I am in quite a dilemma right now. I have gotten into both VT and GT but I have no idea which one to pick. In terms of ranking GT outranks VT, however, the main thing causing me confusion is that VT is in-state while GT is out of state. In terms of financial aid, I obtained $12000/$27000 from VT and $14000/$49000. In terms of income, my family makes about 65k per year. My parents stated they can for sure help up to 10-15k per year. Therefore, my main question is is Georgia Tech worth it both financially and career wise in the future, or will Virginia tech be a safer route. Also, can someone pinpoint what are the major differences between the engineering program between these two schools and the opportunities presented by each school?
P.S. I got into the Electrical and Computer engineering program for GT and the General Engineering Program for VT. Therefore, I am sure that I want to major either in Electrical or Computer engineering.
GT is a very solid, reputable Comp Engg. program with excellent job opportunities. Big name companies recruit there. They publish their career/job placement results “webapps.gatech.edu/cfcampus/adors/commencement/salary_report.cfm” The starting salary average around 80k/yr. They claim a 91%+ placement rate for Comp. Engg (see link above).
VT doesn’t enjoy the same level of reputation as far as I know. Also, you will likely find a stronger study body at GT very likely. Also GT is known for its hard academics. At VT, everyone is starts off in General Engineering and then have to apply to the department, ECE for example. I don’t know how hard it is get in but I think your grades during the first year at VT would matter. At GT you are directly admitted to your major. Also, within the first year GT will let you change your major once if so desire. Many kids switch majors.
Of course, it is going to cost you 40 to 60k more at GT over four year period. You can offset some of that through FAFSA student loans (27k over 4 yrs). Comp Engg. majors make on the average 75-80k/yr right out school and you should be able pay off the loan easily.
Bottom line, if you can afford it GT would be a better choice in the long run.
Be sure to visit GT before finalizing your decision. Talk to students there if possible.
I always vote on the side of less debt, but also keep in mind that at GT they have a ton of study abroad programs, and any time you do one of those, you pay in-state tuition for that semester. It’s a great way to both vary your experience and keep the costs down. Good luck wherever you decide to go!
It looks like your family can cover the gap for VT. How would you pay for GT if the gap is $35,000 per year?
Many years ago, I faced the same choice, GT or VT. For me, GT was in-state, though. I ended up going to VT (back then the OOS and in-state tuition difference was not close to what it is today). The schools are very different - one being urban and the other located in a small college town. I don’t know if that matters to you, but it is worth thinking about.
Clearly, GT is a great school. And I would say VT is a very good school, though it does not have the reputation that GT has. If I follow your numbers correctly, assuming your parents can contribute $15K/yr, you’d come out of VT with little or no debt and leave GT with ~$80K worth of debt.
If you were choosing between GT and some 3rd-tier engineering school, I’d say go to GT and deal with the debt. But you’re not. You’re choosing between a great engineering school and one that is very good. Being in debt is not fun and I’d suggest avoiding it if you can. If I were in your shoes, I’d go to VT, make sure I got excellent grades, and everything will turn out just fine. If you want to just get a BS degree, then you should have great opportunities. If you want a graduate degree, with excellent grades from VT, you should have no problem getting into a good graduate program (for example, a coworker’s son just graduated from Texas Tech in Chemical Engineering and will be going to GT for graduate school, and Texas Tech does not have the reputation that VT has).
And don’t forget that in not too many years after graduation, most companies/recruiters will be far more interested in how you performed in your current/previous jobs than they will be in where you went to school. I’ve been involved with a lot of recruiting for my employers and I can tell you that if we’re looking for a 5-year experienced employee and they have a 3.8 from GT, VT, Purdue, Texas A&M, Illinois… that we’d be impressed with the 3.8 but the particular school would have minimal impact on any decision.
Good luck which ever way you decide to go.
Tough one. VT is a great school + in-state for you, GT is wonderful, but means financial burden. Again, as it was mentioned before @yankeeinGA - study abroad has in-state tuition for out -of-state sudents at GT. Think about it!