<p>GaTech actually has the highest SAT averages out of all public universities. So yes, GaTech student quality is quite high.</p>
<p>Can we get a source on that?</p>
<p>According to Collegeboard, that's not anywhere close to true</p>
<p>for the college board rankings, can you please post a link.</p>
<p>Also on the silly side of things, how are the parties at georgia tech and stanford and berkley? I am not usually the party kind of guy, but rather i get into intense discussions about string theory and calibi yau manifolds on friday nights. But going to parties is also sometimes not so bad especially after you have had a grueling week. Plus everybody seems to laugh at your physics jokes :)</p>
<p>I don't mean to hijack but my question is closely related and I think this is a good place to put it.</p>
<p>Due to my unique situation, I qualify for instate tuition at both UCs and Georgia Tech so it's affordable either way. My question is: outside of Berkeley and UCLA, is there any reason why I should choose schools like UCD or UCI over GT for the study of CS? I like Georgia Tech's campus a lot better and one of the biggest draw for me is their newly finished Klaus CS building and the fact that CS has its own college (I know Irvine does as well), being in Atlanta earns major kudos but is also why I wouldn't pick it over Berkeley or UCLA.</p>
<p>Biggest draw for schools like UCD and UCI and concern for choosing Georgia Tech: location. Atlanta is great and I'd love to go to school there but it's definitely not the best place for good CS employment. What I don't know is just how much does it matter for me to go to an UC compared to GT for job prospects in the valley? I know UCD pumps lots of graduates into the valley each year because of its geographical proximity, and that's very important to me. On the other I really don't know much about GT's employment opportunities outside of the southeast.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Any input is appreciated.</p>
<p>P.S. I've been a Californian for the past 9 years but my family is in Atlanta.</p>
<p>If you think you want to join a startup or smaller company(which I think anyone should really look into), then UCD may be the better choice, given you want to be close to where such companies are hiring. UCI, I'm not so sure about, given its location. If you're convinced you want to work for a larger company when you graduate, then it doesn't really matter where you go. I don't know the rankings for CS, but GATech is probably better than UCI and UCD. Of course, if you get into Berkeley, I'd really recommend you go there. Soda Hall isn't brand spankin' new, but it's still a nice shiny building.</p>
<p>You really prefer Atlanta to CA? Really? This city seems dead, compared to LA SF, SD, SB - pretty much anywhere in Cali. Been counting down the days since I got here.</p>
<p>Which is why I wouldn't choose it over Berkeley or UCLA.</p>
<p>All of those places you listed are great places to be, but neither Davis nor Irvine are situated in any of them. I'm a lot warmer to Davis than Irvine because it's a college town and students are fairly involved. Irvine empties itself out on weekends, and since I'm an independent student without families in California, I'd like to stick close to big cities. Atlanta's not to bad at all to me, it's no SF or LA but it's still a big metro.</p>
<p>But yes Berkeley is top choice, not only because of its reputation, proximity to the valley and the location. For me it's also family legacy; my mother has both her MS and PhD from Cal.</p>
<p>P.S. SD's location is good, but UCSD is just kind of "eh" to me personally.</p>
<p>All I know about UCSD comes from a friend who's doing his PhD there now. He seems to like it, but then again a grad student's looking for different things than an undergrad. I agree though, that the place seems kind of blase compared to other california cities. </p>
<p>I've heard of UCI's rep as a commuter college, but I think many state schools are like that. Even at Tech, a significant number of the undergrads seem to come from Georgia and head back home a few weekends a month. This was much less the case for Berkeley, but I did know quite a few people whose parents lived just a BART ride away from the campus. </p>
<p>I just bothered to look where Davis actually is. Surprised it's actually a decent distance away from SF. You may want to check on some Davis forum about how closely involved the school is with Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>oh redtapepatrol you have certainly hijacked.</p>
<p>i am mostly thinking of going to georgia tech. I was just wondering, if i went to georgia tech could i take some extra courses in the summer like biology and chemistry. </p>
<p>Also i know i would have a lot of free time and i would love to do some research in physics. Would georgia tech let me do that, and if they did would i just be treated like dirt since i am working on my undergraduate degree? Would all the cool stuff be left to the PhD's?</p>
<p>The good thing about stanford is that it has some excellent professors in physics. For example Leonard Susskind, the founder of string theory, is a professor there.</p>
<p>If i get left with all the boring stuff i might just think of coming home during the summer then.</p>
<p>Sure you can take chem and bio (at tech or any other school). As long as you get your major requirements down, schools love it when students pursue coursework independently. </p>
<p>As for research, I'm 100% sure you can get some sort of applied physics research assistantship. Perhaps even a theoretical one. But you are going to get put on grunt work to start - generally coding or setting up experiments for the grad students or the professor. Undergrads are there to assist. Your reward for this is getting more experience in a subject and more face time with the professor. Now, if you do well and can impress the professor, you definitely can be bumped up to more complex stuff, and in some cases even conduct your own experiments. But you have to earn this; no one's going to just hand that sort of responsibility to an undergrad.</p>
<p>The only issue I see is your interests not matching your major. String theory? That's very high level theoretical physics. Engineering is not going to take you anywhere near that. I'm not saying you can't do engineering as a back-up career and study particle physics on your free time, but it would be challenging, to say the least. And if you're looking for research in that area, you face an uphill battle convincing physics professors to take in an engineering student.</p>
<p>"The higher salary difference between <em>engineers</em> (not engineering graduates who go into finance) of all three schools is almost entirely due to geography."</p>
<p>I believe that is wrong. The salary difference is due to the type of engineering. CS makes almost two times a mechanical engineer as a new grad.</p>
<p>Stanford also has a program, if your grades are superior, that allows you to complete your M.S. in
five years. That is a big savings. There are students at Stanford who get an M.S. in 4 years.</p>
<p>The connections, research orientation, location in Silicon Valley, the prestige, facilities, faculty, reputation, will more than pay for Stanford.</p>
<p>I don't think you should initially expect to make more money because you attend Stanford, but in the long run it will be worth more.</p>
<p>They have great financial aid.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I believe that is wrong. The salary difference is due to the type of engineering. CS makes almost two times a mechanical engineer as a new grad.
[/quote]
It's implied that you are comparing like students. Same major, GPA, etc.</p>
<p>And CS does not almost make twice a Mechanical Engineer. The elite CS grads might make more than double the average ME salary.</p>
<p>"It's implied that you are comparing like students. Same major, GPA, etc."</p>
<p>I am comparing like students, from the very best schools.</p>
<p>At the very best school, the very best BSME student will make around 65K. He won't make much less at a lesser school. A CS grad will make around 90K.</p>
<p>Not exactly half, but a big difference. I'm not including those who go into IB. And I'm including ones from Stanford. MIT is ranked 1, Stanford 2.
Perhaps MIT is more elite. And I'm including students with almost 4.0's.</p>
<p>I am not including the many students at these schools who can't get jobs. They exist in much bigger numbers than anyone thinks.</p>
<p>
[quote]
At the very best school, the very best BSME student will make around 65K.
[/quote]
So wrong it's funny. The upper tier MEs are making 75K-80K out of school. I know people personally who make this!</p>
<p>I can second that. </p>
<p>Then again, I've talked to some elite EE grads who make 95-100K on their first position.</p>
<p>Yeah, there is no doubt a salary disconnect. It's not double though.</p>
<p>Yes boys, with bonuses they make more. I was speaking strictly salary. Not all get bonuses.</p>
<p>I didn't deal with the need for excellent communication skills. Someone else mentioned it.
Plan on lunches and dinners and lots of meetings and presentations and speeches. And all the others you will be competing with to whom this comes naturally, or they were taught at home.</p>
<p>I also made several other points you may want to re-read. Including my final point, about many of these kids having a hard time finding a job.</p>
<p>We are dealing with recession and globalization .</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes boys, with bonuses they make more. I was speaking strictly salary. Not all get bonuses.
[/quote]
You think 65k/year is the best salary a starting ME can get? I just want to understand this correctly. </p>
<p>Have you ever heard of the oil industry? The average Mechanical Engineer working in the oil industry will probably start around ~65k/year.</p>
<p>edit: Let's not get into bonuses for the oil industry.</p>
<p>"Have you ever heard of the oil industry? The average Mechanical Engineer working in the oil industry will probably start around ~65k/year."</p>
<p>"edit: Let's not get into bonuses for the oil industry."</p>
<p>Perhaps Mr. Payne. But most men from the elite schools don't want to be blown apart by oil derricks, sweat in the heat of Texas, Canada, ME and South America. GET REAL.</p>
<p>THERE WILL BE BLOOD, BUT NOT ON STANFORD,
MIT, BERKLEY, AND GA TECH BOYS! OR VERY FEW!</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering is a very broad field, and many will be working in air conditioned private rooms.</p>
<p>As we both state these are beginning salaries. I don't understand your disagreement.</p>