The Georgia Institute of Technology

Date: Apr 06 2006
Major: Chemical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
There is no way around it; Georgia Tech is a hard school. They don't baby you at all. Just like in life, if want to be successful, you have to be willing to put in the time, period. The academics are the focus of this school, it will consume most of your time. However, with good time management and diligence, it is possible to have life out side of school. The professors are generally leaders in their fields of study, but do not expect them to baby you. They are good with offering time for outside of class help, and I think they genuinely care about your success in the class if you show that you are putting forth effort. However, many professors seem to be somewhat uncomfortable around students, and when they answer questions about specific topics in class, they still tend to be confusing. You will find that when you pass a class, you really know the material, even if it doesn’t feel like it during the semester. The girl to guy ratio may not be ideal, but I was actually surprised at how good a lot of the girls look at this school. I think the school has changed some in the last couple years due to its broadening of focus on liberal art majors. As a result, I believe this has attracted a lot more (attractive) girls to the school. Well that and their chances of finding a guy who will eventually make a nice income. The campus is really nice on sunny days, and I like the contrast of a more traditional campus with the city skyline in the background. There is also a good bit of green space considering it is an urban campus. There always seems to be a lot of construction and renovating going on, which is any eyesore. At the same time, it shows Tech’s commitment to build new state of the art buildings. I am also a fan of the large window areas contrasted with brick that is incorporated in the school’s newer buildings. Some things do need updating though, for instance the library needs MAJOR work, and while they are in the process of doing renovations, I can’t help but feel that there needs to be a MUCH greater emphasis on the atmosphere of the library considering how much time students spend in there. There are also plans to build a student learning center in the near future, which I think needs to be expedited immediately. The renovations to the lower level of the student center are very nice, and I can’t wait till they finish the other two floors. There are a lot of student organizations; with little effort anyone should be able to find a group that they can fit in to. To be honest, most of my friends are from people that have been in most of my major classes with me. Most students are very friendly, but sort of keep to themselves. Most people in your classes you can get to know if you just go out of your way and smile at them and say hi. You may feel like and idiot with a stupid grin, but this seems to open people up. Now for some advice to potential freshmen: This is a very hard school. It will test academically like nothing else. Let me just echo what many others how commented, it doesn’t matter if you where a hot shot in high school. Being a math and science wiz who was able to breeze their way does not mean a thing. If you try that here, Georgia Tech will chew you into a million pieces and spit you out. It all comes down to hard work. If you aren’t a super smart person and had to work hard in high school to get good grades, YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL HERE. This school has a way of leveling the playing field, and the person that is committed will succeed. If you are going to school solely or even primarily for the college experience that you think will be like “Old School”, go somewhere else because it just ain’t gonna happen here. If you want to be challenged and are self motivated with goals in mind, Tech is the place to be.
In summary, good academics, hard school, decent social life if you really try, nice campus on sunny days with lots of construction, and good facilities.

One last thing, the student recreation center is about as nice as it gets!