Georgia Tech

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Comments good or not good about this school. 2015 Freshman and so far he likes what he sees. I am not so sure about the downtown location/safety/no car allowed. Is it worth the out of state tuition?</p>

2

<p>that’s really a question you have to answer, mom. a lot of STEM curricula are alike from school to school, so it’s not as if your child will learn something at Tech he might not learn at many other schools. Graduating from tech is not likely to mean anymore money in the child’s pocket, but it might have recruiters at the school from more regions of the country than a less renowned school but probably not a flagship school. We don’t know what your family can afford, but in general there’s not a lot of reasons to choose GT over your state flagship if it’s any good in the field at issue–and it probably is at least competent in STEM. Once the child is in the workforce a couple years, nobody will give much attention to the child’s alma mater. It’s really the skill set, GPA, interview, and letters of rec that will matter to grad/professional schools and employers.</p>

3

<p>I went to college about 3 miles southwest of Georgia Tech, also in the heart of Atlanta. I used to walk around a lot in Georgia Tech’s immediate neighborhood - about 1 mile south of a fancy mixed-use complex (Atlantic Station), 1.5 miles southwest of Piedmont Park, and just north of the tourist district (World of Coke, aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park). Honestly, GT is in a much better neighborhood than my alma mater is, lol, and I don’t think you have to worry too much about safety. I would not wander around my alma mater’s neighborhood late at night (alone or in groups!) but I wouldn’t feel unsafe walking around Georgia Tech’s neighborhood at night in a group - and in fact, have been down there after dark before.</p>

<p>As for the car - I don’t think it will matter much freshman year. Atlanta is definitely a driving city, and it’s difficult to get around without one except to touristy areas downtown/midtown. But his first year, nobody else will have one and so all the freshman will make their own fun on and around campus. And if he has a meal plan he’ll be fine. My campus was much smaller and had far fewer amenities than GT’s and I was fine without a car my freshman year.</p>

<p>Now, he’ll probably want one after freshman year. He may want to move off-campus, for one. For two, his fun may involve going a bit farther away from GT’s campus. I do know I was much more unhappy without a car in my junior and senior years of college, because there’s a lot of cool stuff in Atlanta that was JUST out of walking distance at my campus (but is actually a reasonable walking distance by GT).</p>

4

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<p>Well, what are your son’s alternatives? What is your home state? What are his stats?</p>

<p>If you think he’ll be paid more when he graduates, then that won’t happen. An employer is going to pay a new-hire the same pay whether he/she graduates from GT, Purdue, Maryland, OSU, CSU, or wherever. </p>

<p>Most states have very good engineering schools, so to pay OOS rates may not be worth it.</p>

5

<p>It is doubtful that GT is worth paying out of state tuition. If he has a great scholarship such as ROTC, then it is definitely worth considering.</p>

<p>Will he have a higher starting salary coming from GT? Maybe, maybe not. This is a matter of some dispute. I have heard that GT has the highest “return on investment” for any state university in America (Harvard is tops for private schools). But I am sure that is skewed by the fact that most GT students are residents of Georgia and pay in state tuition. Georgia Tech does make at least one list of the top 25 starting salaries. See the following article from the Washington Post:
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/11/where-to-go-to-college-if-you-want-the-highest-starting-salary/?hpid=z8”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/11/where-to-go-to-college-if-you-want-the-highest-starting-salary/?hpid=z8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Notice, of course, that almost all those schools are tech schools (some of which you have never heard of). So, undoubtedly that list simply reflects the demand for engineers and other STEM majors. Because STEM is the focus of Georgia Tech, naturally it would do well in that respect. But a graduate of the engineering school at University of Michigan would do just as well, but UM has many other majors and does not make the list.</p>