Thanks for that info - wondering what percentage of deferred students decide to go into the regular decision pool? I would think it’s high but some students must elect to accept ED or decide to go elsewhere.
@25Raider you are right, I didn’t think about deferred applicants that withdraw or just don’t show continued interest. I haven’t seen any numbers reported on that stat. I would be surprised if more than 10% of them withdraw, but that is a WAG. That would still give you an acceptance rate in the 13% range.
Just received the word that he did not make it to the final round.
Relieved not to have to make this excruciating choice.
@TheVulcan Thanks for the update. Your son has two great choices already between MIT and Caltech. I am sure he will get some more with RD decisions in March. Out of the 100 finalists at GT last year, most ended up going to MIT, Harvard, or a similarly selected college instead. GT is an interesting place. Really accomplished in-state students don’t like to stay in Georgia for college or work.
I am in-state. I am a finalist.
Thanks, @gRw110!
Congrats to you and good luck with the final stage, RDs, and the hopefully ensuing difficult decisions! 
They specifically told my dd at an info session that the supplemental form should be used to update any new or changed info but most importantly to tell them of your continued strong interest in attending (so as someone else pointed out, use it as an opportunity to describe your fit into the school). They said otherwise they will assume you are not that interested!
Does GT give any merit aid for OSS? Our son didn’t make the Stamps Scholar cut. He received early admission to both GT (our of state) and UT Austin (in state) for engineering. Last week he received an letter from UT Engineering informing him that he received $30k/yr merit based scholarship for the next four years and was selected for the honors program. The engineering program at GT is bit higher ranked then the one at UT. Up until now he was more in favor of GT but $120K is a lot to pass up. Any thoughts? Anyone pass up one college in favor of the other due to scholarship money being awarded?
@Classof2020TX if he didn’t get Stamps (full) or Provost (in state tuition for OOS) then there really isn’t any other merit aid for incoming Freshman. Now after enrolling he may find some scholarships available in his major but nothing like $30K/yr. It sounds like you are deciding between what amounts to almost a full ride at UT and full pay OOS at GT? Unless your son really doesn’t like UT, I would have a hard time passing up that scholarship at a very good engineering school like UT. This is coming from a parent that is full pay OOS. S19 could have gone in state to either UVA or VT for engineering but no scholarships offered. We decided that the extra $10K-$18K per year was worth it and in our budget to go to GT instead. It came down to a decision between GT and VT for my son and he was allowed to choose. Now, I am sure there are those that say spending that type of extra money to not go to very good schools like UVA and VT is not worth it either.
@racereer Thank you for your reply. Our son loves UT so there is no issue there. Like you, we were willing to spend the extra $ for out of state tuition for GT but that large amount in scholarship money was totally unexpected. Before leaving for Golden Carpet Day visit today, he told us to save our money and he can use for graduate school if needed. Let’s see if the visit changed his mind. And it is actually little more then a full ride!
Just my personal opinion but it’s hard to give up $120k at UT versus full pay at GT. I know GT is higher ranked in engineering but UT is also very highly ranked - nothing you don’t know already. To provide some more perspective, we are OOS from NJ and got deferred at GT - and denied at UT and UVA EA. All for engineering. In at Purdue Honors, Clemson, MD, Rutgers, Minnesota and Baylor.
would love others opinions on UCF engineering vs GT engineering, (We are OOS for both schools). D admitted to UCF and Burnett honors college with substanatial scholarship making the cost half of what GT will be. I know GT Is more highly ranked for Engineering, but would love to hear the thoughts of others who have opinions on both schools.
Applied for regular admission with the following stats and wondering if I have a chance get into GT ChemE program:
ACT 36 (superscore)
SAT: 1560
GPA:3.83 (unweighted) / 3.98 (weighted)
Rank: 9/522
ECA: Varsity tennis team captain, spelling bee NY regional level, hundreds of hours of volunteer work, etc.
Residency: OOS
Accepted to:
- UT, Austin with $15K/year merit scholarship
- Free tuition (based on merit) for 4 years to attend ChemE program at State University of NY
- West Point (US Military Academy), and
- Univ of Minnesota
Waiting to hear from Georgia Tech and Berkeley. Thanks in advance for your input.
In light of discussions above what do you think about
GT (OOS) vs. UMD (in state) vs. Case Western with $27,500 scholarship per year for BME.
We are in a bit different situation since we have half scholarship (after tax) for any college from one of the parent’s companies (effectively 1/3 of tuition.)
UMD would cost us only $5k + room and board. DC probably will live on campus for first year only. (Wasting $45k for campus is way too much.) Effectively $20K + $5x3 = $35k for 4 years. No BME program - only BE and not very strong.
Case would be approximately 5K per year tuition left after scholarships plus room and board $5*4 + $15x 4=$80 K.
Not accepted to GT yet, but has several options for transferring (guaranteed paths with good GPA) in the worst case scenario. Will have 1 year of transferable credits. Can do coop and study abroad to cut cost. Total cost would be around $90K.
BME program is significantly better at Tech vs. Case vs. UMD, but DC would need to go for grad school in any case.
What would you do?
I would go to Georgia Tech over the other choices even if the cost exceeded $90K (I’m not clear on how you arrived at that figure though; it seems low). It will open significantly more doors (presumably, the doors you want to open after securing an undergraduate BME degree are those of top-tier graduate schools, of which GT itself is one). UMD, while not GT, is actually a great school for the wider engineering field but if you specifically seek BME and there is no such program, it’s a non-starter. No comparison between GT and Case. I know that some posters always suggest that the option of lowest financial output should be chosen, but I disagree with that unless you have some kind of uniquely distressed financial circumstance. I am not saying you should go crazy with loans and assumption of post-graduate debt, but the option of attendance at a top-tier school (after being admitted as an out-of-stater no less!) cannot be discarded without a great deal of thought, especially if you have some kind of plan to bring the cost down a notch or two.
For what it’s worth, in-state students at GT will pay about 80k over 4 years. And that’s assuming they keep Zell Miller, which covers ~10k/year (many don’t). Obviously it depends on your specific financial situation, but in my opinion you are getting a great price for GT, especially if you’re planning on studying BME.
Thanks. My personal opinion is the same, but as being GaTech alumni I am biased. I wanted other views. Also Case gave DC quite a lot and we liked it during overnight visit to school, it did not feel like GaTech. However, it felt like step up over UMD.
UMD has Bioengineering only for undergrad. It is relatively small program. They told during open house that students do not choose coop there (I do not get the reasoning, but apparently students want to graduate and move on…) Also we know a student who was accepted for Phd in Hopkings after UMD BE program. So it is possible to be accepted to great program after UMD.
@ChemEboyNY would have to know about your course rigor. Did you generally take the most rigorous course available to you? What level math have you completed?
You do have some very good acceptances already, Congrats! So, I would guess that you will get serious consideration. If accepted to GT, you will have the same type decision to make that is currently be discussed, if the cost of GT is worth it over a free ride or scholarship at another school.
My $90k calculations are based on 3 years of tuition (with 1 year of credits), plus some money from coop, using 1-2 semesters of study abroad (GaTech has some special program for BMEs) plus moving out of campus at some point (possibly basement of some family friends etc.) Apparently DC can take also some classes in local CC during summer that will be transferable too. But this approach will require a bit of creativity and jumping through hoops.
^^ 3 years of tuition after 1/3 scholarship discount.
Ok, thanks for the clarification. One of the BME programs offered abroad at Georgia Tech is the summer in Galway, Ireland. Hugely popular with BME upperclassmen. A popular option for freshman (and not restricted to BME) is the Georgia Tech Lorraine program in Metz, France. That’s an actual GT campus. GT also has campuses in Singapore, China, and I believe one is being built in Tokyo. There are also dozens (maybe hundreds) of other study-abroad programs around the world. Study abroad at GT means the student is charged in-state tuition for that term. Unfortunately, though, some of these programs also include a 5k surcharge for OOStaters, so it’s not entirely true that the tuition is in-state for all. As for post-freshman housing, you’re lucky to have the ability to bunk in a friend’s basement, if it’s close by. Off-campus apartments are readily available (there are numerous buildings such as U House), but these cost over 1k a month, involve roommates and a one-year lease, and offer questionable assurances as to cleanliness and even safety. I think staying on-campus is the way to go, but that’s not cheap either.