Have I made a Big Mistake?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I'm not sure if this is the correct or incorrect place to post this, so I apologize in advance if this is the incorrect place.</p>

<p>I decided to cut this thread into three parts,
they are</p>

<p>-Simple BackStory
-Total BackStory
-Question </p>

<p>And let those read what they wish to and not make them read more than they have to.</p>

<hr>

<p>Simply BackStory:</p>

<hr>

<p>I have applied to the University of Georgia and I will now be going there for the first year of school.</p>

<hr>

<pre><code> Total BackStory:
</code></pre>

<hr>

<p>I have graduated from High School recently and was really occupied with classes and stuff so I didn't really care too much about college. I was going to do medicine... But, in my studying craze, I neglected to do the research on doctors and how much trouble it is actually being a doctor. How they have to deal with insurance, and actually have trouble making ends meet after years of training, but I digress. </p>

<p>So, since I was doing medicine, I decided to go to the University of Georgia because I read that their pre-med program was better than GA tech's due to the fact that it's just easier at the University of Georgia. </p>

<p>However since then I have decided to go into Computer Science. And now, I feel like I have made a large mistake, because I know with my grades, SAT score, rigor of classes I took, and extracurricular, I would have been able to go to Georgia Tech. </p>

<p>University of Georgia C.S. ranking according to
University</a> of Georgia | Computer Science Schools
is ranked like #208 in U.S.</p>

<p>while Georgia Tech C.S. is ranked #9 in the U.S. not to mention seems to have much more prestige than UGA.
Georgia</a> Institute of Technology | Computer Science Schools
Computer</a> | Rankings | US News</p>

<p>However, all of these are for graduate school rankings.</p>

<p>Oh and I am leaning towards GA Tech's campus, since I like the city more than the ruralish UGA. I have been to both campuses multiple times, (especially UGA's since my brother went there)</p>

<p>_____________________________________________________________ Question:</p>

<hr>

<p>As a Computer Science prospective Major,</p>

<p>my question is,
Does it really matter where I go to for undergraduate since they are both rather high tier schools? Should I transfer to GA Tech as soon as I'm done with this first year, or does it really not matter?</p>

<p>oh, and please don't post something about "UGA has more women" or something as superficial as that. </p>

<p>Thanks for reading. </p>

<p>And in advance,
Thanks for your answers.</p>

2

<p>Doesn’t matter. People who get undergrad degrees from schools worse off than UGA CS get jobs everywhere, the same places MIT grads get jobs. Work hard and you can succeed anywhere. If you end up wanting to get into academia, where you go for graduate school is all that counts, and where you go will be a function of courses, research and extracurriculars, which should be more than doable at a school the size of UGA. You’ll be fine.</p>

3

<p>Agreed. It doesn’t matter whether you go to Georgia or Georgia Tech for an undergraduate CS degree.</p>

4

<p>You’re screwed. Huge mistake. Call the Feds.</p>

5

<p>^hahahahah :D</p>

6

<p>For CS it only matters how good you are. If you go to UCB or CMS then it will be much easier to get your foot in the door but overall its what you do with the time you are given.</p>

7

<p>I won’t lie to you. You did made a mistake but not a big one. A lot of comments here are true. But the school you go to and the ranking do matter a lot when starting your career. Someone from the worst CS school is not going to get the same type of job as someone from Standford. Even if the guy from the worst CS school is a gifted developer and the guy from stanford isn’t good</p>

8

<p>Thanks everybody, </p>

<p>and lightnin, I thought that as well. But GA Tech and UGA are both rather high tier. I understand that I have a better chance as a GA Tech undergrad than a UGA one, but it’s undergraduate, so it’s not that much of a difference?</p>

<p>Like would it matter enough for me to transfer? </p>

<p>Also, I have 30-40 AP credits that are accepted at UGA, while GA Tech only accepts like 20-30 of my credits, that would be a large waste of money to me personally. Would getting a degree from GA Tech make up for the loss of money?</p>

<p>Because I am mainly looking at Return On Investment, more than anything else.</p>

9

<p>If you like UGA and feel comfortable, then stay. Find all the most challenging courses and look for internships in the summer and you will be fine, have less debt and enjoy your years of college.</p>

10

<p>Big companies recruit at GTech but not at UGA> Recruiting is the biggest difference you will find.</p>

<p>Do you think you can transfer after 1 year ?</p>

11

<p>If the difference between UGA and GaTech has any negative impact on your future in CS, it’s because you didn’t make the most of the opportunities available to you. Forget anything to the contrary. You name an organization or role that a GaTech CS grad could get, and I’ll name one a graduate from UGA could get.</p>

12

<p>If you want to transfer, you have to consider the graduation delay + the cost. If you have to spend a lot of money, you will probably be better off staying in UGA.</p>

13

<p>Thank you all again, you all have been a great help</p>

<p>Transferring for me is a possibility, but it would cost more money at tech (albeit only 1000$ living fee difference) and I may lose some credits. I won’t lose many credits though, only like 9-10. </p>

<p>And I really liked your comment aegrus, do you really think that with correct utilization of my time, my recruit chances will be the equivalent as good utilization of my time at GA Tech?</p>

<p>The main thing I was worried about was getting a job immediately after college. </p>

<p>everytime i went to ga tech, they would stress the selling point, “big recruiters want ga tech grads”.</p>

<p>Could the “big recruiters want UGA grads” also be said for UGA though? And I just don’t know that recruiters want UGA grads because they just don’t stress the fact through their marketing as much? (Which i would find kind of funny since they seem to have a prestigious business school)</p>

<p>Ultimately, is it worth the recruiting opportunities at tech to transfer?</p>

<p>And again thank you all for your time and knowledge.</p>

14

<p>The percentage of companies who recruit at schools is very tiny. If you want to limit your job search only to those companies, that’s your call. Otherwise, just send your resume to companies you want to work for. That’s how I got my first job, and it’s still how most new grads get their first jobs.</p>

<p>It’s not worth transferring unless you’re really in love with Georgia Tech.</p>

15

<p>You want a job with MS, Google, Apple, Amazon, government, etc? Go to any accredited school, do internships and assist meaningfully in meaningful research, take hard courses, do well in and out of school and take the time to make strong job applications. Do that and which school you choose doesn’t matter. Don’t do it, do OK with close to the bare minimum that ABET requires, only extracurriculars are keg stands and wearing ridiculous hipster hats and spend 20 minutes on your r</p>

16

<p>aegrisomnia, I’m going to take your advice and just do as much as I can at UGA. I didn’t really want to transfer anyways, cause that’s a lot of hassle, and I lose credits. </p>

<p>Thanks so much for all your input.</p>

17

<p>I’m not sure who you spoke to regarding the medical profession, but the issues you describe are for independent primary care doctors serving poorer areas. Most American MDs do not go into primary care. The insurance companies are doing their best to drive the independents out of business. The job description that dissuaded you from pre-med will not exist 10 years from now. Maybe you have more reasons than what you listed, but most doctors around Seattle work for larger organizations and have no problem making ends meet. The billing office handles the money and insurance issues.</p>

<p>If your first choice is the life of a computer programmer, then yes, UGA will be fine. No need to transfer.</p>

18

<p>My plan has always been to use software engineering as a backup to my plan on becoming a doctor.</p>

<p>I just don’t see why I should spend 11 years in school + residency to be paid the equivalent of what I could be paid as a successful software engineer with the 8-10 years worth of experience, not to mention, I would be paid during those 8-10 years. And I would not be in huge amounts of debt.</p>

<p>I would love to do medicine, don’t get me wrong, I am not in it totally for the money, but I would be lying if I said that money wasn’t an important factor. </p>

<p>I could really do either and be happy, but I have decided to choose computer science because of the </p>

<ol>
<li>Lower costs</li>
<li>Smaller amounts of Schooling</li>
<li>I actually get paid decently after undergraduate.</li>
<li>I get to live my golden years out with money, and not in debt.</li>
</ol>

<p>I might go into medicine later in my career if I find computer science leaving me empty on the inside. But I doubt that, I’ve really been into computers since I was a child, but I’ve always found biology and doctors interesting as well.</p>

<p>But thanks for your input on the medical field thing.</p>

<p>Edit:
Oh and, my first choice was being a doctor… but, after I realized the debt, time, and all that wasn’t worth it. I decided to go with my backup as a software engineer.</p>

19

<p>Just wanted to say that you and me are in almost the exact same position. I used to want to be a doctor, but now I want to be a software developer, and I live in Georgia. I’m hoping to get into tech, but I’m also applying to UGA.</p>

<p>EDIT: At first, I chose engineering over medicine for the same reasons as you did, but then I realized I’m a much more mathematically inclined student, and I fell in love with the things you could do as a software developer.</p>

20

<p>I just realized that UGA is not ABET accredited for computer science, does this change whether or not I should transfer to ga tech? </p>

<p>Stanford and Mellon Carnegie both are not abet accredited, so I don’t think it should matter?</p>