<p>Okay, if you even decided to check this post thinking "Another public vs private decision," hold on. I think mine is a little different than other ones.</p>
<p>The two schools that I am considering are Georgia Tech and University of Tulsa. One is a fairly large public school that is generally regarded as a Top 5 engineering school in the U.S. On the other hand, Tulsa is a pretty small private that does not have near the prestige as other engineering schools. I would be majoring in Chemical Engineering.</p>
<p>The main factors that I am considering are:</p>
<p>1) Money
After subtracting scholarships, going by the universities' expected Cost of Attendance (on a side note, how accurate are these estimates?) Tulsa would be affordable while Georgia Tech would be walking a close line when it comes to taking out a loan. It's estimated to be about $7000 more expensive, and I'm not sure how money gained from internships/co-ops would effect my single scholarship (for $5000/semester).</p>
<p>2) Academic Experience
These are both ABET-accreditted programs, so I'm assuming that I'd pretty much be learning the same material at each school. My thinking was that at a place like Georgia Tech, there would be a lot of lower-level classes where there'd be a ton of students with a fairly tough grading curve. But after those first two years or so, the upper-level classes would be okay as far as size and individual attention goes. At Tulsa, there would be small classes all the way through, but they would not have facilities on par with GT's (correct?).</p>
<p>3) Career Opportunities
From what I've seen, Tech's Division of Professional Practice is really solid. They've got great co-op and internship programs, and they also attract a ton of companies wanting to hire students. If I decided on not going to grad school, I think I'd end up getting hired right out of college pretty easily. At Tulsa, internship and job opportunities don't appear to be as easy to come by. It seems to me that I'd almost be forced to go to grad school at a top program because I just would not have too many good offers right out of college, unlike at Georgia Tech.</p>
<p>The big question is, would it be an unwise decision turning down a school as good as Georgia Tech? Tulsa certainly has its pros, and affording Tech in my financial situation seems a little risky, even though money from working could possibly help (if anyone could clarify how money from internships/co-ops would effect my scholarship, that'd be great). The scenarios I see playing out are</p>
<p>A. Best case - go to GT and graduate without having to take out any loans.
B. Go to GT and graduate with about 24-28k in loans (this would be worst case at GT).
C. Go to Tulsa, graduate not ever having to worry about loans.</p>
<p>Extra questions:
How accurate are Cost of Attendence estimates? (Here is Georgia Tech's: Costs</a> & Tuition, and I remember Tulsa's being about the same)
How much does money from internships/co-ops effect FA packages (would they just subtract out the amount you make, making the net change $0)?</p>