Having a little crisis before College Decision Day. So I have been fortunate to be able to choose between UTD, Georgia Tech, and Rice for my undergraduate experience. However, there are pros and cons to each so I’m hoping to hear any input you all have about them.
I plan to spend my first year deciding whether I want to pursue bioengineering or computer science (specifically artificial intelligence), and each school is pretty good for both of them. I intend to complete a master’s program after this.
UTD: Pros: Completely free ride Cons: Most likely large class sizes, fewer AI courses
Georgia Tech: Pros: Strong BioE and CS (AI) program with emphasis on BCI tech, good networking Cons: Have to pay full OOS tuition ($50k); heard it’s more competitive with very rigorous classes
(I have no problem with taking challenging course loads, but I want a more collaborative experience with time to take internships and non-academic activities)
Rice Pros: Close to med center for BioE, can specialize in AI in upper years, small class size and generally happy/helpful students, good networking and internship opportunities Cons: Have to pay $60k per year, climate’s a smidge hotter than I’m used to (not that big a deal though )
While Rice is a great school, I cannot see myself paying $60k for an undergraduate degree when I know I will be getting at least a master’s in the future. UTD, while less known and lower in rankings, gives a free ride which is a pretty sweet deal.
Please let me know if you have any advice for me to consider. Really appreciate all the help during my quarter-life crisis!
The easy answer is take the money. The more complicated answer is it depends on where the money will come from. If someone has it set aside already, then it’s a decision between opportunity cost and what you’d get in experience for the differential. If you’re leveraging, don’t. Graduating debt free FAR outweighs ANY differential any school will give you.
Huge Rice fan here (daughter is a Junior in EE/CS interested in AI, ML, NLP and likely to go to grad school), but I would say that it is only the best option if the cost is no issue for you and your family. It is a great place to attend college, but not worth debt or financial hardship with the other options you have. Good luck!
Dallas weather is not that different from Houston, just not as consistently humid, and does get some colder.
Cost is huge, I get it, BUT reputations of GA Tech and Rice FAR outweigh UTD.
Congrats on the free UTD ride! It would be hard to turn that down.
One of my classmates grew up in the bayou. He’d always say he didn’t understand what we were complaining about. Then he did a clinical rotation in Albuquerque. When he got back to Houston he said “I get it! I can’t breathe!”
I am no expert but I’ll chime in my two cents. My daughter was admitted to Rice (for BioE) and her boyfriend was admitted to GaTech, so there were many discussions had at my table about the pros and cons of those two, and UT-Dallas is close to where I live, which of course made my daughter not want to apply or attend there. The weather is going to be very similar at Rice and Georgia Tech—hot and humid—with Dallas not being appreciably that much better. Rice wins for the on campus housing system culture. Despite its efforts with new dorms and trying to encourage nearby off campus options for food and shops, UT Dallas still has commuter students in the majority. My daughter’s acquaintances who attend said that there are opportunities for involvement, but most people just drive in, go to class and leave campus for work or the commute back home. she worked in a lab at UT Southwestern in Dallas that had a couple of UT -Dallas students working there—none of them loved UT-Dallas, but acknowledged it financially was the best choice for them. One big topic of concern with GaTech was the competitive academic tone, whereas my daughter really wanted a more collaborative feel. My daughter was also totally excited about the on-campus and across the street at the Med Ctr research opportunities at Rice, but GaTech is a also top research university and UT-D received Tier 1 Research University status three years ago. I know my daughter would have chosen Rice over GaTech for $10,000 a year difference. So she would have probably been choosing between Rice and “free at UT-D and saving money for Grad school”. I think you have to take a hard look at what you can afford with no or minimal debt, talk to your family and trusted adults about what makes sense financially, and go from there.
My husband and I met at UTD over 25 years ago when there were no dorms, dining halls, or on campus transportation, and the school was just some apartments and a few concrete buildings in the middle of a field. We were among the first few classes of freshman at UTD, and most of us were there for the scholarships.
We had a great experience socially, despite being at a mostly commuter school. We are still in close contact with our college friends, and many of them will be here next month for our daughter’s graduation. UTD has done so much with it’s campus since those early days to provide a more traditional college experience for students.
Of course, Rice and GA tech are amazing options, but don’t hesitate to take the full ride at UTD if money is an issue. My husband has had a satisfying, financially lucrative career with his UTD education (electrical engineering and MBA) with zero debt.
Your college experience will largely be what you make it.
The answer is a no-brainer. Take the scholarship and run! There’s no way that $200k in student loans is going to be a benefit to you at all. In fact, it’s financial suicide. There are a ton of opportunities for internships and jobs in the DFW metroplex. You have a bright future ahead. Best of luck!
Thank you everyone for your responses! I believe my parents will be able to pay the $60k, but is it worth it using that money now or waiting to invest in my master’s program?
Figuring opportunity cost, you have to take $240K invested at historic returns over the length of your career to get the true breakeven cost. It’s $3.5M over 40 years after inflation. Given the fact that you’re planning on graduate school, I’d choose UTD. My son has a good friend who made that same choice. He passed over prestigious schools for his state flagship, because it was the smart money decision for his family. He’s in grad school at MIT now. If you are curious and driven, you will do well no matter where you go.
)
