Explore vs Honors Program vs Grand Challenges LCC

Hey folks! I’m an OOS student who got into Tech in the EA cycle. However, I’ve kinda neglected all my Tech stuff because I assumed it wouldn’t be affordable at all. However, I got the Provost scholarship and suddenly it’s one of the most affordable schools on my list. Yay!

However, I’m having trouble deciding what LLC to apply to. I know I want to- I’ve mostly been looking into small colleges, and LLCs seem the best way to make a huge college smaller- but I can’t decide which one to apply to. Above all else, I really want it to feel like a smaller, tight-knit community inside of the larger GT community. I’m an Engineering student, and I currently plan on getting my PhD preferably at another top engineering school. Below I’ve kinda outlined my thought process so far:

Honors College:

  • Might not get in (I think this is the most competitive one?)
  • Small class sizes or something? That’s what it sounded like from the lady in the advertisement video
  • Interdisciplinary learning is cool IMO; I love basically all subjects, I just love Engineering the most lol
  • One of the closer communities? Hard to tell off of old Reddit posts

Explore:

  • Kinda not targetted towards engineering
  • Early start for undergrad research sounds awesome, and is definitely something I want to do (especially for grad school admissions)
  • I can’t find anything at all about culture
  • Would I get in since I’m an engineering student?

Grand Challenges:

  • I love hands on learning
  • Seems very tight-knit in a cool way
  • Projects are cool

I would appreciate any more input. I don’t know anyone who goes to GT, so it’s hard for me to gauge without an insider opinion. Thank you so much!