Mississippi State vs GT vs UGA

College Search & Selection
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My short list is down to Mississippi State (with Honors College), GT, and UGA. I’m not sure what I want to major in or what my specific career objective is. Generally, my interests are in international business, entrepreneurship, and maybe law. I could see myself doing engineering of some kind. I’m not into computer science or any kind of medical.

MSU – Pros: I like the campus and small town, they have majors and programs that potentially interest me, they’re offering the most generous scholarship package (compared to the GA schools it would be $10K cheaper the first year and $4K cheaper the following years, due to an extra housing scholarship for the first year). Cons: It’s the farthest from my family, it is not anywhere close in the rankings to the other two.

GT – Pros: I have someone there I plan to room with, it’s the highest ranked of my choices, it has an especially strong reputation if I major in STEM, internship and potential job opportunities abound in Atlanta, they have great study abroad options. Cons: I’m not sure about living in such an urban area, housing and food are more expensive, I’ve read that about 40% of students lose their instate tuition scholarship at some point because it’s hard to keep GPA up, it has a reputation for “stress culture” and I’m prone to stress and anxiety anyway.

UGA – Pros: It’s the closest to home, I love the campus and town, it has a ton of majors to choose from, and it has an excellent academic reputation overall. Cons: It’s the largest of the three, I’m more of a introvert and not into the party/Greek scene.

Finances are a big factor for me. At GT or UGA, even with the instate scholarship covering tuition, I will probably have to take out at least $7K a year in loans, for a total near $30K. At MSU, if I take on debt it will probably be less than half that overall – a small chance I could graduate with none. However, I will see my family much less often and those savings will be offset somewhat by additional travel expenses if I have to fly home a few times each year. Also, the ROI seems to be greater at GT or UGA. I really have no idea what to do, lol. Any suggestions or perspectives are appreciated.

2

just wondering, how can you lose in-state scholarship when your residency is in Georgia?

3

You have to maintain a certain GPA in college. 3.3, I think.

4

Because you are uncertain as to your major, it is difficult to offer any reasonable recommendation among your three options.

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5

If you live close to Atlanta, it is only a 4.5 hr drive from Starkville to Atlanta, so travel expenses won’t be that much and you may see your family more often then you suspect (or even want, lol).

6

For Hope you have to maintain a 3.0 cumulative and Zell a 3.3

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7

oh i see

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GT. GT isn’t that big. 19k undergrads. On campus is cheap but off campus is expensive. Food isn’t great but should improve when it’s brought in-house this year.

I would assume stress is mostly CS and engineering.S20 didn’t seemed stressed in Scheller. You can do internships or co-ops to cut cost. Become an RA for free housing. S20 is introverted but has come out of his shell.

You have a world class university for $30k or less. You could take the $27k fed loans.

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Can you handle the math&science core at Georgia Tech?
If so, international business there is great.
However, costs are a problem. You can only borrow 5.5k for freshman year.
Do you need 7k to pay for room&board or are you counting 7k are needed including books and personal expenses?

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I estimate my cost at GT will be close to $15K per year just for room & board. Not counting books and personal expenses. I’d have to get loans, including private loans, to cover about 7K or so of that $15K.

As far as I know, I can handle the STEM core at GT. I’ve always done well in STEM but of course GT will be on a different level.

11

If you’ve done well in STEM, then that’s all you can be expected to do, and you’ll be on a level playing field with all other freshmen when it comes to the rigor at GT. Wrt Zell Miller, STEM has “added points” for the scholarship (+.5 added to your grade) so you should be okay.
https://finaid.gatech.edu/hope-zell-stem-faq
That applies at UGA and GTech.

The amount of loans is concerning although passing up GATech with Zell Miller would be really too bad. :frowning:
Do you qualify for Pell Grants that might be added to Zell Miller, or did you already count that in? (I know I grasping at straws).
You qualify for 5.5K for freshman year, meaning you’d need to find 1.5K - could you earn that at a part-time job?

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It would be tough to decline GT, IMHO. Your projected loan amount is not excessive and you’d likely have the best financial results post-graduation with a degree from GT. Tons of internship and coop opportunities to get you going. You can opt to live on campus after freshman year instead of going into the apartments near campus. As someone suggested, you can be an RA and live on-campus for free. There are many career paths you can choose at this world-class facility. Should you decide to go into some sort of STEM field, you are golden with a degree from GT. Amazing facilities and networking, and you’d meet top-quality people from all over the world. It’s even close to your family, which is of importance to you. Hard to pass this one up. It would change your life.

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I’m thankful for the replies. I think I’ve been overthinking this. I’ve decided GT would definitely be my first option if money weren’t a factor. And it’s not like the other options are free. I would be saving a few thousand dollars each year elsewhere, which is significant, but like you said the ROI at GT is very positive. I will try to save money and work where I can. Even in the worst case scenario, if it looks like GT is too hard or too expensive, I’m not obligated to stay 4 years. I can always transfer if absolutely necessary. My goal is that it will work out and that I’ll do fine. If not I’ll deal with it. That’s life, right? I don’t want to regret not trying.

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Look at GT’s website. I think R&B on campus is around $12k.

15

Your issue isn’t academic, but rather financial.
Were you given work-study? If not, email to ask. As a freshman, you can safely work 8 hours a week without jeopardizing your studies, which you can raise to 10-12 afterwards.
Can you work part time right now, saving all your earnings, and over the summer full time?

16

One consideration between MSU and UGA vs GT is that not only is GT substantially harder than the other two on average but they also have very limited numbers of majors and most majors are required to take STEM classes (most include math through Calc 2 and math at GT is pretty brutal, plus a CS class). They also don’t have the lower level science classes to fulfill your gen ed requirement (which is required of all GA schools) like the other two so you will likely have to take some difficult science classes as well. As far as I can gather, there are no easy classes at GT:) When I was in college there were classes like “Rocks for Jocks” that would satisfy your science requirement, and those exist at UGA and MSU but not at GT. There are few “easy electives”.

It is a fantastic place but you need to go in with your eyes open about what classes you will have to take and the limitations on the majors available. You will have the ability to get an internship, co op or job - this is something GT absolutely excels at - after your second year. It is not unusual to earn 8-10k a semester in an internship as a sophomore and some CS students earn twice that (although some of that is because they are in a place with a high cost of living).

As far as UGA goes, we live in Athens and while it seems from the outside that UGA is dominated by Greek life that is totally not the case. Actually GT has a higher percentage of its students participate in Greek life than UGA (25 percent at GT and 18 at UGA). I feel certain you will find your people at UGA - there are lots to choose from - and I have known all sorts of kids who ended up there from artists, to scholars, to athletes, introverted and outgoing, etc. and they have all found their niche.

You have great choices - good luck to you!!!

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If OP has AP classes he could get out of some gen ed classes. He could also take Calc or STEM classes at a local CC and transfer the classes. GT was fairly generous with S20.

GT has a nice tool to lookup GT classes and their equivalents at other schools across the US. S20 walked on campus with 51 credits. You could graduate early from Scheller with AP or dual credits.

18

Georgia Perimeter has an agreement, right?

19

Yes you can place out with APs (they require a 4 or higher) and they need to take every credit they can! My oldest came in with a bunch of hours and took Physics 1 instead of taking the credit. Even though he got a 5 on the AP exam he thought his teacher was sub par and since he needed to take physics 2 he should get a GT background in physics. Mistake! He ended up with an A but he thought he would have an 89/B which is a 3.0 after calculating his average after the exam grade came in. Professor was generous I guess. Moral of the story take every single credit you can!!

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20

Actually, most STEM classes at Georgia Tech do not have added points for Zell. That only applies to certain lower level courses. All courses with an added bump are listed on the Georgia futures website. Losing Zell and Hope is a real risk and happens frequently. If you lose it, you can’t get it back for a year so you’ll have two semesters at least where you are paying full tuition. If you lose Zell at Georgia Tech, you lose it state wide so transferring out doesn’t solve the problem.