Location

Georgia Tech

The main campus spans 400 wooded acres in the heart of Atlanta. As the state’s economic and cultural hub, Atlanta is packed with attractions, small businesses, high-tech startups, and multinational corporations, along with restaurants, theaters, museums, and concert venues. In addition to its campuses in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia Tech has campuses in France, Ireland, Costa Rica, Singapore and China.

Purdue

The campus is situated in the small city of West Lafayette, near the western bank of the Wabash River, across which sits the larger city of Lafayette. In addition to the main school in West Lafayette, Purdue Polytechnic operates nine satellite campuses in Anderson, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, New Albany, Richmond, Vincennes, and South Bend.

Admission process

Georgia Tech

Applying to Georgia Tech involves a holistic admission process which includes course rigor, GPA, test scores,  contributions, and essays to determine if you’re a good fit for Georgia Tech. It requires minimum academic courses: 4 units each in English, Math, and Science, 3 units in Social Science, and 2 units in Foreign Language/ ASL/ Computer Science. SAT or ACT scores are mandatory for all first-year applicants, and you can submit up to four recommendations.

Georgia Tech values intellectual curiosity and a willingness to embrace challenges, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of all applicants.

Purdue
Purdue applications are also reviewed individually and holistically with two primary questions in mind: what does it take to be admitted and how well does the applicant fit Purdue?

They focus on factors such as course rigor, overall grades, grades related to the intended major, trends in achievement, grades in core coursework, SAT or ACT scores (if provided), proof of English proficiency for non native speakers, ability to succeed in the intended major, essays, and personal background. Required coursework includes eight semesters each of Math and English, six semesters of Lab Science (with specific requirements for certain majors), six semesters of Social Studies, and four semesters of a World Language.

Scholarships

Georgia Tech

Zell Miller and HOPE are merit-based scholarship programs available to in-state students. It also offers awards from more than 850 institutional named scholarships. They are awarded by Georgia Tech to help offset a student’s costs to attend university— Provost Scholarships, Stamps President’s Scholars Program, G.Wayne Clough Tech Promise Program, and Georgia Tech Val-Sal Scholarship. International students are not eligible for federal or state financial aid programs.

There are outside scholarship opportunities that do not involve Georgia Tech directly— College Board Scholarships Search, FastWeb Scholarship Matches, Gates Millennium Scholars Program, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship Program, and Shirley Miller Scholarship.

Purdue

International students are eligible to apply for the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship, Schwarzman Scholars program, and in limited cases the Rhodes Scholarships. All other scholarships coordinated by NISO are for U.S. citizens and nationals, and in a few cases permanent residents.

You can also access Scholarships for International Students, a resource distributed by the National Association of Fellowship Advisors on its official website.

There is Scholarships for Development, an award database “for people from developing countries, people who would like to pursue development-related fields, and people who seek global and national development through further education”

Courses

Georgia Tech

B.S. Mechanical Engineering curriculum at Georgia Tech comprises a ME core of fundamental concepts, plus a design/professional-practice stem, plus 15 credit hours of free electives. The program prepares students to be problem solvers and to contribute to a wide range of industries and businesses, or to go on for further study in graduate school. There is a strong emphasis in the ME program on design, creativity, and hands-on learning. Due to the wide range of career choices open to MEs, the program incorporates courses in electronics, materials science, computer programming, and manufacturing. The large number of free elective hours allows students to pursue minors and certificates to specialize in areas within ME. The flexibility also helps students to pursue a variety of special programs including co-op, internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research.

Purdue

Students must complete the First-Year Engineering requirements before entering the engineering school of their choice. The mission of this student-oriented service program is to advise, teach and retain outstanding students for Purdue’;s College of Engineering. This core curriculum includes courses in math, chemistry, physics, computer programming, and communication skills, as well as introductory engineering coursework taught in the new Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Learning Laboratory. It provides students with a firm foundation and initial understanding of engineering and career options to assist them in identifying which of Purdue’s engineering disciplines is the right fit.

Extracurricular activities

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech boasts over 500 student organizations, covering cultural, religious, recreational, political, leisure, and service activities. You can join specialized clubs like the Invention Studio, Woodruff School Graduate Women (WSGW), RoboJackets, GT Solar Racing, and many more.

Purdue

Purdue boasts over 1,000 student-led organizations and clubs, including several specifically for Mechanical Engineering students. Notable groups include Purdue Mechanical Engineering Ambassadors, Pi Tau Sigma, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Women in Mechanical Engineering (WiME), and Formula SAE, among many others.

Each institution has its unique strengths and weaknesses. What matters most is finding the right fit for your individual needs, preferences, and academic goals. It’s about considering factors like the size of the campus, the location, the strength of the programs you’re interested in, and the overall culture of the university.

(The author is the Lead Consulting at Athena Education)