Hi, I have been accepted to both Grand challenge and Global Leadership llc. I am a computer engineering freshman. What are the upsides and downsides of these two LLCs? Which one you think is better (making friends, academic, dorm, opportunities)?
I know GL is a new llc. So I couldn’t find a lot of discussions about this llc.
Grand Challenges will require that you do a project during freshman year, with a small group. Look up the past projects and see what sort of problems you will be asked to solve. Some are social science related, they are societal problems and not engineering problems in the freshman year. Also you will be on a cross disciplinary team, so some students might be business majors or science majors etc. Grand Challenges will give you an instant group of friends. You also get to meet some university leaders, and there are social events planned for the dorm. You will live with the other students in Grand Challenges.
GT Hackatons are open to any students, but here is an example of Grand Challenge sophomores, working on a problem together.
http://grandchallenges.gatech.edu/content/grand-challenges-team-designs-winning-rewards-system-bank-america
Global Leadership is for students who want to study abroad. Do you want to study abroad?
have you figured out where you might want to study? Look into that, I think, if you want to live in GL.
I was also accepted to both Grand Challenges and Global Leadership. I talked to current members from both LLCs and came away with the conclusion that choosing between the two is like splitting hairs. Both focus on solving world problems through a leadership lens, both are great communities that give you an instant group of friends. Both on East Campus. Objectively, the (splitting hairs) differences between the two are:
GC:
- Work on your project for a year (or longer if you want)
- More established program (potentially gives better connections within the university, and maybe more funding as well)
- The fall and spring semester classes you take for GC do not count toward your major
- Can pretty much choose any problem in the world to solve if you want
- There’s 1 day a year where you work on your project for the entire day
GL:
- Work on your project for a semester
- Only a year or two old so not as established
- Spring semester class can count toward your major (not sure about the fall class but I don’t think so)
- Projects are “limited” to something concerning one of the 17 sustainable development goals (though that’s still a lot of different projects to choose from)
I ended up choosing Global Leadership, mostly because the spring class counts toward your major, and other than that I did not see a huge difference between the two, but you cant go wrong either way. Hope this helps!
Grand Challenges
Pros:
- Provide you the financial resources, connections, and mentoring necessary for you to succeed in any problem space you choose to tackle.
- Pretty decent mentor program.
- You will make instant friends and know everyone in your dorm.
- Trips to places at reduced cost.
- Dr. Davis is very cool
Cons:
- Your experience depends heavily on the team you are in. If you get a bad team, you may be stuck doing the entire project yourself.
Thank you for the responces. I have chose Grand Challeneges, and my friend chose Global Leadership.
Can’t wait to go to Gatech.