JGPSanit12

Other than cost (I'm MD resident) what are thoughts about the two schools? I'm going to be ME major. Just got into University of MD College Park Honors program in Clark School of Engineering. Ga Tech is still my top choice and it may come down to money, but don't want it to be the most important factor.

sky761

Bump. I am considering that exact same thing. I'm currently a Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering double major at UMCP, not sure if I should transfer to Ga Tech.

KamelAkbar

Same question comes up a lot.

This is very situational. Do you want to go to grad school or into industry? Are you rich? Poor? Full ride scholarship? No scholarships? Do you expect to be a 4.0 student, a 3.0 student, or a 2.5 student? How important is the social environment? How important is being close to home? How would the cost of living differ? How much (if any) in student loans will you owe? Once you get all this stuff, and more, figured out... the answer should be clear, but consider the following points.

Job prospects - they will be similar at both schools if you're gonna be an average student with the same GPA at both schools. You will have access to some very prestigious companies that target Tech if you are going to be a top student.

Engineering grad school - Research experience is important, and you will have better research opportunities at Tech. That doesn't mean you can't also get great research experience at UMCP, however.

Med/Pharm/Law school - GPA and test scores are the biggest factors. School prestige is not a huge factor although it will make a marginal difference.

Figure out the finance/family/social stuff, find out how big your sacrifice would be to go to Tech, figure out what your goals are, and see if those sacrifices are worth the benefits of going to Tech.

gmc0508

Same here, my D got in to both schools. Bottom line, finance has a big factor in her decision. Luckilly, both schools are great, no doubt about it. She likes a lot both schools too so that's a bonus for her.

Something you might want to ask yourself, that we did ask her: is do you have any plans of pursuing post grad studies? If you are, it'll be good to have no/small loan when you do pursue your master's b/c I'm guessing you'll have to pay for it yourself too, unless you can do it thru your job (some employers or grants may pay for your grad studies). Just a thought....

CFB53B

Research based graduate school should be free in STEM (MS, PhD) and the federal government allows you to defer your loan repayment while in graduate school. An MD, JD, or MBA would be out of pocket, though.

Some master's degrees in engineering are coursework-only and you pay for them. These, however, are usually not a good idea unless they are part of a 5-year BS/MS program, they are paid for by an employer, or they allow you to make a big jump in prestige (going from a Top 100 school to a Top 10 school, for instance).