Help! I've been accepted to TOO MANY grad schools!!

Graduate School
1

<p>Because of the economy, and because so many people in my class wanted to go to grad school, I decided to play it safe and apply to six different graduate schools (for mechanical engineering):</p>

<p>Georgia Institute of Technology
Auburn University
University of California, Davis
California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo)
Santa Clara University
San Jose State University</p>

<p>So far, I have gotten acceptance letters from ALL universities except San Jose State, which I have not heard back from yet.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech is regarded as one of the top research institutes in the country, but they are expecting me to provide my own funds, if I accept. Out-of-state tuition is over $25,000, plus housing in Atlanta, then books, food, and everything else. It would mean accumulating a huge amount of educational debt. Is it worth it?</p>

<p>Auburn has a great engineering program as well, and they told me (verbally, but not in writing) that I am very likely to receive assistantship funding from them, based on what they saw in my application. My only concern about Auburn is that its reputation lives in the shadow of Georgia Tech, and I wonder about the ease of finding a job afterward.</p>

<p>Finally, UC Davis, Cal Poly, and Santa Clara each have strong reputations as well, but I do not yet know what the assistantship situation is for these schools. Also, I am currently an undergrad at UC Davis, and while I could handle a couple more years here, I would rather give other schools a try.</p>

<p>So, I would like to get your input on which school would be the smartest choice, just given the information above. I am leaning towards Auburn, but I would like your opinions before I make a decision.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I am not in engineering, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. But personally, I say follow the money. Georgia Tech is a great school. But Auburn has a great engineering program as well, and if you do get an assistantship there, I would take it. Grad school is expensive enough; do you think that your starting salary with a degree from GT would be more than $10,000 higher than your starting salary from Auburn? (I got that from figuring that your living expenses in Atlanta would be about $25,000 - I used to live there and I think that’s reasonable - plus tuition times two years and then fed $100K into the finaid.org calculator to see how much you’d have to pay per year to pay back the loan in 20 years. It’s $763 a month over 20 years, or $9,156 over 12 months.)</p>

<p>Firm up the assistantship first. If you don’t get the assistantship, then I might pick GA Tech - but that’s not only because it’s a great engineering school with a killer reputation, but also because I’m familiar with Atlanta and it can be very inexpensive to live there, plus it’s a nice city to settle down in if you want to live there after graduation. But I’d imagine that Auburn’s town is cheap too. Cal Poly SLO and Santa Clara have the advantage of in-state tuition, though.</p>

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<p>Take the funded position. Not even a question.</p>

<p>The difference between Georgia Tech and Auburn is not nearly big enough to justify taking out substantial debt for one vs. a fully-funded slot at the other.</p>

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<p>Given the potential for a change in the rules for graduate loans, go where you can take out the least amount of loans.</p>

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<p>I’d weigh strength of program with cost. For instance, if Auburn takes $3000 off the bill, it might not be enough to sway you from Georgia Tech. On the other hand, if Auburn gives you free tuition, then it makes the decision almost a no-brainer. You’ll have to get all support offers before you can make a rational decision. If you don’t hear about FA from one or more programs by the deadline, you’ll have to assume that you’d pay full-freight.</p>

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<p>Avoid debt at nearly all costs. It just doesn’t go away. Obviously some debt will be incurred, but one year of outstanding work performance at a lower-paid firm will more than make up for the university name. College names just mean so much less in real life than they do when you’re in college.</p>

<p>Naturally you should go to the best school you can afford, but the key word there is “afford”. Good luck. Sounds like you have a great future ahead of you!</p>

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<p>You probably have a specific area of ME you want to focus in. How does each grad school’s ME department compare at that level/ The difference between Ga Tech and Auburn (or one of the others) may dissipate. Like the others, the less money you pay the better if the programs are similar enough.</p>

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<p>Hey! I wanted to thank you for all your good advice!! Today, I just received an official research assistantship offer from Auburn, dealing with system dynamics and controls. It will cover all of my tuition, plus give me a little bit of a stipend. I’m taking it! Thank you again, and War Eagle!!</p>

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<p>Congratulations!</p>

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<p>Listen to this guy/gal. They know what they are talking about.</p>