<p>Anyone up for pointing out reasons why my parents should let me go to CMU over GTech?</p>
<p>tl;dr coming up:</p>
<p>At the moment, they are set on GTech purely for its rankings and its relatively inexpensive cost. My EFC is 70k+, so FA is out of the picture (advice on how to work loans or other ways to get money would be appreciated). I'm set on CMU for mostly un-academic reasons. Its environment would be a better fit, I would think, as I come from NYC (upper east coast) and go to a relatively smart, small school. GTech would be too big and varied for me, given its humongous population and high acceptance rates (all kinds of people of all ethnicities/intellectual levels would be present). In a sense, it's too much like a public high school, which is something I'm not used to, and don't particularly like. CMU has more Asians (yes, this is a factor for me), and probably more of the type of people I'm used to (relatively smart, not heavy on parties).
I'm told Atlanta is the more exciting city, but I'm more of a suburb-type person, and don't spend too much time in NYC even though my school is there/it's an hour away. I don't know if/how boring Pittsburgh is though. I'm told they play handball there though (my favorite/only sport).
Regarding academics, I'm aware that CMU and GTech are both top tier engineering schools. But GTech seems to have higher ranks in more of the engineering majors. That, and CMU also blocked me out of electrical/computer engineering in its acceptance letter. Those two happen to be what CMU's known for, given its rankings in those categories. Personally, I would do civil/chemical/environmental before touching electrical/computer, but then GTech would be the better choice. I'm also told GTech is an extremely tough school, that lets many in, but few out. AKA it weeds out people who don't spend 99% of their time working. I don't think I want that kind of college life.
I told my parents CMU also offers the chance to head in a different direction if I decide engineering isn't for me, but I don't know much about about CMU's other departments.
Additionally, there is the option of transferring for sophomore year. At the moment I'm waitlisted at Cornell, but do not have any hope of getting in. Is there any reason to pick one school or the other if I'm going to try to transfer to Cornell after one year?</p>
<p>Looking for pro-CMU comments in particular, but I'm open to radically changing my opinion and going for GTech.
Anyone know why no one knows about GTech even though it's so high in engineering rankings? Maybe it's just that too many people in my school head off to Ivies. And every one of my friends has told me to go for CMU.</p>
<p>P.S. Feel free to correct any misconceptions I have, as I haven't personally visited either city/college, and am going by online information and hearsay.</p>
<p>It appears you already made up your mind.</p>
<p>I think I have, but my argument isn’t totally convincing my parents.</p>
<p>Well it’s not a good argument. I wouldn’t be convinced, either. </p>
<p>Georgia Tech is one of the best engineering schools in the country, and you’re going to pay more to go to a lower ranked school. And why? Because you have some perception of what you think the school might be about, and because your friends, who won’t be hiring you in 4 years, have some opinion based on their myopic view of the world?</p>
<p>Nope, I wouldn’t buy it, either.</p>
<p>Also, your beliefs about GT are all wrong. It’s not a weed out school - over 90% retention of freshman to graduation. It’s not an “easy” school for admission. There’s cultural diversity, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s not a HUGE school (12,000 undergrads - compare that to 40,000 at some schools). It’s also nothing like high school.</p>
<p>But, like I said, you have some reason you want to go to CMU, so go there. If you go to GT just because your parents force you, you’ll be miserable - not because of Tech but because you didn’t get your way. </p>
<p>You just need to research the schools better and make a more informed and convincing argument.</p>
<p>I can’t think of a reason why you would want to go to CMU. You have not been accepted to their engineering or computer science school when you are thinking of going into those fields. You can find other majors at GT as well. The cost factor is a huge one. CMU has a high attrition rate especially in its math/computer courses.</p>
<p>Do have FA from GT?</p>
<p>[Carnegie</a> News Briefs](<a href=“http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/archives/09/jan/26/briefs.shtml]Carnegie”>http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/archives/09/jan/26/briefs.shtml)
note the names on the building</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/]The”>http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/]The</a> Whistle: Faculty/Staff News @ The Georgia Institute of Technology<a href=“March%2030,%202009%20issue”>/url</a>
note the topics under “Features this week”</p>
<p>IMO: Carnegie Mellon is for those students who know what they want. Changing majors may be fairly difficult. If you are unsure, go to GTech. </p>
<p>GTech is a state school much like Cornell (landgrant portion) and its first mission is to serve Georgia citizens. Carnegie Mellon is a private and its first mission is to its students and to Carnegie Mellon. </p>
<p>The three schools that you mentioned are tough. If you are disciplined and can learn to work collaboratively you should be OK. </p>
<p>CMU has a more suburbia feel. GTech has more of a city environment. </p>
<p>I do not make comparisons on academics or general feel. They are meaningless.</p>
<p>In my current group in grad school we’ve got one guy from GA Tech and me from CMU. Both thought our undergrad experiences were great and were happy with the education we got at each.</p>
<p>How much is the difference between costs at each school? Also, are you going to be taking out loans to attend one over the other?</p>
<p>(Also, as a note, I hadn’t heard of anyone playing handball at CMU. Only courts you’ll find are tennis, racquetball, and squash.)</p>