Cornell vs Georgia Tech vs NC State

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

I aspire to be a mechanical engineer, with my dream job being to work with robotics or work in the space industry.

I was accepted into Georgia Tech for mechanical engineering and have been offered the Provost Scholarship. As a potential OOS student, this would bring the cost down to that of what in-state students have to pay. In addition to another scholarship I got, I would be paying at most 20,000 a year, although I haven’t gotten financial aid back yet so that may change. I also got into the grand challenges living learning community. At NC State, I was offered a position with the Goodnight Scholars program. This would provide me with various opportunities as well as a scholarship that makes it basically free for me to go there. Because I have a lot of community college credits, they will transfer and this would be very helpful.

At Cornell, I would have to pay at most 13,000 a year. In addition to that, I was offered a ryan scholar position, which means that very soon after graduating high school I would go back to Cornell. I planned on using this time to work on robotics projects as well as a Calculus 2 refresher, but I wouldnt have that time at Cornell. Otherwise, it seems like a good opportunity.

I really like what all schools have to offer. I’m torn with what to do because they’re offering very different experiences, all of which seem amazing.

I was wondering whether it would be worth it to spend more money? Would places like SpaceX or Boston Dynamics care about where I go? I’ll most likely have to get my graduate degree for robotics, so thats something to also consider. I’m just really worried about not choosing the right school because I want to make the most of my education. I’m concerned as to which school will give me the most grant money and opportunity in terms of research and robotics projects, so any info on that would be much appreciated.

What would you guys do in this situation? What factors should I weigh more heavily when making this decision?

Any advice on what to do would be much appreciated. Thanks!

2

yes! SpaceX hires EXTENSIVELY from Cornell – my friend is actually interning there this summer.

3

You would be paying 13K for Cornell and 20K for Georgia Tech? Cornell’s engineering school is top rate.

4

Size
GT 21k 15k ugrad 80% stem, 1450 sat, 60/40 MF ratio
Cornell 21k 15k ugrad 37% stem, 1480 sat, 50/50 MF ratio

Eng rank
4 GT
10 Cornell

Mech eng
3 GT
9 Cornell

Aerospace
2 GT
NR Cornell

Weather
GT warm
Cornell cold

5

In terms of “paying more” I meant more of a comparison between Cornell and NC State, with NC state being free. I just got financial aid from GT back and I definitely can’t afford it at this point.

6

I would go to Cornell over NC State. My son transfered to Cornell from a free full tuition state school.
Socially he enjoyed Cornell much more, meeting more bright peers. And Cornell is tops in anything you may study, not just engineering. You will have electives in other areas, and many kids transfer out of engineering. You can have a top education in almost any field at Cornell.

And you can’t beat the campus, as long as you dont mind the cold.