Uni in the USA: A British Guide to American Universities and Colleges > All New: Colleges and Universities Added in 2009 > Georgia Tech (new review!)
Atlanta, Georgia
Undergrads: 13,000
Grads: 6,400
How many Georgia Tech students does it take to change a light bulb?
About 230 - ten to conceive new light bulb technology, one to sell it to NASA, 175 to build a new research facility with the money, 35 to install the new lighting technology to power the lights for the football game against UGA, and at least a dozen undergraduates to complain about the work load.
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The MIT of the South, The Georgia Institute of Technology is a perhaps the most formidable powerhouse of scientific research available to undergraduates who really want to push themselves. The experience will not be easy and for some not even enjoyable, but it will let you be part of the one of the most cutting edge research institutions in the country. Georgia Tech also provides a classic, if work-oriented, college education, with opportunities in sports, the arts and campus life. If you want a breeze then forget it, but if you want top class academic rigour, combined with an intense work hard/play hard attitude, then this is the place for you.
The Campus
Georgia Tech dominates the western portion of midtown Atlanta, with a sizeable campus achieving the perfect collegiate mix of seclusion within a big city. Like Atlanta itself, the Georga Tech campus has been undergoing loads of construction work in recent years, and now boasts all the high-tech facilities and state of the art buildings that you would expect of a technology-based institution, with further upgrades on the way.
The university recently acquired “Tech Square,” an assortment of fancy buildings with restaurants, book shops and a hotel. The Square is located across a big highway from the university, connected by an aesthetically superb new bridge, and was one of the sparks which helped to regenerate the previously run-down midtown area. Although it had the highest crime rate in the country during the 80s, Atlanta’s security has improved massively, especially around the Georgia Tech area, and now only a few petty crimes are mostly all that the university’s police force has to deal with.
Students report mainly good things about their surroundings, praising the walkability and great buildings. Most freshmen and a good number of sophomores and juniors live in the dorms on campus, which get mixed reviews but seem generally not too shabby. The characteristically impressive fraternity and sorority houses (of which about a third of students are members) are also on campus.
The Yellow Jacket
The stereotype of a Georgia Tech student is of someone exceptionally intelligent, computer literate, shy and probably a little nerdy. Like all stereotypes, there’s some truth to this perception…but not much.
Georgia Tech students, called Yellow Jackets after the official mascot Buzz (a bee or wasp of some kind), are often pleasantly outgoing and friendly, they love to party and generally enjoy the same things as college kids across the country. True, most of them do work fiendishly hard, and there probably isn’t anyone on campus who can’t distinguish a bit from a byte, but otherwise the Jackets are diverse and interesting – with nary a shirt-front pocket protector to be seen. About 50% of students are from Georgia, the rest from the other 49 states and many countries overseas.
Students are active in on-campus organisations, off-campus parties and plenty of varsity and intramural sports (see social life section below). Like every public school, Georgia Tech has a large breadth of student body, and it is true that many (especially among the engineers) live up to the stereotype outlined above. If you’re committed to the work you came to do, then it won’t be difficult to find your niche here.
Hitting the Books
The university is dominated by the engineering department, which enrolls 50-60% of the student body– it’s where you’ll find the real psychos who work all day every day. Outside of engineering, and even in some cases within it, the work load is manageable, if challenging. “Work is hard, but not necessarily plentiful,” said one junior.
Georgia Tech only offers Bachelor of Science degrees – even in the Liberal Arts school. This doesn’t mean that there are only science courses available, though few students apply for the history of art program. Plenty of non-scientific courses are popular and well taught (especially in areas like business and international relations), but they generally have a technological bent. You’re not going to find any “easy” fringe courses here – so if you were looking for basket weaving then look away now.
Ultimately, the people working ridiculously hard at Georgia Tech are doing so because they love their subject and are interested in their work, and they have a lot to be interested in – this school is responsible for mindblowingly exciting projects and some of the most innovative work in the world. Research opportunities here are unparalleled, and they’re not confined to the graduate students. Undergraduates, especially if they’re persistent (and if they’re engineers), can often get involved with top-quality stuff, and everyone loves the way “all the science components aren’t just repeating old experiments – everything here is creative and extremely cutting-edge.”
Research programs can be a problem too – professors are under huge pressure to focus on their research at the expense of their undergraduate classes, many of which are taught by bored post-grads or junior profs who are clearly more interested in their tenure than their students. Contracts with major companies and service-providers, guaranteed on the strength of Georgia Tech’s research reputation, are fundamental to the university’s budget (and the funding behind all those big new building developments on campus), so there are financial pressures to maintain this side of the college at all costs. There is no spoon-feeding here, but luckily teachers are required to hold office hours which you should use as much as you can.
Still, professors tend to get better and more helpful the older you get and the higher the level of your course. There is the usual contingent of mega-faculty, including some world-renowned speakers like NASA directors and ex-senators.
Although admissions for Tech are not as rigorous as you might expect, the university operates a ruthless and more than slightly daunting drop-out policy, whereby it is content to force under-achieving students to leave at the end of the first year, ensuring that only the best remain to earn their degree. This happens to a massive one in three students! You can normally return just once, but will be gone for good if you don’t live up to standards a second time.
Despite this, students don’t seem too concerned with their situation, saying that the experience is “a test of self-discipline; if you stay on top of your work, everything will go fine”. Almost everyone here was top of his class at high-school and has to readjust to being little more than mediocre at college. Many of them are summarily out-performed by ultra-dedicated international students.
One of the biggest positives here is that everyone loves “being around people who have come to learn” and share their passions. Everyone knows that his (or her) degree will be one of the most respected by employers in the country (not to mention the networking opportunities available), but they don’t expect this to come with no price.
Social Life
Academics at Georgia Tech are legendary for the stress levels they elicit. The Princeton Review ranked the school the 10th toughest college, with some of the unhappiest students in the country. That was in 2001. The rankings caused outrage among the administration, provoking a backlash against the Review. They criticized its methods and highlighted the enjoyable features of a Tech education. GT appears on neither ranking now, and even though students still call graduation “getting out”, it’s difficult not to agree with the administration that there’s more to Georgia Tech than just non-stop work.
There is as much on offer here as any high-flying state school – tons of student organisations, plenty of sports and all the big parties, not to mention the incredible range of things to do in Atlanta. The party scene at GT revolves around the Greek life, especially for men, who outnumber females here two to one. Students like to party hard in the little time they have away from their books, so there’s plenty of drinking and so on, though most are responsible enough to keep things from getting out of hand.
For a science-based college, arts are surprisingly ubiquitous. There are always top-notch theatrical performances, concerts and art groups to attend (both student and outside performances), normally put on by the student centre. A cappella groups are very popular, as is the famous marching band that plays at all the sports games. The aptly named “Glee Club” is a nationally-renowned choral group. Improv comedy and dance troupes are going strong, and student newspaper and radio is up to scratch.
Scientific groups are also, as you might expect, very popular, for example car building (off-road/F1/solar-powered vehicles alike) is funded by GM (or at least it has been up to now....watch this space!) in an attempt to court GT engineers for future recruitment, and attracts lots of excited car fanatics.
Sports are almost as big a deal here as they are at the more typical big state universities – in particular the ancient rivalry with the University of Georgia, known as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate”, gets yellow coats extremely fired up. The football and basketball teams are not national champions, but they do exceptionally well considering that all athletes are required to be as academically accountable as everyone else. Since Georgia Tech is small for a state school, tickets to games at the big stadium (free) are easier to come by. For more ordinary sportsmen, there are great facilities of every description, including the huge Recreation Centre which houses the swimming pool used in the 1996 Olympics, and plenty of intramurals to get stuck into.
Outside Those Ivory Walls
Atlanta, state capital of Georgia and largest city in the South, is a sprawling urban mess – a classic case study in how not to build a city. Rich in history, as the last bastion of Southern forces against the North in the civil war, Atlanta is the home town of Martin Luther King Jr, who was born and raised in the Sweet Auburn district; his home and grave (nearby) are still open to visitors.
Atlanta has been rebuilt several times and is now a modern metropolis of sky-scrapers and big-name companies. There is as much to do as can be imagined in any big American city, and Tech students, especially older ones, take full advantage. Although the traffic can be unbearable and the roads are the worst, the centre of town is pleasant and full of fun places to hang out or visit, not to mention an awesome night life, first-class shopping and museums. Check out the world’s biggest aquarium, CNN’s and the Coca-Cola Company’s headquarters, and the beautiful Piedmont Park.
Atlanta is also a famously international city, at least by the standards of the South, with various consulates (including a British one) trade or chamber of commerce offices. The busy Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is a major hub, and can whip you off to just about anywhere.
Getting In
Georgia Tech tends to attract applications only from the brightest and best, and so their success rate is surprisingly high – about 60%. Still, strong applications are required if you want to shine out from your competition and convince the admissions team that you’re not going to be a drop out after year one.
The college is well endowed and provides generous financial aid, with about 80% of incoming freshmen receiving aid. Unfortunately, the system is harsh for international students. GT’s website dedicates only a short paragraph to financial aid for international applicants, which puts it bluntly: “International students are not eligible for federal or state financial aid programs. Institutional scholarships administered by our office are not awarded to international students.”
Famous Grads
Jimmy Carter – President of the United States, 1977-1981, and Nobel Peace Prize winner
John Young – NASA astronaut and first commander of the Space Shuttle. Georgia Tech has at least 15 astronauts among its alumni
Michael Arad – Architect of the World Trade Centre Memorial (selected from over 5,000 applicants)