Olin vs. Georgia Tech Honors

College Search & Selection
1

I’m having a tough time to decide where to go to school, and I would really appreciate some input on this.
My two top choices are Olin College and Georgia Tech, and I would be studying ECE (probably on the computer engineering side) at both schools. Cost is just about the same (manageable amount of debt), though I live in the greater Boston area so GT would be significantly more travel. I’m probably independent enough to be fine with the distance, but the logistics would obviously be more complicated.

With ECE, I’m mainly interested in exploring research projects related to robotics and autonomous systems, and I (at least in high school) don’t really have issues with theory-based classes or a competitive environment. At the same time, I do enjoy project-based learning and don’t discount its value. However, many local engineers I have spoken to express concern over Olin’s nontraditional curriculum, and I personally worry about going to such a tiny school. I would definitely love to pursue technical jobs (internships, etc.) and would prefer for them to be in the Boston area.

Socially, I’m pretty extroverted but I’m not really into partying. At the same time, I would love to interact with a large and diverse group of people in college and work on interesting projects with them. Any advice would be appreciated.

2

Olin is a tiny school with a hands on focus. Georgia Tech is a large world class research institution. There really is no comparison. As far as jobs and internships in Boston, there’s not a single one that an Olin student would land easier than a qualified GT student. If you want to interact with a large and diverse group of people, GT is the obvious choice.

3

If after Olin Candidates Weekend you still have doubts about it, I suggest you give up your slot to someone who wants to be there more than you.

4

First, congratulations!

We live in the Boston area and have searched for engineering schools with our 2 oldest children. They both started their search investigating broad areas of concentration (biomedical and robotics engineering). Their engineering parents held back our opinions but steered both to the conclusion that they needed to choose a traditional engineering discipline (mechanical, chemical, civil, electrical) and choosing an industry should be saved for a concentration or master’s/PHD program. Four years of depth; not just breath. That process worked well; one chose Chemical and Biomolecular and the second Mechanical.

We all learned that both children needed to be in an environment that feeds their interests. In the case of the ChemE, a campus with a medical school researching in partnership with the ChemE department and a strong Biomedical program. In the case of the ME, an incredible robotics department, a robust ECE department (there are not may of these and GT is on top), flexibility to add not just CS but EE coursework to an ME curriculum, creating a concentration in systems. For your interests, GT has it all with many research facilities. My husband has been hiring for 20+ years. His managers interview MIT, WPI, Cornell,GT students; it’s really about the candidate not the particular school. Our freshman is returning to New England to work in Pharma this summer. Landing internships from afar can easily happen if you get research experience in college and actively pursue summer opportunities.

Olin will be diverse but likely in the eclectic way that MA suburban charter high schools attract a type of student. If that is not your type of happy home for 4 years, take the leap to Atlanta. I understand the anxiety especially since most MA students do not leave New England because there are so many private schools. The distance may be greater, but Atlanta, Baltimore & Philly have easier access to home than a drive to Ithica or Rochester in the middle of the winter.

5

Those two schools are so different, to compare and contrast should be easy. Our child also had the choice of GT and Olin (among others) and the decision didn’t take very long. The feeling was that Olin beats GT (from our student’s perspective) in research opportunities, culture, and lifestyle. The last two are really subjective, but it is worth mentioning that Olin has a very cooperative atmosphere. From all reports I have seen, GT is more of a competitive (if not quite cut throat) scene. There are no frats at Olin – and it would be difficult to imagine any greek organization ever happening there (not just because of their size, also because of their culture). On the other hand, Geek organizations thrive. There are no varsity sports at Olin. While both schools have traditions, at Olin they are still making traditions (“you get to be a giant instead of standing on the shoulders of giants”). As far as research opportunities, Olin is undergraduate-only, First Year students are routinely involved in research. I’m sure GT undergraduates get research opportunities, but it is undoubtedly much more difficult to find the opportunities.

6

I have to strongly disagree with @Chardo. GT is not hands down “better” than Olin. It’s hands down different. At GT classes will be large, and much of the instruction will be by graduate students. There will be classes at GT that might be bigger than the entire Olin student body. Olin is TINY. They put a big emphasis on an well rounded, integrated process including entrepreneurship and liberal arts. It is definitely a love it or hate it environment. If it’s to your liking, it’s one of the coolest undergraduate programs in the nation. @colorado_mom can add light to the subject.

7

@KLSD Thank you for the detailed response. I was wondering what your husband thought of Olin - some local hiring managers are skeptical of Olin students in that they may lack the theoretical base that students from traditionally engineering schools.

8

@HeloDada Thank you for the response. If you don’t mind, did your child/their friends find it easy to publish their own papers/be second or third authors on papers? From CW, I definitely got a vibe that people spend so much time on their coursework and project teams that research is neglected.

9

Companies come to Olin to hire because their students have already demonstrated the ability to start and complete a project to the end in their four years. They have demonstrated their ability to work in teams, and to have actual project management experience from day one. How many ‘traditional’ engineering school students can say they have overseen multiple product development projects by the time they graduate? This is what companies want. I dare say the lack of theoretical base has not hurt them one bit as they have done ‘real world’ engineering work for four years. This is why companies like Microsoft and Google have been snapping up Olin graduates.

10

@helpless2017 If your goal is to publish research, then GT is your school, not Olin. Olin students have research internships, often with faculty members. But I don’t think their work will result in their names on the research publication. Olin’s emphasis is on practical hands on engineering and problem solving, not research. If it’s research you want, then you want to go to a research university, which GT definitely is. Olin is a teaching college, not a research college.

11

Olin mom here. It was a fantastic place for our son. However, I often do warn that it is too teeny./limited (85 grads per hear) for most students. If you want a more traditional college experience, GT may be better. For completeness I will add more info about Olin too.

Olin grads do have decent prospects for internships and jobs. The job fairs I think have more companies than annual graduates. You may find this link helpful - http://www.olin.edu/collaborate/careers-graduate-studies/results/. There will definitely be employers who have NOT heard of Olin, more so as you get further from Boston. The various rankings can help mitigate that - http://www.olin.edu/about/rankings-awards/

Olin does have many projects, especially compared to my Engineering program in 1980s. It also has intense academics, but not in the traditional course sequences. Many Olin admits are highly qualified - some have turned down offers MIT, Stanford, Princeton etc. So there is a presumption that they already have a lot of AP/IB knowledge under their belt.

Our son did do research at Olin (including the summer after Freshman year), but it was interwined with software engineering. One project resulted in an award (with colleges that had more liberal arts kinds of CS than most STEM schools). He also did poster presentation at a conference. But these things were not due to intentional research focus - he intended to go to work, not grad school.

The first link above includes To grad schools s (the qty may be out of all grads to date - under 1000… and I think a minority apply to grad schools)
Harvard University 25
Stanford 21
MIT 20
Carnegie Mellon University 18
University of California Berkeley 15
Cornell 12

Olin students can also take classes at Babson (adjacent campus), Wellsley (campus loop bus), or Brandeis.

I think the approach to have an Olin Candidate’s Weekend is wise. (first cut of admits come to campus on one of 3 weekends) . I was not able to attend, but DH (also an engineer) went. with DS… and after that, they both were smitten.

In Summary: Olin can be a fine school if it is a good “fit”. But it is a niche-fit, so students should careful study the pros/cons for their particular situation.

12

@colorado_mom Thank you so much for all of the information! I really appreciate it. Did your son enjoy the CS program at Olin/think it had enough depth for him? A few students I talked to at CW said that they found the course sequence to be pretty disappointing and that they were logistically unable to take courses at Wellesley.

13

Our son was an ECE major,. I think his job now is software engineer. He took one course at Wellesley, but it was a math course he wanted to take (not a required course). There can be logistics with cross-registration due to slightly different break schedules and timeslot alignment (many Olin courses only have one section). He also did a semester abroad, but that needs to be planned carefully to ensure all the graduation requirements are met.

14

@helpless2017 I will ask my Oliner your question, but I have a feeling others here can answer it easily. I see @NoVADad99 already took a swing at it. FWIW, the project my son is working on is run by a student, so I assume the author of the work will be the student. Changing topics slightly, when you’re looking at statistics about graduate schools and Olin try to factor in that many Olin students do some time in the workforce and then head for graduate school. They have an office of “Post Graduate Planning,” that assists students with post Olin planning and strategy (http://www.olin.edu/collaborate/careers-graduate-studies/). Finally, definitely check out the way Olin has produced Fulbright scholars. It may be interesting to compare Olin and GT by Fulbright recipients (while taking Olin’s smaller size into consideration). I haven’t seen the comparison.

15

@eyemgh someone disagreed with me? That doesn’t happen often. If you reread my post, I still believe it’s accurate. I never said GT is hands down better than Olin. I said it’s the obvious choice for this OP who stated he would “love to interact with a large and diverse group of people”. Hard to do that at a tiny school.

16

This is what I’m disagreeing with, if for nothing else, because Olin is in Boston’s back yard.

I disagree more so because of the previous qualifying sentence that Olin is a hands on program while GT is a “world class research institution.” No doubt the latter is true, but the question is…what does that have to do with the undergraduate learning experience?

Olin is a direct response to large, yes very successful, research institutions, that don’t put the maximum priority on undergraduate education to produce practicing engineers. The great research schools like Caltech, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. are also known to have very large classes, lots of TA instruction and a lack of principle application. Can they produce good bachelors level engineers? Sure. Does their status as a research institution help that? I’d argue that it’s a hindrance.

17

I still stand by the statement. Olin grads get hired easily, but so do GT grads, even in Boston. And again, you need to go back to the OP. His desire for “exploring research projects related to robotics and autonomous systems” points to the world class research institution, even for the undergrad learning experience. Olin is great, for the right person, but to me this OP is better fit at GT.

18

@eyemgh talking to people at GT, they mention that all of their ECE classes are taught by professors (these are friends, some of whom are cynical about the school, not tour guides) and that the presence of grad students makes it easier to get experience and make connections in the professional world? Is this the case? I genuinely don’t know how it works and appreciate the input.

19

@Chardo I appreciate all of the input from you throughout this thread. Do you/anyone else know the value of the product development/user oriented design focus at Olin (as opposed to research)? While not as interesting as robots, that sounds interesting as well. I’m not sure if it’s actually valuable in business because it’s not as thorough as like getting an MBA.

20

I believe that the college experience should be used as a stepping-stone to the real world of a job/work life. This is more so in the case of being an Engineer and especially if you are a woman, unless you are in academia. The jump from a smaller, “more-cocooned” college makes this tougher in my opinion. The experience in smaller colleges and LACs is too much like an extended version of school life. Choose GTech !