Hi everyone. I was recently accepted to BU with $20,000 scholarship and Georgia Tech. I am really interested in majoring in comp. engineering. I am currently trying to compare the two. Honestly, I really love going to college in BOSTON (YEAHHHHHHH!), but at the same time, I am worried about my future career. As you probably know, Georgia Tech has one of the highest ranked engineering programs of the nation, but I really don’t know if I like the vibe of the South ( I’m from PA by the way). Boston is obviously a better city, but I want to hear more about its engineering program. Do engineering grads get a job right out of college? What opportunities (research, academic,…) and resources are available at BU? If you have a reason to prevent me from going to BU and going to Georgia Tech instead, please also post. I really want to here opinions from different people. Thanks
Bump! Any thoughts guys?
Did GaTech give you money?
No, so the amount to pay should be similar, and I’m not too worried about that.
Did you apply for BME? BU has a ranked #9 BME program, but everything else isn’t as good.
In your case, I’d take Georgia Tech if costs are similar. As far as Boston as a city, you can live there some other time in your life. Your academics and career take precedence, and GT is a clear advantage here.
I wouldn’t say any school really guarantees you a job nowadays, and both are good schools… Tech has a slight edge for engineering, specifically for getting jobs in the South, but BU ENG is hardly a bad school–BU is well respected across the U.S., particularly in the Northeast. I’d say school vibe/location/other perks are what you should look at. I’m from ATL & have many friends who went to Tech, and I attended BU so I can give you some perspective on both in terms of environment.
Tech & BU have totally different vibes, and Atlanta and Boston are very different cities. Tech has a traditional campus (unlike BU), and yet it’s in Atlanta so you will need a car. Most people live off-campus, especially after Freshman year. You’ll either do activities right on/around campus or you have to drive around Atlanta to do things, as compared to Boston where you have the T and Boston/Cambridge, etc. to go around and do things in. Atlanta has malls and massive stores like Ikea, Target, etc. all very close (there is literally a massive Target + Ikea 5 minutes from Tech). Boston… does not, so stock up at the beginning of the year when your parents have the car 
I’d say the area right about Tech is kind of fun, but ATL in general is a suburban kind of city that doesn’t have a distinct city culture like Boston.
Boston has more culture & a better college culture (IMO!) because there are so many schools. You have BU kids, Northeastern kids, BC kids, MIT kids, Harvard kids, Suffolk kids, etc .etc. etc.–it’s a fun place to be a college student/in your 20s. It’s a Northeastern college experience + art museums, theatre, etc. In Atlanta and at Tech, you’re going to get into football + frat culture (Yellow Jackets vs. Bulldogs!)… just generally you’ll get that in Southern culture. Fried food, football, malls, Coke. I wouldn’t call Tech a party school, but it’s more of a party school than BU. There’s geek culture at both schools but it takes different forms. If you’re a guy doing engineering, it will probably be fairly comparable, but as a woman, the geek culture at BU was a better fit for me (more OMG I love TV & books!!! geeking out).
Major pro for ATL: low cost of living. Boston is expensive. My Tech friends loved/love Tech (my BFF is finishing up her PhD there!). But you will either love or hate it in the South. There’s really no middle. So maybe do a school visit first? And like I said, depending on the type of engineering you want to do and where you want to end up professionally, both schools could offer advantages. Tech will give you a huge edge across the Southeast, especially in ATL. BU will give you an edge in the Northeast. A friend of mine got a job at Sikorsky right out of school.
Oh, another core difference: BU offers a broad liberal arts school that will offer you lots of options beyond your ENG classes. Tech is more specific–you won’t really be able to take that random English lit or sociology class; even the English classes at Tech skew math & sciencey. I can also speak personally for BU’s extensive study abroad programs, including a whole program for engineering majors (the Dresden Program)… not sure if Tech has something comparable.
This might not help at all! But might give you a sense of school/city culture? Something totally different from PA might be right up your alley, but if you want a New England college experience, you’d have to choose Boston. I know happy graduates from both schools 
Thank you so much @proudterrier. I had visited Boston before and I love the vibe there. So far I have been studying in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere so convenient transportation is a must-have component in my college selecting process. Atlanta is no where comparable to the T in Boston. If I go to Tech, I really want to move out of the South right after graduation since I don’t find it any attractive to settle down there (sorry I like the cultured north more).
And I should be on the same boat with you, since I’d rather watch TV and read all day than go to a football game. Not sure if I can even fit in at Tech.
Hmm, yeah, it sounds like you may vastly prefer Boston, culturally. The car thing can be a huge dealbreaker: you just can’t function in ATL without one. That was an issue for me–the two years between 16 & 18 when I didn’t have one was a drag (I had Reasons for not getting a car). It’s just so easy to get around & function independently in Boston because of the T. And, hey, no worries about knocking the South: I got out at 18 and haven’t been back other than to visit my mom and go to DragonCon
So yeah… while Tech does have a slight edge for engineering, the thing is, once you get into a certain echelon of school quality it’s not a dealbreaker to go to one school over the other. Meaning, the causation/correlation between getting The Perfect Job isn’t as direct as some think. I think choosing a school culture that will fit you better will yield just as good results, re: your engineering degree & job prospects as otherwise. One plus I can say for BU, regardless of ranking, is that it’s rigorous academically, more so than many “better” schools (I’m looking across the river at you, school that shall not be named!), and you’ll develop a great work ethic which will suit you in any job. I worked my butt off at BU & really loved all my classes.