Georgia Tech OOS or UT in state for mechanical engineering

College Search & Selection
1

Would love some perspective on choice between mechanical engineering honors program at UT (instate and annual merit scholarship which will bring cost down to about $12k a year) or Georgia Tech Mechanical engineering at full OOS cost of about 53k a year.

I can see GT is highly ranked for ME but UT is not that far behind. We have visited both and my son far preferred the vibe on GT campus.

He would probably like to add in a computer science minor which looks much easier at GT as UT seems to only offer a certificate and in courses not available to the CS students so it feels like they would not be as rigorous.

Another possibilty he might do is add spanish, particularly if he could get it to work with a semester abroad location.

He is coming in with about 40 hours AP credits on the specific ME course pathway for both. Plus some AP computer science and spanish credits he is not using at the moment.

Is it worth even considering paying the additional $160k to attend GTech? They talk a lot about co-ops and internships to get experience and earn money to set against costs but I can see these are also possible at UT (but I guess might need the student to be more proactive). And long term I am not sure if the time would be better spent getting a graduate qualification instead of 3 semesters co-op?

Semester abroad would bring cost down to instate at GT but semester abroad is also available at UT.

I can see starting salaries look almost identical for mech engineers (though maybe with a computer science minor that could be different).

2

Not worth a $160,000 difference…especially (!) for undergrad…its not to say that GT is not stellar…its mechanical engineering dept is considered among the top 5 worldwide (along with Stanford, MIT, Berkley, Cal Tech) but you can always do grad school at one of those places. UT will be a solid choice.

3

Go to UT Austin. The study abroad programs at GaTech are pretty well organized, but sometimes does not work out as he will not be able to get the needed classes. So it may cost MORE to go abroad, not less, if he needs a ninth semester to finish the degree program. GaTech will not cost quite as much as you quote here, though, as students will cook and find less expensive housing, if for some reason he just has to go to Atlanta.
Mechanical engineering is huge at GaTech, as well, so its not as small as it seems. Computer science, and mechanical engineering are the largest majors at GaTech.
UT Austin also offers much better humanities and social science classes.

Students at GaTech need to be very proactive, things will not land in your son’s lap. Its a public school just like
UT Austin.

Don’t bother with salary comparisons they are meaningless. Also Texas has way more jobs than Georgia, so if he wants to work in Texas, for certain UT is the best choice for alumni network and jobs in Texas.

Co op programs are very good at GaTech, it will lengthen the degree, but you don’t pay for the co op semesters.
GaTech offers many mechanical engineering clubs too that are excellent. Atlanta is a nice city, but not worth $160K to live there for four years.

GaTech has 4 years of on campus housing, if he wants to pay for that, its available, which UT Austin probably does not have, but check.

GaTech also has a good alumni network. Grads tend to go to the Northeast,
west coast, to Texas, and to Washington DC,
and also graduate schools. Lots of GaTech alumni in Seattle, and the Bay area, and NYC.

Both schools are nationally ranked schools.

4

On minors, they are not really worth anything, but just take CS classes wherever he goes. No one asks “Did you do a minor?” when you interview for a job. But yes, mechanical engineers today will almost 100% be either writing code
or running Soild Works in the beginning of their careers, so its very helpful to learn CS.

There are less and less hardware positions, but design engineering is still strong. Most mechanical engineers we know get a masters in CS and get a job in CS by the way, but he will have to see if he enjoys design engineering.
See Solid Works.

As a mechanical engineer at GaTech he CAN get computer science classes, he will be able to register.
UT Austin, he may not be able to register for computer science classes as its just such a crowded major at UT Austin, but ask more questions.
I don’t know that the vibe is really that different between GaTech and UT Austin, but Atlanta is a much bigger city.
Both are vibrant universities. UT Austin offers more humanities classes that are worth taking, if that matters.

We were very disappointed in GaTech’s English 1 and 2. My son placed out of English 1, and he got into a really odd English 2 class, with almost no reading and writing required. GaTech does require an ethics class, and a few social science classes, but they are all disappointing !

The math at GaTech is A+. UT Austin offers that too. The mechanical engineering is exactly the same classes at GaTech or UT Austin, so I don’t see a really compelling reason to choose GATech, over UT Austin.

5

Thank you all. These are very helpful points as us parents have science backgrounds so no idea what engineering really looks like going forward which is obviously what he should be thinking about.

6

Some very good advice already posted. I would also say it is not worth the additional $160k.

One other point about co-op’s. If your son is likely to be interested in graduate school, which is generally focused on research, co-ops can sometimes be a waste of time.

7

Also UT Austin grads get into the top grad schools as do GaTech, its also the same for grad school admissions. Also, GaTech masters degree programs are large and very strong, if he wants to see Atlanta later in his education. Students can get TAs at GaTech the second semester of grad school, so maybe only pay one semester. GaTech is a great school, with great school spirit, but only if your in state option is very expensive like Colorado is, would it be possibly worth it, for families with extra money to spend. The OOS costs at GaTech are about $45K. Its a good deal for Coloradans, since in state at CU costs $ 35-40K as Boulder is ridiculous for housing, a bad deal for Texans with merit scholarships.