My son just made the choice of UMD over GT in aerospace. It was a pretty tough decision.
I think that in the end he liked the options that are available at a bigger school. In particular, the orientation of the University Honors program with its seminars gave him a chance to explore his side interest in geopolitics and space policy a little better than the narrow tech focus of GT.
Also, interestingly enough, I discovered that more kids do research at UMD than at GT (40% vs. 32%) which was very surprising, but when you look at the difference in the labs, it makes sense. GT does a lot of basic research, UMD is a more mature program with more applied engineering. They have a ton of contracts with government and industry. That’s why I do not think that GT has “better opportunities” at all. For instance, UMD works directly with NASA at the Goddard Space Center, and just landed a $90 mil. contract with NASA. Both universities have about 16 active labs/research programs.
I agree that GT has a better overall reputation in engineering, and it’s ranked higher by US news in aerospace. That is very hard to resist. But that particular ranking is done by academicians. UMD comes out better than GT in the NRC (National Research Council) ratings which includes parameters that have direct relevance to students.
I think UMD is more likely to land you an internship, and eventually, a great job.