The following reviews are the views of students or alumni at this school and are unrelated to the school data and other editorial content on usnews.com. These reviews neither reflect nor impact a school's position within the Best Colleges rankings.
Georgia Tech has an outstanding reputation. Anyone will tell you that. Most Georgia Tech students will get several job outstanding job offers upon graduation. A Georgia Tech degree will allow you to do just about anything you want. The size of Tech is perfect; it's just large enough that everyone finds a perfect place to fit in, but not so large that you feel lost. Georgia Tech is DEFINITELY a difficult school. Everyone who comes to Tech is top quality, and thinks, "I'll be fine...I'm smarter than most people I know." The truth is, everyone at Tech is that way. Receiving a 30 or 40 (out of 100) on an exam is typical in the engineering field. However, most professors curve the grades at the end of the semester, but still expect to receive a couple Cs or even a D while attending Tech. And don't worry...we all go through it. The one thing I wish I could change is the amount the student body takes pride in its school. Georgia Tech as a whole is so focused on academia, that most students don't take pride in the athletic departments or even know all the traditions of Georgia Tech. I wish every student at Georgia Tech loved, more importantly, KNEW every Tech tradition. Sometimes I think it's amazing that our athletic department is as strong as it is, based on the small percentage of fan base. There is a controversy that takes over campus for about a week a year. We have a "free speech" area on campus, where any student or person can proclaim or share any information they wish. For a few days a year, a group of people from the community come to this area and preach that "Homosex is Sin." This gets most people on campus very agitated and excited for about one week every year. Most Georgia Tech students do not graduate in four years. That is just a fact. Expect to be at Tech for at least 9 semesters, unless you come in with several credits. Georgia Tech has a great co-op program. As a freshman, you can apply to work for a company in your field and rotate semesters of working with a company and taking classes. If you know what industry you want to work with, I definitely recommend it. Some companies will count your co-op terms towards retirement...so you start working towards retirement at age 18!! Plus, this is a GREAT way to pay for school instead of taking out loans.
Christine Senior
The best thing about Georgia Tech is the traditions! From the Budweiser song we all sing on game day, sneaking on to the football field, take a Prof to lunch, the Ramblin' Wreck, M-train jokes and video on You Tube, Lecture Crashers on You Tube, Red Jesus, the famous George P. Burdell, to midnight breakfast during dead week. There's always something for everyone to take a part in! School size is just right. Tech is a school that limits the size of students making it harder to get into and raising the value of your degree. When I tell people I go to Tech, they all say "wow" and are really taken back. Everyone is always very impressed and realizes how valued you are. Tech is a mini college town. Even though we are located in the heart of Atlanta, Tech still has the campus feel. Tech Square has really given Tech it's own "college town". You really couldn't ask for a better location! There is always something to do in Atlanta and it is a great place to live and work after you graduate! There is a ton of school pride! I feel like one of the qualifications for getting accepted is knowing the Ramblin' Wreck song, or at least "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva engineer"! One experience I will always remember was meeting Red Jesus! Unfortunately he graduated this semester but is an icon on Tech's campus!
Becca Sophomore
What I love about GT is that it's right in the middle of Atlanta, so you can see a beautiful skyline over the campus, but when you're on campus it's easy to forget that you're in the middle of a huge city because it really has it's own little community and lots of green space; it's really the best of both worlds. Football season is really huge in the fall and going to the games is sooo much fun! I had so much fun my freshman year because i lived in a freshman experience dorm, so almost everyone kept their doors open all the time and we were all really good friends, so i would recommend doing FE if you get the chance.
Felicity Sophomore
I think I'll answer each of the suggested topics. The best thing about Tech, for me, is amount of challenges it presents to me, academically. Like I said above, I was never challenged in high school, and Tech has brought that to me, and more. I've learned more in the past two years at Tech than I learned in 12 years of public education. There is never NOT something to figure out in your classes... which to me is great. I would change the level of commitment of the professors. Since Tech is major research university, sometimes I feel that the professors are made to teach to extend their tenures and research groups, and don't really care about the courses they teach or how their students do in them. I feel it's just the right size, although I wouldn't mind it being larger. Whenever I say I go to Tech, the first thing people say is "Wow, you must be really smart". Since I don't live on campus, most of my time is spent either in classes or in the management building's study rooms. Atlanta is huge, so it would be hard to call it a college town because of its diverse nature. That being said, one can usually find something to do whenever, although it gets boring at times. The administration at Tech is alright... could be better, but could definitely be much worse. Controversy........We don't honestly have much of that... The City of Atlanta fosters attitudes of cohesiveness in its self, and I feel like Tech does its best to promote a unified campus, regardless of differences. There is a crap ton of school pride.. makes me kinda sick at times... The biggest abnormality about Tech is its students... you meet so many people who are way over your head all the time, and I definitely don't think it happens as much at other schools. I'll always remember the first Tech v. Notre Dame football game. There weren't enough tickets to get in, but my friend and I just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere...and drinks. Most frequent complaints.... "This is so hard"; "I don't understand why we need to know this stuff".. mostly about the classes.
Travis Junior
The best thing about Georgia Tech is the community. Knowing that everyone is going through the same thing as you is very comforting, and people are so willing to help each other out. It's teamwork at its best. The school is just the right size, in my opinion. People's reactions seems to be regional. In the south, when I tell people I do to Tech, they are impressed because they know what an awesome engineering school it is. However, in the north, people do not really know about Tech's reputation for being an excellent school. I spend most of my time in the dorm, because most of my friends live in the same dorm as I do. Atlanta is by no means a "college town", but the campus itself and a few surrounding streets feel very much like a little college town. I think Tech's administration is great. We're very sad to lose Clough as President, but he is moving on to head the Smithsonian, a great honor. That's probably the most recent controversy. On game days, school pride is almost tangible. It's that strong. I'll always remember sneaking into the stadium one night and going to the top of the bleachers to stargaze. The skyline was gorgeous. Students frequently complain about the workload and the lack of girls, since the ratio is 7:3.
Equestrian Club Gal Freshman
Georgia Tech really has a lot going for it, and I think the university is doing a lot to improve its image among its own students and perspective students. Due to its location on a prime plot of real estate, GT is constantly forced to pack a growing number of students in a very small space. I've heard horror stories of freshmen who have had to share a single-person dorm with three other students due to overcrowding, but the recent acquisition of the old Georgia State University dorms seems to have solved that problem. I saw the number of students in my major balloon as I went through school, which meant my classes kept getting larger and larger. As a senior, I imagined tiny seminar-style classes (like in movies), but even in my last semester I did not find myself in a class with less than 40 students. I really enjoyed living on Georgia Tech campus for 3 out of my 4.5 years there. Commuting to campus from an off-campus apartment in my senior year was fairly easy. Parking is expensive, but there were always spaces in my lot. There are quite a lot of people who live on GT campus -- especially Greeks and graduate students-- but a lot of freshmen go home on the weekends so things can slow down until Monday rolls around. When I was a freshman, it was trendy to complain about life at Georgia Tech: Classes suck, there are no women, there is no social scene, etc. As I went through each year, I noticed that people complained less and less as they found their niche and began fitting in with their social groups. But at the same time everyone was complaining, there was a tremendous amount of school pride on campus and at sporting events. It's pretty clear Georgia Tech is really trying to get rid of out-dated stereotypes. The population of women is rising quickly, there are a lot of options for students who don't want to study engineering or science, and the social scene is becoming more balanced. Looking back, I can see how Georgia Tech might not be known for its social scene. I went Greek, and so having something to do every weekend was no problem for me. I think a lot of the social scene at Georgia Tech revolves around the Greek system. If you really want to make the best of your time here, I would suggest finding a fraternity or sorority you feel comfortable joining and making the most of it. If you don't want to go that path, it's just important to get a group of friends, early in your first semester, whose company you enjoy and who will enhance your college experience in a positive way.
Scott Alum
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