If you have a moment, please come back and let us know his decision. It is a very interesting choice.
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It will most likely come down to decision day. But I will pop back in to give his take on the decision
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Congratulations to your kid on these two amazing opportunities! We are also in GA: S15 graduated from GaTech CS and D23 is a sophomore at Yale. Two very different schools, but also two very different kids. Attending Bulldog Days is a key in getting Yaleās vibe - I would recommend connecting with current students there. Explore and ātry onā GaTechās threads in CS, Majors/Certificates at Yale - is there a chance your kid would change his major or go for another major outside of Math & CS path? What extracurriculars are important to your son? Where will he be finding his people, so to speak? Good luck!
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Thank you. He is open to the idea of shifting out of CS but would definitely keep Math as his other subject. He already has one thread planned out for GT. I will ask him to look further into certificates at Yale.
For extra curriculars - he is into running actively and also orchestra. Running is where he has met some of his people, and it is where I feel he has grown as an individual.
Yale is a great place for musicians - one of the reasons my daughter is there. YSO is a very high level university orchestra, but there are several other orchestras and a lot of chamber groups and other music outlets.
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Iāve already wrote this on another thread today, so I will just repeat it:
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Thank you, thatās great to know. I wonder if thatās what put him over the line at Yale compared to the other ivies where he was waitlisted. He is an All State Orchestra player.
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Wonderful choices for your son. It all comes down to where he will be happiest the next 4 years. I canāt speak for GT, but I know my experience and my Sās experience at Yale were transformative. We both made a very tight group of friends of very different interests and backgrounds. A group of 10 of us have a ālong weekendā together each year, and entire family get togethers every 2 to 3 years. In my group we have an MD, 2 JDās, 2 MBAās, 2 STEM types, 1 journalist and 2 business owners. My Sās friend group includes an officer of the Airforce version of the Seals, a media type who just finished film school at USC, MDās, PE, IB, CS, consulting and quant types (they recruit them at Yale as well). He is doing a tour of Asia this fall with 3 of these friends. If you talk to a bunch of Yalies, I believe one common theme will be how Yale made it easy to form long lasting bonds of people with disparate interests and backgrounds.
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There are thousands of All State musicians every year. Maybe itās his instrument? Some instrumentalists have fewer numbers and are needed.
He is a violist btw, sorry should have added that before.
Did he send a music supplement with his Yale application? Some folks really do believe that can make a difference if the supplement shows a high level of playing.
This is so refreshing to hear. Thanks for the additional context. 
He didnāt not submit the supplement.
I will then guess that is is unlikely being an All State Musician moved the needle.
Butā¦he got accepted to Yale and thatās what matters!!
Your son has two very good choices for different reasons.
If your family is able and willing to pay the costs, please let him choose!
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From what I understand, MIT is the best place to go hands down for quant. GT has been called the MIT of the south and I have no doubt GT will prepare your son for that career path. The issue is opening doors to what is a VERY closed network into quant firms. If I were you I might get on linked in and look at the top NYC quant firms (Two Sigma, Jane Street, etc.) and see if there are any GT grads or any Yale grads. Every year GT sends kids to Wall Street but not sure how many are doing quantitive finance. I have no doubt you can get there from GT but you will need to do some more hustling in all likelihood to land a role like that.
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I think he just needs to decide between STEM or āwell-roundednessā because GT wins hands-down for STEM/CS. Yale doesnāt appear on any list Iāve ever seen of top engineering programs. Our son is earning his CS MS at GT and will be applying to CS/E or AI PhD programs later this year, not an Ivy on his list.
This entirely depends on the career he pursues. If he chooses CS, GT will have more cachet. Several of our sonās close friends from his boarding school days are well along in their Wall St. quant careers, all LACs, not a single Ivy grad among them.
You choose Yale for an entirely different set of reasons than pursuing a STEM career. If he chooses STEM, GT will provide all the prestige he could want at an in-state price that canāt be beat, a no-brainer IMO.
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Congrats on having great choices. We were also full pay parents, and our children were lucky enough to not have to worry about ROI in their decision. It came to fit and what experience they were looking for in the next 4 years. Part of what was important for them, was experiencing somewhere new so the instate options were at a pretty severe disadvantage in our house. No regrets for letting them spread their wings.
We send a ton of our robotics kids to Georgia Tech and theyāve had great experiences, but it is definitely a techy school - so very different than Yale. Iām sure visits will help a lot. Good luck with his decision!
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Georgia Tech has a great club for recreational runners called Running Wreck Club. Have only heard great reviews and how several kids we know have found their people. Sure there is similar at Yale but want to bring this to your attention in case you havenāt heard.
Does he plan on pursuing music in college?
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Thank you. +1 to Running Wreck Club. I donāt think he plans to pursue music in college though.
I agree. It eventually comes down to culture and fit. He is lucky to have great options in front of him.
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