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<p>They both make good points, a balance between prestige and price is what everyone should aim for. I wouldn’t recommend 2 years at a community college before going to GT though. Professors/admittance committees are people too and will take prestige into account because it’s and indicator of the quality of education. As long as the school is reasonably known and the professor you do research with is actively publishing with connections, then there shouldn’t be any problems with the university of your choice. </p>
<p>Ex: At a lower tiered university I went to, there was a professor looking for undergrad research assistants who was well connected with NIST and bringing undergrads with him for summer internships at a university not even on rankings.</p>