UGA is not going to have good job networking for engineers if they have ZERO mechanical engineering majors some years. Why would any company recruit there?
I wonder how they maintain a faculty in mechanical engineering with zero students some years?
UGA is too small, for engineering and Georgia in state students should be looking at U of Alabama, Duke, UVA,
U of Florida Gainesville, for certain, over U of Georgia , if they want to be mechanical or electrical engineers.
Alabama will be an excellent cost, if the student can win merit. Ditto on the Florida pubic schools.
U of Central Florida in Orlando is also better than U of Georgia for engineering numbers. Numbers matter.
U of Georgia may some day find some students who want to study engineering, but for today, the numbers are way too low to make a good engineering college.
Check out U of Central Florida College of Engineering. Because UCF is located in the tech area of Orlando,
think aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins on the coast, etc and because it was a tech school from the very beginning, U of Central Florida is leaps and bounds head of U of Georgia, for those that need a safer option than Georgia Tech today:
UF Gainesville is ranked better in Engineering than U Central Florida or Alabama, but certainly Georgia students
need to look around beyond Georgia public schools today.
I honestly think the state of Georgia approved an engineering college at UGA to justify Georgia Tech denying admission to so many in-state high stat qualified students…my son got into UGA early and into their Honors College and went on their special tour and they never mentioned the Engineering College much less the engineering program - their main emphasis was food, then football. University of Alabama was a much better tour, especially for engineering. Most of the Georgia engineering students end up at Auburn or Clemson or North Carolina State. Auburn offers the best scholarship money.
Yes indeed, Clemson and Auburn are more senior in Engineering. But most of the time, they just don’t make sense for the average GA student. Costs are too high, and even with significant merit funding, the ROI of an entry level engineer just doesn’t justify it (better to do CS or something at a State school).
That’s where UGA comes in. Yes, their engineering program is new, and much less acclaimed than Clemson and Auburn, but, it is feeding out competent engineers. It seems to me that most of these students will also try to stay in GA, and so now their is competition for GT engineers.
The thing is, UGA grads are everywhere. UGA is just an amazing institution, and so GA companies, in my view, cannot and will not be biased to UGA engineering grads. UGA is fortunate to have that strong rep that will no doubt carry its engineering grads far
Numbers and statistics wise. Yes, Auburn/Clemson = better. However, I am a long term GA resident and someone who has worked within the engineering industry. From that view, I am seeing that UGA grads can and will compete going in the future.
While what you’re saying makes sense as an outside (and logical) observation, what’s going down on the ground doesn’t really reflect that.
All the schools you mentioned that GA in state students should be looking at are great, but honestly, it’s not good advice.
The cost is too high even with good merit aid. Even paying 20K a year (including housing/living), is kinda a lot for more students. Also, we should not advocate our students to take debt in college and go out of State.
There is tremendous respect in the engineering industry for KSU Eng. grads. How about them? I tell you that is much better (for our in-state students of course), than any of the options you mentioned. Also, they are ABET. They are well respected in the state.
UGA is catching up. Their reputation in other fields (business, etc), is leaking down to engineering.
Yes, ranking/stats, etc, is important, but one needs to also consider stuff that isn’t so apparent. GA Tech’s monopoly on engineering education is over. UGA and KSU are producing what we need and want.
I would never ever recommend a fellow GA resident to go to any of the institutions you mentioned unless the cost was equalized to what they’d be paying in-state. I hope that you don’t advocate either for our GA students to go out of state and take out loans. That’s really not the right thing to do especially with the great options we have now.
Why? Because I’ve worked in the engineering setting and also seen UGA & KSU grads do great things. I know the return will be the same (if not better).
Even Auburn’s scholarship money seems to necessitate loans and debt, however.
I agree with what your first point was in my opinion also. GA Tech was being irresponsible in denying some amazing talent. The State had to do something, and it did. I’m proud of that.
In my opinion (and this is just a guess based on what I’m seeing), GA students are no more looking at Aub/Clemson (aspiring engineering students, that is). But they are looking inwards to KSU and UGA. That is great.
@college450 I worked for Hewlett Packard and Seagate, as well as the USPTO. All in electrical engineering/semiconductors. I don’t know if you mean Kansas State or some other college, KSU.
It all depends on what the student wants and how much money they have. Georgia Tech
has name recognition on the west coast and even here in Colorado. U of Georgia does not,
so thats my bent. U of Alabama does, for better or worse, and the merit is very good there, and easy to win.
Also, the engineering speciality has to be taken into account. For Aerospace, I would choose Alabama
over other choices, besides Georgia Tech. The reason Georgia Tech cannot take all the in state kids is
my kid and other kids are taking slots. Colorado kids are now applying to Georgia Tech because for many of
us, its less expensive than any east coast private option. So yes, my perspective is different than yours,and maybe Georgia families need to wake up a bit and realize that their kids may want to go west, or north and U of Georgia will not cut it. Its just not competitive, yet because its completely unknown as an engineering college outside of your area.
Whether it is actually good or not, I would trust you on that though. Just because IBM New York State does not recognize U of Georgia does not say that the programs are less than Georgia Tech. One needs to compare various aspects of education to determine is the curriculum rigorous, is the student body have enough math to study engineering , and is it a fit for location, costs, entertainment in the area , weather or whatever criteria a student may have for higher education.
That’s grear to know. It’s great to see someone with a background or experience in the engineering world than others on this forum. Your insights are appreciated.
I meant Kenessaw State U, it’s a regional engineering program though. So recognition is limited to the southeast, but I feel most students want to stay anyways
I didn’t know that what you mentioned about students in CO. To me it seems like they have some great options like Boulder and specifically Mines. But it may be that they are having a similar problem of in state options not taking all the qualified students. That said CSM has some amazing transfer options which seem much more guaranteed that that of GT.
Great insight once again, and all the best to your son.
@college450 Thank you. I looked up Kenessaw State, and agree that it might be a fit for a student who
wants to stay in state, and needs to keep the costs down. Colorado has some good options, in particular Mines, is almost up to the Georgia Tech type of education, but we love Georgia Tech for its rigor and lots of great co ops, and computer science hacking contests, as well as the strong alumni network that is on the west coast and east coast, for jobs later. Colorado School of Mines focuses on geology and petroleum engineering, as well as geochemistry, and thus the computer science is for now weaker than Georgia Tech’s program. U of Colorado Boulder is well ranked for some engineering subjects, but its more watered down curriculum than Mines offers for math, computer science and other engineering fields. Neither Mines nor U of Colorado have the strong co op program or the job networking that Georgia Tech provides. We are very impressed with what we know about Georgia Tech so far.
Yes indeed. GT is a fantastic school. I built my history over there for a reason
Unfortunately, many Georgian’s don’t have that privilege due to the admissions practices, but like discussed, as alternatives start to spring up, things are looking good for our GA HS grads.
Just confirmed UGA does not have ABET accreditation for mechanical or electrical engineering yet - will be applying in the spring of 2018. Their enrollment numbers should jump after that…I would think.
Seeking advice as the mom of a GA HS junior class of 2019 desiring a degree in CS, top choice school is Tech, near perfect math SAT (790) and 4.3 weighted GPA, lots of AP/honors, varsity athlete, service club, etc. I can’t believe I have to worry whether he will get in to Tech! It’s crazy.
Due to the competitive admissions at Tech for CS, we are also looking into UGA honors for CS. Any opinion on CS @ UGA vs out-of-state options such as Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Auburn, Clemson?
Also -any one know the current policy at Tech re: switching majors? I, too, have heard that you can apply for a less desirable major and switch to increase chances of admission (though son does not want to do that)
I would say that most CS curriculums are pretty much the same at their core. I wouldn’t advise applying to too many OOS places like the ones you mentioned. There’s a good chance of an unexpected rejection due to how competitive those schools can get, and even if you do get in, the cost is often far too high to be worth it. I would heavily consider an in-state option for computer science if there is a good one.
@atlantamama , as a casual observer of this forum over the last couple of years, as well as the mom of a current Tech student (but not for long–graduation is May 5th!), one thing I see is that a lot of rejected applicants, even those with high stats and solid ECs, tend to have mediocre AP scores (3s). Make sure your son aces his APs this year!
