<p>hello parents! i've been accepted to both cmu and gatech. but i have no idea where to go. I want to be at a school with a great reputation, great engineering, and a great job afterward. what is a girl to do?</p>
<p>i've been to a pre-college program at cmu for the past two summers, i know a lot of people there (faculty and students), and i absolutely love it there. where as with georgia tech i'm an instate student with great FA, been accepted to the honors program, summer program, but i don't know it well (even though i could during the summer)</p>
<p>which one has the most prestige, opportunities, and connections?
i know a lot of you have children in the same situation. i really don't want to regret my decision for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>In the world of mechanical engineering, Tech is incredible. The ME program is ranked within the top nationally as undergraduate preparation. Our son’s best friend is a rising senior in ME=he will be interning for Caterpillar this summer in Illinois, and has spent the past 2 summers interning for Coke. He has already had great job offers, thanks to Tech’s career placement program. CM is a great school, but if you want a world class education in ME with very secure job placement I would choose GT. If you have been accepted into the honors program, even more opportunities will come your way. Final thing: while you work very hard, remember the male/female ratio at Tech-you will have plenty to do!</p>
<p>They are both great schools with great engineering programs and both are highly regarded, although Tech a bit more so. Take at least a weekend and visit GT (an accepted students weekend would be best) with an overnight in the dorms if at all possible. The vibe at a public versus a private is VERY different and you owe it to yourself to get at least a snapshot.
Good luck!</p>
<p>thank you georgiatwins! that’s really helpful. it’s really funny that this month i have met sooo many people who are deciding between gatech and carnegie mellon</p>
<p>avhs dad: you are correct. i visited tech for a weekend and i don’t think i fit. it’s a huge school that’s way to big for me. i feel like i’ll get lost. but with me being in the honors program i feel as if i would get just as much attention as i would at cmu.
it doesnt help that both pretty much offer the same things, but tech is ranked higher. </p>
<p>i’m just so afraid and nervous to pick a school because it will determine where the rest of my life will turn out, as dramatic as that sounds. i love Carnegie Mellon with out a shadow of a doubt. there isn’t another place that i’d rather be, BUT i feel as if Georgia Tech would offer me more and will build up my resume more…</p>
<p>i didn’t realize how stressful this would be :(</p>
<p>I agree, when choosing between these 2 options, both with set you up well for life after college so really go with your gut on where you feel you fit :)</p>
<p>If memory serves me correctly, GA Tech as a whole has an extremely low four-year graduation rate. I’d check the graduation rates for both programs.</p>
<p>From [this</a> table](<a href=“http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/summary-degrees-conferred]this”>http://factbook.gatech.edu/content/summary-degrees-conferred), it’s clear that most students are in engineering. The various engineering majors have degree requirements ranging from 126 to 132 hours (cf. non-engineering majors, which require 122 hours). To graduate in four years with a 132 hour major requires a lot of incoming AP/IB credits and/or always taking summer classes. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself taking 17 hours a semester with a bunch of labs.</p>
<p>Many students just need a fifth year before they get out. It’s not because the student body is indifferent towards academics, nor is it because it’s “hard” to get into classes that you need to graduate. It’s because most students are engineers, engineers have more degree requirements, and engineers are more likely than others to co-op.</p>
<p>is it true that depending on where you graduate college is where you’ll more than likely live for the rest of your life? i don’t mean to sound dramatic.</p>
<p>Where you go to college could influence where you get your first job, as generally lots of companies recruit locally. However, both CMU and GT attract companies from across the country to recruit on campus, especially for engineering jobs. </p>
<p>For example, at GT lots of students get jobs in the Atlanta area or the southeast after graduation because lots of local companies recruit there, but it is not hard to find companies on campus recruiting for jobs in NY, Chicago, SF, LA, Texas, Seattle, DC, etc. I would assume the situation would be analagous at CMU.</p>
<p>I got my undergrad and graduate degrees from Ga Tech and worked in the Comp Sci department in CMU. They are VERY different schools. For MechEng, in BOTH places you will work HARD! I think education-wise, you can’t go wrong no matter which you choose. But, financially, I think the choice is clear.</p>
<p>okay. this is when everyone will start thinking i’m crazy
at CMU i would have $5,000 a year in loans so by the time i graduate it’ll be $20,000 but right now that price is getting negotiated. plus i do have some scholarships to pay it off…</p>
<p>at tech it would be $2,000/year thanks to HOPE and other scholarships so for four or 5 years in would be at most, half the cost at tech</p>
<p>i talked to my guidance counselor about the difference and he said that with the jobs i would get after graduation i could easily pay off my debt. what concerns me is the amount. nothing is guaranteed and i don’t want $20,000+ in loans on my back when i get out of college. THAT of all things scares me the most about CMU</p>
<p>could you tell me how they are different digmedia?</p>
<p>My suggestion had always been that if CMU were as cheap or cheaper than GT, then you should go to CMU since you feel it fits you better. With your updated post, CMU is more expensive, but $20,000 is a very manageable student debt. Living frugally and sucking it up should pay it off in a few years.</p>
<p>If you’re dead set on ME or at least within engineering, I’d say go to Tech since it is less expensive and you won’t lose anything on the academic side of things. But if you just feel that CMU clicks for you, then $20K is not too much for four years of studying and living in a place you love. Ultimately, it’s a tradeoff. Just know that you CANNOT go wrong with either choice.</p>
<p>Also, it looks like the difference in loan debt would be $12,000 ($20,000 at CMU versus $8,000 at GT). That’s pretty small compared to some comparisons that people have asked about (e.g. $100,000 difference between two schools).</p>
<p>But yes, as noted above, four year graduation rates need to be considered with the fine print. Particularly in the case of schools where taking a semester off of school to do a co-op job is common, is it “four calendar years” (in which case it should look low), or “eight semesters” (or “twelve quarters” at a quarter system school) (in which case it should not look as low as “four calendar years”).</p>
<p>Two great schools… with relatively small difference in cost ($3000/yr extra loans for CMU per prior post) plus perhaps some extra transportation cost. (Last year we would have been looking at $40K/yr extra for CMU. In honestly, I was relieved when son didn’t think it was a good fit for him.) </p>
<p>Normally I advised to go for the least debt, but this could be a case where fit trumps costs. What do your parents think?</p>
<p>From a parent: You list GA as residence. If you are Hope Scholarship eligible, then by all means attend GT. Unless $$ is no object, it’s a no-brainer. Moreover, GT was just on a list of top 25 schools for career ROI, and those #s were calculated, I believe, without factoring in the free tuition Hope enables. Be financially smart, go to GT.</p>
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