<p>Hey guys, so here's the story</p>
<p>As a high school senior last year, I was considering attending either GT, Virginia Tech, or Colorado School of Mines. I ended up choosing Virginia Tech, and I don't really like it here. I hate the partying and the lack of Tech-y-ness. </p>
<p>I'm doing well here in engineering, but I'd rather have gone to a bit academically focused school. </p>
<p>The reason why I did choose VT over GT, however, was because GT cost about 10,000 more per year.</p>
<p>Do you think it's worth transfering?</p>
<p>GT is ranked number 4 engineering in the nation and pretty much in the world, has a great co-op program, is ranked number 1 for job-placement, and is very prestigious and respected in the employment world. VT is a great school as well, but not as known for engineering as GT is</p>
<p>For location alone it is hard to beat Colorado School of Mines.</p>
<p>I don’t think I would transfer, depending on where the extra $10,000 would come from.</p>
<p>skorpius that’s not very useful to a person who doesn’t have 10k to spend. Also, GT does not rank number 4 in the world, hate to be blunt. There are many schools between say MIT and Caltech (places like Imperial College London, Cambridge, etc). You’d have to be assuming that top 4 American=top 4 world. In some many categories that is not true. With that said, it ranks extremely well at about 13-15 (Carnegie Mellon is actually right above y’all and in Time Magazine is right below y’all. However, many of the same schools are above both as in USNews)</p>
<p>OP: Why not cross your fingers and apply to something like a nice private engineering school that may offer lots of fin. aid to transfers? They may not be as popular or “well-known” as Tech (or are they?), but they are definitely very academically focused and will likely give you great job prospects, places like Carnegie Mellon, Cornell (lower than Tech, but still good). However, if you are willing to spend the money to get the Tech experience, good luck. It’ll be intense.</p>
<p>bernie, you seem to be the most objective person here.</p>
<p>I really want the academic prestige combined with a semi-nerdy student body. What kind private schools were you thinking of? VT is really cheap for OOS, and I can afford it (just barely, however), so I’d like a cheap private school or one where I’d get lots of fin-aid (I don’t qualify for FAFSA, however, becuase my parents are rich but they want me to pay for it on my own!). </p>
<p>Any ideas? Are there any other fairly cheap public schools with a techy student body (idk, like Purdue or the UC’s)</p>
<p>Anything would help at this point!</p>
<p>Well it depends entirely upon how much financial aid they give you which can varying by a lot, but RPI certaintly fits the bill for a very good and nerdy techie school.</p>
<p>Yeah, RPI, Purdue and UCB (but don’t expect any fin. aid from UCB) fit the bill. I wonder if there is a way to tell a school that your parents refuse to pay anything, and thus allow you weasel some good. fin. aid from those places. Did you tell your parents you wanted something better, or try to convince them that it will be worth helping you pay for a school that is more of a fit and perhaps has better academics?</p>
<p>GT might seem expensive at first for out of state students, but there’s all kinds of ways to defray the costs. If you study abroad, you’re only charged in-state tuition and often times, housing and fees might even be less than what it would be at Tech. Also Georgia Tech has the nation’s biggest (if I’m not mistaken) co-op program. With co-op you alternate work and study semesters until you have worked 3 semesters with one company. Each of those work semesters, you work 40 hours a week. The average pay is $15/hr, and you’re able to earn about $8000-$10000 each of those semesters. You can also save money on housing if you’re more flexible and live off campus with roommates. GT is also very well regarded as an engineering school. The median pay for recent graduates is ~$57000, and it’s easy to recover that extra $10000/yr. So, in conclusion, I’d encourage you to look at GT again.</p>