Wharton vs. Columbia vs. USC Full Tuition Scholarship vs. Georgia Tech Full Tuition Scholarship

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone!

I am from the Greater Atlanta Area and I have a couple different interests. I am also not set on these interests; I am open to new things I might discover in college.

  1. I am interested in entrepreneurship in bioinformatics. Specifically, I am interested in using computer science to make improvements in medicine and the healthcare industry. For example, using machine learning models to personalize treatments to patients using mutations in the genome.

  2. I am also interested in quantitative finance. I really like the idea of making economic models to forecast markets since I really like economics, statistics, and computer science.

I live pretty close to Georgia Tech and I have actually been full-time dual enrolled at GT for my senior year of high school. This means that I have been taking all of classes at GT instead of my high school so I will have a head start. To give context, I could finish a math and CS double major and masters within 3 years.

I visited USC in February for a scholarship interview in February and really liked the campus and environment. It seems like it would be a really good experience to go out of state and immerse myself in a totally different culture. At USC, I’d be interested in majoring in the new quantitative biology major and CS.

Wharton is Wharton and could allow me to meet a lot of cool people and give me a head start in my goal of being an entrepreneur. Wharton also has some cool concentrations (Statistics, Business Analytics, Finance) that I’d love to take.

Lastly, although I do not know too much about Columbia SEAS I know it has a strong Applied Math program and could also set me up well for these areas.

Please let me know what you all think about this situation and whether it is worth it to pay for Columbia or Wharton. Although they are really expensive, my family could most likely afford it with the help of some financial aid.

2

Did you get financial aid at Columbia or Wharton? Can your family afford them without financial aid?

3

Sounds like Ga Tech is the cheapest and fastest to graduate by a big margin. If you want CS and analytical finance Ga Tech would provide top notch opportunities. I think Ga Tech with more than $200k in the pocket is going to be hard to beat.

4

Even if you are full tuition at USC and GT, can you & your folks handle the other costs (or did you get scholarships/grants to cover, eg living expenses, fees, transportation, etc.?

You should have gotten your merit & FAid package by now so you and your folks can figure out how to pay for all years of college.

5

Thanks everyone who replied! We didn’t get much financial aid at Penn and Columbia at all. Yes, we can afford other costs at GT and USC.

6

GT and USC are pretty different . if costs are about equal and each has a major you want to do, then to comes down to other things. Would you feel more comfortable staying in GA, or are you someone who wants to leave. Also how will you feel in the USC atmosphere.