Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 08:49     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:GT CS won't open many doors at banks, but Emory does.


I think you are confused. CS grads would be more involved in Financial careers in financial engineering, risk analytics, and advanced quantitative techniques, trading, analytics, and risk management. CS students at GT can also combine CS program (Top 5 in country) with their Undergraduate Business program in Quant Analytics (Also Top 5 in country). https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business-quantitative-analysis?myCollege=business&_sort=myCollege&_sortDirection=asc for a very well rounded outcome coming out of undergrad.

Also
https://topquantunis.com/university-rankings?region=USA
https://topquantunis.com/university-rankings?region=USA&category=finance
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 08:16     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Run along. This is a thread about program prestige vs. college prestige. Emory has neither. Other than Nursing Please list any program Emory is the Top 5 in? We will wait.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 03:56     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
GT CS won't open many doors at banks, but Emory does.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 00:28     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Comp sci/Engineering at GA Tech over most T-25’s.


lol GT is plenty prestigious my friend. 12% overall acceptance rate and 8-9% acceptance rate. Next example.

Unless instate go with the T25 private.



DS rejected from GT. Was his Engineering dream school. Accepted and now attending Top 25 private for Engineering.
Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 00:24     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Comp sci/Engineering at GA Tech over most T-25’s.


lol GT is plenty prestigious my friend. 12% overall acceptance rate and 8-9% acceptance rate. Next example.

Unless instate go with the T25 private.


lol
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 23:47     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Comp sci/Engineering at GA Tech over most T-25’s.


lol GT is plenty prestigious my friend. 12% overall acceptance rate and 8-9% acceptance rate. Next example.

Unless instate go with the T25 private.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 20:52     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a hill I die on. It will serve you much better to go to a prestigious college over a prestigious program.

Yeah, let me go study public policy at Indiana instead of Yale! That's the way! Please.


100%.. Econ at an ivy or Stanford will get one much further in life than Ross at Michigan or McIntire or anything else that is not Wharton at Penn. Even Econ through arts& sciences at Penn is better than Ross or McIntire, and has almost the same outcomes as Wharton.

Same with Engineering. Engineering at the ivies that have it, or Northwestern, or Hopkins, will lead to much better career options and phd placements than Purdue or VT.

Global reputation and endowment matter more than ever for research funding, the rankings that focus on research output and industry reputation will be better environments for undergraduates, especially stem.


Again, this entire argument is a strawman, this thread is not about choosing an average state flagship over an ivy.


I know one choosing UT Austin Turing(CS) over Cornell(CS).
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 14:17     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


Friend's kid did the opposite- ED'd to UVA for engineering and the father is mad! Thinks the kid should've gone for Tech but agreed to the ED thinking he'd never get in. Whoops.


I was the opposite.

My kid wanted to do engineering but I wasn't so sure it would be a satisfying career for him considering his other interests. So I encouraged him to go to UVA because there are so many opportunities outside of engineering at UVA and far fewer at VT and the UVA brand name will make up for some of the engineering specific gap. It looks like he is going to graduate with an engineering degree so I wonder if I encouraged him to hedge his bests for no reason.


What? Where are you getting this? VT has NINE distinct excellent colleges to choose from and far more majors available than UVA. You can easily switch out of engineering and choose from among countless other majors at VT.


Exactly. It is amusing when someone says there are "fewer opportunities" at VT than at UVA. In our experience, it's been quite the opposite.


Can you please elaborate? My son is choosing between VT and UVA, humanities field.


My son also had this choice and couldn’t be happier with the humanities offerings at VT, not to mention the school itself. He’s a history major there with a minor in Russian. My daughter (high school junior) also has it as her top choice when she applies next year (liberal arts). She’s interested in National Security and Foreign Affairs.
https://liberalarts.vt.edu/
https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools.html
https://liberalarts.vt.edu/academics/majors-and-minors.html
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 08:28     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


If prestige matters then its better to go with more prestigious college as not many would know or get impressed by the prestige of a program. If student changes program or major (as lots of them do), that changes whole equation.


Listen to what you are saying. "not many would know or get impressed by the prestige of a program". How can you possibly believe this? Have you ever recruited for a tech firm? I'm know you haven't. First of all no one gives two craps about the fake pretend prestige of a program. What recruiters do know is which schools year after year graduate the best and more importantly the best trained/educated students that graduate in the field for which I'm hiring .
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 08:20     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:What if your DC changes their mind about their major/program? Lots of kids change their major. That would make me wary of choosing a school based on a particular program.


Then send them to a school that is the jack of all trades master of none. You choice.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 08:19     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
No brainer. Best school that that is ranked highest for your field.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 07:51     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Nope, school prestige
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 05:49     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
What if your DC changes their mind about their major/program? Lots of kids change their major. That would make me wary of choosing a school based on a particular program.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 05:40     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


Friend's kid did the opposite- ED'd to UVA for engineering and the father is mad! Thinks the kid should've gone for Tech but agreed to the ED thinking he'd never get in. Whoops.


I was the opposite.

My kid wanted to do engineering but I wasn't so sure it would be a satisfying career for him considering his other interests. So I encouraged him to go to UVA because there are so many opportunities outside of engineering at UVA and far fewer at VT and the UVA brand name will make up for some of the engineering specific gap. It looks like he is going to graduate with an engineering degree so I wonder if I encouraged him to hedge his bests for no reason.


What? Where are you getting this? VT has NINE distinct excellent colleges to choose from and far more majors available than UVA. You can easily switch out of engineering and choose from among countless other majors at VT.


Exactly. It is amusing when someone says there are "fewer opportunities" at VT than at UVA. In our experience, it's been quite the opposite.


Can you please elaborate? My son is choosing between VT and UVA, humanities field.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2026 03:43     Subject: Choosing program prestige over college prestige
Anonymous wrote:Are any of your kids doing this? Say, VT Engineering over UVA Engineering? Are there other cases?


If prestige matters then its better to go with more prestigious college as not many would know or get impressed by the prestige of a program. If student changes program or major (as lots of them do), that changes whole equation.