GA Tech Job/Grad school Placement?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
1

<p>I heard that it's extremely difficult to get a good gpa from tech, especially in engineering. I'm debating on whether I'd want to go into chemical/biomolecular engineering or biomedical engineering. I enjoy both fields of science.
Suppose I don't make it into medical school, I want to have a great backup job involving one of the two fields I've listed above. I was wondering if ga tech students have any trouble at all getting into top MS programs (like MIT, stanford) for engineering. Is the grade deflation taken into account in admissions?
Do these chem/biomolecular and biomed engineering majors find jobs easily after 4 years as well?
How does the starting salary of engineering students at tech compare with the average? </p>

<p>I tried finding some of this info on the internet, especially on the georgia tech site, and I had trouble finding accurate information.<br>
If anyone could answer one of the questions I've asked, that would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Go to Page 34 and look at the comparison of average GPA’s at GT vs. peer institutions: <a href=“http://www.irp.gatech.edu/sites/www.irp.gatech.edu/files/GradeInflation2003.PDF[/url]”>http://www.irp.gatech.edu/sites/www.irp.gatech.edu/files/GradeInflation2003.PDF&lt;/a&gt; While Tech has a lower average GPA than schools like Florida, UNC, and Washington, it’s on par with Purdue and Texas A&M. So if your goal is an engineering MS, you have the same chance of a high GPA at GT vs. any other first tier engineering school. The advantage you have over a Florida or Texas A&M is that GT is a Top 5 school while those are Top 20 schools. GT also has more research funding that all of the schools mentioned above, so there is more opportunity for engineering research, especially in BME. As far as MS programs at MIT and Stanford, those are peer institutions for GT, so quite a few students go there for MS and PhD’s. </p>

<p>GT has a reputation for being a “weed out school” and for giving low GPA’s because of the 1980’s. During that decade, there was significant political pressure on GT to admit in-state students, even if they were unqualified. So GT lowered it’s admission standards, admitted those students, those students performed poorly lowering the GPA, then ultimately dropped out. Since then, GT has increased it’s admission standards such that the students admitted can handle the courses. As a result, the retention rate is now excellent, and the GPA is consistent with peer institutions. </p>

<p>That said, a technical major GPA (where something around a 3.0 is average) will never be comparable to a liberal arts GPA (where something around a 3.5 is average). This is because liberal arts grading is much more subjective than technical grading. And when a professor is allowed to grade subjectively she tends to push grades higher than if the grading is done objectively (few people like handing out D’s and F’s if it’s avoidable). You can see this at GT, where just about 35% of undergraduate Engineering grades are A’s but 61+% of undergraduate Architecture grades are A’s. </p>

<p>And, obviously, your GPA will be impact by the overall quality of the school. If you go to GT and are of average intelligence and work ethic compared to the GT student body, you’ll earn an average GPA (probably just over a 3.0). That same student at Clemson will be of above average intelligence and above average work ethic relative to the Clemson student body and will earn a higher GPA (a 3.5 or so, most likely). </p>

<p>So, in reality, your decision isn’t GT vs. another school to control GPA, it’s Engineering vs. non-engineering and Top Tier School vs. Lower Tier School. If you want the best chance at a 4.0, go to Kennesaw State and major in Chemistry. If you want the most impressive resume at the expense of GPA, go to GT and major in Biomedical Engineering. Do Med Schools take the quality of school and major into consideration when comparing students? Absolutely. Do they consider it enough to balance out the inevitable lower GPA? You might want to ask a pre-med or pre-health adviser about that. It will be specific to certain med schools and they would know better.</p>

3

<p>Does a gpa of, say, 3.4 from GA Tech hold the same value with employers & job recruiters as a gpa of 3.4 from a place like purdue? I’m planning on majoring in either biomolecular/chemical engineering or biomedical engineering & i know that ga tech ranks #3 for bme, #9 for chemE. both ranks are much higher than purdue.
does salary also vary depending on the undergraduate institute? Would there be a difference between the bme or chemE starting salary from GA Tech student and the starting salary of a purdue student?
I just want to be sure that if I’m going to take the gpa hit in order to study at a highly ranked & well reputed college, it’s actually worth it & I won’t be at a disadvantage when applying for grad/med schools or jobs.</p>

4

<p>^ If you do not slack off and do everything the teacher recommends, you will not take a GPA hit. Especially if you do not place out of all the humanities which are easier classes at Tech. I currently am a freshman at GT majoring in CHBE and will have a 3.7-4.0 depending how my calc final went. I worked really hard, went to office hours, and went to almost every class. My teachers also knew my name, even in a big 200 person lecture class. I did have fun my first semester, but I also worked very hard because college really is about education and the quality. Which is why you would chose to go to a top 5 engineering school over a top 20 engineering school. The classes are challenging, but college is supposed to be challenging. What is the point of wasting all your money and time on super easy classes.</p>

5

<p>thanks everyone. </p>

<p>I’m still wondering how the starting salaries of GA Tech students compares with other colleges though. I know that ga tech is ranked one spot above MIT for BME. But would the MIT grad’s salary be higher than the ga tech grad’s salary?
How does ga tech starting salary compare to other top 10 schools & top 20 schools?
Does ga tech boast a high job placement as well for ChBE and BME?</p>

6

<p>It’s hard to compare starting salaries for a number of reasons. First, you have to consider cost of living in different areas. If you work in SF instead of ATL, you’ll make $1000 more per month, but pay $2000 more per month on a mortgage/rent. A school like Berkeley or Stanford will place more students in SF than a school like GT or UIUC. It’s the same issue (though to a lesser degree) with Northeastern schools like MIT and Columbia vs. GT or UT-Austin.</p>

<p>Second, starting salaries are difficult to compare because of the range of fields that students pursue. A school that sends all of their students to grad, med, or law school will have a low average starting at graduation because the top students went to grad school and only the low GPA graduates that can’t get into grad school look for full time jobs. This handicaps the very top schools that send students to grad school vs. the mid-first tier or lower first tier schools.</p>

7

<p>[Georgia</a> Institute of Technology :: Salary Reports](<a href=“Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page”>Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page)</p>

8

<p>I visited that link before, but I’m not sure how accurate it is because it determines the job placement percentage for each major based on how many people who seek job placement actually report their salary. There could be more people who get jobs, but don’t report the salary, right?</p>

9

<p>And people not seeking jobs, as well (such as those going to grad school). The questionnaire is worded such that it’s confusing for those that interviewed for jobs but ultimately decided not to seek employment (for example, those that interview for positions before knowing if they’re accepted to med or law school).</p>