Engineers: Georgia Tech vs Kennesaw State (Southern Poly)

[Billybob270]

FYI: Before Poly it was Southern Tech...owned by GT. I'm aging myself now.

But seriously I have BA at Southern Tech and a masters at GT both in mechanical engineering. In a nutshell it depends on your kid. If they are more hands-on/real-world, Kennesaw is the way to go. If they are more theoretical or design motivated, GT is the way to go. If working for the government, designing, laboratory....go with GT. If enjoys working with robots, being creative, machines, etc.....go with Kennesaw.
A perfect example is that I hired a GT grad in ME, and "seriously" didn't know how to check the oil level in a car....was completely lost in a manufacturing world. After 3 months placed the grad in a lab environment; crunching numbers, etc. and went circles around everyone else.

Another note to consider and something I noticed between the campuses is the differences in social environment. GT has a more "colder" social campus. Especially for young ladies starting there without any friends from high school. You wouldn't think that this is a big deal, but I have two personal experiences of very bright young ladies changing school because of this.

Last note, yes GT is recognized in the technical world.....I mean they are ranked 4th in engineering. However, Kennesaw is growing at a rapid rate and has over double the students as compared to GT and 8,000 more that UGA. I mean Kennesaw is a solid university and continues to grow, so don't let just the ranking sway your decision.

My recommendation if undecided, I would start at Kennesaw. Watch which classes you take to confirm they are transferable to GT. Get a feel of engineering. Then a year later, decide. Or get a BA at Kennesaw and a Masters at Tech....:-)

 

[Omega]

I work directly with engineers in and fresh out of college. Ga tech has my vote.

People see ga tech on a resume and it is over

 

[basstracker89]

As long as I can remember, you graduate from Ga Tech you'll make great money

 

[halo696]

I can’t and won’t say that KSU is sub par vs GT because we all know, no matter what piece of paper you have, at the end of the day you have to perform to make it in the real world but from personal experience my oldest son chose the GT route. He graduated in 2018.

Going to GT won’t guarantee success but I can say, by my son’s experience, it did open a few more doors from bigger companies that I was told probably wouldn’t have been available to him on the front end if he had gone to a different school.

He did his internship at Northrop Grumman and he was offered a job pending graduation along with all of his team that was there from GT. He ended up refusing the offer, because he didn’t like Baltimore, which made us a little nervous but ended up at Delta where he is still at today. He got hired just before COVID kicked off and we were for sure he was going to be let go being a fairly new hire but survived all the cuts etc…. Not saying he didn’t get lucky but can’t say that being a GT grad didn’t help as well.

He still lives near and is active with the school in different aspects when he has time. If you or your son ever need an inside perspective from a fairly recent grad feel free to hit me up. I will give you his contact info. He loves encouraging people to go there and gives them the pros and cons based on his experience. That offer is actually open to anyone here that is considering GT.

 

[BH-ATL]

If I remember correctly GT has the highest rate of students losing their Hope Scholarship. GT will likely open more doors initially but the gap vanishes the longe they are in the work force.

 

[superprime]

I have a niece with an engineering degree from tech. She works at a landscape company.

My brother-in-law has a degree from Tech in BioMedical Engineering and a Masters from UGA in Artificial Intelligence. He was working in the UGA fields as a field manager making 35,000/yr. He just now got a job at UGA in IT for 50,000/yr. I keep telling him he could get on at any of the large tech firms, but he won't leave the Athens bubble.

 

[87KJH]

My brother-in-law has a degree from Tech in BioMedical Engineering and a Masters from UGA in Artificial Intelligence. He was working in the UGA fields as a field manager making 35,000/yr. He just now got a job at UGA in IT for 50,000/yr. I keep telling him he could get on at any of the large tech firms, but he won't leave the Athens bubble.

Have a friend who spent years under the "UGA umbrella" because it was safe. He was finally convinced to move to the Corporate IT sector and now makes almost double his previous salary.

 

[User170512]

GT has my vote. Son is there 4th year, ME. We're very impressed. Co-op'd at GTRI. His good friend from HS is at Kennesaw and also doing well though. The GT name carries weight, period.

 

[BigPrince]

GaTech. 100% every day.

 

[Trailrider]

Well Tech will pop more on the resume. These resume filters recruiters use will skip right past ones without the right "key" words. Having GA Tech will at least get a look.

Having said that, my father in law is a retired engineer who only went to a junior college in the early 70s. Times have changed since then though.