I am currently a senior in high school, living in Georgia. I have been accepted to both Georgia Tech and Georgia State and need help deciding between the two. I qualify for Zell Miller so tuition is covered. I can’t afford housing, so for either school I will have to commute from an hour away. I am majoring in Economics, and want to get my Masters in economics after getting my undergrad. I am expecting to graduate with an undergrad in three years due to AP credits. State is giving me $3,000 a year, but this will cover just fees so does not affect my decision that much. My parents are not helping me pay for school (which is why I can’t go to UGA and have to commute). Any opinions? Is it worth suffering through Tech’s harder courses just for a undergrad in Economics when I am going to get my Masters? Thanks in advance.
I’m going to assume your goal is a good job at the end of your education. GT is one of the best schools in the country, ranked #34. Georgia State is unranked. Major employers from all over the south recruit at GT. When we were looking at GT , one of the HR directors at a F500 company said that GT grads skipped the pre-screening and went directly to the interview process. She said her firm had that level of confidence in GT’s grads. If you have a bunch of AP or IB credit, you could probably use some of your Zell Miller money toward a combined BS/MS at GT. Campus placement for summer jobs & internships is also excellent.
Don’t assume all degrees are equal for entry to graduate school either.
Are you concerned that you will not be able to maintain your GPA for Zell Miller?
You may be able to swing living costs on campus between a summer job, school job and loans, and some small scholarships. It’s a lot easier to get a $1500 scholarship than the major ones. You’ll have to compare the costs of living at home and commuting, and the 2 hours you will lose each day. You might be able to find a house sitting job or something similar to reduce the commute time.
I agree with @TooOld4School. GaTech makes sense.
I will add that your school = your professional network. Start talking to your GaTech advisors about that masters plan from day one. They will help you reach that goal. Choose your courses wisely and work hard to keep Zell. Paid summer internships are norm for GaTech students, even after the freshman year. Please consider living on campus. You will realize that cost of that commute, time lost in traffic will add up quickly and you are depriving yourself of group study time as well as networking time. Good luck!
Go for Tech. If you have any questions, PM me. My brother is an econ major there.
Not even a question go to tech and work ur ass off it will be worth it at the end
Georgia State is the way to go in my opinion.
No question GA Tech is the better school. However if you are 100% dependent on Zell to afford school you might want to choose GA State. GA Tech is know as the place where Hope goes to die lol.
Go to Tech and keep your grades up.
I would go to Georgia Tech in a heartbeat. Here’s a blog post by Bill Gates on Georgia State, though. This truly helped me with my choice top 3 schools. (https://www.gatesnotes.com/Education/Georgia-State-University