Hello my son wants to study Computer Science(CS) and has been accepted to the College of Engineering at University of Michigan and Georgia Tech for his undergraduate studies. Financially, it will cost the same to go to either of these schools. As both schools are ranked very highly in CS, can someone please provide any more information to help us make a decision for these schools?
Have you visited both schools?
All else being equal, I’d choose UMich because it is stronger in non-tech areas (and has a lot more majors) if he decides to change his major. But what does he feel about fit? That also matters.
Check into class sizes and the problem of getting closed out of classes. Michigan is overflowing with CS majors and even junior and senior level classes can have 200-300 students – the problem is that anyone in engineering or art and science can declare computer science as their major, so there is no effective way of controlling enrollments.
My S had Tech on his list for the following reasons. It offers a BS in computer science. Tech’s threads made it easy to to see the specialties offered and the Intelligence thread was just what he was looking for. Undergrad research opportunities seemed strong. He likes the campus, CS facilities, students, and weather.
@Rivet2000 Yes, he and I have visited both schools. We liked the campuses of both a lot as well.
He enjoyed both colleges pretty much equally. He likes Georgia Tech because of the money that goes through Atlanta, making it have more opportunity, but he also likes UMich because of how well rounded the University is.
@osuprof Agree that access to classes is something that should be investigated closely. This is especially true if the the student wants to get involved with research early. The ability to take advanced classes also, in my experience, helps in getting internship offers.
I’d expect large classes to be the norm at GTech as well, however.
Class sizes in general are large, especially so in popular majors like CS. Last fall at Stanford, a very popular CS class taught by an AI rock-star had an enrollment of 1040. My son was in the class and said it was a great class. Point being that large is not necessarily bad. The key thing to look into is access, because while that CS class was large, it was open to all. The class was comprised primarily of PhD candidates, Masters students, and “students” from industry. Also included were some undergrads including a handful of sophomores and a single freshman.
osuprof, even LACs like Pomona are struggling to contain CS enrollment. It is a very popular major everywhere. I doubt GT will be any different from Michigan.
Umich2022, if cost of attendance is the same, I will almost always recommend Michigan over GT for the reason PurpleTitan mentioned; Michigan is a more well rounded university…not just academically, but in most other ways. Even something as trivial as dating is complication in a school where over 60% of the student body is male. The only times I would recommend GT over Michigan is if GT is much more affordable, or if GT offers a very specialized program that is not offered at Michigan.
Georgia Tech (for that matter, UIUC) does separate admission for computer science, which allows them to go with a specific class size. This is different from how UMich (and Berkeley) work. In any case, it is very much worth for OP to check on class sizes and the problem of students getting closed out at GT, rather than assuming that it will be bad.
osuprof, that does not mean that GT or UIUC have fewer CS majors than Michigan or Cal (relative to their overall size and resources). According to their respective CDSs, approximately 9% of Michigan’s graduating class major in CS compared to 11% of GT’s graduating class.
weather and distance from home could be good deciding locations as well. also the kind of people if he wants to be around like different/similar demographically
@umich2022 Congratulations on your son’s acceptances, both are great schools. Since you were able to visit and liked both equally, and since the cost will be the same at both, then it comes down to fit, environment (location and student body), and if one school offers a particular program as @Alexandre mentioned above. Michigan is getting a lot of love on this thread, but it is a huge campus and a huge student body. Is that something your son is interested in? GT has a rather lopsided male to female ratio. Have you read up or posted on the boards of either (or both) schools? @Coloradomama is a great resource on Georgia Tech.
Can your son narrow down what he wants in a school, rather than the other way around? (Of course, this works if he has a pretty fair idea of what he wants.). Personally, I don’t think there’s a bad choice between the two (unless you hate winter).
Best wishes on his college career!
@UMich2022. My son is finishing second year at GaTech, the theory and intelligence threats in the College of Computing. He looked at Michigan but liked the GaTech four years of on campus housing and the more compact campus at GaTech and the better recreation facilities. GaTech has a rock climbing, and an Olympic pool (Atlanta 1996 Olympics facility) with a leisure pool and a great workout room, right near the west side dorms. The weather is really nice too, and the outdoor biking and rock climbing options are superb, with the clubs that help kids learn outdoor activities.
http://www.crc.gatech.edu/programs/aquatics
At GaTech, are plenty of girls to date, last few classes,2020, 2021, are 45% girls , no one notices the lack of girls at GaTech anymore, and in fact, Michigan’s Engineering college is much more male dominated than GaTech’s departments. The girls at Michigan 'are not in engineering classes so much, although they try like anywhere to recruit girls. Some GaTech engineering majors, like environmental engineering are 65% girls :
http://wie.gatech.edu/statistics
Gatech has some really famous female professors as well in applied mathematics, and other fields.
Some of the best payed women in the industry, Dana Randall comes to mind.
http://people.math.gatech.edu/~randall/
GaTech Outdoor education in rock climbing, biking and kayaking is one of the best in the country-
http://www.crc.gatech.edu/programs/outdoor
As far as Computer science, freshman at GaTech can get research projects, for credit or pay, and they are substantial learning experiences, for students who have the math background. My son waited until sophomore year, and meets weekly with a graph theory/combinatorics professor for two credit hours, and its like having a private tutor teaching him advanced CS subjects!
He has participated in special hackathons concerning the financial industry and other industries, right on campus.
So firms like Finra will pose problems to GaTech students, in a two day session, I think Microsoft and many other companies participate in GaTech hackathons. GaTech students also bus to UF Gainesville, for their CS hackathons.
The clubs at GaTech in the CS area are phenomenal. Big O Theory Club brings students together who
want to go to grad school in math/CS. There are options for students to give talks, and professors also give talks
about CS subjects. Its like a graduate level seminar series for UNDERGRADUATES.
https://theoryclub.github.io/people
GaTech offers a campus in France, and many international study programs. The campus in France offers GaTech instructors who teach in English. Some CS students spend a summer in Barcelona, but there are options to study in Hong Kong as well and not get behind on the CS program.
GaTech has a fine business college, and international studies is good, along with quite a few world languages, and international programs to work in Germany for car manufacturing and other work experiences. GaTech is very tied to both China and Europe for special research programs as well. My son studied Japanese language classes and they were excellent. GaTech also offers an architecture degree that is well known and respected.
Humanities, like English literature are stronger at Michigan.
GaTech has a surprisingly good faculty in liberal arts though, as its such a good school,
so sort of like MIT, it will attract faculty that are outstanding. Student interests are more narrow
at GaTech than Michigan.
Team and school spirit? Thats a toughy, for certain Midwestern football may be a bigger draw, but
I was surprised at the Tech fans and Yellow Jacket spirit and GaTech Ramblin Wreck song
is well loved and known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygxDs_zcayo
We were pleasantly surprised that GaTech is not overly southern, and nor is Atlanta.
Atlanta is a great playground for students, stuff to do, its a real city with jobs as well, lots of local jobs
and spin offers , a great job market, which Michigan, may not offer but is recovering lately.
GaTech has a lot of incubators, maker spaces, clubs, and a supportive atmosphere, and lots of
study help and support, for success as well.
Georgia Tech Research Institute is on campus nonprofit that hires CS and other students,
for contract research:
https://gtri.gatech.edu
Lately, about half the students at GaTech College of Computing are coming from outside Georgia,
so its geographically diverse, with the biggest states being California, Texas, PA, NJ and NY.
Overall, about 30% of GaTech students are from out of state.
Students can change majors once, after the first semester, may be a slight disadvantage to GaTech,
I am not certain how Michigan handles changing in and out of a CS major, but this limits computer science from ballooning too big at GaTech.
A few unusual things about GaTech their outdoor education is some of the best in the country,
they actually teach students to do these things, for a small fee!
Links for rock climbing club at GaTech:
https://orgsync.com/136057/chapter
Location of indoor weekend climbs, students car pool:
http://www.ssclimbing.com/stone-summit-atlanta/
Outdoor climbs are in Georgia and Tennessee, which is easy to get to, the rock climbing area near Chattanooga.
In addition there are beginner backpacking, whitewater and sea kayaking lessons are fantastic and the trips, for outdoor enthusiasts, I think
GaTech is a somewhat better location , (but not for winter sports!!) . Nice prices on these trips:
http://www.crc.gatech.edu/adventure-trips-0
Osuprof, that does not mean that GT or UIUC have fewer CS majors than Michigan or Cal (relative to their overall size and resources). According to their respective CDSs, approximately 9% of Michigan’s graduating class major in CS compared to 11% of GT’s graduating class.
Georgia Tech has much fewer students in total, so 11% of GATech is much smaller than 9% of UMich. Moreover, Georgia Tech’s CS faculty is larger – CS being a separate college (At Michigan it is an EECS department). The data is for class of 2017 – class of 2022 may look very different at a place that does not have mechanism to control number of CS graduates.
Undergraduate Class sizes at GaTech are smaller for math (20-50 students) which is about one quarter to one half the CS program, depending on your thread selection. GaTech CS students take calculus, linear algebra, combinatorics, information theory, abstract algebra, and many other math classes, and they are all small. Also GaTech offers honors math classes that are even smaller, and student does not need to be in the GaTech honors housing or program. Any student can self select into honors math at GaTech for the challenge and those classes are much smaller. CS classes, they limit the size, but son has never had trouble getting any class he wants at GaTech. The registration process at GaTech allows students to switch around the first week, and drop and pickup classes at will. The CS at GaTech is a combination of hard math and hands on programming assignments. Some classes do not have finals like Algorithms, but most others do. Its very cooperative, and group projects are part of the GaTech curriculum.
Also the study tutoring and career counseling is phenomenal at GaTech-
http://www.success.gatech.edu/about/welcome-director
Students at GaTech in CS can substitute a graduate class for an undergraduate requirement.
GaTech students that find the math too hard, may major in Computer Media and get a bachelors degree that includes more communications and journalism classes. That is another degree program in the College of Computing.
GaTech Capstone is a group activity/class for product design, that includes all disciplines, see this movie.
its a class where students work together to create a product, some are software related, but many teams:
http://capstone.gatech.edu
The Capstone movie offers insights from GaTech students.
If they cost the same, then I assume they’re both out of state. Tech jobs are based on skill and experience. School brand name is of little value to employers. Most are small to midsize companies and they prefer to hire locally and regionally. It’s not worth paying triple the cost for such an employable degree, especially if it requires co-signing large amounts of debt over to him.
@coolguy40 Costs are exactly the same for this poster at Michigan or GaTech. See original post.