Macalester v. GA Tech v. UGA

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I'm having difficulties picking a college and am hoping for some help. My options (and prices) in order of wanting to attend (also coincidentally in order of price too) are:</p>

<p>Macalester ($38k)
GA Tech ($16k)
UGA ($14k)</p>

<p>I was accepted to a few more, but they've been cut for various reasons.</p>

<p>Starting with financials because this is the big sticking point- My parents can definitely afford the in-states. As for Mac, it would require some loans. My parents aren't entirely clear with me about just how much more I would need, but I will definitely end up with a decent amount of debt. The other thing is that my dad is up for a new job that he's is likely to get (with a significant pay-raise,) that would make Mac far more affordable, but we won't know until after I need to decide.</p>

<p>I'm not entirely sure what I want to study in college. Ideally, I'd like to be a writer, so I would like to be able to work on that a ton. But I'm also really enthusiastic about math and physics, though I don't see myself doing either one as a career. Frankly, I could also see myself doing politics kind of stuff too, so I guess you can see that I'm entirely on the fence as for major choice.</p>

<p>I guess I'll just go through my general thoughts on each too.</p>

<p>Mac- I visited last week and absolutely loved it. I just felt right- I like the class sizes and the campus and the city. I even like the weather too. It is far from home, but I kind of like that. I want to kind of get away from stuff from high school. I also like the flexibility that Mac would give me in major choice; I'd definitely be able to take a wide range of classes and double major. I also really like the support and options for LGBT students (which would apply to me.)</p>

<p>GA Tech- I'm not crazy about the campus, and having lived in Atlanta for a few years now, I'm not crazy about Atlanta either. It's a really fantastic school at a great price. One small hurdle is that I was accepted to the late short summer start thing, so I'd have to start school in late June. The main sticking point for me is that I'm not looking to be an engineer or scientist or anything like that, so there are some programs available in Ivan Allen, but they aren't ideal. I feel like I'd be settling on a major here.</p>

<p>UGA- I've almost ruled this out. It sounds stupid, but my sister goes here, and for once in my life, I don't want to be in her shadow anymore. We're best friends, but I just want to do my own thing without having to worry about matching her accomplishments anymore. I'm also not a fan of the campus, and I don't feel like I'd really fit in with the student body. I'm also worried about the lack of gender neutral housing, and from what friends who go there have told me, a sometimes hostile attitude towards LGBT students (though I'm skeptical of how much of that is actually true.)</p>

<p>Thanks so much for reading this. If you want any more info, let me know. I'm just really struggling with a decision and because of the GA Tech summer acceptance, I have to decide by April 15.</p>

2

<p>You need your parents to get more clear with you about how much debt you’d have to take on to go to Macalester, because you - as a dependent student - can only borrow $5,500 of federal loans as a freshman. Banks do not give private loans to dependent students without a co-signer, and even if your parents were willing to co-sign for you they absolutely should not - because $160,000 of debt is really far too much to take on for undergrad if you’d have to borrow the entire thing. Really, you shouldn’t borrow much more than is available to you as federal loans, which is about $30,000.</p>

<p>So are your parents willing to either pay $33,000 out of pocket for Mac, or borrow Parent PLUS loans to cover that? If they aren’t willing to cover the remaining cost, then Mac is unaffordable for you.</p>

<p>If you are on the fence about a major, how could you be settling at Tech? If you love writing and you’re also really into math and physics, but don’t want a technical career, a major like science, technology, and culture (STAC) sounds more or less perfect for you (<a href=“http://www.iac.gatech.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/bs-stc”>http://www.iac.gatech.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/bs-stc&lt;/a&gt;). You use literary and cultural analysis to interpret texts and write and think about the ways in which science and technology are related to the cultural world and the humanities. They also have history, technology and society (a blend of history and sociology of technological studies) and a public policy major (that also has a 5-year BS/MS option).</p>

<p>It’s true, though, that UGA has a wider range of majors. It seems like the major reason you don’t want to go there is because your sister goes, but UGA is a humongous school with over 26,000 undergraduates. I’m sure that you’d find your own niche there. The lack of gender-neutral housing, of course, is more of an issue. They seem to have a decent LGBT resource center (<a href=“Home - Pride Center”>Home - Pride Center), and this news article 9<a href=“http://www.redandblack.com/news/no-option-of-gender-neutral-housing-at-uga-lgbt-center/article_23e0172a-ed99-11e1-b4bf-0019bb30f31a.html”>http://www.redandblack.com/news/no-option-of-gender-neutral-housing-at-uga-lgbt-center/article_23e0172a-ed99-11e1-b4bf-0019bb30f31a.html&lt;/a&gt;) seems to indicate that they’ve had success in working with housing wrt LGBT students who have specific housing needs.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>

<p>I agree about the financial stuff; I just can’t get a straight answer from my parents about financials. I can’t make a good decision about this until I know exactly how much I’d need to borrow.</p>

<p>Interesting stuff about Tech, I’m still just not sure. I’m visiting campus in either tomorrow or Saturday (wasn’t able to get on a tour though.) So maybe I’ll like it more than I did in the past. It’s just nothing about Tech makes me excited about college.</p>

4

<p>I definitely understand that; I was also not excited about Tech (I’m from Georgia myself). Personally I was seeking a more “traditional” college experience and Tech didn’t seem to offer that. Also, like you, I had no intention of majoring in a technical major, so I wanted to be at a place where students had more diversity of interests and majors.</p>

<p>Honestly, Macalester would be my first choice, too (I went to a small LAC myself). But UGA was also my fallback university in high school and I think it could be a good fit for you too. University towns are generally more liberal than surrounding areas, and I think you can find a supportive community in Athens. If you look at an electoral map of GA, Clarke County is a little blue bastion in a surrounding area of red (but that describes Atlanta, too, lol).</p>

<p>Also, UGA is seriously huge. I doubt you’d have to worry too much about being in your sister’s shadow. Even if you chose the same major, your classes will be so large (in the beginning) that I doubt your professors will necessarily remember her and compare the two of you, and if you’re in different majors that shouldn’t be an issue at all. Moreover, given that the university is so large you can carve out your own niche somewhere else and have a great time.</p>

5

<p>Thank you so much for all your help! It’s nice getting an outside opinion.</p>

<p>After a lot of teeth pulling, I was able to have the financials talk with my parents, and Mac just isn’t going to be doable unfortunately. But, I did visit Tech yesterday and was really impressed with the campus and students I met there. I’m also beginning to warm up to the summer classes thing after hearing so many positive reviews of it. I’m going to try to get over to UGA again this weekend or Monday.</p>