Any Georgia Tech Grads or Students Here?

[Monte51Coleman]

My son, a high school junior, is putting together his list of prospective colleges & universities to visit this coming year. He is primarily interested in engineering with an emphasis on either aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical, or civil.

Does anyone here have any first-hand experiences at the Georgia Institute of Technology?

[zoony]

The women in Atlanta are smokin' hot. He probably won't get much studying done

[GrapeApe]

I can't talk about Georgia Tech directly, but I have a PhD in aerospace and have worked in the industry for 20+ years if he has any questions about aerospace engineering in general. Just PM me if he has some questions and I'll try my hardest to steer him into another field.

[Monte51Coleman]

The women in Atlanta are smokin' hot. He probably won't get much studying done

The student gender breakdown is 70/30 male to female. (Hopefully he doesn't figure that out.)

[haithman]

My bestfriend is going into his senior year at GT. Says its been a thorough ass-kicking.

[hockeysc23]

The student gender breakdown is 70/30 male to female. (Hopefully he doesn't figure that out.)

Good god don't let your son go to that school. That's cruelty.

[Monte51Coleman]

I can't talk about Georgia Tech directly, but I have a PhD in aerospace and have worked in the industry for 20+ years if he has any questions about aerospace engineering in general. Just PM me if he has some questions and I'll try my hardest to steer him into another field.

Thank you. Ever work with/for Nasa?

My bestfriend is going into his senior year at GT. Says its been a thorough ass-kicking.

That's good to hear. If he wanted easy he'd probably go to the University of Florida.

[GrapeApe]

Thank you. Ever work with/for Nasa?

That's good to hear. If he wanted easy he'd probably go to the University of Florida.

Yes. I have extensive experience working with NASA and DoD. But I'd prefer to take that via PM if interested.

[Monte51Coleman]

Yes. I have extensive experience working with NASA and DoD. But I'd prefer to take that via PM if interested.

Agreed and thanks.

[royallypwned]

Tell him to consider Georgia instead.

[redskins0756]

Virginia Tech. Great engineering program although I may be a bit biased. And they do offer in state tuition for certain circumstances whether merit based or the lack of a program from an in state school.

[The Sisko]

Mrs. '06 is a GT grad, and as much as it makes my Terrapin blood boil to admit it, Tech is a damned good school and a great bargain financially...though I don't know if that is as true of out of state tuition.

The 70:30 female to male ratio is pretty much spot on. However, the O. Henry-like plot twist in the deal is that any guy (non athlete) that can actually get into GT :geek: will never have a chance with women anyway. Oh well, he'll always have his scientific calculator and ES to curl up with.

Finally, discourage that U of FL nonsense at all costs. :puke:

[SkinsMaster88]

Hey, just saw this thread. I'm a senior at GT majoring in AE. It's a great school, but definitely very tough and challenging, especially with the higher-level classes.

Yeah, the infamous ratio sucks, however it has been improving. I think 5-10 years ago, it was closer to 75/25. Each year, the scale tilts to the better side. The current freshman class is 67/33.

I'd recommend you and/or your son to take a look at the websites of the respective colleges to get a better idea on the curriculum and what they offer. Also, the campus tour is always good once you get a finalized list.

Some of the nice things about GT are that there's a lot of opportunities available for engineering students. Numbers-wise, we have the biggest aerospace program in the country. Rankings-wise, we're #2 in undergrad, #4 in grad (US News). Lots of employers come by to talk about opportunities/coops/internships starting from your early college career. I've managed to get summer internships each year (mainly on my own, but career center/job fairs can help). Lots of people do undergrad research as well. In the AE department itself, there are about 10-12 labs in different sections where most professors are accommodating to students from even sophomore year that can join. It's been a great experience for me personally to get a hands-on approach to the material.

I think over 25% of students participate in the co-op program where there is alternating work/school semesters to be able to finish in 5 years. It does speak volumes about the level of difficulty when you look at our graduation rates. About 33% in 4 years, 70% in 5 years, 75% in 6 years. Plus, the average GPA is one of the lowest among major schools. However, there's been a lot of recent additions to encourage tutoring and studying opportunities for students starting from freshman year. If Greek organizations interest your son, I think over 30% or students are in frats/sororities, but there's no forcing to join or exclusion from social life due to that choice.

Location-wise, it's a nice campus located right near the middle of Atlanta, but retains that on-campus feel because of all the green space when you're inside the 'borders' of campus. You don't really realize you're in the middle of big city unless you look up at the skyline. Convenient in the sense your within 2-3 blocks of the MARTA (city train) that goes to most main points within the city limits and the airport. I haven't really felt the need for a car in my 4 years here.

Sports-wise, being in the ACC is great. With Paul Johnson reinvigorating our offense to the 4th best rushing attack, all the home games are great. All games (for all sports) are free for students, but are first-come, first-serve unless you pay for reserved tickets. Basketball usually is fairly competitive once we actually can get some stable talent to stay for more than a year. They did make it to the National Championship game in 2004. One of the top baseball producing colleges as well I think, but that's not as much my sport.

Housing on-campus is convenient and pretty nice. You're only stuck in cramped shared dorms freshman year, then fully-furnished apartments all within walking distance of classes. However, enrollment has gone from like 14,000 when I joined 3 years ago to 19,000. So it's become more crowded in terms of housing availability. I guess that could always change as time goes on.

Bottom-line: Great school, great opportunities, but be prepared to put in a lot of effort. It's not a "party school". While we're not all nerds and do enjoy some celebration, you have to have your priorities straight, otherwise you're in for a hard time.

Feel free to PM for any other questions. Just tried to give an overview of my thoughts on the school. Can't say I love it all the time, and there's plenty of times when I've wondered why I came here, but I'm glad with my decision and have had a good time. I'm planning on staying an extra year for the 5-year BS/MS combined program. Graduating with BS in May 2010, MS in May 2011.

[method man]

Hey, just saw this thread. I'm a senior at GT majoring in AE. It's a great school, but definitely very tough and challenging, especially with the higher-level classes.

Yeah, the infamous ratio sucks, however it has been improving. I think 5-10 years ago, it was closer to 75/25. Each year, the scale tilts to the better side. The current freshman class is 67/33.

I'd recommend you and/or your son to take a look at the websites of the respective colleges to get a better idea on the curriculum and what they offer. Also, the campus tour is always good once you get a finalized list.

Some of the nice things about GT are that there's a lot of opportunities available for engineering students. Numbers-wise, we have the biggest aerospace program in the country. Rankings-wise, we're #2 in undergrad, #4 in grad (US News). Lots of employers come by to talk about opportunities/coops/internships starting from your early college career. I've managed to get summer internships each year (mainly on my own, but career center/job fairs can help). Lots of people do undergrad research as well. In the AE department itself, there are about 10-12 labs in different sections where most professors are accommodating to students from even sophomore year that can join. It's been a great experience for me personally to get a hands-on approach to the material.

I think over 25% of students participate in the co-op program where there is alternating work/school semesters to be able to finish in 5 years. It does speak volumes about the level of difficulty when you look at our graduation rates. About 33% in 4 years, 70% in 5 years, 75% in 6 years. Plus, the average GPA is one of the lowest among major schools. However, there's been a lot of recent additions to encourage tutoring and studying opportunities for students starting from freshman year. If Greek organizations interest your son, I think over 30% or students are in frats/sororities, but there's no forcing to join or exclusion from social life due to that choice.

Location-wise, it's a nice campus located right near the middle of Atlanta, but retains that on-campus feel because of all the green space when you're inside the 'borders' of campus. You don't really realize you're in the middle of big city unless you look up at the skyline. Convenient in the sense your within 2-3 blocks of the MARTA (city train) that goes to most main points within the city limits and the airport. I haven't really felt the need for a car in my 4 years here.

Sports-wise, being in the ACC is great. With Paul Johnson reinvigorating our offense to the 4th best rushing attack, all the home games are great. All games (for all sports) are free for students, but are first-come, first-serve unless you pay for reserved tickets. Basketball usually is fairly competitive once we actually can get some stable talent to stay for more than a year. They did make it to the National Championship game in 2004. One of the top baseball producing colleges as well I think, but that's not as much my sport.

Housing on-campus is convenient and pretty nice. You're only stuck in cramped shared dorms freshman year, then fully-furnished apartments all within walking distance of classes. However, enrollment has gone from like 14,000 when I joined 3 years ago to 19,000. So it's become more crowded in terms of housing availability. I guess that could always change as time goes on.

Bottom-line: Great school, great opportunities, but be prepared to put in a lot of effort. It's not a "party school". While we're not all nerds and do enjoy some celebration, you have to have your priorities straight, otherwise you're in for a hard time.

Feel free to PM for any other questions. Just tried to give an overview of my thoughts on the school. Can't say I love it all the time, and there's plenty of times when I've wondered why I came here, but I'm glad with my decision and have had a good time. I'm planning on staying an extra year for the 5-year BS/MS combined program. Graduating with BS in May 2010, MS in May 2011.

SkinsMaster is actually a friend of mine who I've known since high school and after attending Georgia Tech, he has become bald.

[Monte51Coleman]

Hey, just saw this thread. I'm a senior at GT majoring in AE. It's a great school, but definitely very tough and challenging, especially with the higher-level classes.

Thank you for taking the time to respond with such a comprehensive post.

We are planning on taking advantage of either the CWT overnight program or the Preview visit in '10. I appreciate your offer of further help via PM and will be in contact.

Thanks again.

[SkinsMaster88]

SkinsMaster is actually a friend of mine who I've known since high school and after attending Georgia Tech, he has become bald.

Haha. Come on now. I'm not Matt Hasselbeck yet. Though I will say last year was pretty stressful. Same thing can be said for any college, but don't try to push lots of hard time-consuming classes all into one semester. Didn't bother taking some upperclassmen advice and felt my first 2 years weren't that bad, so pushed it a bit much last year. Ended up with 4 of the 5 hardest AE courses in the entire curriculum all the same semester, plus a couple other classes. :doh: