I live in GA and I’m looking to attend one of the top 3 schools mentioned in the title. I’m interested in majoring in finance. I made a 31 on the ACT without studying, so after studying I know I can make a 32 or 33. GA Tech graduates make the most money after college on average, but GA Tech is much harder than Emory or UGA. I will have Zell Miller and I don’t want to risk losing the scholarship money. GA Tech’s student gpa average is a 3.2 while I will need a 3.3 to keep Zell Miller. Emory ranks best in quality of life. UGA is ranked lower in almost all aspects when compared to the other two schools, but with a 33 or higher on the ACT I could qualify and be accepted to UGA’s honors program. If I were to be accepted to all three, what would be my best choice? I want to have fun time in college while also making sure I will have a nice future, but GA Tech grads make 10k more upon graduation than Emory grads, is the fun really worth that much of a difference? It is hard to gauge myself as a stellar student or not, I am at the top of my small, non-competitive high school but I procrastinate a lot. I hear that a lot of GA Tech students are just like me, but they shape up and do all their work. I know I could change my habits, but I feel like I would get burnt out and not enjoy school. I feel that if I went to Emory, I would have more personal time to spend on internships while at GA Tech I would be stuck studying. Also, I’m confused as to how the admission statistics of UGA are similar to GA Tech when GA Tech is so much better in so many aspects. GA Tech only has higher ACT/SAT scores, both schools have similar GPA’s and college level classes taken in high school.
Also, GA Tech’s 4 year graduation rate is only around 40% while Emory’s is more like 85%.
University of Georgia Honors College is outstanding.
Do you think that you would be eligible for financial aid at Emory ?
If intending to study finance, then you should add some schools to your list if willing to go out of state.
To the best of my knowledge, Zell Miller applies to Emory. So tuition, which is the highest cost, will be fully paid for. This would leave the total cost per year to be only slightly higher than GA Tech. I might be eligible for additional aid but at this point, the cost is not any worse than my other two choices.
GA Tech’s 4-year graduation rate is probably a function of engineering students who co-op; it’s not a reason to not consider Tech.
From the Emory fianncial aid website:
Zell Miller Scholarship regulations are updated annually and may change. The annual award amount is determined by state appropriations. For Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, students attending Emory University will receive the following: Full-time students: $2,308 per semester, Half-time students: $1,154 per semester.
Just checked the Zell Miller award amount for Emory. It only covers about 4.5% (less than five percent) of each semester’s tuition. Must maintain a 3.3 GPA at Emory in order to retain the scholarship.
If you are able to earn a score of 33 on the ACT & graduate as valedictorian, then UGA Honors is a great option, but you should also receive a substantial scholarship at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business which has a top 10 ranked undergraduate major in finance. Also, consider University of South Carolina Honors for scholarship money & a finance honors program that one can qualify for as a rising college junior.
Well that most likely takes Emory out of my interests. The problem with UGA honors is that very few people are selected. I’ll take a look at the other schools you mentioned, thanks.
Edit: I’m actually elidgible for Emory’s Loan Cap Program, where my loan debt would be capped at $15k so its still not a bad option.
I don’t believe GT Finance majors earn as much salary as Emory Finance majors. GT, as a whole (university wide) does because of the engineers, but if you are interested in Finance, that’s not the case. The GT business school is also geared more to the technical side.
As for quality of life, that doesn’t mean you will have more fun at Emory. If you want to be downtown, then GT might be more fun. These are the qualities that earned Emory the number 1 ranking. “The beauty, safety and location of the campus; the comfort of dorms; the quality of the food; the ease of getting around campus and dealing with administrators; the friendliness of fellow students; the interaction of different student types; and the quality of the school’s relationship with the local community.” Emory is not ranked high as a party school.
Georgia Tech and Emory students going into business and finance are both highly sought after. Georgia Tech ranked number one in Georgia for business oriented degrees by Money Magazine and poets and Quants And information analytics is usnwr number 6. So a good choice too but Emory might be more sought after by the elite finance jobs.
Emory is tops too.
Here’s the list of salaries by focus and or field.
Emory number of students and average salary at graduation
Finance 82 $80,000
Consulting 65 $69,000
Marketing/Sales 30 $57,000
Unknown 24 $60,000
Accounting 22 $55,000
Other 19 $57,000
Analytics 16 $67,500
Real Estate/Construction 12 $60,000
Operations/Production 8 $56,500
Information Technology 6 $62,000
Advertising/Public Relations 5 $41,500
General Management 5 $64,000
Education 3 $42,863
Human Resources 3 $62,000
Logistics 3 N/A
Actuary 2 N/A
Management Information Systems 2 N/A
Georgia Tech.
Operations 54000
Finance 74000
Marketing 50000
ITM. 65000
Accounting 52000
The reality is whether you go to GT, UGA, Emory, KSU or GS as a business major and you land a job where graduates of all five universities just landed the identical job your salary will be the same.
Zell and Hope only pay full or a significant portion of tuition at GA Public Universities.
In terms of fun, UGA would be the most fun.
Business majors at GT is more relaxed then the stem fields and have higher GPA’s.
However, the culture of these three schools are very dissimiliar.
GT does not have majors such as English, sociology, anthropology, and countless others that you find at UGA. Hence many smart students go to UGA to follow their passions which are not available at GT. Also UGA has a different vibe. Smart students are at all of these schools with great opportunities available to them.
GT’s four year grad rates are low because of the work load for the stem degrees, the internships, the coops, the semester abroad.
And you do not need to be the valedictorian to get into UGA’s honor’s program.
Visit the schools and pick based on what you like and where you are accepted not because of some statistic.
Agree that one does not need to be a valedictorian, but OP wrote that “I am at the top of my small noncompetitive high school” without stating a GPA.
Well, I would argue statistics do matter as they show how the average student ends up, which I may perform better or worse than. It shows which schools have better job opportunities. Although, you are right, statistics should not be the only factor in choosing a school. Upon further research I found that undergraduates from GA Tech in finance make almost the exact same as those from UGA and Emory makes more than both. I think this shows that GA Tech’s rigor isn’t rewarding and I am confused as to why. Maybe this is because GA Tech’s business school isn’t as good? But this can’t be true as everything I’ve read tells the opposite. GA Tech’s business curriculum is easier than STEM but not as much as you would think. And to reply to a comment above, GA Tech’s party scene IS weak and the amount of studying is far more intensive than Emory and UGA especially. Overall, I am leaning toward Emory because I like the location and it has a nice balance of academics and quality of life while boasting a nice national rank and graduate salaries.
@Jaxsonn
Gtechs salary is higher because it’s a school full of engineers. Emory doesn’t have engineering at all so they have to relay on humanities and health majors to make high salaries to raise that avg. UGA’s BBA program is ranked higher than Gtechs so I wouldn’t discount them. However for finance Emory is better and probably the only one that can get you to wall street of that’s on your radar. However you’ll need a higher act to get into Gtech or Emory. Emory isn’t necessarily easier than Tech, engineering is a hard major everywhere, again a major Emory doesn’t have.
Lastly, if youre Val or Sal of your class then you have automatic admission into Gtech and UGA, so retaking the ACT might not be nessessary.
Can you afford Emory ? You need to consider affordability & assess whether or not you will qualify for financial aid if in need of college funds.
Don’t rely on rankings. All they amount to are subjective opinions from people with subjective opinions. I have an opinion, but the only difference is that someone has more money to publish their opinion in the media. GA Tech and Emory are also not easy schools to get into. Right now, you’re putting the cart before the horse 
Just apply and see where you get into. Make sure you run the net price calculator for Emory before you get too far in the process. If you can’t afford it, you’re wasting your time.
Students at GT and Emory can take classes at either place, if that helps.
@Jaxsonn articulated above that he qualifies for the Emory Advantage initiative which caps debt at $15K per year, making total debt $60K. With a BBA in Finance, that’s reasonable debt service.
I wouldn’t take a wait and see approach here. Decide by November 15 so that if you want to go to Emory, you’ll apply by the Early Decision 1 deadline. Applying early gives a substantial boost to an application. The 31 won’t keep you out of Emory, but raising it a point or two will really help.
Some visit Emory and see a beautiful campus about 25 minutes from, but still in a suburb and really with only Emory Village right next to it. You don’t get the rah rah spirit or partying that you would get by being in Athens at University of Georgia.
@ljberkow
“The Loan Cap Program (LCP) caps cumulative Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan debt at $15,000”
I take this to mean that graduates benefiting from LCP won’t graduate with 60k in debt, but with 15k.
There is a lot of misinformation here. First of all, you can’t decide where to attend until you are accepted and can afford it. Second, a school’s val and sal (for a student attending HS in GA) are auto admits to GT and UGA (unless they change it next year). Third, if you want finance but have no interest in finance as related to the tech industry in some capacity, GT isn’t the place for you . And I don’t believe cross registration is automatic between GT and Emory (other than through the joint/dual degree majors.