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| Quite Bright |
I recently graduated with a bachelors? in mechanical engineering. It's time I wrote my honest opinion about this school. To be completely frank, I hated it.
First the good...
- For in state students it's very cheap.
- For an inner-city campus, it?s actually pretty nice.
- There are a lot of extracurricular programs to get involved in, from exchanges and student research, to sports and clubs. It may not be easy to find time, but the options are there.
- It will really challenge you mentally. It?s probably the only school in the state that is really academically challenging on a world class level. I breezed through high school (usually asleep), but really hit some roadblocks trying to get through GATech. As a result, I think I'm smarter, mentally tougher, and I'm not afraid to tackle any problem.
Now the bad...
- Social Hell: few women + lots of engineers = awkward. Prepare to spend your years here pissed off about your social situation unless a) you have a good circle of friends at other Atlanta schools or b) fraternities are your thing (i tried one, they are not my thing). I made some good friends here but all were male and engineers. I tried out many of the clubs trying to branch out but met the same lack of social diversity: all dudes and all engineers. As for dating: fuggedaboutit. The few women that are around tend to make you shudder. It's very frustrating. For me, this lack of social life also made my grades suffer. I could have done alot better academically if I had the social support and diversion I needed.
- Atlanta: So much potential, but just not suited for college students. It's sprawling, crime ridden, and caters to the business crowd. If you think you'll have time to balance 60+ hours a week of schoolwork required for engineering, work part time for cash, and have time to go out and enjoy Atlanta, think again.
- Parking Assholes: walk or bike, or face ridiculous parking enforcement.
- Professors: I am not joking when I say that over half of my teachers could not really speak English. And seriously, out of the roughly 50 classes I took, there were only two teachers who could be said to have a grasp of the 'art' of teaching; that is, they could effectively present information in an engaging way. The rest of them mumbled under their breath or read straight from the notes. Many don't really want to help after class either. I thought tuition was supposed to pay for teachers; maybe I was wrong. Imagine putting up with this for 5+ years.
Hopefully this will help anyone considering going to GATech. I would say it's not worth it for anyone coming from out of state (there are more pleasant schools with good reputations for similar prices). If it?s really your only option and you're sure you want to be an engineer, just be prepared for a looonng period of suck. And don't do an engineering degree just because you think it will guarantee a job or make you money: do it because you like to design and analyze stuff. I'm almost 4 months out of school and still haven't had a job offer. I don't regret studying engineering but I do regret doing it at GATech. Good luck. | University Resource Use: A-, Faculty Accessibility: F |  | | |
| | Nov 15 2009 | 5th Year Male --
Class 2009 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Bright | For those on this site writing very negative remarks about GT, saying that it is too difficult and their GPA is too low and such, you just don't belong here. I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but what did you expect? Did you think it would be easy? That you could just go to class, study for an hour the night before the test, and get by? GT is consistently ranked in the top 5 in engineering programs, and the individual engineering departments are all ranked in the top 10, many in the top 5. Obviously, with a reputation like this, you can't expect it to be a cake walk. It's damn hard work. I work 40 hours a week while attending GT. I spend at least 30 hours over a couple of days studying for each test, I spend hours doing homework each week, and I bust my ass. But I can still handle the work load and I have a 3.1 GPA to show for it. What's your excuse? You probably don't have a job, and you still can't cut it? That only means that you don't belong at GT, and you should probably be at GSU where you can breeze by without doing jack. For anyone else reading this who is considering GT, this school is not for everyone. It is extremely difficult, and you are totally inundated with coursework. But the experience, education, and most importantly the reputation and opportunities you gain from this school are unparalled by most. Marathon study sessions are the norm, long homework assignments can be a week-long trepidation, and semester long projects can really weigh you down mentally and socially. But, if you are motivated and hard-working, and you can persevere through it all, you will have great opportunities, not to mention a world-class education and a degree from a worldwide respected university. A good social life is missing here, but there are many fraternities and sororities to choose from, and our football team is finally getting into the spotlight, as we are ranked 11th in the country as of this week. Football games are a blast. Basketball, baseball, and other ncaa sports are also very big here. We have a beautiful campus right in the middle of one of the best cities in the nation, while also being isolated from the city at the same time, giving it a good campus feel. Trust me, I'm a transfer from Georgia State, and that school did not feel like you were in college because the "campus" was shared by businessman and crack heads. There are so many great things to be said for GT, which is why I can't understand someone posting negative comments on here because they can't cut it in a renowned engineering program. If you don't want to work hard don't come here. But if you are smart, and you can work hard, then you will be very pleased with choosing GT. Challenge yourself; you'll be surprised what you can accomplish and how great it feels when you do. | Collaboration/Competitive: A+, Social Life: D+ | | | |
| | Oct 21 2009 | 3rd Year Male --
Class 2010 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright |
I see many similar reviews about campus life that I saw when I was first looking at schools. Sure, there are lots of other schools where the campus life is one big party - but you can make Tech what you want it to be. My biggest recommendation for enjoying campus life is to get involved. I was in a fraternity, which was a positive experience for me. I gained friends, support, and many extracurricular activities to join in that helped make my "not studying time" more enjoyable. But you don't have to go Greek to enjoy Tech. All of my classmates in my major (Materials Engineering) were not Greek. Being a small major, we all were friends. But I noticed a split between them. It seemed like the ones who hated their time at Tech weren't involved in anything; while those who enjoyed Tech were involved in other clubs or intramurals. By getting involved, you get to know more people. Which leads to having more friends. Which leads to being able to find someone else who's free to hang out when you're free. And that's what makes the college experience enjoyable.
Outside of my advice for making Tech an enjoyable experience, Tech is a lot of work. And if you ignore that, you'll either be failing out or struggling to pass as you learn that each successive class builds on the classes you ignored last semester. When I came to Tech, I was the only student from my high school that went there. I didn't know anyone and I'm not a social butterfly, so I took a long time to make friends. I was hating my school choice when I first started at Tech. But I think it helped me, because I spent more time getting all my school work done and ended up doing well my first semester (we were actually on a quarter system then, but I'm just going to call them all semesters here, for simplicity). Once you get about halfway through Tech, those foundation courses are the basis for all your upper-level coursework (which don't usually do as much piggy-backing on each other like the initial coursework does). So, doing well in those first couple years is important in making it out of Tech. Messing up in a later course, probably won't hurt you - although you probably won't have that problem if you did well in your foundation courses.
My last bit of advice is to co-op. This was the best thing I did while at Tech. It puts (GOOD) bread in your pocket (unlike my high school friends who were still working "high school" summer jobs). I co-oped my second semester at Tech. I got the job before they even saw a single Tech grade. I actually worked in Atlanta and stayed on campus, which meant that I had money and free time to hang out with the other students. These were some of the most fun semesters. And the experience I gained helped tremendously in landing job interviews for after graduation. It also extended my time as a student and gave me these free semesters to enjoy Tech as if I was at one of those other party schools. Lastly, while I do think Tech is still an engineering school and doesn't even attempt to masquerade as anything else, with an engineering degree you can find employment in almost any other field of work - not just engineering. I know fellow engineering graduates that graduated to manage stores, start their own businesses, work as finacial assistants for stock brokers, become real estate agents, and more. An engineering degree is treated almost like a "general" degree if you want to get higher education in something else: medical, law, business, etc. And I think a lot of higher institutes give you bonus points for getting an engineering degree when they evaluate you, because I know a lot of fellow engineering majors that didn't have very good grades but got into many good grad schools. Like they say, Tech won't hand hold you. But, if you graduate from Tech, you'll realize that Tech really taught you how to succeed at anything on your own. And that will make the next 40 years of your life a lot better than those party-school graduates who don't like what they're doing and don't know how to do anything else. | Useful Schoolwork: A+, Individual Value: B- | | | |
| | Sep 23 2009 | 5th Year Male --
Class 2002 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright |
Georgia Tech is an excellent school - don't get me wrong, it's tough. Really tough (and this comes from someone that's attended 4 different Top 10 Engineering Schools), but it's rewarding. I had 18 offers at graduation from many different industries and all across the country - many of my friends at other colleges were happy with 2 or 3 and had no say in where they worked after graduation (they were forced to move to their job, whereas I could choose a city). As a hiring manager later in life, I saw heavy favoritism towards Tech in the work force, and a substantial ($10,000+) advantage to top Tech grads over grads from other schools.
But that is only if you're a good student (I had a mid-3 GPA). Mediocre students with no work ethic drop out of Tech or barely graduate all the time, which is why you see the negative reviews. Tech will not "hand hold" a student - if you don't put in the effort, it'll run over you like a Mack truck. This seems to be a problem for many students that expect a 4.0 GPA for just waking up in the morning.
All-in-all, you Tech gives you more opportunity than nearly all other universities. I would highly recommend it to someone will to work and put in effort. If you goal is to coast, try a lower ranked school (Texas A&M, Penn State, Virginia Tech, etc). | Starting Job: Operations Manager, Preparedness: A+, Reputation: A | | |
| | May 13 2009 | Alumnus Male --
Class 2000 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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