<p>I'm struggling to pick between the aforementioned colleges as May 1st is looming ahead. I plan to study aerospace engineering or chemical engineering (definitely the latter at UMN). Money isn't a main problem for my family (thanks FAFSA). I was wondering if I could get any input on the programs at these schools. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Other information:
~$10000/year at UMN (scholarships)
Waitlisted for President's Scholarship at GT.
Definitely going to grad school--don't know if whether med school or engineering grad school.
Hard-worker--the prospect of working hard for an 'A' isn't daunting (wrt GT as a weedout school).</p>
<p>These three are all excellent engineering schools. Michigan and GT have a slight edge over Minnesota for engineering overall and probably for aerospace too. For ChemE all three are peers.</p>
<p>If you want to be in the South, pick GT. If you think you might not pursue engineering, pick Michigan or Minnesota. If you want to be in a big city, pick GT or Minnesota.</p>
<p>If all three cost the same, I’d probably go with Michigan. But if there is a significant cost difference, I don’t think you can lose with any of these choices.</p>
Then money is actually a very big issue for you. If you aren’t getting need-based aid and your parents aren’t going to pay their EFC, that could leave you with a significant amount to cover.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay? And how much will each of these schools actually cost you after scholarships?</p>
<p>Oops. I forgot to put this in the previous post.</p>
<p>My parents would cover (for example, not solidified yet) 75-80% of the cost after scholarships. I’d take a loan for the rest. This was my idea. So I’m not going to differentiate my decisions based on money. That is what I’m trying to say.</p>
<p>Michigan will obviously cost the most, then GT, then UMN.</p>
Especially if med school is even a possibility, you need to be careful with loans. When all your choices are good, it makes sense to consider the financial reality.</p>
<p>If you want ChemE definitely go with Minnesota, it’s one of the top two or three probably in the country for that. For everything else, come to Michigan. You should probably decide on Aero or Chem before you choose your school. And if you can’t decide, Michigan’s CoE is so strong it would be tough to go wrong.</p>
<p>I would go to Minnesota and study Chemical Engineering. Michigan costs $50k all in. Michigan is awesome, but it is not $120k-$160k better than Minnesota, which is what you will have to pay extra to attending Michigan over 4 years. Of course, if your parents are very wealthy and can easily cover the $160k difference in cost of attendance, I would then recommend Michigan.</p>
<p>Thanks all. I’m just hesitant because I don’t know how respectable a UMN degree is compared to a Michigan or GT degree. And is paying the extra thousands to Michigan worth the difference between UMN and Michigan?</p>
<p>I’m assuming your in state in Minnesota, as am I. I am not doing engineering and for the programs I was interested in, Michigan was the right choice over the U and Madison. You should do more research into what type of engineering you want to do, because if it’s chemical you should go to the U and if it’s aero you should go to Michigan.</p>
<p>For ChE, there is no reason to prefer Michigan or GT over Minnesota.</p>
<p>For AeroE, I’d say that the departments at the other two schools are stronger than at the U. However, Minnesota is still a very solid school and many major aerospace players recruit on-campus. While Michigan may be somewhat better, I don’t think you can justify spending more from a purely monetary ROI perspective.</p>
<p>I’m still not totally clear on the cost difference in your situation. I would tend to agree with Alexandre that Michigan has the edge if the cost difference is truly insignificant for your family. Otherwise, bank the difference.</p>