA’s history. He had a PhD in both Math and Physics. He was able to hire engineers from anywhere in the world. He was also a Caltech Professor. He told me this, and I’m paraphrasing from memory: “I hear your son is interested in being an engineer. Let me tell you a little secret…it doesn’t matter where he goes to school. Some of the very best engineers to ever work for me went to Podunk U and some of the most pedestrian were graduates of my institution. What matters above all is curiosity and drive. Just don’t waste a bunch of money thinking it will buy a better outcome. It won’t.”
There’s a myth perpetuated by what I like to call the rankings industrial complex that you can create some sort of hierarchy in rank order of schools. You simply can’t. In fact, some of the results are laughable.
The truth is, engineering is VERY egalitarian. Those who can rise. Those who can’t, don’t. Who will or won’t is largely cast in stone before HS graduation. UCLA grads will work right alongside Cal State Long Beach grads. Michigan grads will all work alongside Michigan Tech grads. Cornell grads will work alongside SUNY grads. The money any of them make will be determined not by where they went to school, but the state they work in.
That’s not to say all programs are the same. They aren’t. They can be broadly lumped into tiers though. Yours, along with many, many others are all in the “just fine” tier. That’s about as granular as the reality gets on this subject.
If you’re certain you want to be an AE, go to UCLA. If you think you might want to do ME and study something other than AE, mechatronics for example, choose Berkeley. The others will not give you better preparation or job opportunities, but they will certainly spend more of your parents money…which as I’ve illustrated, can amount to a lot!
On a final note, my son didn’t choose the cheapest school, largely because he had a few crazy generous scholarship offers. All of his schools though were well under $200k. Now 2 years out of his Masters, he makes 25% more than the median for US MEs with 20+ years of experience. As @Knowsstuff said, it’s about what you do. Don’t lose sight of that.
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It’s still true for PhD programs, but it depends (schools, fundings, majors, …) for master programs.
100% agree for getting the technically education into the students head.
My son did Ace Mentoring in Chicago during his junior year. Even though he’s not into Civil engineering it was a fun time and did engineering exercises and actually worked /simulated a real shopping center that they visited. Companies like HBK and 3 other large worldwide companies. Who are the mentors? Their first year engineers. So I asked about 10 of the 30 what school did they come from. Illinois, Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Illinois Institute of Technology, Kettering, University of Illinois - Chicago. Etc… I asked the lead guy if they all get paid the same and he said “We better”… Lol. All given the same contract with same pay as first years.
That was an eye opener to me. But… And it’s the but… To me that makes a difference. What do you want your 4 years on Campus to be like?..I do think schools have their own culture and yes certain companies are coming to recruit at Michigan that are not coming to Kettering. Certain schools also have strong company connections if you will that might be an advantage. Research and labs/facilities. All of these schools will be top notch. Faculty - again all will be great. Campus life… That is personal to the applicant. Each campus has its own flavor. Opportunities on campus… Well, gotta get off your butt and go get it. That’s anywhere but the ability at one campus over the next might be easier. I am kinda laughing when another poster mentioned at GT anything under a 90 is a B… Unless I am reading that incorrectly like… Yes…what happens when the mean is 45 on a test… Lol… Engineering is not for the faint of heart… Lol…
Berkeley and GT are known to be more competitive schools within their departments and weeder type schools. That’s been their rep. Michigan as hard as it is, is not known for that but more collaborative. That to me is the other factor your paying for. Also a school like Michigan you can move easily between majors and interests. Other schools your locked in. Not saying to Go Blue due to costs but find a school that your not trapped or can’t move to another major. I hear so often kids going to UIUC and don’t get their first major choice but their second. Why choose something that you don’t really want to go into? Makes no sense to me.
Anyway, Your choices are all great. You will do well where ever you land. To me it’s the school culture that might be more important. There are Facebook groups and reddit (kids like to complain on Reddit though), etc to explore. Might want to try to reach out to a student at these schools to get their view.
At the very beginning of the thread you mentioned interest in astronauts and related matters. There have been 14 Georgia Tech grades who became astronauts at NASA. NASA is a common internship/coop/employment recruiting agency for Georgia Tech students. You also inquired about social life at Georgia Tech. Yes, it’s is true that engineering curricula at GT are extremely rigorous and often stress-inducing. The reward is the degree and the employment opportunities and salaries that follow. Despite the rigor, though, social opportunities are abundant. There are over 30 frats and sororities and these are really great for socializing and networking. There truly is one for everybody. Lots of clubs and organizations too, and incredible facilities. The beautiful GT campus and warm Atlanta weather are pluses too.
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This is a commonly perpetuated myth by posters who want to affirm their support for brand X, no matter what the school is.
The truth is that on average GT engineers don’t make any more money than engineering grads from nearly any engineering program. GT’s most recently reported data on median starting salary for engineers is 70,500. Look up ANY school, not just the big names being considered here, and that figure will be quite similar. I’d venture that both CA schools and MI are higher than GT for engineering salaries overall, not based on quality of education, but the industries those schools feed and the geographic locations their grads work.
Here’s the bigger point…that differential stops after your first job. You get rewarded for your job experience. No one cares where you went to school. The results are a very mixed bag as to who thrives and who largely goes sideways regardless of the institution they were educated at.
Ditto opportunities. My son landed a great job at a startup founded by former Apple employees. He was the an early employee and the first new grad hired. He gets paid extremely well and he does very stimulating, enjoyable work. I guarantee he would not have landed that job had he gone to either Georgia Tech or Michigan.
Some parents would mistakenly use that to say the school was the reason. It was, but not for the reasons you might think. They were (and largely still are) in stealth mode, so no one would have known about them outside of a tiny circle of insiders. They don’t recruit at GT or MI. Parents mistake serendipity and luck for a school’s superiority.
What is also a guarantee is that for the same reasons (regional proximity, school bias, etc.) that he would have had unique opportunities at MI or GT that he didn’t get at Cal Poly. Don’t mistake that for the schools being superior. The opportunities will all be good, just different.
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