<p>I have been admitted to both Purdue and GAtech for graduate program in Electrical Engineering and I am still to choose one of them. I heard GT doesnt have a good sports/social scene and its all about studies, studies and studies whereas Purdue does better in that respect. Moreover I heard Purdue's campus is much better. Is that all true? Which university I should choose? Are both equally prestigious?</p>
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<p>No. None of it is true.</p>
<p>Well, Purdue provides you with a little more of the typical college campus, whereas Georgia Tech is more in the city. This should play a big impact on where you want to go to school.</p>
<p>The big difference between the two is one is in the south and one is in the midwest. Would you rather go to school with a population leaning toward Southerners or a population leaning toward Midwesterners? </p>
<p>There will be lots of people from outside at either, but the student body populations will be different.</p>
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<p>Going into graduate school as an engineering major, is this really one of your primary concerns?</p>
<p>Hey, quality of life is a very important factor when choosing a program at any level, and if he likes major sports programs, why hold it against him?</p>
<p>I definitely heard purdue has better social scenes</p>
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<p>I’m sure “quality of life” will be fine at either school… </p>
<p>Besides, GT had a much better football team last year than did Purdue.</p>
<p>Purdue hasn’t been relevant in football for years. Basketball is another story… That said, GT is still an NCAA Division I program in a power conference, and it will have quality sports programs. The number of people that attend them will be different than for Purdue (larger football crowds and baseball crowds, lower basketball crowds etc) but there would be no problem finding some sport to watch at either place.</p>
<p>In visiting both schools for my own grad school, I personally liked the GT campus much more than Purdue, even though West Lafayette felt safer than midtown Atlanta (as illustrated by Purdue’s lack of a samurai stabbing). Still, out of my final three schools, my rankings were 1. Texas A&M, 1. Georgia Tech, 3. Purdue. I broke the tie for first based on the funding offer, and here I find myself…</p>
<p>My suggestion, set up some appointments with each school and try to visit if you can.</p>
<p>Well I am leaning towards Purdue for many academic reasons ( one being their Qualification exam is more suitable since its from grad coursework as opposed to Gatech’s undergrad). Moreover almost all fulbright applicants get accepted at gatech whereas I seen some really outstanding students being rejected by purdue (fulbright applicants with gpas>3.75 and GREs >1500,4.5) thought it is understandable given gatech’s grad school size.</p>
<p>bonehead why prefer texas a & m over Gt. I also got accepted at a & m too but not considering it as it is a little below in rankings for grad engineering. On the other hand I think I would prefer Austin over any other school but unluckily I didnt apply there.</p>
<p>Well it is a little different for EE than for Aero. The EE program here is… average. The Aero program here is a lot better, and while I do like the city of Austin a lot better than the city of College Station (and Atlanta for that matter) I couldn’t be doing the research I am doing now anywhere else except here or Purdue, and I really wanted to get out of the Midwest since I did my undergrad at UIUC and wanted a change of scenery. Like I said, it came down to GT and TAMU, and it was pretty much a wash for me based on the research groups I talked to, and I had a better funding offer from TAMU, who could guarantee me funding right off the bat, so that is where I went and I have been very happy with my decision.</p>
<p>While we may only be ranked 11 in Aero, my advisor is still an NAE fellow and has all the accolades that you look for in a PhD advisor, and that is more important than the institutional reputation itself.</p>