I’m trying to avoid grad school (hence choosing engineering career)
Chance me/match me: Rising Georgia Senior (4.0/35 ACT) interested in Computer/Electrical Engineering
So you have a feel as to whether you can see yourself as a student on either/both of those campuses?
GA Tech and UGA are certainly good options for you, at least on paper. You might want to try and visit some of the other schools that you have on your list, and see how they fit with your goals and your personality: if not during the Fall Semester, then via an Admitted Students Day in the Spring Semester.
Maybe I should mention an important detail regarding Zell vs. GI bill + Yellow Ribbon:
For Cornell/Brown, Yellow Ribbon will 100% cover tuition as well as room/board, books, etc.
Zell only covers tuition.
The GI bill is on a month-based system, capped at 36 months. However I have to split these 36 “credits” in some way with my younger brother, who plans on attending college but likely not one as expensive as Cornell (he’s a sophomore considering GT with Zell). So it’s probably not a financial loss for my family if I am to attend Cornell/Brown, but if there’s a problem with what I’ve payed out please let me know. Personally I think financing will not be a problem regardless of whether I go to UGA/GT/Cornell/Brown
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I definitely felt that I’d fit in at GT, a bit less at UGA maybe. And no I cannot visit any colleges further away this fall/winter
Your family needs to make the decision about how the funds are to be divided, and they should do it while you are still developing the list of colleges you will apply to. It can cause serious familial strife if it appears that one sibling has been favored over another, particularly financially.
Is the $60,000 annual budget 25% of the GI bill? Or is that what your family can pay once any GI BIll and Yellow Ribbon benefits are paid? Or…?
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I probably should’ve clarified that better. The $60,000 is before GI bill/yellow ribbon
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Unless it has very recently changed, Yellow Ribbon does not cover room and board.
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Uh oh. I received some seriously false information
I agree that you need to talk to your family. Not many people on this board know how Yellow Ribbon or GI Bill work and how to split it between kids.
Can you use Gi BIll for housing at GaTech?
You definitely should not count on your brother not to be interested in Brown or Yale… That is not your decision to make.
I also do not agree with many people on this board that each kid should get an equal amount from parents for education. All families are different. Kids are different too and their goals (and attitudes) can be different.
I do believe in the best affordable option for each of the children for sure. However, only your parents can decide how to divide military awards and their money between kids.
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I’m pretty sure yes
The question is…at what price? GT with Zell Miller wins hands down over ANY other school, MIT, Ivy or otherwise, if you have to pay in full.
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Cornell/Brown with yellow ribbon would be a similar price to GT with Zell, or else severely reduced from their normal cost.
MIT with GI bill would be ~30k less in tuition per year than standard. I’m not sure how this plays out in the long run in terms of return on investment—I’ve heard both MIT and GT students can get fantastic jobs out of the gate but it would seem there would be better opportunities out of MIT plus better alumni network. What to you think?
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I had this conversation with a GT graduate about a month ago (I am an MIT graduate). We mostly just came up with similarities (other than winter – better at GT, and summer – better at MIT). To me they are both excellent universities, and they are both only a fit if you want to work hard for four years. Of course I only have experience at one of these universities. However, I would think that they are both excellent (but not equally priced for a Georgia resident).
I am not a big fan of university rankings, but US News does have GT ranked higher than any of the Ivy League schools for general engineering (GT tied at #5, Cornell at #13 in the ranking I was able to find just now).
GT is well respected at least throughout the USA.
The issue of having the GI bill capped at 36 months seems awkward to me. I would not know how to split this between the reality of a student attending university now versus the possibility of a younger sibling attending a different university in the future or the same student or sibling attending grad school in the future.
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I think I’d go to the school that offered the day in and day out experience I wanted to have over 4 years. The time at Brown will be very different than the time at MIT. Georgia Tech will be different than either of those. I think you need to dig deeper into the student experience at each to see what will fit you. There is no best school, just schools that fit you best.
As a tangent, this board is littered with students looking to transfer from their “dream” schools. Vet your choices properly, and that won’t happen.
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As someone who had to decide between those two decades ago, I’d say they both are very good but have different cultures, with some similarities.
How would you describe the difference in culture? I’ve heard some people describe them as very similar
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It would be great if my day-in-day-out experience was what I wanted on any given day. That seems a bit far fetched for any college. But I see what you’re trying to say. My question to you is if 150k debt with an MIT education is going to be more valuable than ~$0 and GT education—let’s pretend it’s just a question of finance and that I would enjoy my time at either school and make some use of the opportunity available at either.
I would say no. The debt will be a huge drag on your ability save. Starting your retirement savings hard and early is the recipe for building wealth. The top 4 CPE employers for both are similar according to LinkedIn.
That’s my opinion though. Ask @DadTwoGirls, @HPuck35 and @Darcy123. They’re all MIT alums.
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Generally no, but there are lots of exceptions to this and only you can decide if it’s worth it to you. If you only have a vague idea of your career goals, and want lots of options then it might make sense. On the other hand, if you are targeting a big tech employer that hires lots of kids every year then the 150k is likely not a great investment.
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Compared to most schools, yes.
Compared to GT, no.
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