<p>To my ultimate surprise, I was also waitlisted into Georgia Tech for Fall 2012 at the Atlanta campus. I know UF (regular) is great and all but Georgia Tech (regular)? I can't decide at all. Georgia Tech is fairly expensive since im OOS but offers more than UF in engineering. Uf on the other hand, is inexpensive (in-state) and education is great though not as strong. (These assumptions are based on reviews and rankings).</p>
<p>My credentials: (up-dated)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5 UW / 3.55 UF approx /don't know GT GPA
Overall coursework: 2 AP, the rest regular/honors
SAT: 1520 (490 M, 530 CR, 500 W)
ACT: 21 Composite (before UF deadline), 24 (before GT deadline)
The essay was so-so. (UF)
The two essays were great, especially the one about contribution to gatech. (Gatech)
No EC's. (I did key club but you only do community service)
No legacy. (my uncle went to Georgia Tech in the 80s?)
No awards.
No Hooks.
Community Service: 40 Hours
In-state Florida resident.</p>
<p>I was accepted to UCF, USF, UF, waitlisted to GeorgiaTech and rejected by FSU.</p>
<p>To be honest, it matters less what school you graduated from than how well you did there. If you’re going to some top notch school and graduated the bottom of your class, it shows that you were out of place. I see you that you have 40 hours of community service, that’s not enough even for Bright Futures. If your parents have the money to spend, it’s your choice, but if you’re borrowing to pay for college, I would go wherever it costs the least for you. A few of the employers I’ve talked to say they care less about your school and more about your GPA and most importantly, any work experience that you can show that you know what you’re doing.</p>
<p>And I absolutely mean no offense with this statement, but if you go to either of those schools, you might have to step it up and work harder in college. Those schools are more competitive, and it’s better to go to a less competitive school to have a higher rank and stats than to go to a more competitive school and end up with low stats. Going to less competitive school doesn’t tell the employer that you can’t handle a better school, there could be other reasons like financial reasons for going there. But if you have low stats from a top end school, it says that you can’t handle it. Or at least that’s what I was told by the employers I spoke to recently.</p>
<p>really depends on the cost differential. GT engineering is preferable to UF engineering in most cases, but no one’s going to care 5 years after you graduate. the only difference really comes in with recruiting, and UF engineers do just fine. i can’t speak for recruiting at GT, but i’m sure its as good or better (for engineering).</p>
<p>is it worth $20k more to go to GT? probably not. especially if you haven’t even visited and don’t know if you’ll like it there in the first place.</p>
<p>Agree with Umbrella ^^^ no way you were excepted to UF with those stats. Since GT is also a great school, I have a tough time believing you were accepted there either.</p>
<p>GT is actually in midtown, which is pretty awesome (just not until you’re 21… :)). Agree about the girls though. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I was deciding almost a decade ago between those two schools as well and I chose UF for financial reasons. Since then, the cost differential has become even larger, so the choice would probably be even easier for a younger me now than it was back then.</p>
<p>There are perks to going to GT over UF (certain employers, like the big 3 consulting firms, recruit heavily at GT but not UF) but unless you’re a real standout at GT, those advantages wouldn’t matter much.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right, GT is midtown. I just associate it with downtown lol, by how the area around it looks. Agree completely with everything else you said.</p>
<p>Basically, if I was choosing, I’d pick UF (and this is from a FSU and UGA fanboy)</p>
<p>I have a really hard time believing you were waitlisted with a 490 Math SAT. To be competitive you need at least a 650+ Math SAT and 3.6+ GPA (and really you need 700+ / 3.8+).</p>
<p>^what an arrogant thing to say, why put the kid down. You don’t know him personally. </p>
<p>Just go to the school that you feel the most comfortable in. Chances are, you are going to excel better at that school anyway. </p>
<p>To me, the best choice all around would be UF but if you get into GA Tech and you feel really comfortable there, then I say go for it! But if the financial strain might be too much, stick with UF it’s still a good school!</p>
<p>Speaking as someone who actually attended both schools (Georgia Tech freshman year, UF to actually graduate…), they’re two entirely different atmospheres, entirely ignoring what cities both are in.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has a undergrad body of about 13,000 - you get to know the student body a whole lot better. You might not know everyones name, but you definitely start recognizing them and know someone who would. Tech is entirely geared towards engineering - the student body and the campus reflect this. The friends you have will be engineers (primarily). As to the girl/guy ratio, it’s what you make it - I had more female friends at Tech than I did male friends (admittedly, I also prefer smaller circles to larger ones)</p>
<p>UF on the other hand, with an undergrad body of nearly 45,000 - I would walk the same way at the same time every day on campus and see completely different people. UF’s population is very diverse from a major-perspective - you’ll have a lot of business, and liberal arts majors. The ratio is definitely closer to 50/50.</p>
<p>Sidenote… Tech, despite being an out of state tuition, isn’t THAT expensive (at least relative to UF as an out of state)… I think it was $20k/yr, including dorm.</p>
<p>Lets say that you do get in to Ga Tech. By the looks of your grades you would be miserable and definitely over whelmed. Same thing goes for UF. If you are going to be an engineer by the second day of CHM2045 and MAC2311 chem and calc you will realize that these schools are for students that know the material inside and out.</p>
<p>I dont intend to criticize just stating facts. Neither school is easy as a matter of fact the engineering department at UF has these two classes set up just to weed out students that are not 100% knowledgeable in the material.</p>
<p>I dont believe either school will accept you, because of your grades. But you never know. Just be ready to get hammered and be prepared for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>Ga Tech OOS vs. UF go to UF. WHY? if you have to change your major (which is very possible) UF has more options for you.</p>
<p>This is an old thread, so Ufwizard should be completing his first year (if he did attend UF) and now has a good sense of the rigor involved.</p>
<p>Both are great schools for engineering. OOS tuition for GT is $29,402 (approx) while in-state at UF is $6,142. When comparing the two schools, it’s cost and fit that matter. Some love living in Atlanta, others prefer the college town experience. You can’t go wrong with either school.</p>