GTech seems too tough - Is joining UIUC a smart decision, to have good work life balance and still get same college name/ jobs/ opportunities
Request views on below.
I read at most places that GTech and UIUC reputation is same and job opportunities are in both same. Then why study so hard in G Tech. Why not study less in UIUC and have same opportunity/ job/ branding.
Is UIUC CS study as hard as G Tech (may be contradictory to above point, but thought it is better to enquire here)
In UIUC, one may develop better personality due to more time for more extra curricular activities. Will UIUC not offer more happiness level in college.
Does one get same job opportunities in tech firms or is it that G tech offers much easier entry in FAANG while UIUC offer job opportunities but in medium rank tech firms. Is quality of job offerings better in G Tech.
How many %age of students pass out in 4 year in G Tech CS.
Is Alumni of G Tech more wider, useful than alumni of UIUC.
Thanks for the comments.
These are very much peer schools for CS with equal career outcomes. I’ve never heard that UIUC CS students study less than at other top programs, or that GT students don’t have a happy balanced college experience.
IMO, it comes down to school preference - smaller more STEM focused program in a city or a large D1 flagship with broader course offerings in a more suburban area.
Most students will have a preference for one over the other.
Note that at GT, many students do co-op so their 4 year graduation rates can looked skewed.
Where does your daughter want to go? Both are fine. Maybe start to look at other things besides the CS programs…weather, activities, ease of getting back and forth (if that is important to you), overall costs (if you need to consider this).
Georgia Tech CS is not overly hard if your preparation is solid: plenty have 4.0s. It is a top-5 CS program and a more nationally-known “brand” of school by the general public, if that matters.
I know little about these two schools, but I have a strong suspicion that students will not have to study less at UIUC. I guarantee that at either school, she will have to work hard to maintain a high GPA. It’s not like comparing G Tech to Local Community College.
UIUC places exceptionally well into the big tech and startup scene on the west coast if that is a goal. In CS, what you put into your major is what you get out of it. It is not one of those majors where the university name gets you the job, and you won’t use what you learn – indeed you will/can use large parts of what you learn, especially at vocationally focused schools like GT/UIUC. So if you don’t work hard, that would be to your detriment. Not a constructive attitude to go into program with :-).
Think also about weather, student composition, urban/rural, size of the program etc.
Do not choose UIUC because you think it will be easier. It won’t. Definitely possible to get a 4.0 at Georgia Tech. In fact, the majority of kids end up graduating with either honors (3.15), high honors (3.35) or highest honors (3.55). I’ve heard it can be as high as 80% in some majors. There is definitely grade inflation at Georgia Tech. Part of it is they use a 10 point scale with no pluses or minuses for GPA. So a 90 is an A. If your child got into UIUC and Georgia Tech she will certainly be able to do well, as long as she puts in the work. Many students at Georgia Tech are able to balance high grades with active social lives and campus involvement.
Also agree with the comparison of campuses. A happy student performs better. They are very different places.
She read a lot on various sites about burn out in G Tech. She spoke to 2 friends also who too mentioned that burn out is a high possibility. While she did not read that thing in UIUC. May be that’s what is making her worry a bit. She feels, that she can cope up with the course, but still back of her mind, G Tech burn out is one issue.
Not a constructive attitude to go into program with ----- you mentioned a Very relevant point. I think we missed this aspect. I now fully agree that one should enter in such schools with a full positive mind set.
If your student is looking for an easy engineering program, or an easy CS program…that search needs to stop. These are challenging courses of study no matter where you take them.
But at the same time…the student should be looking for a a college where they think they will be happy (for a variety of reasons…not just because one school is perceived as easier…or maybe has different connections)…because happy kids do better in college than unhappy ones.
So…look at the things that different in these schools, and check off which are more appealing. Do you love winter weather? How about humidity? Is one school easier to get to than the other? Are there activities you see that pique your interest in one over the other? Things like that.
I have a senior at Georgia Tech, an entering freshman and know lots of kids that go there and have graduated from there. Everyone we know loves it - there are a lot of happy kids there. Yes there are those who gripe and complain online but I have never heard that out of a real live person’s mouth. I would strongly caution against making a 4 year college decision based on the opinion of a stranger on the internet.
The people who struggle at Georgia Tech are the people who don’t have good time management skills for the most part. I am quite confident that the workload will be the same at UIUC. As long as your student goes to class, keeps up with homework she will be fine. Those that do it all seem to also take advantage of down time during the day to get some work done - rather than starting it at 9pm at night.
If she chooses UIUC only because she thinks it will be easier she may be very disappointed. Engineering and CS are tough everywhere. I would argue it may even be harder at UIUC because 75 percent of undergrads will be studying majors that are less time demanding. Many of the people she meets her first year won’t be working as hard as she will. GT will be the opposite with roughly 75 percent in engineering and CS.
You are right. At UIUC, she will get many people who won’t be working as hard as her CS course will be. While GTech, she would see majority working had and she will possibly develop a good study culture and time management at an early stage. I feel, after reading comments here, she may be inclined more towards G tech, as she liked the vibes and weather at G tech more, her only worry was burn out.Thanks.
If kids have good time management skills, and they don’t take an unreasonable amount of load (a mix of easy and hard courses each semester rather than all hard courses), they don’t burnout. We have a kid graduating this year (different school), and he tells me that the four buckets of activities demanding time are academics, social life, ECs (remember these are purely discretionary), and sleep. Balance amongst the four is good. If you don’t de-prioritize sleep, you won’t burnout. With sleep you should err on the side of more than less – like 8-9 hours. There is room to cut from the other three. You have the choice to take 4 courses instead of 5 courses some semesters etc.
When we went to FASET which is orientation for Georgia Tech they strongly encouraged entering freshmen to take 12 to 13 hours to get their feet on the ground, and figure out how to manage their time before taking a higher courseload. My kid took that advice, took 13 hours, pledged a fraternity which was time demanding (although they did have required study hours) and made a 4.0 that semester. He had placed out of quite a few of the intro math and science classes but not all. The 12 to 13 our suggestion was smart! I would encourage your child to do the same and then upgrade hours later on.
However, taking only 12-13 credits puts the student 2-3 credits behind normal progress (15.25 credits average per semester at GT, since 122 credits are needed to graduate), unless the student brings in AP/IB/college credit (and does not repeat it) to make that up. If the student is behind normal progress, the student needs to overload in a future semester, take summer session courses, or take an extra semester beyond eight to graduate.