Decision of a life-time

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Finally, I hold all the cards on my hand. All my university selections have written me back. Stanford and MIT were a no go. The University of Kansas offered me enough merit based and need based scholarships that my dad can cover the rest and I can graduate with no debt. Georgia Tech has given me enough need based scholarships that when I graduate I'll have $60,000 of debt. However, Georgia Tech is ranked #12 among all universities in the world (for engineering). In other words, my experience there would be unmatched. K-State offered me admission, but they said they're holding out on some scholarships I may get. At this point, K-State is a no go.

So, the question is. Do I take the debt and the best school? Or do I stay home, near friends and families, at a school where my education will be good, but won't add as much to my life experience as Atlanta's boss of a school?

I'm going to think long and hard. Any tips and comments from experience is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Joga
 
Ok, to be perfectly honest, the ONLY thing you will get from going to Georgia Tech vs another decent engineering school is a degree that says Georgia Tech. For engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Tech competes in the same enterprise programs as Georgia Tech and beats them at Baja, places at 99% in jobs paying arounr $58,000/yr(unless you do mining then add $10k a year), yet the school only costs $14k a year before the scholarships they give you.

Your education will hardly be any better. It only gets better if you work harder which you can do at any engineering school. Pick the one you can afford. Being 60,000 in debt for little to no gain isn't worth it.
 
Exactly, pick the one you will like most for the social atmosphere. I had my decision narrowed down to 3 good engineering schools, MTU, UW-Platteville, and South Dakota School of Mines and Tech. My decision came down to, MTU has the snow. I would have like any of the 3 choices though I think.

MTU has really good connections with Detroit auto too so I guess that's a plus for me. The Dean of Students at Virginia Tech went here, and so did the Vice President of GM. So GM gives us a LOT of money for different projects.
 
I agree with what has been said already and would add that a company will hire YOU, the way you present and carry yourself and the way you interview, the degree is basically just the company's requirement that gives you the chance to "wow" them when given the chance at your interview...

once you start working there you'll see that your co-workers will have degrees from many schools of various levels of acclaim and at that point it's all about how productive you are for the company, not where you graduated from and how prestigious that school is...
 
Well yes, but the rankings can't mean nothing. I don't expect to learn different things at GT then I would at KU. The stuff I learn will be the same, however they will be presented differently. From what I read and hear, GT has a far more difficult program, I will supposedly be challenged more there. Additionally, the life experience of living in a big city away from my parents should be a good one. I will be more independent there than at Kansas University. My dad and some of my professors say the university you come from is very important for your first job, after all that's only what your employer will have to evaluate you. However, that doesn't concern me as I plan on going to graduate school. I have been told that GT will provide me better preparation and a better resume for going into the big graduate schools (MIT, Stanford, GT itself, Rice, etc). Going to the big graduate schools is my ultimate goal from now on. I want their funding to do research among other things. So I want to know if these benefactors are worth the $60,000 (which actually may be less because I found out they give department scholarships based on GPA after your freshman year). Is there anyone here who did go to an expensive school and took debt? I'd like to hear both sides.

Also, is there anyone who's been to Atlanta/lived in Atlanta? I'm visiting GT next week, but I'd still like input.

edit: By the way, I appreciate the input. The fact that the "smaller" (KU isn't small that's why I put quotes) schools can be just as good if not better is what truly holds me back. I don't want to take on debt if the rewards are insignificant.
 
^^ Agree with this. 60k in debt is a LOT. Now, going to a good undergrad is good for getting into a really good grad school... Getting your first job, as long as it's a somewhat reputable undergrad school you will be fine either way. The differences between the starting salary of a GT and KU ME graduate are probably very insignificant if at all. Not worth 60k in any way shape or form though.
 
The differences in salary for engineers from both schools differ by a little more than $10k. I would assume that the standard deviation is also slightly higher for GT. However, that is definitely not enough of a reason to go in debt $60k. If I only cared about that, KU would be my choice.

I'm definitely setting my sights on grad. school, which would make GT a more understandable choice. My parents pointed something out today that I thought was very interesting. KU would more or less be an extension of what I am doing now. By that I mean, I would take the classes, learn the things I need to learn, but it would never really be a true challenge. I would continue to live pretty relaxed. However, at GT I would definitely be challenge. I'm not one to sit down and study for long periods of time, but knowing that I need to make the most out of this $60k debt would be very influential. Having the debt itself would make me more responsible. They guaranteed me that if for some reason I something bad happened, where I couldn't pay for the debt, they would take it over. I don't think such thing would ever happen, but you never know.

I've considered both schools heavily, they each have their pros and cons. Georgia Tech is definitely the school to go if I want to be exposed to the real world, and do some growing up. If I went to GT, I would probably be able to live anywhere after living in Atlanta. If I go to KU, I'll be in a small town with a big campus. I would have my "circle" of friends, but yet I'd meet new people everyday. However, I would not be exposed to the real world, it would be like high school in a sense.

At this moment, my logic tells me that GT is the place to go, but I don't feel exceptionally comfortable with the school, but that's because it is unknown to me. I think I'll only be able to make my decision after I visit Atlanta. What makes it really hard is leaving friends and family. It's always hard, regardless of who you are. I think if I can surpass that, which if I can't says a lot about my maturity, then there shouldn't be any problems.
 
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