Hi, I know I want to go into the business field. I can’t decide between Scheller at Ga Tech or Terry at UGA. I know going to Tech will set me up with good job opportunities for the future, but for some reason my mind keeps trying to come up with excuses to go to UGA. They both will end up being around the same price. Will I be at that much of a disadvantage if I just go to UGA instead of Tech? Share your thoughts and help a pal out. Please and thank you!
Coming from someone that lives in Atlanta, I’ll tell you what I’ve observed from friends and people I know. Georgia Tech and Emory students certainly get the best job opportunities in Atlanta (if you wanted to work here after graduation). With that being said, Terry students aren’t far behind. I’d say they’re a close 3rd in terms of institutions in Georgia. In my experience, Georgia Tech will provide better opportunities if you decide to work somewhere outside of Georgia. A funny thing you’ll notice on the Tech campus is how close it is to the EY building in Atlanta. Some of the biggest differences are going to be culture. Georgia Tech has the smartest students in the state (outside of Emory, which is also debatable). Keeping that in mind, you aren’t going to get the SEC football culture you would at UGA, and there are a lot more “nerdy” stereotypical engineering majors at GT. Georgia Tech is known for being a harder school than UGA, and a lot of people say that this can be stressful. You’ll be competing against smarter students for grades if you go to GT, and from what I’ve heard, the classes will be at least slightly harder.
At the end of the day, I’d choose the school that you’ll be the happiest with. Will GT provide slightly better job prospects in Atlanta? Yes. Will you have to work harder for the same GPA? Absolutely. Would UGA be a more “fun” 4 years? Maybe. You just have to decide what’s most important to you. If you’re only concerned with job prospects, I’d go with GT. UGA is still very competitive within Atlanta (and even cities in the SE like Charlotte), but you need to decide if its perks are worth the potential trade off in job and internship prospects.
Side note: I know a lot of UGA and GT alums that work together at the same companies. However, If you’re wanting prestige oriented jobs like Big 3 consulting ect., this is where I’d say GT has an advantage. Ive seen a decent amount of GT engineering grads go into careers at top consulting firms.
This is just my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with people I know. Don’t take everything I say as fact. Get more opinions and maybe do some research on where companies you’re interested in working for recruit from. You can also search alums by company on LinkedIn.
Good luck.