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.

It's really hard, and anybody who goes to Georgia tech has to study hard, even the managment majors.

Classes are huge-especially freshman year. My smallest class was english 1101-over 40 students. Some professors will get to know your name; others will not. If you are struggling in a class-go see your professor during their office hours. Then they will learn your name and see that you are a hard worker and might even go easy on you when they grade your tests and exams (believe me, this happened to me in several classes, and all because I built a relationship with my professor). Classes are very tough, and keep you busy outside of class. I can spend anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks preparing for a test. Don't get behind in any class-you won't catch up.

I'd be lucky to have 3 out of 4 teachers that speak English as their first language. Some can be very hard to understand, especially when they're the authors of the text book. Many are willing to help you 1 on 1 though which is handy (if you can make it to their office hours). A lot of my friends that go to other schools get to take a lot more electives that don't apply to their major at all (a P.E. type class like Bowling 1001 or something) but it Tech doesn't make room for any "useless" classes. It is nice to know you're putting in quality hours toward your degree but it would be nice to have a break from the engineering every once in a while. I am 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} confident that I will be able to find a job after graduation with my Tech degree.

Academics are good here. The one thing I dislike is that most professors stick rigidly to their bell curves. I don't like to be in competition for my grade, and on more than one occasion I have found myself hoping other people in the class did poorly so my grade wouldn't suffer.

The students are friendly with each other and you can find some people to make a study group. Studying is important at Tech and you will spend a lot of time doing it. The work is relevant and if you enjoy your major, the work can be enjoyable.

"Why bother getting laid when Georgia Tech fucks me every day." That's how most students feel about academics at Georgia Tech. Check out the facebook group.

If there is one good thing about Tech it is probably its academics. It is extremely rigorous. Class sizes are large though and my smallest class was maybe 40 students. Lecture halls with 150+ students are the norm. Most profs will definitely not know your name but that may be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. A lot of students are competitive and often strive for the best leaving those like me who look to ride the curve in big trouble. This school takes their honor code way too seriously. They even post plaques of the honor code in every room. The nerdy fag honest students are no help either ratting you out at any chance they get. The rigor of the level of academics practically promotes cheating and god forbid you get caught b/c their forsaken place will eat you alive. Master the art of cheating in HS before coming here. Professors are hit or miss. (Most of the time miss.) I can only count 2 profs which I felt truly taught and were helpful ppl and I am going into my 3rd year. What does that have to say? Most profs really don't care about you as a student. My diffy q prof apparently suspected me of cheating on my test and after numerous emails and attempts to visit him at his office, 3 weeks after the test he was a no show. I had to take it up with the Dean of Students and even still he never responded to the emails. Absolutely ridiculous. They are more concerned with their research than showing you how to do a Laplace transform. Some will actually seem to try to fail you at will. I once took the time to go up to a prof after lecture to ask him the final coverage. He just stood there and laughed and said everything even though in lecture he said hw coverage will not be included. This was just plain rude and I was quite offended. His final (CEE2300) was absolutely ridiculous. I attended almost every class and had not even seen maybe as much as 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the questions on the test. Taking the final was like playing a guessing game. Just sick since it was worth 45{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our grade. I ended up getting a B in the class after a huge curve which I assume was necessary since I guarantee at least half the class failed the final. Some of the big lecture classes require "class participation" through the use of a IR clicker which they force you to buy at ridiculous prices at the bookstore. This is more common in the physics, chem and bio lectures. Most ppl have their friends sign them in or take the random mini-quizzes but this is against the honor code but then again who cares.

Some of the professors know the students by name, depending on the size of the class. Georgia Tech is known for its rigorous academics, so studying is very important. It's a very hard school, but it's also very prestigious and it will help you find a job. I am part of the psychology department, which is rather small at Tech. The department is geared toward research, since the school is science based. All of the professors at Tech know what they are talking about. They also love their field. The education at Tech is geared toward getting a job, not so much learning for its own sake.

In freshman classes, most of the professors won't know your name or even your face b/c lectures can have 200 people or more, but in smaller classes, like english and your major-specific classes, it's a lot easier to get to know the professors. My favorite class was probably inorganic chemistry, but that's explained by the fact that i'm a chemical engineering major, but my least favorite class was a 3 way tie between computer science, biology, and physics. Study habits at tech are a lot like they were in high school, everyone pretty much crams a night or two before the test. People study a bit more in advance for finals, but still it's all pretty last-minute. A lot of times, especially in math and science classes, it seems like the professors are trying to prove to you that you're not as smart as you think you are and that they know more than you do rather than trying to help you learn, but almost all classes will have a huge curve at the end. Even if the prof says that won't curve, they can't really fail everybody or they would be put on probation, so just study really hard and it'll probably turn out alright. It is really stressful sometimes, though, b/c you never really know what grade you have in your classes until the very end.

Academics are rigorous but worthwhile. Many classes are taught by world-class faculty, and it is helpful to interact with professors to learn more about the field. Students can almost always be found studying hard before tests, but relaxing during "easy" weeks. Class participation is more common for smaller classes, but PRS helps to keep attendance high in larger classes. Usually, classes are difficult enough so that most students work and study in groups rather than individually. Professors, for the most part, are very open to questions. At times, it seems that what we are learning is geared towards industry, because that's what people expect from a Georgia Tech degree. However, students can take more classes if they want to to learn more material.