Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Top Questions

The Pride Alliance is very active on our campus. Atlanta has the third largest gay population in the US so we get a lot of controversy surrounding homosexuality on campus. My roommate freshman year was the Vice-President of Pride Alliance and she was always inviting members back to our room to hang out, so I got to know a lot of them pretty well. The biggest controversy is that several times every year, we get a large group of protesters on campus that march around holding signs that say "Homo Sex is Sin" and they yell it through mega-phones. Most students don't like them and they stop to argue with these people, but there is no reasoning with them.

Georgia Tech is a great place, full of diversity. There is every kind of person. The only kind of person who would feel out of place is one who isn't comfortable with diversity. If you can't handle different nationalities, personalities, religions, anything like that, it might be a struggle for you. We have students from all over the world.

one word... Diverse

Campus is very diverse, but I've never really seen any clashing between ethnic groups or anything like that. We had some evangelical religious protesters last semester, but there were counterprotesters, too. I don't think there would be any type of student that could feel out of place here, except someone who wasn't willing to do any work to earn their grades. People wear a lot of Georgia Tech clothing to class-- sweatshirts, free t-shirts, sweatpants, whatever. It shows spirit. In the dining hall, everyone pretty much sits with whomever they want. It's very common to see friends in the dining hall. I'd say about 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Tech students are from Georgia, with Florida being the next-best represented state. There are a lot of international students, though! Financial backgrounds are usually middle-class. Many students are politically aware and active. We have a smattering of Libertarians, but most are either Democrats or Republicans, predominantly towards the right since we are in the religious south. Students do talk about their eventual salaries, but not terribly often.

They say that GT is so diverse, and that's true to a certain extent. There are dozens of countries represented here. But, also, there's a lot of middle class white people. So, it's not as diverse as they claim. We're in Midtown Atlanta, so the LGBT crowd feels comfortable. I think a lower class student would feel out of place. I kind of did because there are students with Mercedes! I'm by no means poor, but I felt more lowly than some, I'd say. Students wear whatever to class. Mostly jeans and the bazillion free shirts you get. Some come in pajamas, and some try to look nice. It's all about the personality of the student. Different types of students interact for sure - we're pretty much forced to because of all the projects we do. Four dining hall tables: one will be sorority girls and fraternity boys, another will be the male "gaming" crowd, a third will be Indian students and the fourth will be Chinese students. Most Georgia Tech students are from the US. Probably the Southeast (GA in particular), but not a majority, just most. Most students come from the middle class. Greek students tend to have more money than non-Greeks. Students are politically active and aware, but not as many as I would like. College students tend to be in a bubble of their own and maybe don't pay as much attention to the outside world until the end of college. Most students are Conservatives. After all, this is Georgia (part of the Bible belt) and it's mostly white kids with money. Students discuss money, sure, but it isn't the focus of why we're here.

I attend a Greek Bible study and am in a sorority. I think someone who is artsy and less engineering minded would feel out of place at Georgia Tech. Students wear jeans and t-shirts to class. Yes, different types of students interact though group projects. If there were four tables in the dinning hall, they would all be filled with freshman, because after your first year you never want to eat there again. One would probably have Greek students, two would be filled with random groups of friends, and the other would have people sitting alone doing studying or reading books. Most GT students are from Georgia or at least the south. Most students are from the upper class, but there are a fair amount from the middle class and very few from the lower class. Most students are too politically active and I think we are pretty even across the political view spectrum. Yes, students talk alot about how much they will be making when they get out - I think the average is around $55,000 a year, so that is really nice.

Most Georgia Tech students are from Atlanta or from Georgia somewhere. A person would feel out of place at Georgia Tech if they didn't enjoy studying and they didn't make friends easily.

Georgia Tech has a very diverse student body. There are also a lot of international students from areas in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Students of different backgrounds interacted fairly well, but there were certainly a lot of cliques. I thought the biggest social division was between "techies" and "non-techies." Just walking down the sidewalk you could see the divide fairly quickly, among both girls and guys. At the dining hall, people actually did enjoy interacting with their dorm-mates, and so there was a lot of ethical and social mixing. Even in my major I found myself interacting with a lot of different types of people. Most students at Georgia Tech are fairly apathetic and quite conservative when it comes to politics and other hot-button issues. There are definitely clubs to join if you want to voice your opinion on campus, but these groups tend not to make waves here compared to other campuses with a more liberal student population. Even though GT is a technical university, it's still in the Deep South. People who are vocal about their race, religion or sexual orientation do not have a huge influence on campus. While social clubs devoted to separating people by these characteristics had a large following, some of them did very little to reach out to the rest of the campus community -- except of course when there was a political, racial or sex-oriented controversy in the media. Most (60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}) of GT students are from Georgia. Among these Georgia residents, there are people from a wide range of financial backgrounds on account of GT being a public school. Among out-of-state students, most seemed to be more financially "comfortable." From day one you could pick out the people who came here because of a sincere interest in advancing the technical world and those who came here in hopes of earning a high-paying job. In this way, there was a lot of obsession with becoming professionally and financially successful, but I liked it because it fostered a healthy level of competition.

My experience with most other groups has been minimal. Occasionally, we see rallies or protests from one of them, but thats it. I honestly don't know who would feel out of place, but my best guess would be someone who is just looking to party all day and doesn't want to do any work. Most students wear very casual clothes, such as basketball shorts, sweatpants, t-shirts, and hoodies. Yes, different types of students interact. One table has all the athletes, one has all the freshmen and their PL's, one has the students who are upperclassmen, and then there is one table with the people that are anti-social and don't talk to anyone. Most Georgia Tech students are from within Georgia. Most students have solid financial backgrounds and are middle class. Students are politically aware and active. I don't know which side students favor politically. Yes, students talk about how much money they will make one day, but who doesn't?

Being an out lesbian on campus I have found Tech is very accepting to different social and racial backgrounds. At Tech I believe all students are accepted on campus.