Engineering: Carnegie Mellon or Georgia Tech?

TomBor
Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:57:02 +0000

Heya,
I have recently been accepted to both CMU (CIT, ECE) and GaTech (Electrical Engineering.)
I’m debating about where I should go. Here is what I’m considering:


Academics. Georgia Tech is more highly ranked in engineering than Carnegie, however Carnegie does have a higher SAT and GPA standards. I also hear that professors at Gatech can be so-so, as in “you have to choose your teachers carefully.” How do classes and professors in CMU compare to Gatech? And also, what makes Gatech so highly ranked in engineering? I don’t really understand how the ranking systems in the US work, but wouldn’t the college with higher SAT and GPA standards be better ranked? And that’s not all…
Recruitment - as in where would you get better jobs upon graduating. I hear that CMU has the better recruitment. I’ve read it in several places, is this true?
Status for graduates. Shallow, perhaps, but which school gives its students higher status in the respective industries they go into? Which school is more prestigious, and has the “better name” or whatever you would call it. It’s sort of hard to explain but you get the idea.
Campus. I tend to lean towards CMU here, because it’s smaller and I like that. I don’t mind the cold weather, it’ll be a nice change, and I also don’t mind a moderate student life. As long as there are choices of things to do if I want to go out, that’s ok with me. How are the dorms in the two universities? Which university has better resources? Where would I have the better 4-6 years of study?
I’ve always had a dream of coming out of college with a startup on the way. You know how Stanford is known for the type of stories where people there make Google-type-successful companies? Where does that happen more often, CMU or Gatech? I guess this also counts towards prestige, maybe…


So to sum:
-I’m very confused about how the ranking works. Why is Gatech ranked higher than CMU, in what aspects is it better?
-Recruitment
-Professors, Classes, and Resources
-Campus, dorms?..

Right now, I’m leaving the cost of attendance out of the equation.

Thanks for all of you who will answer!
Have a great day!