Hi,
I have been accepted into the Emory + Georgia tech Dual degree program and have got into UIUC for electrical engineering.
I am undecided between computer science/computer engineering and electrical engineering but more inclined towards computers. I have heard that electrical to comp transfer at UIUC is very unlikely.
Keeping that aside, the 2 points of view that I have come across in favour of both universities are as follows
Emory+Georgia Tech
Pros
Getting 2 degrees instead of one in 5 years
Georgia tech has a significantly greater brand name and have also heard that starting salaries are considerably higher
Can choose to go in directly for comp eng, in case I wish to do so
Cons
Has to be CmpE or EE, cant go for CS
Emory itself is more expensive (I am international student by the way)
UIUC
Pros
Much, much higher ranked academic programs, top 5 in US according to many sites, for both comp and electrical
2.Considerably cheaper
A focused 4 year study program
Cons
1.Shifting majors would be extremely difficult
2.Lesser brand name and heard that salaries are not as high as compared to those received by Gatech graduates
I don’t know which one to go in for. There are other minor considerations but those will not really play a role unless it is a neck and neck situation for both options.
Other than these 2 I have also got into University of Washington Seattle for pre-science. I was initially considering it but think I would eliminate it from my list due to its academic program not being so highly ranked and other factors are lower compared to both UIUC and Emory. It’s only positive is that there are slightly higher chances of transferring to CS.
Could someone please offer any insights into this? Which one should I go in for?
5 year dual degree programs are a marketing gimmick for schools that don’t have engineering to say they do. People rarely complete those programs. I like Emory, and I love GT, but don’t do it. Pick one or the other, or go to Illinois (especially if cheaper).
If you want engineering I’d go to UIUC. It is a great engineering school, less expensive, and you graduate a year earlier. It seems like the clear choice to me. Congrats!
And FWIW I don’t know about the Emory-GATech program in particular, but in general many students don’t go on to complete those 3+2 programs for a variety of reasons (ex. decide them want to stay and graduate from their original school, don’t meet prerequisites to move into the engineering program etc.). You should do a ton of research into how many people start the program compared to how many actually complete it before you even considering this as an alternative.
The Emory-GTech agreement is one that students actually follow through with because the schools are in the same town. Basically, they can still live with their friends, etc, they just take classes at a different place and belong to two colleges (same principle as in a consortium). It’s different from the standard 3+2 where the second college is miles away from the first.
UIUC: did you get into pre-major or did you get direct admit to your major?
If you got direct admit and it’s cheaper, go with UIUC.
None of the “cons” you listed are true - salaries or lesser brand name is not true at all.
As for switching major, yes it’s true, it’s difficult, but if you got direct admit it’s not a problem.
If you didn’t get direct admit, it’s another matter.
@MYOS1634: I don’t think UIUC has a pre-major. You either get in to a major or you go in to their undeclared pot. General studies, I think they call it?
@PurpleTitan for the engineering college the general pot is is engineering-undeclared. You apply to the department for your major before sophomore year.
Getting into the CS program is hard though, it’s the most competitive department.
People often say this, but I have yet to see any evidence that it is true across the board. I have seen low-ish completion rates at specific colleges (Occidental is the only one that comes to mind). My anecdotal experience is that my friends in DDEP programs tended to complete for the reasons MYOS states - I went to college in Atlanta, and the most popular “2” school was Georgia Tech (even though we had agreements with several engineering schools, and some people did to go the others.) Georgia Tech was pretty close to us - one or two stops away on MARTA, or a short drive.
Emory has some information on what happens if you decide to return - you have to apply for readmission to Emory College.
However, it’s not necessarily true that you’ll earn a higher salary if you go to Georgia Tech. And UIUC has great recognition within engineering.
Thank you everyone. Based on the responses I get the feeling that there is no SIGNIFICANT difference between UIUC and Emory+Gatech in terms of value. Considering that, I think I would go to UIUC because it costs me significantly lesser than Emory+Gatech. 188k v 291k USD for the entirety of undergrad. In my school, people greatly undermine UIUC and over-exaggerate about Gatech, so I had doubts whether the additional investment would be worth it. But clearly, that is not so.
Both UIUC and GT have solid CS and Comp engineering programs. You cannot go wrong at either place. Salaries and grad school opportunities are roughly the same.
It looks like you are interested in CS. There is definitely a path to do that with Comp Engg Major. You can build up skills to compete in the CS job market and/or be ready to attend grad school in CS. This is not an uncommon path since Comp Engg departments do offer a lot of CS courses. Take a look at UIUC Comp Engg curriculum; the following is an excerpt from their website.
“The computer engineering core curriculum focuses on fundamental computer engineering knowledge: circuits (ECE 110), systems (ECE 210), computer engineering (ECE 120, ECE 220, ECE 385, ECE 391, ECE 411), and computer science (CS 173, CS 225, CS 473). The rich set of ECE elective courses permits students to concentrate in any sub-discipline of computer engineering including: computer systems; electronic circuits; networks; engineering applications; software, languages, and theory; and algorithms and mathematical tools.”
Talk to ECE dept advisor about your interest in focusing on CS and how the technical electives can apply towards that. They are usually happy to talk about these things. Many students are facing similar dilemma. One thing you want to check is how easy is it to for Comp. Engg student to register for CS class. As you know, UIUC CS is overflowing and they give preference to CS majors. As CompE major will have same priority as CS majors? There also seems to be number of upper level courses offered by ECE department that are CS related (Artificial Intelligence, Communication Networks etc). In other words, do some research on this by talking to department as well as to ECE students (seniors who have taken the path you plan to).
The one reason you may want to consider GT, is if you have no interest in the hardware aspects of Comp Engg. While there is overlap between CS and Comp Engg, the core subject focus quite different. You can compare the curricula of both programs on the website. GT has very solid CS program with great reputation, job opportunities etc. So can’t go wrong expect it will cost you more $$ Hopefully, you are having this conversation with your parents too.
UIUC