I’ve basically narrowed my college choices down to two: University of South Carolina (in-state) and Georgia Tech (out-of-state), both for Electrical Engineering. I know that Georgia Tech is one of if not the best public engineering school along with UCB, probably only surpassed by MIT, CalTech, and Stanford. The only thing keeping me from a definite yes is the cost. I’m getting $17k in scholarships from USC so the net cost will be under $10k. Georgia Tech hasn’t sent an award letter yet but I don’t think I’ll receive any aid and their sticker price is $50k. My EFC is $15k, so do y’all think it’s worth the extra debt to go to a university that will most likely put me in a better position to pay that kind of debt off, or just stay debt free and in state?
@reppinthe803 Where do you think you are going to get 50K a year in loans?
@gearmom I don’t think parent plus loans have a limit on them, but I’d theoretically be able to contribute to the payments right? I’m just wondering if the financial burden would be worth it?
200k in loans for a BS in engineering? Absolutely not worth it. Go to grad school at GTECH.
When my kid applied to South Carolina in 2006…IIRC they were just completing a new engineering building. And I think they are ABET accredited.
If you had the extra money…maybe GT would be fine…but really, you will get an excellent education at South Carolina.
For me…that was the college that “got away”. It was DD’s second choice at the end of admissions…and she chose another school. We always wondered…”what if USC?”.
At the end of four years (or so), you will graduate with the same degree from both. And maybe that initial first job is impressed with where you went to school, but past that they aren’t going to pay more or care, IMO. This is what I was told for my DD as well. We are probably taking the school that offered her a good scholarship, vs. the one that offered nothing.
Not worth the debt at all…
Believe me…when you get your first eng’g job, you will find out that your fellow new hires from schools like South carolina, UAH, tenn tech, Iowa state, CSUF, etc, are being paid the same as you are… And if you have big debt to pay off, you’ll be so annoyed that a huge chunk of your take-home pay is going to pay off big debt while their income is going towards the purchase of their nice new homes, etc.
Our S is in engineering, as are many of his friends. Grads from many different Us are all working together for the SAME pay.
Save your money and use it for grad school if you are so inclined.
If each school ihas ABET accreditation then choose the cheaper option. Do an internship in undergrad. Pass the FE. Get a job. Your coworkers won’t care where you took calculus or electrical circuits. They’ll care that you’re a competent engineer.
@reppinthe803 if your EFC is $15k, and if George Tech is $50k per year, then it is too expensive for you.
Check whether U. South Carolina is ABET accredited (I suspect it probably is, but I figure that you should do the google search rather than I). Assuming that it is, then you can do very well with a degree from there and should save your money and get a good education without taking on excessive debt.
“Grads from many different Us are all working together for the SAME pay.”
That is my experience as well, although I have worked in high tech (mostly computer science) rather than other forms of engineering.
From Univ of South Carolina engineering site: “Accreditation -The recognized accreditor for programs in the sciences, ABET Inc is an industry consortium of 28 professional and technical societies from different fields. Collectively, ABET accredits more than 3,100 programs in applied science, computing, and engineering technology. UofSC is proud to offer ABET recognized engineering and computing programs. Below you will find information on the evaluation process used for UofSC’s program, as well as information regarding the program’s results…”
Do not go into debt for OOS school. As others have mentioned, your parents would have to sign off on the loans based on the info provided.
We have engineers on both sides of the family. H is ECE.
Key is getting all you can out of your UG engineering education, including any co-op, internship, related work experiences in the field. EC engineering activities.
A friend’s son is at GA Tech as OOS student, but they have the $$ to pay.
No way I would take on that kind of debt for a BS EE degree. You will get a great job either way and once you have your first job, where you went to college means very little. I hire lots of SW and EE in my current and previous positions. Save the $200k!
Was Clemson not in the mix? That would seem to be an excellent choice.
@ClassicRockerDad I did also get into Clemson, but they’re gonna cost around twice as much as USC. I’m still waiting on my official award from GT.
Just got my award from GT. $37k costs after scholarships.
Electrical Engineering is a very employable degree, so it really makes no difference where you graduate from. I don’t see any rational reason to go into that much debt for an out of state school. Debt adds up fast in college and that much debt could sabotage your career. You want to start a career focused on your job so you can gain experience. That’s where the money is really at. The degree only gets your foot in the door. You don’t want to start a career with financial problems.
That’s too much. Go with USC, work hard, do well, and enjoy :-). Your future self will thank you.
If your EFC if $15K, and Clemson is about twice USC and USC is <10K then Clemson is <20K.
I would borrow the small amount needed (~5k per year) to make Clemson work. It’s a much better school for EE.
I think borrowing 88K to go to Georgia Tech is probably a stretch.
@ClassicRockerDad I know Clemson has a better program but it is also where I would spend the next 4 years and I really don’t know if I want to be in that atmosphere. It’s very similar to my current high school.
Why is USC different?