Out of state students - does GT make sense ?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
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Despite all the great ratings of GT on national rankings, I have a general bias against state schools unless they
are your own state. I feel you pay so much as an out of state student, it’s almost as expensive as a private school.
At that point, why not attend a private school ? How can a publicly funded school match resources, faculty and facilities ?

And consider the location in Atlanta, expensive cost of living, high out of state tuition, would cost me same
as my older son going to a top private school in a rural area.

This school makes total sense to me if you were a GA resident, just not sure if it’s worthwhile out of state.
Thoughts ?

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There can still be a large gap between OOS state and a private if you are a full payer.

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Around 30% of the GTECH students are OOS or International, most of them paying full fare. This includes my D2 (from PA when she applied) who is a Sophomore there. She plans to major in ChemE. She had other acceptances including UCB, UMich, UWisc and UMinn. The only private schools she applied to - MIT, Stanford (both rejects) and RPI (admitted with large merit scholarship). It made full sense to us about the choice she made. She is happy with her choice of a state school and doing very well, both academically and socially.

The private schools that we did consider but ruled out (before applying) were Cornell and CMU (each for a different reason). We were absolutely not interested in small Tech schools (Harvey Mudd, Olin, etc.) or LACs (Bucknell, etc.).

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We are really on the fence about DS applying to GT, mainly because of the Atlanta location and the cost (and we’re not confident of admission either, but that’s not as big a deal). I’m glad to see the response above. ^^ GT does have a great reputation.

eta: we are also OOS

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i012575. Why did you rule out Cornell and CMU.
Certainly not weather related if Michigan and Minn were included ! My S1 is at Cornell and loves it there. S2 has some older classmates who went to GT and is heavily influenced by their choices, only reason he is considering. s2 also has a tech school in mind. Applying to 3 small tech schools in NE including RPI, GT would be only southern school on the list.

I do not love our well respected and highly competitive state schools in our state, except the cost which is half OOS at GT or other well known state Us. S1 got merit aid at decent private schools to bring price down to same as OOS cost.
Do not think the amt of merit was an accident, they knew who their competition was.

What I was looking for in this thread, was contradiction of my bias, whether GT is better funded than other state Us? Out state Us have half or less the faculty of private schools we looked at. Better credentialed profs at the private schools. I really think our state U is competitive because it’s cheap!

So is GT different ?

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@blevine, my D2 did not want to apply to Cornell as she was not interested in living in a place like Ithaca. Having lived all her life in semi-urban locations, she wanted a more “happening” place. As for the reason for not applying to CMU - too close to family as older sis attends Pitt.

I do not have the time or the inclination to compare GTECH with your state school but here are some links that provide financial data of what GTECH spends on.

GTECH expenditures by program
http://factbook.gatech.edu/financial-information/gt-actual-expenditures-by-program-fig-7-2/

Highest R&D Funding
http://www.bestcolleges.com/features/colleges-with-highest-research-and-development-expenditures/

Most of the schools higher than GTech in the list have Med schools attached to their institution. For example, Pitt ranks 12th as most of the R&D spending is in the Health Sciences. GTECH compares quite favorably with the likes of UCB and MIT, as they too do not have a Med School.

Comparison of salaries of Avg Faculty Salaries at some Public schools
https://www.purdue.edu/datadigest/2013-14/Peers/FacSalaries.html

BTW, when we compared COA for GTECH with UCB and UMich, GTECH was lower by 11k per year for 2014-15 (my D2’s first year) for a full fare paying student. The difference in COA between GTECH and Cornell (or CMU) would have been more that 20k and definitely not worth this amount for an Engg. or a CS degree in my opinion.

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DS and 2 of his roommates are instate his girl friend and 1 of his roommates is OOS. All of them are Juniors this year. I would look at the opportunities at each school your S2 is admitted to. All five of them have done research at GT. DS and two of his roommates(1 instate, 1 OOS) are doing the co-op plan. I’m not sure if the other roommate applied for co-ops or not. I know the GF didn’t because she wants to get out early. My point is that even though it’s a state school the students have a number of ways to get more than just the standard classroom college experience.

If you are looking to save money on college I would recommend University of Alabama. Your S2 should get free tuition. Also he is really bright then he should be able to get internships during the summer.

One more thing if your DS has a co-op he should make enough to pay most of his room and board. That would leave you with only the tuition to pay.

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Have you been to GT? The resources, faculty, and facilities are are as good or better than any private school.

Cost of living is all relative. Atlanta is much cheaper than many other areas (NYC, Boston, Cal, etc,). Also easy and cheap to get to. How much would it cost (money, time, hassle) to get to those top private schools in rural areas?

GT is an incredible bargain if you’re a GA resident. For OOS, it compares favorably to any private school, if one is considering (and can afford) a private. GT is also unlike most privates, in that it’s a distinct campus in the middle of a city, with all the school spirit and sports of larger schools. If one cannot afford OOS or private tuition, than most home state flagships are good (often excellent) for engineering.

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@blevine, even the well to-do folks of the NE elite private schools are increasingly looking at GTECH… great education at a good price :slight_smile:

Exeter [2012-2014]
https://www.exeter.edu/documents/2015_Profile_for_Colleges_(Web).pdf
Five or more students: Amherst; Babson; Bates; Boston Univ; Bowdoin;
UC-Berkeley; Duke; Emerson; George Washington; Georgia Tech;
McGill (Canada); Middlebury; Mt. Holyoke; Northwestern; St. Andrews
(UK); Scripps; Swarthmore; Syracuse; Union; UNH; Virginia;
Washington Univ-St. Louis

Andover [3 years]
https://www.andover.edu/Academics/CollegeCounseling/Documents/PASchoolProfile2014-2015.pdf
Georgia Institute of Technology 7

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@blevine, one more telling stats from another elite private school - Boston Latin

http://www.bls.org/ourpages/auto/2013/5/24/55204166/Acceptances%20by%20GPA%20for%202012%20to%202015.pdf

Check under the 3.75 - 4.00 GPA range… contains a few state schools including GTECH. So I think you need to reassess your views about the good state schools !

I guess you have already seen this article about Harvard feeder schools
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/13/making-harvard-feeder-schools/

The 3 (Andover, Exeter, Boston Latin) I have mentioned are a part of that elite list.

**
In total, one out of every 20 Harvard freshmen attended one of the seven high schools most represented in the class of 2017—Boston Latin, Phillips Academy in Andover, Stuyvesant High School, Noble and Greenough School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Trinity School in New York City, and Lexington High School.
**

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Thanks all. Not sure how 50% of budget going to research helps my undergraduate student.

I was thinking more student/faculty ratio and class sizes, interaction with professors as marks of quality undergrad.

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Well… lets see. GF and DS did/do research in the space systems design lab. They are sending a space craft up on a falcon heavy. They already did a test this last summer. Pretty cool research IMO.
Plus they learn a lot, work with the professors and it looks good on the resume. All of that takes money.

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@blevine, GTECH is not a good fit for your student based on the criteria you have listed (class size, student/faculty ration,…), look elsewhere. Interestingly enough, some of my class sizes at HBS was bigger than most of my D2’s at GTECH. I guess I have done alright !

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$45K per year doesn’t buy a lot outside of your home state, so picking on GTech (which is an excellent highly rated STEM school) as a poor value is just well, wrong

There are almost no private schools at that low a price point, unless you qualify for FA or merit aid.

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My DD has had a similar experience to MichiganGeorgia’s DS. She is a second year and so far GT has funded her research project where she meets weekly with the professor to make sure her research team (all second years) are on the right track and to give them ideas. She is on a competition team and the professor who is the advisor meets with them all the time, and helps them get jobs in industry. She sees her professors weekly one-on-one for office hours and none of them have ever said they couldn’t meet with her and have even scheduled time outside of office hours. Many of her professors give the students their cell phone so that the students can reach them and ask questions. The Dean of Women in Engineering is wonderful and has a very open door policy. She advises the students on career, classes etc. Last Spring at a banquet, when my DD sat with the Deans of the various engineering colleges, they all made sure to give her their card with their direct line and told her to call them if she every had any issues or needed help. These are just a few of the examples. I could give you a long list of positive interactions my DD has had with GT faculty and staff.

Also you said “it is almost as expensive as a private school.” I have to dispute that statement. Tuition at Cornell is $49,116. OOS tuition at GT is $30,004. That is a $19K difference and to many families (ours included) a world of difference in terms of affordability. Plus GT allows OOS students to pay instate when they go abroad so my DD got a semester’s worth of credit when she went abroad for just $3700. I don’t know of any private college that gives their students the same break. Plus Tech is paying for her to attend a national conference in her field.

GT professors have great credentials, I mean who discovered there was liquid water on Mars this week.

An earlier poster asked you if you have visited GT and I don’t believe I saw a response. If you haven’t visited then I strongly encourage you to do so. You will be blown away. GT is an amazing school. The facilities are awesome. In fact my DD was looking at engineering schools in the Northeast, but none of their labs for the schools she saw could compare to GT. GT has Tech Square filled with startups, innovation centers and more industry and dollars to create a great, and to use your words a “quality” undergrad. GT had their career fair two weeks ago (actually they had about 10 career fairs two weeks ago), over 500 employers were on campus while I saw that Cornell only has 250 employers at their once a year career fair (GT does it twice a year). My DD has numerous interviews and in fact one company even gave her a brand new Macbook at the end of the interview as thanks for traveling to their city for her interview (the company also paid for her travel expenses).

Also Tech and Cornell have the same number of undergrads (14K).

Also have you visited Atlanta? It is very inexpensive compared to my home state. Students can live in brand, new beautiful apts for a very reasonable rate like 5th on Square. There is a ton to do in Atlanta and a lot of resources for jobs. The city is filled with museums etc. In fact my DD spends hardly any money each month because there is so much free or discounted things going on in Atlanta.

I am blown away by the quality of education my DD has received. Engineers that talk to her tell me that they are impressed by how much she knows. I have really been impressed by all the students I have met at Gt. And not only is my DD getting a great education, but she is having a lot of fun in college. Tech has traditions, a greek system, fun sports, lot of things to do on campus etc. She is never bored and she has made many good friends.

My other child went to Ohio State and similarly had a great educational experience. Plus Ohio State gave him a full merit ride so when it comes to out of state schools, our family is all for them!!

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blevine, right you can’t mention Georgia Tech in the same sentence as SUNYs. It’s as if SUNYs are extensions of high school while GT is a world class university

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Very well said, itsv! Especially the visiting part. I have a college senior currently and live in GA and we went to look at Tech “just because it was there” and were all blown away by it! Amazing campus, amazing programs, great presentation, etc etc. Really changed our mind about it and Tech is now a top contender along with several private schools in the NE.

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The details were very helpful, thanks.
Just what was interested to hear about.
My S is going to apply given all the great feedback !

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Note that comments were made in comparison to Cornell. First have 2 sons, one already in Cornell.
There is a misleading comment above. There are 8k engineering majors at GT vs 3k at Cornell. Yes Cornell is large by private school standards, but it’s a large collection of small to mid size colleges. GT by comparison is a smaller than many flagship State Us. Engineering is no doubt smaller and more personal at Cornell and even more at other private schools on S2’s list. Also price comparison is tough. Experience with S1 is top students pay full fare often at OOS top schools but with their grades can pay less than full cost at many private schools, sometimes less expensive or only slightly more than full fare at OOS choices. It is well known state schools look to improve their bottom line with Oos students.

All that said, based on comments GT sounds like an excellent choice. Just trying to keep the list of schools to some reasonable # so they are all schools S2 would happily attend and stay. Think this is one of them. But I have no regrets paying Cornell’s high cost, S1 loves it there, and he is exposed to a very large variety of experiences.

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I have a student at GA TEch and from my child’s experiences I would say this. We are instate and my child loves it. However, it is very difficult and requires grueling hours of homework in the weed out classes. Its not a hand holding university. I think GT requires one to be very independent and very motivated. Many kids switch majors while there. Housing is not great to say the least rooms are very small. Off campus apartments will cost about $900 a month per student and they are 12 month leases. Campus I feel is very safe. Off campus you have to be careful where you go. Clubs you have to apply to to be part of, you can’t just join. On the other hand GT gets its students high paying jobs, lots of smart kids and very smart professors, coop programs that pay well and is one of the top engineering schools in the world. Out of State students get in state tuition while on an overseas program. However, if a student chooses not to be a STEM major options are very limited. That being said my child wouldn’t want to be anywhere else although she has no time to sleep, is constantly stressed out, had to learn vpython for her physics class because for modern physics lab you need it but they don’t really teach it.