Georgia Tech vs. Carnegie Mellon for MechE

<p>hey you guys. i've been accepted to both cmu and gatech. but i have no idea where to go. I want to be at a school with a great reputation, great engineering, and a great job afterward. what is a girl to do?</p>

<p>i've been to a pre-college program at cmu for the past two summers, i know a lot of people there (faculty and students), and i absolutely love it there. where as with georgia tech i'm an instate student with great FA, been accepted to the honors program, summer program, but i don't know it well and the student's general consensus is that they hate it and regret going there.</p>

<p>i really don't want to regret my decision for the rest of my life. </p>

<p>COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME?!</p>

<p>I’m currently a Junior at Georgia Tech and would be happy to answer any questions that you have about campus life at GT. I was looking at other universities across the country, particularly Tufts, Rice and WashU. Those are all of course great universities, but I have never regretted my decision to come to Tech. And I think most students here would agree with me. The general consensus is not that students hate it here and regret going here.</p>

<p>Are the classes tough? Yes, but you graduate with an extremely competitive degree and there’s definitely plenty of opportunities to have fun too. </p>

<p>Greek life is a large part of campus and there’s always a number of parties happening on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. There are 400 student organizations, so any topic that you’re interested in will have an organization you can join. And the campus is in midtown Atlanta, so there are tons of restaurants, theaters, festivals, sporting events, etc.</p>

<p>In the fall, a Saturday might consist of waking up early to get some differential equations homework finished up, throwing a dress on and heading over to tailgate before the D1 football game, grabbing dinner at a cool restaurant in Atlanta, and then stopping by a fraternity party or going out in Atlanta. No other schools I was considering could offer me all of these things. </p>

<p>Additionally, being in state, it’s a deal you can’t beat. I couldn’t be happier to be graduating from a fantastic university and a great college experience with no debt. </p>

<p>If you have more specific questions, let me know and you can email or call me. </p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

<p>Hey!</p>

<p>As an undergraduate Electrical Engineering student at Georgia Tech, I couldn’t be happier! Tech has a campus culture uncommon at other schools. There are countless unique traditions, numerous opportunities to get involved, an extremely diverse student body, and who could forget our academics. While the classes can be rigorous at GT, it is a truly rewarding accomplishment to be a Yellow Jacket. You will definitely find your niche here. Most students are very accepting, open, and when it comes to classes, people are very helpful. </p>

<p>I’ve never visited CMU, but I can vouch on behalf of Georgia Tech. I love being a Ramblin’ Reck from Georgia Tech, and never regret the decision of attending Tech. Good luck with your decision - hope this helped!</p>

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<p>Unless your financial aid at CMU makes going there as cheap or cheaper than attending GT, I don’t think the price tag justifies CMU over GT for ME.</p>

<p>As an alum, I couldn’t disagree more that there is any general consensus of “hat[ing] it and regret[ting] going there.” In fact, I would say it’s quite the opposite. I’m currently a grad student at another university, and on numerous occasions, fellow GT grads have come to me and said “hi” simply because I happened to wear a Tech t-shirt that day. I always saw a glimmer of “good memories” in their eyes as we chatted. As I went grocery shopping last week, I saw a father with his kids in the lane adjacent to mine with a Tech lacrosse t-shirt. He actually didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, but as we left the store, I asked him, “When did you get out?” As soon as he heard that and recognized the shibboleth (Tech grads don’t say “When did you graduate?”), his eyes lit up and he recalled some of his memories before we parted ways.</p>

<p>So my conclusion is that if there’s a general consensus at all, students who “get out” are proud to be Tech alumni. I think this explains why we have the highest alumni giving rate of any public university on this list:</p>

<p>[Alumni</a> Giving Rates](<a href=“http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/peers/current/research_intensive/alumgiv.htm]Alumni”>http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/peers/current/research_intensive/alumgiv.htm)</p>

<p>Georgia Tech has offered me opportunity after opportunity to act as a leader and how to solve complex problems. The environment is incredible, and I’m so glad I am here. I have made some outstanding friends here, and wouldn’t trade that for anything.</p>

<p>Best of luck! And go Jackets!</p>

<p>I visited both GaTech and CMU and chose GaTech. CMU is very nice, don’t get me wrong. I loved it, but I just loved GaTech more and that’s why I’m going there next year.</p>

<p>As has been echoed above, you go in knowing it’s a tough 4/5 years, but I don’t necessarily think student’s hate it. The one’s I know that are there love it to death but will admit in a heart beat that it’s hard work.</p>

<p>EKCgatech why do you dislike georgia tech?</p>

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<p>I didn’t get the feeling that he disliked GT?</p>

<p>salzahrah, I think you misread my post. I love it at Georgia Tech and so do many, many people I know!</p>

<p>I got waitlisted for cmu for ece and accepted to Georgia tech. I debating what one I should choose if I get in off the waitlist I have to be undecided.
any comments appreciated
thanks</p>

<p>Boston10, are you in-state or out-of-state?</p>

<p>If you are instate, go to tech. The amount you have to pay for out of state is not worth it (even for a school like MIT). Do well at tech for your undergrad and you can go to whatever graduate school floats your boat.</p>

<p>out of state
but due to my family financial i got a good deal not sure of my financial aid yet at carnegie
thanks</p>

<p>yall made some good points and it has helped a lot thanks! i haven’t gotten my package from cmu yet, but when i do i’ll let yall know what i picked :)</p>

<p>bump</p>

<p>i visited tech this weekend and i have to say… personally, it feels forced. i know it has great opportunities for jobs and stuff but i dont think i’ll fit in. and the school is so big that i feel like i’ll get lost in the masses.</p>

<p>i just heard back from cmu and i got a very very nice FA package from them. my concern is that i won’t get the same engineering training or job opportunities at cmu like i would at tech. while i do feel like i will be happier going college at cmu, i feel like i will be more successful after graduating from tech, but i’ll hate my 5 years there because i dont feel like i fit in</p>

<p>should i focus on enjoying my 4 years (cmu) or sucking it up and possibly grow to love gatech and possibly be happy after graduating (tech)</p>

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<p>I stand by what I said earlier: “Unless your financial aid at CMU makes going there as cheap or cheaper than attending GT, I don’t think the price tag justifies CMU over GT for ME.”</p>

<p>If CMU’s financial aid offered you enough grants to make going there “as cheap or cheaper than attending GT,” then congratulations and go for it! I don’t know anything about CMU’s financial aid policy, so my only suggestion is that you know exactly how your package is broken down. Make sure that it’s mostly, if not exclusively, grants. Some schools like NYU are notorious for loading their “financial aid packages” with loans, but as I said, I don’t know if CMU is similar.</p>

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<p>I’m a very happy Tech alum, but if you feel that CMU fits you better, then nothing else matters. I have never attended CMU, but there is no doubt in my mind that your training will not be inferior in any way. That’s not something you need to worry about when choosing CMU or GT.</p>

<p>thank you fabrizio! that’s really encouraging. what makes this decision even harder is that it doesn’t come down to money, since the FA packages pretty much equal…</p>

<p>excuse my stupid question but… is it true that Georgia tech is just popular in the south?</p>

<p>No. Georgia Tech is well known throughout the country and the largest alumni groups are outside of Atlanta.</p>

<p>What you’ll find is that in the Southeast, Tech is well known by the average Joe and is seen as prestigious. If you go to a place like Pittsburgh, engineers know Tech but the average Joe doesn’t know the school and is more impressed by CMU. Then again, there are only a few schools that have strong enough academics to be known by the average Joe nationally - not even all of the Ivies (mostly Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Penn and maybe Columbia).</p>

<p>so you guys, i’ve made my decision…</p>