Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Top Questions

The academics can be very challenging. Be prepared for some really tough study sessions and all-nighters. The professors are very good, but you should also be smart to pick the right professors. That part comes right before registration and you need to do a little bit of research to find out who the good professors. While the classes are challenging, they are not impossible and after some hard work, the classes start easing up. Like the saying is: it's not tough to get in, it's tough to stay in.

Georgia Tech academics are extremely demanding, but demanding academics are the only way to maintain the value of your diploma/degree. Most core classes are very large therefore the professor seldom know students on a personal basis. Students are continually studying in order to keep up with the fast paced teaching style that is prevalent at Georgia Tech. I myself am an Environmental Engineering major in the College of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Students hate the pressure of academia at Georgia Tech because of its rigor in engineering and the sciences. However, we all understand the importance of academics as our drive to succeed always ends up overcoming our fear of failure, and this allows us to continue to love and admire our school. At Tech, we hate it sometimes, but we always love it. Another thing for sure is that once a student is here, he or she will never want to set foot elsewhere, despite whatever academic obstacles may come his or her way.

International Affairs and Modern Language is a competitive major. It's students graduate with a Bachelor of Science just like any engineer or natural science major. This gives IAC Graduates an advantage when searching for jobs. They are equiped with technical skills in computer technology and natural sciences.

There's a popular website called "Only at Tech" where students can post examples of the cruelty inflicted on them by their professors. This site, I think, is representative of Tech's entire academic culture--it all revolves around WHINING. Classes here aren't that hard. Math is math; physics is physics. It's true that the professors are generally very bad, especially for lower-level courses. But most of the students here are privileged and narcissistic; they never had to try hard in high school, and they don't know how to learn anything substantive. Come exam time, they just try to cram everything, but they still fail--and they should, because they don't know the material. But wait--they're smart! They go to a smart person's school! They should be guaranteed a high GPA! Everyone starts complaining and complaining and complaining, the administration puts pressure on the professors to apply a huge curve, and most people pass without learning what they need to. Finally, those people go around bragging about how the average grade on their test was a 33. So really, Tech is no different than any state school: your education is what you make of it. There are some very intelligent people here, and it's possible to get a great education. Most people, though, are getting nothing but a shiny degree and the ability to put up with a lot of crap. It seems to be more important to the school that students learn to overcome obstacles than learn science. It doesn't matter if you don't understand physics; you just have to be able to deal with terrible teachers and cram for tests. After that, you might as well forget everything. And most people do.

The academic life is very rich with fantastic resources and a general appreciation towards those that show interest. The level of intellectual conversations is impressive and most students have a lot of depth in everything they do. The academic requirements are fairly OK (They could have been more rigorous in my opinion considering the global economy) but the focus needs to go more towards application and less on theory or then the right balance needs to be struck. In most cases, a lot of the GT guys get jobs in the back end doing some cool stuff (like making jets and 400 KM cars) but there needs to be more interface with the industry. There also needs to be more diversity (Indians, Chinese, Koreans and Americans is not diversity in my opinion), especially when forming teams for projects and assignments. The faculty is excellent but needs to be supported by better funding to match the UC or Illinois System. Hopefully Mike Duke (CEO Walmart) can help the school get some access to resources.

It's definitely not a joke. If you want to goof off and party your whole freshman year and you got accepted to Tech, I suggest you go somewhere else and transfer in your second year. You can bounce back from that anywhere else, but there isn't such a thing as an 'easy A' at Tech. If you are one of those people who never opened your books and still got 5's on your AP exams, then you can afford to skip class sometimes. So my initial statement goes for the other 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students here. That being said, academic success is attainable. There are many tutoring programs on campus, but after freshman year nobody constantly reminds you about them. Math Lab, English Lab, OMED, and the Office of Success Programs are your best friends! The TA is your bestest friend--GO TO OFFICE HOURS! When (not IF, but WHEN) you fail a test, get someone to explain to you exactly where you went wrong so you can do better next time. And don't wait until right before the next test to do it either! Procrastination is your WORST ENEMY at this school. Whatever it takes for you to get organized, do it. Even if it means scheduling your day down to the hour. You'll thank yourself when you get your report card.

hard as hell for engineering majors

I have never taken a multiple choice test here. I have also only go A's on a couple tests in my 5 years here so far. I have to study about 15-20 hours a day, and sleep for 4 hours... this becomes routine. Now if you do a slack major like ME or AE or CE then you are fine, but if you do electrical or computer engineering you will have to devote 4 hours to sleep.

Most of the first two years' classes are your gen. ed. stuff, so there are about 250 students in each... in those, none of the professors knows you by name unless you go and bug them every day. Once you actually start getting into your major classes, you will continue to see the same profs. one a weekly, if not daily basis, and this does foster a sense of friendship. I think Tech encourages its students to interact with professors as much as possible because it is seen as a learning experience for both, and a way to expand upon concepts learned by the student. My major department is Chemistry. Chemistry isn't huge, but its not the smallest either. That being said, I think that all the Chem. majors know everyone else, with the exception of a small few. It's pretty unified. Education at Tech is geared toward learning, only, in my opinion. I think when you're accepted, you're expected to know how to apply the skills and concepts you have learned over the course of your degree in whatever field you go into. Tech is not about to hold your hand and do everything for you, but it will help you as much as possible.