I got accepted into GT and UCSD (John Muir) for Mechanical Engineering for Fall 2017 and am having an extremely tough time deciding between these two. I’m exactly 50 50 right now. Also, I’m an international student and have never been to the states but studying there has always been my dream.
These are the 3 main criteria that I’m looking for:
-Strong academics
-Nice location
-Vibrant social scene (not necessarily wild parties but I want to be involved on campus)
UCSD
Pros
-Awesome location! I lovelovelove the beach!
-Got into my first choice college, Muir
-It’s in SoCal (always wanted to go to california)
-Much more diverse
Cons
-Ranked significantly lower than GT for MechEng
-Many people say its lacking in school spirit since many students live off campus
-Less internship opportunities?
Georgia Tech
Pros
-One of the best colleges for MechEng (ranked 12th world wide according to QS)
-I heard they have awesome lecturers
-Many internship opportunities since companies from Silicon Valley recruit here
Cons
-Location wise (not exactly a fan of big cities)
Basically, I love UCSD’s location so much more but but GT apparently has a better academic reputation and prestige. Sadly, I am unable to visit either school since I live half way across the globe. Tuition fees and living cost are not a big issue.
Ps: I also applied to UC Berkeley but am not counting on an acceptance.
Does anyone know how UCSD’s ME program compares to GT’s?
I would really appreciate it if you guys could weigh in on this. Any input whatsoever is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!
Pss: I posted this same post in the wrong place just now (I’m new) and can’t seem to delete the old one. If you guys see this please just reply here. Really really sorryy I didn’t mean to spam!
I think you have a pretty good handle on both schools.
Academically GT is going to be a little more rigorous. But both are top level engineering programs and are going to be a lot of work. GT is located in the heart of Atlanta and that also offers a lot of advantages. Internships and Co-ops are located nearby. The city is thriving and exciting. Socially, GT is an science and engineering focused campus, so you get more nerdy people and also a M/F imbalance. The campus is quite lovely and the sports facilities are world class (many were built for the Atlanta Olympics) The M/F imbalance is partially mitigated by many nearby colleges (e.g. Emory) and the fact that you’d live in a large city, with lots of things to do. Atlanta airport (largest in the US) is only 20 min away on the MARTA train with non-stop connections to most cities. Parties are mostly in the fraternities on campus. Security on campus is good, but there are some bad neighborhoods nearby.
UCSD is more of a typical all-around state university, and the location is beautiful, with the ocean and pelicans flying nearby. The weather is really nice, but it rains a little in the winter. Life is more campus focused. Lots of parties. You’ll have more fun at UCSD, but necessarily a better education. Lots of illegals in the area (near the Mexican border, with some crime, more drugs).
@TooOld4School
Thank you for your reply!
A huge deciding factor is whether or not I will be having that much more of an advantage if I attend GT instead of UCSD solely based on academic rigor. In other words, is UCSD that far behind compared to GT for MechE? I’m pretty sure GT’s ME program is ranked so highly for a reason. Also, referring to what you said about UCSD, did you mean to say ‘You’ll have more fun at UCSD, but NOT necessarily a better education’? Thanks!
Since you’re international, you should consider what advantage GT might give you over UCSD in your home country, in terms of reputation. If you’re hoping to get a job in the US after graduating bear in mind that an H1B visa is hard to get these days, so you should have a plan B.
In the US, GT is unlikely to provide a big advantage in terms of jobs, since UCSD is also a very reputable school for engineering and big companies recruit from there as well.
Have you looked at the MechE department in each university and what they offer not only in terms of the program but also what research they conduct (if it matches your particular interests, particular research opportunities, etc.)
Ignore the “world rankings” - those have little or nothing to do with undergraduate education.
Are there any current or previous UCSD / GT engineering (MechEng in particular) students out there? Would really love listening to what you guys have to say about the professors and teaching facilities at the respective schools. Thanks!
Current student here, I’d say UCSD checks all three of those boxes pretty handily. I’m in BioE, not MAE, so I can’t speak to the strength of that particular department (although their website http://maeweb.ucsd.edu/undergrad indicates that they’re ranked pretty close to Georgia Tech and the three MAE classes I’ve taken have been hard as hell but very interesting). The academics here are definitely our strongest selling point: every class is extremely competitive and prepares you well for the next phase of your education or career. The professors I’ve experienced have generally been very available and friendly and were always experts in their fields (you could search the MAE ones if you want: Dave Miller, Sergei Krasheninnikov, Ratnesh Lal). I don’t think the difference in ranking will have a noticeable impact on your career prospects either. Within California and internationally (but not in the entire US imo), UCSD has a very good reputation. I met a postdoc who traveled to several dozen Asian countries and he said that people were more familiar with his UCSD education than his USC master’s. A lot of mechanical engineering jobs/internships exist in San Diego due to the huge defense presence, and most Silicon Valley firms recruit extensively on campus. I also want to dispute the first poster because s/he might be conflating UCSD with SDSU: while the campus isn’t dead it’s definitely not one with “lots of parties”. We also don’t have pelicans, it’s more stankass sea lions and harmless nurse sharks.
Nice location: easy. Can’t be beat. San Diego is gorgeous at its worst, La Jolla is breathtaking. Check out ucsd.dropmark.com for some things worth googling further. I have never run out of new things to do and places to explore, and the city gets even better once you turn 21. The only issue is that until the trolley from campus to downtown gets finished, it’s a little spread out and campus feels isolated. Expect a lot of bussing, driving, or Lyfting to get around. The campus itself is spread out, but very safe. The sports facilities and most academic spaces are also relatively new and impressive. Muir is widely accepted to be the best college (as a Revelle student, though, I disagree )
Social life: I’m not 100% sure what it is you’re looking for but I’m pretty sure ucsd will have it. It’s not a party school by any means, but if you’re social you’ll easily find parties on weekends whether or not you’re in a frat/sorority. A good chunk of my close friends are international students, there’s a huge community of y’all here (something like 23% if I’m not mistaken). Each ethnic org is very active on campus (I’m involved in mine) and there are many service, academic, and social opportunities to take part in. If you don’t make friends or find your scene at a school this size it’s p much because you didn’t try.
I wish you could visit both campuses, because most people (myself included) will only be able to give you half the story. Either way I think you’re faced with two amazing opportunities and in the end the payoff is going to depend more on how much you put in once you’re there
@DoctorP Thank you for taking the time to type out such a long reply. Really appreciate it! It’s always nice to get advice from a current student. Looking forward to pelicans and sea lions should I decide to go here. Will probably be making a decision within the next couple of days so wish me luck! Thanks!!
My DD is an ME at Georgia Tech and we are from San Diego. She loves Georgia Tech and is getting an incredible education. GT has opened the door to many opportunities for her and she has had a ton of internship offers including some from San Diego companies. I also work with helping students with college admissions. My ME students at UCSD have been pretty unhappy-they tell me that there is little support from UCSD when they have had issues (e.g. difficulty in a class) and that engineering clubs and activities at UCSD are not as active as what GT offers. My DD has found the GT professors very accessible compared to what my students report and the support GT provides to help students be successful is great. One big difference between the two schools is that with GT it is much more flexible in terms of changing your major. If you don’t like ME, you can easily switch to another major at least twice. At UCSD, it is much more difficult to change majors. One of my students went into UCSD as an undeclared engineering major and she never could switch to ME. Career Services also is better at GT in my opinion, many more companies come to GT to recruit than at UCSD.
Although I love San Diego, I have to admit my DD and I find the GT campus very nice. (In all fairness, I have never really liked the UCSD campus-to me it is just It is in a nice area of Atlanta (Midtown) which is close to downtown and Piedmont Park. GT has much more school spirit than UCSD because they have Division 1 Athletics and the traditional Greek system. The female to male imbalance is not as big a deal as a few years ago because GT has been admitting female students at a greater rate. Another difference is the budgets of both campuses-UCSD is overseen by the Regents of California and right now budget issues by the legislature means there is less money for the entire UC system. In contrast GT has Tech Square, an area of Atlanta right next door to campus (it includes GT’s Business School) filled with start-ups, innovative centers, restaurants, bars, hotels etc. GT has actively gone out and solicited support from industry for joint ventures at Tech Square and on campus. UCSD doesn’t really have a comparable area by campus. As an ME major my DD finds more “hands-on” opportunities at GT especially with the Student Competition Center that is filled with teams such as Robojackets, Solarjackets, Baja-Off Road etc. I don’t know about the UCSD labs, but my DD really loves the variety of labs at GT and is excited about the new robotics lab. The other thing my DD likes about GT is the ease of getting onto research projects. My DD is part of the Grand Challenges Program and she loves it.
As an international student, you will find many organizations for your to be involved in as well as support. GT has a very large study abroad program which includes engineering specific programs so students do not fall behind when they go abroad.
Although you say money is not an issues, I just can’t really justify a student paying $55K for what can be obtained at GT for $40K. Also housing at UCSD is not guaranteed for all four years and alternative housing is very expensive because of where UCSD is located. At GT there is a lot of on-campus and off-campus housing.
GT publishes a Daily Digest on their website. I suggest you review the last few Daily Digest to learn about recent happenings on the GT campus.
Good luck with your decision. I hope this information helps.
@itsv Thank you for stating your point of view on this. It has definitely opened my eyes to what GT has to offer. I will take all of it into consideration when deciding. Thanks!
You are welcome. Also check out the college profiles online publication from the American Society of Engineering Education. There is a lot of good info there. http://profiles.asee.org/
Just wanted to post a quick update on my decision.
After doing lots of research on both colleges, I finally decided on going to UCSD!! #GoTritons!
As to why I made my choice, I knew that at the end of the day I couldn’t go wrong with either since they were both equally great schools in their own way so… I simply trusted my gut feeling and went with UCSD
A big thank you to all of you who gave some really valuable advice.
To anyone who is in the same shoes as I once was, know that you really can’t go wrong with either decision since they’re both awesome schools and you’re really lucky to be able to choose between them. Good luck with your decision!
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