Aerospace Engineering-CU Boulder vs Georgia Tech

I’ve been accepted to both Georgia Tech and CU-Boulder for aerospace engineering, but I’m having trouble on deciding which one to pick. I was just thinking that being more informed on both schools would help me out.

One of my main concerns is that at CU-Boulder I’ll be a “big fish in a small pond” while at GT I’ll be a “small fish in a big pond”. Would I have trouble finding research opportunities and internships at GT compared to Boulder? Also is there that big of a difference graduating with the degree of one school compared to the other?

Within aerospace engineering I really want to focus on astronautics, I’m not sure if that might impact anything.

Thank You!

Are you aware CU is bigger than GT (by 10K students)? Both are good schools where you can find opps. Which one will cost you less? Do you like it hot and muggy or dry?

I am aware that CU is bigger, however my scores at Boulder would be considered “elite” at Boulder, but “average” at GT and that’s what I meant by the fish analogy. Boulder is in state and they’ve offered me around 40k in money which make the cost 80k after 4 years while I would be stuck paying 160k at GT. However, I want to look at it as if money’s not a problem for now if that makes sense. @Erin

neither school makes any sense unless you have a way of paying at least $20K per year. How are you going to do that?

Student loans? Summer jobs? I don’t think I know what you’re asking… @jkeil911‌

You can only borrow $5500 your first year and $27K total. You can only earn and save about $4K max most years.

Has either school included $5500 in loans as part of your financial aid package? Have your parents agreed to pay the difference between your scholarship at CU and the cost of attendance minus loans and summer jobs? What about at GT?

Most students cannot pay for college with loans and annual earnings alone unless the grant or merit is extraordinary. Have you been told by either school what it will cost you to attend?

How much will your PARENTS pay? what are THEY saying.

YOU cannot borrow enough to go to GT. If your parents won’t pay, then your question is moot.

Apply to Alabama-Huntsville if you can.

My parents will pay @mom2collegekids

@jkeil911 I was unaware of that, as per my understanding financial aid packages have not been released yet.

Why? @notoriousjyd

I would consider UAHuntsville. Apply, get your test scores and transcript there.

GaTech is way too much money to pay for what you could get with education in your field at CU-Boulder or UAH.

UAH has opportunities with companies and gov’t in aerospace and other engineering fields in HSV. Many in area pursue engineering or business MS and PhD with company tuition support.

Huntsville has nation’s 2nd largest research park - science and technology (Cummings, 300 companies) is right across the street from UAH, 29,000 people are involved in technology research and development. Redstone Arsenal is nearby (US Army Missile and Aviation Command; NASA).

GaTech may still have a Research Institute on Redstone Arsenal. Many UAH students worked there as co-ops.

There are a lot of smart students at UAH, UA, AU, MS State (and a lot of graduates from those schools working in Huntsville and elsewhere). Not limited to GaTech, although GaTech has a good national reputation.

Just want you to explore some options where you don’t have to pay a lot out-of-pocket for a great education.

OOS alone would keep us from even considering GT. We are only considering it in the mix, because as a military child my son could get in state tuition. I did read MANY of the GT threads from last year and honestly there was such euphoria as people were accepted and many of the OOS students once they got their FA packages were dismally disappointed. Unless you can count for one of their big scholarships, you will get next to nothing FA wise from GT.

I love how quickly some of these threads that get moved into this forum jump to telling a poster to completely change their plans and ignore the original question.

@keagle23, both of those schools are very good aerospace programs and both do a lot of work in the astronautics portion of the field. There is no reason to think you will somehow be intellectually unstimulated at CU-Boulder due to your test scores. Test scores really don’t mean much. It is right up there with the best of them in terms of its aerospace reputation. It’s definitely one of those situations where if you like both schools equally, I don’t see any reason to pay more to go to GT over CU-Boulder. That said, have you visited both schools?

3 Profs from GTech elected to NAE this year (3rd after MIT and Caltech in total number). One of them is an AE Prof - Vigor Yang

http://www.nae.edu/Projects/MediaRoom/20095/130169/130172.aspx

Both are solid AE programs. Go to GTech if parents can pay. You will be surrounded by super smart kids but life could be stressful at times. My D2 is a Freshman. It requires a fine balancing act to maintain a high GPA while enjoying college life. She is in the West campus, quieter and closer to the gym (CRC).

Tons of internships/coop opportunities
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/internship-programs
https://gatech-cfm.symplicity.com/events/students.php?mode=list&cf=Fall2013

I did a random search of the LinkedIn Univ Finder for Engg. positions in Defense and Aerospace cos. incl. Boeing, GD, Lockheed, SpaceX, etc. GTech was #4 in the number of employees in these (after UDub, USC and Penn State).

at CU-Boulder I’ll be a “big fish in a small pond” - Perhaps less than you think within your engineering peers. I promise you that CU engineering courses will keep you challenged.

Do not need to justify why one thinks GT is worth the $$. I know a student there and they are paying the $$ for student to attend.

I think many parents realize the $$ difference for GT OOS does not have the cost/benefit with their family’s financial goals or budget.

For aerospace, if you don’t talk about cost. GT > Cu Boulder. I was at NASA and they love GT students. GT is way up there for aerospace. @keagle23

merik is probably right … but CU has ties to NASA too - http://www.colorado.edu/news/series/cu-space (I suspect that a top students at CU could find some interesting research).

@meriks @colorado_mom thanks for answering my question! What you said just confirmed what I thought, I’m visiting the campuses over break, so I’ll decide then. Thank you!

Reminder - Cost should be a factor, even if it is your parents paying the bill. Good luck!