Hi everyone! I for into both GA Tech and UGA. If i go to UGA, I plan to major in MIS. If i go to GA Tech, I plan to major in Industrial Engineering. The cost of both is around the same. Im trying to decide which one I want to go to. I plan to go to law school after undergrad, but that’ll most likely depend on how much financial aid i get so it is still not a fixed plan. If not law school, I might do a masters or I might work in consulting or something of that sort. I’m technically considered an international student, so having STEM OPT after undergrad would give me 2 extra years to work and to get into the H1B lottery. The GT IE program gives me STEM OPT, but the UGA MIS program does not. To get stem opt if i go to uga, id have to do a masters with stem opt basically right after undergrad if i dont make the lottery the first time. I liked UGA’s campus more but gt’s campus is closer to internships that I could have. I have a roommate at UGA that Im friends with, but I dont know anyone at GT so id have to find a roommate, which is one of my biggest worries as I dont make friends easily. I dont think ive really made close friends after elementary school. Im a somewhat social person and make acquaintances, but not good friends as easily. I’m not very into party culture so I dont really worry about the better social life at UGA. GT IE ive heard will give me a better salary and better recruitment for top consulting firms, but it is more challenging. I like and am good at math, but Im not a big fan of sciences. I like MIS and its curriculum more, and I see that MIS at UGA has pretty good recruiting and salary too, just not as good as IE at GT. Im looking for advice on what would be better.
Are you looking at law school in the U.S. ?
Short answer to me - do you want to study MIS or IE ? That’s where to go.
For US law school, where you go and what you major in is of little significance.
Harvard has 160+ schools in its first year class of under 600. Gtown 222 for not many more students than Harvard.
So go where you want. Not sure if either UGA or Ga Tech gives aid to internationals.
Internships - Most will intern in summer, not during the year but as an international, obtaining one will be difficult actually it is even for a U.S. student.
Good luck
I would not expect any financial aid from either school. Are they affordable for you at full price?
With a typical student visa, you will not be able to work off campus during the school year. During breaks you can work off campus in a CPT role. You might check with each school to see how many international students are currently able to secure CPT opportunities.
Only you can decide this. It’s relatively easy to change your major at each school. The only major you can’t change to at Tech is CS. UGA has some majors that are harder to change in to, but most are straightforward. More research for you to do.
There’s no bad choice.
GT offers an MIS program in their business school. My son and his HS classmate transferred from Scheller into the ISyE program. It shouldn’t be difficult to transfer the other direction.
GT’s ISyE program is exceptional. That said, it’s no guarantee for career outcomes.
If science isn’t your strength it’s not difficult to use AP credits to place out of Chem and Physics. Taking chem or physics at a local community college is also fine.
GT has plenty of LLC’s to ease into freshman year.
If you choose GT and absolutely don’t like it after freshman year transferring to UGA probably wouldn’t be difficult. Ask admissions about this. Good luck.
If you have a degree in engineering you should be able to get a 3 year visa OPT work extension (its for work, not for law school), but that said, if you don’t like sciences, why would you choose an engineering major? It’s a lot of math, but IMO would also be a “science”, dealing with worker health and safety, environmental issues, etc.
Lots of different issues conflated here.
- The question of getting an OPT-eligible degree is definitely worth considering, but you could still accomplish this at UGA if you prefer to go there. And if you go to GT, staying in Industrial Engineering isn’t the only way to check that box.
- If the issue is that you really prefer MIS, you could do that at GT too.
- You like UGA’s physical campus better, but at the same time you don’t seem particularly drawn to the campus culture.
Maybe my gut is wrong, but what it says when I read this is that all the debate about majors and job/internship placement and campus preference is just trying to set up a permission structure to go to college with your friend and prospective roommate. And while I completely understand how that could sway you heavily, it’s also giving that one friend an outsized influence on your path in life. Presumably you’ve never lived with this friend before; there’s no way to say whether it would be great, or whether the stresses of living together and making this person your “emotional support friend” might put strain on the relationship. One hopes you will “find your tribe” and make friends in college, at either school.
As a thought exercise… what if this one factor were reversed, and this friend were going to GT? Would you follow them there without a second thought, and just switch from IE to MIS if you truly preferred that major? Or would there still be something about UGA that would keep it in the running?
What does “technically” mean? You are either eligible to work in the US without restrictions or not. And if not– I wouldn’t consider the STEM OPT when making a college decision. Immigration policies change frequently; the H1B program is particularly sensitive politically; there are zero guarantees that you get a job, let alone a job which will help you with H1B.
What would employment prospects look like in your home country?