Why does Georgia Tech suck at merit and financial aid?

[Anonymous]

I am going by their net calculator and it has been far and above the worst at financial aid (by thousands) and all I keep hearing about is there is very little in merit aid. I can understand having either good merit or FA, but not having both? Really bummed as my daughter loves it. I just can't justify the price. Are there only rich OOS students there or do people just have loans for years to go there?

[Anonymous]

Most kids from Georgia attend with the hope scholarship, which is merit based. Makes the school extremely affordable. I guess they want out of state students to pay up.
From a safety standpoint I would feel good about a DD attending there. Lots of Campus issues.

[Anonymous]

It is an in-demand university. They, like many private elite colleges, don't need to offer merit aid to attract strong students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is an in-demand university. They, like many private elite colleges, don't need to offer merit aid to attract strong students.

This. Not to mention, as a state university, their primary obligation, especially when it comes to things like fin aid, is to residents of GEORGIA. Not out of state students.

[Anonymous]

The financial aid is reserved for in-state students. If you want to go to GT from out of state, then pay up. I love how everyone thinks their kid is so deserving of merit aid. High scoring kids are far more plentiful then there are spots. Lots of full pay to snap up that slot if you pass. GT is a great great school. Still stings that my kid passed on this, but she made the right choice for her and it’s paying off in happiness and opportunities. Here’s an idea, if you want to save money go in state. If you really only care about money then do two years of CC first.

[Anonymous]

You don't want to know what I paid for my out of state child to attend William and Mary. This is America, we have a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The financial aid is reserved for in-state students. If you want to go to GT from out of state, then pay up. I love how everyone thinks their kid is so deserving of merit aid. High scoring kids are far more plentiful then there are spots. Lots of full pay to snap up that slot if you pass. GT is a great great school. Still stings that my kid passed on this, but she made the right choice for her and it’s paying off in happiness and opportunities. Here’s an idea, if you want to save money go in state. If you really only care about money then do two years of CC first.

Calm down. People are looking for anyway to not pay full price for college. So what? College is way overpriced. People are literally mortgaging their futures so they/their kids can addend college. And, yes, sometimes those people have a dream college, be it in-state or not. There is nothing wrong with any of that. So, I'm not sure why you're being such an ass.

[Anonymous]

No need to use merit aid to attract top OOS students to GT. State schools use OOS students as a revenue source, to offset the low tuition offered to instate students. If you want a good deal you need to look at your own in-state options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The financial aid is reserved for in-state students. If you want to go to GT from out of state, then pay up. I love how everyone thinks their kid is so deserving of merit aid. High scoring kids are far more plentiful then there are spots. Lots of full pay to snap up that slot if you pass. GT is a great great school. Still stings that my kid passed on this, but she made the right choice for her and it’s paying off in happiness and opportunities. Here’s an idea, if you want to save money go in state. If you really only care about money then do two years of CC first.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The financial aid is reserved for in-state students. If you want to go to GT from out of state, then pay up. I love how everyone thinks their kid is so deserving of merit aid. High scoring kids are far more plentiful then there are spots. Lots of full pay to snap up that slot if you pass. GT is a great great school. Still stings that my kid passed on this, but she made the right choice for her and it’s paying off in happiness and opportunities. Here’s an idea, if you want to save money go in state. If you really only care about money then do two years of CC first.

MIT, CMU, Wash U, etc.. all had better financial aid. And of course the obvious elite schools too like Cornell, Princeton, etc..

Other publics have great merit aid packages, but poor financial aid options.

GT has nothing. Great for in-state no doubt, but only a fool would pay the cost of OOS tuition there. I remember after sitting down with all the packages, it was the second highest cost of all 12 schools my child applied to (second to Michigan) and she applied to some very expensive privates and OOS public schools.

Have you been there OP? You might change your mind. Most kids do not like it at all once they visit. Sketchy area, pretty run down looking, issues with parking, overpriced and dangerous apartments off campus. The education and professors must be great though because it continues to be top ranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The financial aid is reserved for in-state students. If you want to go to GT from out of state, then pay up. I love how everyone thinks their kid is so deserving of merit aid. High scoring kids are far more plentiful then there are spots. Lots of full pay to snap up that slot if you pass. GT is a great great school. Still stings that my kid passed on this, but she made the right choice for her and it’s paying off in happiness and opportunities. Here’s an idea, if you want to save money go in state. If you really only care about money then do two years of CC first.

MIT, CMU, Wash U, etc.. all had better financial aid. And of course the obvious elite schools too like Cornell, Princeton, etc..

Other publics have great merit aid packages, but poor financial aid options.

GT has nothing. Great for in-state no doubt, but only a fool would pay the cost of OOS tuition there. I remember after sitting down with all the packages, it was the second highest cost of all 12 schools my child applied to (second to Michigan) and she applied to some very expensive privates and OOS public schools.

Have you been there OP? You might change your mind. Most kids do not like it at all once they visit. Sketchy area, pretty run down looking, issues with parking, overpriced and dangerous apartments off campus. The education and professors must be great though because it continues to be top ranked.

Also, GT is not undergrad focused at all. Your student will not be a priority. For OOS tuition, I expect more. YMMV

[Anonymous]

The previous posters are so wrong. Have u guys even visited or know anyone at GT?

My DC is there as OOS. The reason? It is more than just focused on academics - he loves the college experience. There are a lot of southern traditions that a northeast DC partakes in.

One was to lower the OOS cost - study abroad. U pay instate tuition - GT really wants their kids to travel overseas.

Look at their career fair attendees - hard core engineering companies. Being based in the city, also allows kids to do internships while in school.

[Anonymous]

Also load up on APs - GT gives credit and u could shave a year or two off. Some schools like Dartmouth let’s u skip prereqs but still had to graduate w same number of credits as someone without AP credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The previous posters are so wrong. Have u guys even visited or know anyone at GT?

My DC is there as OOS. The reason? It is more than just focused on academics - he loves the college experience. There are a lot of southern traditions that a northeast DC partakes in.

One was to lower the OOS cost - study abroad. U pay instate tuition - GT really wants their kids to travel overseas.

Look at their career fair attendees - hard core engineering companies. Being based in the city, also allows kids to do internships while in school.

While this is true - how ridiculous is it that this is a tactic used to lower your costs? GT is a state school, thus has the drawbacks of most state schools - large classes, TAs teaching many courses, and professors more interested in their research and their graduate students. And yes, we considered GT for engineering (visited too). It has a great reputation, for engineering in particular. But so do schools like Cal Berkeley, where you are lucky if you graduate in 4 years because of budget cuts and overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The previous posters are so wrong. Have u guys even visited or know anyone at GT?

My DC is there as OOS. The reason? It is more than just focused on academics - he loves the college experience. There are a lot of southern traditions that a northeast DC partakes in.

One was to lower the OOS cost - study abroad. U pay instate tuition - GT really wants their kids to travel overseas.

Look at their career fair attendees - hard core engineering companies. Being based in the city, also allows kids to do internships while in school.

While this is true - how ridiculous is it that this is a tactic used to lower your costs? GT is a state school, thus has the drawbacks of most state schools - large classes, TAs teaching many courses, and professors more interested in their research and their graduate students. And yes, we considered GT for engineering (visited too). It has a great reputation, for engineering in particular. But so do schools like Cal Berkeley, where you are lucky if you graduate in 4 years because of budget cuts and overcrowding.

So out of curiosity, where did your child go for engineering? Curious which school you think doesn't have this issue for engineering since my dc is interested in engineering as well.