<p>I'm deciding between Georgia Tech and University of Florida for Aerospace Engineering. (I'm a Florida resident.) Is it worth $65,000 to go to GA Tech, ranked #2 in AE, or go to UF with $15,000, which is a good but not great engineering school?</p>
<p>UF hands down.</p>
<p>If the dollar amount you’re talking in loans is per year, you DEFINITELY don’t want to graduate from Georgia Tech (or any undergrad for that matter) owing six figures in student loans. This decision will haunt you for a decade or more after you graduate.</p>
<p>Engineering school prestige is not as important as other fields. Employers are looking at what skills you have that can bring to the organization. You can demonstrate this with your GPA at a reputable school (UF is reputable) and your experience. I would consider Georgia Tech’s reputation to be a minor factor in your future employment opportunities. The only edge Tech has is their co-op program, but you’d be crazy to pay $50k extra per year for that.</p>
<p>Not only that, but you will be paying much higher interest since a significant amount of your loans would be unsubsidized.</p>
<p>Think about this. Your state is using your parents’ tax dollars to pay for a huge chunk of your tuition in Florida, and you’d throw that away to go to a school that is going to teach you the same material and give you only a marginal edge in the job market (and only really for your first job)?</p>
<p>^It is for four years, not per year.</p>
<p>I understand all of your other points, but I don’t understand this part: “The only edge Tech has is their co-op program, but you’d be crazy to pay $50k extra per year for that.” Doesn’t the company pay you like $20-30,000 for doing co-op? Can’t I use that to pay off my loans?</p>
<p>$65,000 in debt is not worth the only slight advantage.</p>
<p>Oh ok.</p>
<p>$65k is on the high end of loans to be taken out for undergrad. I would look at it like this: Georgia Tech’s reputation is better but that only translates into so much real-world benefit. It’s a small enough difference that it may benefit you and it may not. You could go to UF, get an internship with Lockheed, and get a job offer. You could go to Ga Tech and get the same job, and in the end you’d be in the same position but $50,000 poorer. There are some companies that target Tech and will be a little harder for you to get an interview with if you are at UF, but realize that those companies also only recruit the students at Tech with the highest GPAs, and don’t by any means hire all of them. So, if you went to Tech and got one of those jobs, you would have benefited from Tech’s reputation. If not, you’ll probably be in the same boat as you would have been at UF and again, $50k poorer.</p>
<p>Tech’s co-op program is good, but I am sure you can find similar internships/co-ops at UF.</p>
<p>If it comes down to employers looking at your resume and seeing the words “Georgia Institute of Technology” instead of “University of Florida,” that’s not likely going to a major factor in their decision to give you an interview. Once you get the interview, it won’t be a factor at all.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be a terrible decision to go to Tech, but it’s a lot harder to say if it will pay off or not. In most cases I don’t think it will. </p>
<p>First of all, you have to find a co-op - they aren’t by any means guaranteed and not all of them pay (though many do). In order to participate in the co-op program, you have to commit to three semesters of co-oping, only one of which can be a summer semester. That means you’re going to graduate a year or more later because of it. You may make $20-30k, but that will be over all three semesters, basically for a year of full-time work. I don’t think it’s realistic to think you’re going to put all of that money on your student loans. You’re going to have living expenses wherever you co-op. If it’s in Atlanta, you keep paying room and board (which would raise your loan amount). </p>
<p>The co-op program is a good one but it you can and should be doing internships at UF too. You still have to find your co-op at Tech and not everyone does.</p>
<p>I went through this same dilemma last year and, if it makes you feel any better, it seems like the majority of people in your situation go to UF over GT. I chose UF even though I would have loved to go to Tech.
Otherwise, KamelAkbar’s said it all, really.</p>
<p>Lockheed has 27 schools on its Key-school list. Both GaTech and UF are on that list. Despite what others on this forum might want you to believe, the truth is all programs on this list are treated as equals. That is true of recruitment, internship opportunities, research sponsorship, engineering society support, sponsorship of engineering challenges (DARPA/Formula SAE), and location of employment (including Skunk Works). For these schools, it will come down to the individuals involved and not the name on the diploma.</p>
<p>^What about Boeing and NASA?</p>
<p>Since you said Aerospace Engineering, I cannot really give you an answer. If you said Computer Science or Software Engineering, I would personally block your entrance to the GT campus.</p>
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<p>Check each school’s career center to see what companies visit for convenient recruiting.</p>
<p>Kamel nailed it. I’ve seen people turning down UF to go to GT, and some stayed. We are all co oping at the same company now, so for them, I think it all worked out. There are slightly more GT people than UF here, but I don’t think it’s worth the cost. UF does fairly well, and plus isn’t there more girls in UF?</p>
<p>My roommate attends UF, he’s in state, so he pretty much got a full ride, but he turned out berkeley and some other places, which I assume include GT.</p>