I got into both schools for Bioengineering, and was just wondering if anyone had any insight on which I should pick. Any insight into either of the schools would be helpful!
If you tell someone that you went to Georgia Tech, they will just nod because it’s understood that you are an engineer.
If you tell someone that you went to Northeastern, they will nod then ask you either what you studied or where is that school located.
Both schools have great CO-OP programs.
@Greymeer Some might say it’s a no-brainer to choose Tech but I guess I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth the extra 10k per year.
Did you tour both? Weather preference?
Hard to beat Boston for the college experience plus all the local biotech research and jobs.
Son applied to both because of co-op experience. I got the feeling that the college experience would be better at Northeastern but that’s JMHO.
one thing to take into consideration , you may be starting either college from your couch on line so that may add a wrinkle, will you need grad school? what were your thoughts if you saw both schools? If your into sports GT is a better choice.
If 10k is not a huge deal for you, pick Tech. Seems u got scholarship for NEU and OOS for Tech. My son was same last year. He is in CS. NEU is a great CS school and tons of Coop and Job opportunity in Boston for NEU. But for us it’s a no-brainer to pick Tech.
I think in Engineering area Tech is much better than NEU academically?
@chmcnm @NJdad07090 : Thank you for replying! I haven’t toured either thanks to recent events so I’m going blindly here.
Of any of you who have attended either or have a child who is, is Tech as academically challenging (to the point of insanity) as people say? That may be the deciding factor for me seeing as I’m definitely looking at Grad school and am not sure how much people would care about undergrad university “prestige.”
Our student had the exact same situation. Received a merit scholarship from NE, admitted OOS engineering at Georgia Tech. This one was easy. Tech was the clear choice, even though it costs more, all things considered. We researched both and felt Tech offered much more in the way of opportunities, and the academic climate is superior. Our student expected to be admitted to Northeastern, and was, but regarded Georgia Tech as a greater challenge — the OOS admit there was perceived as a great accomplishment, not to be discarded. Yes, it’s very stressful and quite a grind at times, but well worth it. There are solid friendships and good times too. Our student misses the Tech campus a great deal now that Coronavirus has closed it down. Can’t wait to go back.
One thing that stuck out for me when we toured Northeastern and Drexel was how other local schools hired their students for co-ops on research projects. At Drexel one of the kids co-oped? at Penn because they were available when needed and they were “work ready”…meaning they showed up on time. If my memory is correct the same applied to Northeastern. They had kids that co-oped at MIT.
From an engineering reputation standpoint GT wins but NEU isn’t a lightweight either.
Either way your choices are excellent.
What is travel distance from your home to each school? Living through a chaotic time now with my freshman at an OOS college, distance does play a part in the decision. Lots of parents are driving 15 hours straight through to pick up their kids this week. Luckily, my kid has a car and is only 4 hour drive from home. But something to consider.
Other things to think about…Atlanta is a major airline hub, so that is a positive. Ga Tech campus is part of downtown Atlanta. Like commuter rush hour morning and afternoon as you wait to cross several busy intersections just to get to class. This urban reality includes homeless population and some random muggings. Overall a safe campus, but reality of an urban campus means you need to decide what kind of campus is best fit for you.
Grad School costs…research to understand if your major is in demand enough to get scholarships or at least a teaching assistant paid position. If you know you will need to pay most or all Grad school costs, then that extra $40,000 for undergrad may not be worth it.
Also, are you sure your family can pay that extra money for all 4 years? Ask parents for a serious money talk. And do you have younger siblings? If so, maybe you consider the less expensive college so family has money for the younger ones too.
Where do you see yourself living after college? And which college reputation might be stronger in that region of the country? If you get ABET certified degree, after you have experience with first job after college, the name on your degree does not matter much.
Ga Tech has great co op and internship programs, and you might land a job from a co op. Are you okay with living in Atlanta after college?
I can only give advice about Ga Tech. A degree from Ga Tech is a golden ticket to get a job in this region. Very impressive on your resume. Not sure how national that reputation is, if it will get you hired in other areas of the U.S.
If your family has to go in debt to send you to Ga Tech, or if it limits your younger siblings in their college searches, do not choose Ga Tech.
Good luck to you. The world feels like a crazy place right now to all of us.
My son is a CS freshman. Tech is very academically challenging. He was top STEM student in his HS which is a pretty prestigious school in New England. But he is still very careful in selecting his class in case of getting overwhelmed. For example he avoided taking Physics as it’s a very demanding class. And he just took the minimal number credits…
He already got 2 intern offers in east coast which is not easy for 1st grade. And GT has solid reputation in Silicon Valley too.
My son was accepted EA at GT. Was also accepted at UW, UT Austin, Mines, Carnegie Mellon and Vanderbilt. Just waiting on two others as he was recently rejected at MIT and Princeton. As of now, no doubt it’s GT. The schools reputation as an engineering powerhouse is global. If you look at engineering specific school rankings, GT is consistently in the top 5 across multiple engineering disciplines. If you factor in the great non-academic activists (GT is in the ACC) you really can’t beat the well rounded college experience. Bottom line, if you are able to afford it, go. You got In! Beautiful campus as well. Congratulations
@neutralmouse01 GaTech is good, but it is definitely a pressure cooker.
If it is a problem, choose NEU. Life there will be more fun - less pressure, Boston. Your GPA at NEU will definitely be higher. If you are sure to go for grad school, you have solid options either way.
I went to NU. I am looking at GT for grad school. That is a difficult one. If NU was much more expensive than GT, I would say go to GT. It sounds like the cost is about the same… You can definitely be successful at either school. NU really hand holds students through getting Coops and jobs. They have great connections with companies across all industries. They are also becoming an elite school. The acceptance rate is going to be around 15% and seems to go down every year. GT probably does less hand holding. It is a large public university… one of the best public universities in the country, but still a large public school. GT is also more highly regarded in engineering than NU, and most every other school aside from MIT and Stanford… So, both are great schools that are difficult to get into, I would look at Boston vs Atlanta. Those are completely different environments. Both great cities, but that will probably be the largest contrast.