I think the piece you are not accounting for is that Georgia Tech is our in state school. A ton of in state kids transfer in as sophomores. One of my S22s best friends from high school just transferred in from UGA as a CS major for sophomore year. This kid didn’t have a transfer pathway, and didn’t head off to UGA with the intent of transferring. He just wasn’t happy there socially. He is extremely happy at tech, joined a fraternity and has a large group of close friends from high school who were already at Tech which made the transition very seamless. So he has a three year experience at GT instead of a four year. I don’t really see the downside
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You’re right - i’m not accounting for it - because if they don’t want you for four years, I wouldn’t want them.
I’d want to be where I’m wanted, where I can thrive and not in a school where I have one foot out the door, panicked to achieve a result that may or may not happen. And then getting there a year behind most others.
it’s not healthy - to me.
But as I noted, that’s my opinion. Others obviously feel differently - and that’s great.
It’s a great school and it’s tuition free for in state residents who qualify for Zell scholarships. GT is very clear that they don’t have enough room for all the students they would like to admit as freshman. It shouldn’t be taken personally.
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I’m not taking it personally. I’ve said many a time - if it’s great for that student, I get it.
I work with many people from Georgia as my HQ is there and many get the Hope…so I get it.
My opinion is otherwise but that’s my opinion. Each student should make the best decision for themselves. I have no issue with that. And I don’t think otherwise.
It just saddens me personally - kids give their right arm for something that’s not an assurance - whereas with their credentials, they could get near free tuition somewhere else at a terrific school - for four years. And not all are concerned with the tuition vs. free.
We don’t need to keep rehashing. I have my opinion. Others think differently and maybe a few similarly 
and it’s ok. OP has lots of perspectives.
Looking at the same job titles in those Payscale listings, it looks like the GT graduates reported $7-9k higher than UA graduates, not $24k higher as would be implied by the overall school average.
For something more relevant to the OP (intended math major), looking at College Scorecard for graduates who used federal financial aid, GT applied math majors made $64,844 shortly after graduation, while UA math majors made $60,584 shortly after graduation.
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I totally get that and I wish our family could have that perfect moment when we just found the one. We do have more visits ahead of us. But best fit is so elusive. I envy the families that find it. I’m doing a ton of research but in defense of everyone who hasn’t found it, it’s a lot to dig around and visit. Or skip all that and use (1) lists of best this or that, (2) what everyone else says, (3) what’s affordable, and (4) what’s close by/familiar. GT hits a lot of positives for metro Atlanta kids. We wanted to visit schools in other parts of the country but he was satisfied with his list of schools. Well, until this week with UChicago. That might be dead at this point though, the creative prompts didn’t trigger the flow of words or ideas that he thought he had.
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Hey you have made a huge contribution educating people on looking past rankings and where to find money. Alabama is high on our list if not son’s. We are saving the Alabama visit for last.
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These sort of studies are hard to analyze because cost of living is not factored in. Also when the schools report, some include sign on or profit sharing etc and some don’t.
I don’t think, on the averages, anyone would think an Alabama, Auburn, Clemson or name your school would perform as well as Ga Tech.
That said, many companies have a set structure. My son works with engineers from Michigan, Purdue, Auburn, Utah, Akron, W Michigan etc and they all make the same. It was the same for me out of grad school. I know it’s the same for many employers. So for many, there won’t be salary differentials.
Obviously others or maybe smaller firms will have variability. One Fortune 100 firm changed my sons offer from 72 to 85 plus doubled the sign on - 24 hrs after he said no. Others don’t have that flexibility. I was surprised they did.
Certainly on the averages Ga Tech will outperform most. And no one is disputing it’s a great school.
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You have to compare by major to get a true ROI. Alabama has many more majors and includes low paying ones like education. Georgia Tech has very few majors and majority of students are engineers/computer science/business which slants the ROI much higher.
Late to the thread but a question OP.
How does your kid feel about party atmosphere and Greek community? I ask because U Chicago (which seems to appeal to him) has the “where fun goes to die” reputation. You previously described him as quiet so just wondering what “fit” looks like.
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Yes and comparing by major pretty consistently show a several thousand dollar higher (sometimes 10%) starting salary for GT, and this doesn’t include the signing bonus, which might also be higher.
Thanks for sharing. I expect our kids to have a similar experience integrating into Tech if they transfer. D23 will have some DE and AP credits in addition to the freshman credits, so if she is able to maintain HOPE at Tech, she wants to exhaust the funding to get minors, certificates, and then add in any co-ops…it might be more than 3 years!
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Yes, so pretty consistently a higher starting salary (sometimes around 10%) for GT grads, plus whatever the signing bonus is.
Plus the ROI rating is significantly higher. SIGNIFICANTLY
Perhaps many GT grads command higher salaries b/c they do co-ops.
FWIW, in the day, GT was DS #1’s safety school (yes, his GS said so and she was right). He turned it down and went elsewhere. Its just that the anecdotal comments about a few interns here and there and their reported quality (whenever they were interns) is not data.
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I wish I could figure it out myself. He’s not very communicative. His friends are smart types in the top classes but lack perfect records. The president of a major science club with an 800 math SAT took an AP class online but forgot to login for the final exam so got a C. Other buddy with perfect ACT and near perfect SAT, medical research, great GPA, but got a 2 on one of the AP Physics exams. They all have a few holes in their records, but seem to be enjoying senior year, sharing/commiserating/mocking the college app process. They come up with funny new words and idioms, talk about music, play games online. He doesn’t hang out in person if he’s not interested in the activity itself. He had no interest in homecoming but he’s gone rock climbing, dinner with friends. He really likes going to concerts - being a musician is a main topic for his essay. His favorite thing to do is playing his bass while doing homework, playing games, chatting with friends, in his room.
Seems like a decent fit in the fun respect? UChicago’s reputation for being really hard is the problem. Up till now he does enough to get a B because what’s wrong with a B? College was an abstract idea till a month ago. We weren’t able to convince him they’d hurt him come college app time, nor are we the parents to push that hard. He’s been more serious about school lately but too little too late! OTOH he’s at a hard school taking hard classes…I have no clue whether that’s enough for a hard college or not. I should ask D23 to ask the kid who went to UChicago last year.
There are others too with big $$ - Ms State , UAH for smaller (mid size) more STEM focused. FSU, and other Florida schools, U of SC and many more.
I get Ga Tech. Mine wasn’t interested - doesn’t like the city but I’d have been jazzed for him to attend - for four years. Who wouldn’t ? Great school.
I’ve learned through both kids who chose to attend lower ranked schools - or at least I believe right or wrong - it’s the kid. If they hustle, they can achieve most anything. My daughter is still a student but with two wonderful internships, I’m hopeful her future path will be easier to achieve then it might be with no experience.
No matter which direction you go, good luck. It’s an exciting time for sure. As long as the student is happy and the family can afford, then it’s all good.
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Yes, best of luck @itllallworkout . Your kids will grow where they are planted. The point of the salary comparisons was to support your earlier statements about GT. Most companies will pay the same starting salaries regardless of where they attended. The ~10% average salary difference likely represents the different companies that are hiring these kids. Google’s starting salary is likely higher than a smaller engineering company for the same job title.
FWIW, DH commented that in his experience some of their GT interns were better fits for companies that did software development than software utilization. They were plenty smart. Just their skill base was a bit different.
As others have said, GT doesn’t have room for all the students it would “want” . That’s reflected in their acceptance rate. No one faults Alabama for working hard to get brighter students with its great scholarships. But a school that historically has accepted 8 of 10 applicants isn’t really an indication of being “wanted”. The more academically successful kids, attracted by the auto scholarships, are “wanted”. For reasons that are pretty clear.
GA started the HOPE and subsequently the ZM scholarships, first in 1993, to try to keep many of the best and brightest in state. And it’s been a successful strategy.
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I had 2 sons graduate within the last decade, one from a local regional college with a CS degree and one from Auburn with a bachelor in aero eng and minor in computer science, and a masters in mechanical. The kid who graduated from the local regional college living at home and commuting is a software engineer at Google in Mountainview, CA doing very, very, well. The Auburn kid had immediate offers at the 6 figure level right out of college. The only thing my kids tell me you get from a GT education you don’t get from any other accredited school is the big names come to interview there - that’s it. Accessibility - but there are a lot of GT grads my son interviewed and would never hire at Google and many he recommended from North Texas or Kansas State. Find the school you fit in and be the best you can be in the area of study you want for a career - you will find each other. And a note on salary, just within the last several years, starting salaries seemed to have jumped dramatically, at least for the engineers.
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Not sure where the Alabama Ga Tech comparison came. No one said any school had better outcomes than Ga Tech. It was a discussion about transferring in vs. spending four years at Georgia Tech.
That said, I tried to get career outcomes from the source vs. third party that looks at loan payers, etc.
Unfortunately, their job board (for me) is no bueno.
The 2022/23 report doesn’t populate and the 2021/22, at least for me, doesn’t change as you change the selections. The data stays fixed to all majors. Perhaps someone else would have better luck.
Their MBA report is impressive - as an aside.
Nonetheless, no idea why we threw in another school. The discussion was - is the Gateway Option worthy. Most said yes. I disagreed. Not sure why it didn’t end there. But I’m not fan of a school who can’t post career stats in a clear and usable form. It’s why I like Cornell - they have THE BEST outcomes board.
You’d think every school could and would.
Bama’s is - workable - not great. For MechE, Spring of 22 (not 23), they show $70,997 - it doesn’t say what that includes. For locations, it doesn’t list but has bubbles - and Bham and Huntsville are prominent and then some small pockets in the Northeast, Texas, Midwest, and West. Utah isn’t listed (where my son is - but he’s there for only 6 months). I have no doubt Ga Tech will outperform but I also think they’ll place in more expensive areas.
It’s too bad their report doesn’t work but they’re not the only that doesn’t give access to data.
I’d rather use the schools themselves than federal sources that might involve loans.
Of course, the discussion wasn’t about this - but since it was brought up.
As an aside, my son hasn’t heard of anyone with less than an $80K assured compensation this year - including those staying in Tuscaloosa. It’s anecdotal - but someone mentioned salaries rose a lot this year - and I suspect it’s true.
I know my company has lost a ton of people…experienced level…because we didn’t keep up with the market.
Georgia Tech Career Survey Report: AY 2021-2022 | Office of Academic Effectiveness (gatech.edu)