harrym89

I am an international student and planning to major in Industrial Engineering.

According to the US News Ranking in IE, Georgia Tech is ranked #1 and Northwestern #7.

I got accepted to both. I'm not sure where I should go. Which school will help me in the long run?

Do you think top companies will come to recruit in both colleges?

Georgia Tech's strength:
cheaper tuition (around 35,000 including personal expenses)
# 1 in industrial engineering

NU's strength:
great name value
great engineering program
top 15 in overall undergraduate ranking

NU's weakness:
tuition is more expensive (around 50,000)

Do you think it's worth spending more tuition and going to NU instead since it has better overall undergraduate ranking?

Do you think the academic qualities of the students are better in NU than in GA Tech?

I'm not planning to change my major for now.

Please help. Thank you.

Feez

Georgia Tech is much more respected and well-known as an engineering school than Northwestern by far.

cb21

I agree. To say that GATech does not have a "great name value" or a "great engineering program" is a practically crazy!

merper68

Really, not sure how you can say NW is #7 compared to GATech's #1 and call NW the great engineering institution.

harrym89

I know that Georgia Tech is a great school...I guess I was focusing on the undergraduate US News ranking where GA Tech is top 35 and NU top 15.

So do you guys think that I should pick GA Tech over NU?

aibarr

Visit both. Fit is a big deal with undergrad, and you'll get a good education at either.

Sam Lee

If you are absolutely sure about majoring in industrial engineering only, go to GaTech.

Otherwise, few things to think about:
1. At NU, many IE students double-major in econ. Does GaTech provide the same kind of flexibility? In general, privates tend to be more flexible about changing/adding majors.
2. At NU, a IE major is in good position to compete for one of the spots in the Kellogg undergrad cert program. It's something you may want to check it out.
3. Globally, NU has better name mainly because of Kellogg.

In a way, it's tough to answer your question because you are the one that knows how much of a burden the extra $60,000 is.

toxic_waste

i don't think anyone can say that Northwestern is any less of an engineering school just because it's 6 places behind GT on a controversial scale.

visit the schools, or if that costs too much, figure out if you like really cold weather or not. if not, go to GT. or wait til financial aid to come out and pick then.

20LEGEND

Even *if* NU was a better school, it's not worth shelling out $15,000 p.a. extra.

harrym89

Thanks for the replies.

Well, I've visited NU but not GA Tech. Weather isn't really a problem for me.

I really liked the NU campus and downtown Chicago and Evanston.

I can't say that I will be majoring in IE only..you never know..I also might be double majoring in economics.

I'm just wondering if it's worth spending extra going to NU.

Is there a lot of difference between the academic qualities of the students at both schools?

Sam Lee

www.collegeboard.com has the latest stats.

Majayiduke09

Northwestern is WAAAAAY more well-rounded academically than GaTech and still possesses an excellent engineering program.

Addtionally I'd argue that the social life at NW blows GaTech out of the water.

westsidewolf1989

gatech has a pretty good social life...although there arent many girls. if you know for sure you wanna do IE, go to GaTech. But if you change your mind, GaTech isnt great for stuff outside of engineering.

Sam Lee

Whether it's worth the extra for NU is very open-ended esp the difference is 60K, which is a good chuck of money but not unbearable to many people (not sure about you). Nobody knows what you will want to do in the future. That said, here's what I think:

1. If you are going to be an engineer, GaTech is gonna give you better ROI (return of investment), assuming $ is your primary focus.
2. In case you want to get into MC/IB like many CCers do, more firms come to recruit at NU. Assuming you will do well in either school, your chance of landing one of the spots with those firms is greater at NU. However, those spots are still very competitive so the risk of not getting it is very real. Here's one more thing: if you get into one of the two Kellogg cert programs, your chance of getting one of those jobs should increase by quite a bit and may even be pretty good.
3. If "worth" is strictly measured by money, then going to the top school in your home country is probably a better deal than either one. You can save the money and apply for one year master program in the US 4 years later. So you will still be in the US in the end while spending even less. Obviously you are already willing not to take the cheapest route, suggesting you are not basing everything with a dollar sign. NU is a more well-rounded school and likely more flexible in terms of changing/adding majors and you said you enjoyed your NU visit. So are these worth 60K *to you*? Nobody can answer that for you.

Feez

Even if you don't want to do IE but still want to do any other kind of engineering, GaTech is better.