<p>I have been accepted in these two unis for ChemE. I am an international student. I'm split between these two unis. UofMinn has some serious ChemE program, one of the best in the US. Georgia Tech has an amazing co op programme (although im an international student, so it might be harder to get co op). Furthermore, I received a scholarship from UofMinn of $6250 per year to make my tuition fee the same as in of state. What do you guys think???</p>
<p>I have a few friends/family that went of Minnesota. They all loved it. It is a large state school and has all the pros and cons that go with that. Minneapolis is a really great place though. Lots of things to see and do.</p>
<p>UMinn has the more “traditional college experience” atmosphere to it. Georgia Tech is a tech school, and while there are certainly student activities and the like, I get the sense that it’s far more academically focused with less to do in the off-time. (I didn’t go there, but I’m from Atlanta and have lots of friends who did.)</p>
<p>Also, the cost of UMinn is likely to be a lot less over the years. If the cost to you is the same as an in-state student, that’s about $25,000 per year - vs. $40,000 per year at Georgia Tech. Don’t know how you plan to pay, but that’s a savings of $60,000 over four years. Big difference.</p>
<p>Personally I’d select UMinn for a more well-rounded university experience and because of the cost differential.</p>
<p>To be fair, Georgia Tech is more than STEM. Plenty of students matriculate there for the International Affairs program, so the campus is not exclusively kids walking around with their faces buried in Thermodynamics textbooks and slide rulers. But of course, engineering is the school’s forte.</p>
<p>Atlanta is a lot warmer!</p>
<p>Are you going to graduate school and talking about graduate school rankings? </p>
<p>Minnesota also offers a formalized co-op program: <a href=“http://ccse.umn.edu/employers/internship-and-co-ops/co-ops/”>http://ccse.umn.edu/employers/internship-and-co-ops/co-ops/</a></p>
<p>Of course, as an international student, co-ops may be less available due to visa restrictions.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is a tech school. They do have some other majors but the vast majority of students who go there are STEM majors. And even their IA and psych majors are required to take two semesters of calculus and a semester of physics, IIRC - so yeah, most of the students are going to be face-deep in a thermodynamics book, lol. The experience is going to be quite different from going to a place like UMinn.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong - I love Atlanta (it’s my hometown) and Tech is a great school! I’m not saying the students there have zero social life; I have a bunch of friends who went there and had fun and a few joined sororities. It really just depends on what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>I still think the money is a compelling factor, especially if you have to borrow significant proportions of the total costs.</p>
<p>Thanks Guys, Currently I’m leaning towards UofMinn. I’m taking the undergrad program. Atlanta is a lot warmer than mineapolis though. But in the end the 60k difference should tip me over to UofMinn</p>
<p>60K is enough to tip anyone over to UMN :). Plus if you really have trouble with the cold weather, you can keep a little of that money and blow it on amazing vacations in warm places of your choice, where accomodations will be much better than dorms.
ymmv, but personally I prefer cold, dry, and sunny, to hot, muggy, and damp. In addition, the Twin Cities are easier to navigate than Atlanta and there are tons of cool things to do.</p>
<p>UMinn will be colder but have more girls.</p>
<p>UGA will be warmer but be “male heavy”.</p>
<p>UMinn will cost you about $100k</p>
<p>UGA will cost you about $170k.</p>
<p>I attended UMinn 30 years ago. I travel to Atlanta regularly for work and have spent some time on GaTech campus.</p>
<p>If you are not comfortable in the cold, go to Tech. However, the campus is very urban and is not in a very good part of town. It is not nearly as attractive as Minnesota. Campus population at Tech is much smaller, IIRC.</p>
<p>Minnesota is in the middle of Minneapolis, but it is far enough from downtown and feels more like a traditional US college campus. Had I not worked downtown, I would have felt like I was just in a large campus town rather than in a major city.</p>
<p>Academically, both are very good schools. I think Tech is a bit higher rated for engineering.</p>
<p>Hope that helps some. And yes, I grew up in the northern US and the Twin Cities can be EXTREMELY cold if you are not prepared, you will hate it. A vacation will only make it worse, not better. </p>