prestige difference

College Search & Selection
1

<p>my mom and i got into an argument... so here is the jist of it..</p>

<p>i am BASICALLY deciding between Georgia tech, UMich, and maybe BU. georgia tech and BU is 100% free for me...where as Umich financial aid im still waiting on. im going to major in electrical and computer engineering and minor business. </p>

<p>im happy with whereever one i go...truthfully. however my mom wants me to go to UMich because its more "prestigious." or maybe BU because its in BOSTON. my mom HATES the idea of georgia tech because (sorry for her narrow minded generalization) it's in the SOUTH! im planning to get a job some cities like new york, boston, or los angeles...maybe other international cities. My mom believes that going to BU or UMich would do a better job of that that me going to Georgia Tech. She still believes that georgia has that "southern" culture where people do not learn anything. seriously though, i apologize for her ignorance. </p>

<p>but i need confirmations. is UMich prestige worth it? would it make a difference if i went to georgia tech or umich....or even BU?? thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>Michigan is obviously more prestigious than BU or GT. However, whether or not it is worth it depends on whether or not you can afford it. I guess all depends on how much more Michigan will cost you and whether or not you can handle that extra cost.</p>

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<p><em>sigh</em>… Anybody want to bet how long it is 'til this devolves into a no-YOUR-school-sucks flame war…?</p>

4

<p>Actually there aren’t many BU or GT’ers on this board. So no that probably won’t happe.</p>

5

<p>aibarr, I was merely stating a fact. Obviously, I should qualify my statement a little. In Engineering and Engineering circles, Michigan and Georgia Tech are both roughly equally prestigious. In the Southeast, Georgia Tech is probably more prestigious than BU and Michigan. But as an overall university, outside of the Southeast, Michigan is more prestigious than GT and BU.</p>

<p>This said, I don’t think it is worth incurring major debts to attend Michigan (or any university for that matter). If the OP must pay a significant sum to attend Michigan, and that proves too much for him, I definitely don’t recommend he pick Michigan.</p>

6

<p>The only time prestige should be considered is when you have the opportunity to attend HYPSM. </p>

<p>Regardless, Michigan is probably more fun, and both are about the same academically.</p>

<p>Edit: I’m assuming both are going to cost about the same.</p>

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<p>Right.</p>

<p>/moron.</p>

8

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Umm…? I said prestige by the way, not academic quality.</p>

9

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>That is a bit too extreme even for CC.</p>

10

<p>Wow…</p>

<p>Georgia Tech engineering for free > U Mich engineering + out of pocket expenses.</p>

<p>That being said, I like U Mich better. I like the smaller college town environment and its academically more well rounded.</p>

<p>If your parents are willing to pay the premium, listen to your mom…;)</p>

11

<p>Look, if you don’t end up liking engineering (which isn’t entirely implausible), Michigan is WAY better than GT for other academic subjects. Engineering, they are both equal, you will be able to get a job at an engineering firm anywhere in the country with a degree from one of these schools. But, although Atlanta’s OK, Ann Arbor is a real college town, and save for the weather, is an awesome place to live. Although finances must be taken into account, and I would say thos tip the scales in GT’s favor.</p>

12

<p>Depending on the amount of debt, I’d probably go with UMich</p>

13

<p>

Where did it say Georgia Tech was gonna be free?</p>

14

<p>Reread the the original statement Igellar. :-)</p>

15

<p>I agree with your mom.</p>

16

<p>If your goal is to work in the cities you mentioned, Georgia Tech might not help you as much as the others. That has nothing to do with the quality of the school itself. I can’t imagine a degree from BU would ever hurt someone, even in comparison to UMich. It’s a great and well respected school. </p>

<p>There seems to be a whole other hierarchy of colleges in the South. For example, one Southern friend told me about the “new Ivy” Campbell University. I’d never heard of it and it barely registers on any of the national rankings. I think word of mouth reputation spreads quickly down there. Also, many Southerners tend to stay in the South and not that many others from Midwest / West / Northeast tend to go to school there, so the school reputations tend to become rather insular. If you wanted to live in Atlanta or some such, perhaps GT would make sense. But you don’t.</p>

17

<p>What, besides the price, is attracting you to GT?</p>

<p>It has a strong national reputation in engineering, and it certainly isn’t a place where Southerners go to party and not study. Those schools exist, but this isn’t one of them.</p>

18

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<p>Campbell University is by no means a “new Ivy”. No offense if any Campbell University grads are on here (I doubt there are), but Campbell is essentially one notch above your local community college in terms of quality. One of my Honors Chemistry teacher’s professors went there and described it as “Camp Hell”.</p>

<p>Just to give some perspective, you can’t even get their [middle</a> 50% SAT scores](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board) on CollegeBoard.</p>

<p>The majority of seniors at my school applied there as a safety. For good reason.</p>

19

<p>My guess is that some of the folks who have posted on this aren’t that familiar with Georgia Tech. It is a very good school, especially in engineering although its other programs are much less renown and diverse. </p>

<p>The reality is that in the engineering world, Georgia Tech and U Michigan are equals. Georgia Tech is ranked in 9 different categories of engineering with an average rank of 5.33. U Michigan is ranked in 11 categories with an average rank of 5.64. If you are planning a career in engineering, I don’t think that there is much difference. </p>

<p>It is also reality that, depending on what area of the country you live in, the prestige of each college differs. In the Midwest, U Michigan wins. In the South and Southwest, GT wins. Outside of that, harder to say but probably with slight edge to U Michigan due to its broader slate of undergraduate fields of study. Also working in UM’s favor in terms of recognition/support is that there are twice as many UM grads who dispersed hither and yon. But GT is absolutely a quality school and for those who think otherwise, I suggest you do a little more homework and a little checking around. Below are some of the frequently used objective comparisons:</p>

<p>O B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT<br>
Georgia Tech 12,556 U Michigan 25,555</p>

<p>% AND # OF STUDENTS WHO ARE IN-STATE
Georgia Tech 65% (8161) U Michigan 66% (16,866)</p>

<p>% OF FEMALE STUDENTS<br>
Georgia Tech 32% U Michigan 52%</p>

<p>% OF WHITE/NON-HISPANIC STUDENTS<br>
Georgia Tech 65% U Michigan 66%</p>

<p>% FROM PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS<br>
Georgia Tech na U Michigan 80%</p>

<p>% OF STUDENTS IN GREEK LIFE (Male & Female)
Georgia Tech 23%/31% U Michigan 16%/15%</p>

<p>TOP MAJORS AT EACH SCHOOL (acc to collegeboard.com)
Georgia Tech 58% Engineering, 14% Business & Marketing, 8% Computer Science
U Michigan 17% Engineering, 16% Social Sciences, 8% Psychology, 6% Arts, 6% Biology, 6% Business/Marketing, 6% English, </p>

<p>IS & OOS COST (Tuition & Fees)<br>
Georgia Tech $ 5,234 U Michigan $10,341
Georgia Tech $ 21,348 U Michigan $30,154 </p>

<p>TOTAL COLLEGE ENDOWMENT AND PER CAPITA (undergrad and grad)
Georgia Tech $1.28 bn ($71,343) U Michigan $7.09 bn ($172,746)</p>

<p>AVERAGE HIGH/LOW IN FEBRUARY<br>
Georgia Tech 57-37 U Michigan 34/19</p>

<p>GRADUATION RATES<br>
-% OF STUDENTS EXPECTED TO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
Georgia Tech 83% U Michigan 83%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO DO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
Georgia Tech 77% U Michigan 87%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS:
Georgia Tech na U Michigan 70%
FRESHMAN RETENTION RATE<br>
Georgia Tech 92% U Michigan 96%
USNWR GRADUATION & RETENTION RANK:
Georgia Tech 65th U Michigan 26th</p>

<p>FACULTY RESOURCES<br>
-% OF CLASSES WITH <20 STUDENTS
Georgia Tech 42% U Michigan 45%
-% OF CLASSES WITH 50+ STUDENTS
Georgia Tech 20% U Michigan 17%
-FACULTY/STUDENT RATIO<br>
Georgia Tech 14/1 U Michigan 15/1
USNWR FACULTY RESOURCES RANK<br>
Georgia Tech 53rd U Michigan 69th</p>

<p>STUDENT SELECTIVITY<br>
-% ACCEPTANCE RATE<br>
Georgia Tech 63% U Michigan 47%
-SAT/ACT RANGE (Middle 50%)
Georgia Tech 1240-1420 (27-31) U Michigan 1210-1420
-% OF STUDENTS RANKING IN TOP 10% IN HS CLASS
Georgia Tech 66% U Michigan 90%
% OF STUDENTS WITH HS GPA > 3.75 (Unweighted)
Georgia Tech 58% U Michigan na</p>

<h1>OF NMS FINALISTS IN 2007 (% of student body)</h1>

<pre><code>Georgia Tech 100 (4%) U Michigan 62 (1.0%)
</code></pre>

<p>% OF STUDENTS SCORING 700+ ON SAT CRITICAL READING
Georgia Tech 21% U Michigan 21%
% OF STUDENTS SCORING 700+ ON SAT MATH
Georgia Tech 53% U Michigan 43%
% OF STUDENTS SCORING 30+ ON ACT<br>
Georgia Tech 30% U Michigan 38%</p>

<p>USNWR FINANCIAL RESOURCES RANK<br>
Georgia Tech 46th U Michigan 29th</p>

<p>ALUMNI GIVING %<br>
Georgia Tech 31% U Michigan 17%
USNWR ALUMNI GIVING RANK<br>
Georgia Tech 24th U Michigan 83rd</p>

<p>S U B J E C T I V E D A T A </p>

<p>PEER ASSESSMENT<br>
Georgia Tech 4 U Michigan 4.5</p>

20

<p>Georgia tech is rated close to Michigan… I think 35 vs. 25 – what’s the difference, really? For tech I’ll bet they’re considered fairly equivalent. At the graduate level, it is true Michigan does world class research, but at undergrad, they’re very close.</p>

<p>As far as THE SOUTH thing goes, there are tremendous jobs in tech in the VA, NC areas. I’ve known tech people to leave CA for jobs in NC recently.</p>

<p>P.S. the midpoint 25/75 SAT score for Michigan at Gtech are identical at 1315.</p>

<p>Verdict: Georgia Tech at no cost, and not a close call.</p>