Vocaboly.com

[harry]

My son visited Ga Tech twice and found the school and Atlanta to be a
favorite. From this site there have been much bashing of the school and we
are asking for some feed back as to his fit there. The bashing has related
to financial aid, safety, ranking and support from the state.



He is unsure of his major between engineering and business and the
reputation of both here is a good opportunity. He is an entrepreneur having
created an internet sales company in high school. He is interested in the
co-op opportunity to get his feet wet before graduation.



He has very serious sports interests with golf at a 1 - 2 handicap on the HS
team and baseball so club teams interest him.



Regarding city life, we live in a large mixed community outside Boston so he
is street wise. Regarding the ranking, 30th versus 40th is not really a big
deal as long as it is in the top 50. Regarding financial aid, we would never
quality so this is not an issue. We are moving from Boston to Jacksonville
next fall so location is great. His brother is already in an ACC school (WF)
and loves the life and is doing well.



So the question, why not Ga Tech?

[rick++]

Its one disappointed student flooding the newsgroups
with complaints. Its technically very easy to do.
Haven't heard complaints here from the other tens of
thousands students.
Note some of the comments may be important like the low
four year graduation rate.

[harry]

Graduation Rate:

1. Given that GT is predominately engineering, an a large number transfer
out, then is this a contributing factor?
2. Given that this is a state school versus a private school then is this a
contributing factor?

Thanks for the comments. He has been accepted here and elsewhere, but he
loves Atlanta and he is looking for a comfort with his decision.

From a father's view GT is cheaper than some of the alternatives and for Mom
this is still on the east coast unlike some of the "other" schools

again - thanks


"rick++" <rick303@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1107961855.912157.270100@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...

[wt sherman]

According to the various student websites, 50% of those at GT love it.
If he goes, I sincerely hope your son is one of those, but another 50%
grow to hate it, despite their initial enthusiasm. It is not bashing to
post articles and links that expose what the admissions office fails to
tell you. Consider my posts a yellow light, or a caution, that is all.
GT has a good (brutal actually with one of the lowest 6-year graduation
rates in the country) engineering school, but be very wary of the
business school - It is known as "Riding the M Traim" M for management
- It is the major of the GaTech athletes - those majoring in management
are ridiculed on campus - and even the GT business grad school is one
of the lowest ranked in the nation. As for price $25K a year for out of
state is no bargain. You get what you pay for. I wish you and your son
the best...

[wt sherman]

According to the various student websites, 50% of those at GT love it.
If he goes, I sincerely hope your son is one of those, but the other
50%
grow to hate it, despite their initial enthusiasm. It is not bashing to
post articles and links that expose what the admissions office neglects
to tell you. Consider my posts a yellow light, or a caution, that is
all. I'm the kind of person who wants to know what to expect when I
travel. It is not bashing to say watch out for that pothole. And please
note, many/most of the links are to the GT student newspaper, which is
probably the most rah-rah student newspaper in the country.
GT has a good engineering school (despite its abysmal graduation rate),
but it is the only degree there worth anything. Be very wary of the
business school - It is known as "Riding the M Train" M for management
- It is the major of the GaTech athletes - those majoring in management
are ridiculed on campus - and even the GT business grad school is one
of the lowest ranked in the nation. As for price $25K a year for out of
state is no bargain. According to Princeton Review - for the last three
years - top 20 for lousy professors, lousy dorms, lousy food and one of
the least happy student populations in the country - and there is
nothing - literally nothing - to transfer into, if you drop out of
engineering. You get what you pay for. Also, if you are from the North
- get ready - Georgia is not just another country - it's another
planet. And I say that as someone born and raised in the South. I wish
you and your son
the very best. Where you go to college is an important choice - I do
not post this stuff lightly.

[wt sherman]

RE: grad rate - The school is tough - no doubt. 70% of the student body
is from Georgia - many underqualified - so many drop out or transfer.
But there is also the administration and faculty - Georgia Tech is
under enormous financial strain - due to budget cuts, shrinking
endowment, uncollected donor pledges - larger classes, fewer teachers -
according to the GT president - the cuts have hit "muscle and bone."
And then there is the "Tech Shaft" GaTech is famous for having one of
the least caring faculty and administrations in the country - The
attitude is - "We are tough. Sink or Swim" - many students sink and
there is no one to reach out and give them a hand...voila - the Tech
Shaft. Those that survive brag about, well, surviving - but very few
gush about how great their time was in college. All of this adds up to
a low grad rate (about 67% in 6 years) - lower than any other major
engineering school and lower than all but a very few of the top 100 in
US News. There is also co-op, which some students do - adding an extra
year - but playing golf on the team where Bobby Jones played ...that's
not awful. I hope two years from now you are having a Varsity hotdog
with your son and saying my posts were all bologna, and you found a
totally different Georgia Tech. Good luck.

[Ram Lau]

I have been a Georgia Tech student for more than 3 years. Georgia Tech has
given me all the experience an undergraduate student can ever want, from a
well-paid co-op position for a prestigious national energy agency to a
teaching assistantship as a recitation instructor for the calculus and
computer science classes. The classes can be very tough and the grades can
be ugly, but I don't have a doubt that I made the right choice coming to
Georgia Tech in retrospect.

One of my fellow co-op students was from Franklin, MA. We are still taking
classes together. He is graduating this semester with his Computer
Engineering degree (Highest Honors) and is ready to go back home. If you son
is ready for the challenge, Georgia Tech is the school to go.

[Brandonlm]

I am also a tech student that is riding the so called M-Train not because it easier, but because it is without a doubt the best undergrad business school in the Southeast. Tech just finished a full new business college that is so nice it is almost sick. The reason I chose tech was simply three employers I talked to said they would rather higher a tech bus. grad over UGA or Emory grad. Yes tech is the hardest school out there. Yes it can suck very bad, yes there are times when you hate the school, but the quality and in depth teaching that tech students get versus the load of crap that is taught at UGA, GaState, Emory, Florida State, and UF is worth it. Students that "make" through tech a smarter, more aware, the best in my opinion. I just have been blown away by the 3000 and 4000 level classes being taught here at the business schools my friends are even jealous, by the simple fact that several of my colleagues in the business school have already started our own business (CRM software developments, backend quoting tools for project management, marketing consulting group, and now have enough money to invest in new ventures. There is a high concentration in entrepreneurship at tech. Bottom line tech is a hard school, but if you apply yourself and keep a level head you will come out above the rest. Oh and for the MBA rankings it will be under the top 30 this year maybe even close to the 20 mark, according to some alumni (accredited to the new oustanding and expensive business school).

[gtmike]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to respond since I go to Tech. I'm a senior ISyE major (used to be CmpE) at Tech, and I have always regretted going here. In Georgia, you pretty much have 2 choices for tradtional colleges: UGA for liberal arts, and GT for engineering. There's also Emory and some other small colleges, but UGA and GT are the most popular. If you want to do engineering and you don't have money to go out of state, then you are stuck with Tech (or Southern Polytechnic, which is horrible).

It's true that Tech has "great" academic programs. The reason why they are highly regarded is not because of the professors or facilities or anything like that. It's basically because Tech is so difficult that it teaches students how to solve problems on their own with little or no help. Tech students are pretty much thrown in the water and it's up to them not to drown; if you survive, then you will have skills to be a hard worker in a job. You will learn to be a good worker if you go here; I've worked for Disney as an intern and found it to be quite easy compared with school.

What Tech lacks the most is a social life. If you like programming and talking about computers 24/7, you will like it here. If you would rather play videogames than anything else with your freetime, you will like it here. If you are socially inept and awkward, you will fit in well. There are 27% girls here last I checked, and out of those, a small percentage are "normal," and a small percentage of that are attractive (physically and otherwise). It's not just girls either, the guys are also strange. It's hard for me to make friends here because I don't like many of the people, and I was even considered nerdy in high school. If academics are your main concern, Tech would be great for you. If you want to have some kind of life or enjoy college the way most people do, you will hate your existence while you are at Tech.

This is a little off-topic, but I am actually taking a philosophy class here that shows how schools (among other sources) shape people to want money and to buy stuff, and how institutions like Tech are used to create people who are hard workers and are primarily concerned with consumption of products. Over the years I've thought about my life more and more, and really thought about why I chose this school and what I really want my life to be like. I picked CmpE in the beginning because I thought I liked computers and that major makes a lot of money. A lot of people pick schools because they want to be proud of their accomplishments, they want prestige, and mostly, they want to get that degree so they can make a lot of money and buy a lot of stuff. Recently I've realized that I don't find that moving to the suburbs, working 60+ hours a week, and buying a lot of products is the life I want, but that's what you are typically headed for with an engineering degree.

Anyway, if you want to go here so you can get a good job that pays a lot of money so you can buy more TVs and an expensive car and whatever, then go for it. Personally, I wish I had looked for something I would actually be interested in rather than what is highly-rated or is known for making a lot of money. I also would have rather spent these years enjoying my life as well as earning a degree instead of spending it in constant depression at Tech.

[TechGirl]

i absolutely must post now. i love tech. i love every minute of it, and will love it till the day i die. infact i'm crossing all fingers and toes that i will be accepted into the CS masters program next year when i apply. and this is why i say these things:

tech is exactly what you make of it. no more no less. i'm a CS major, and it's well known that the CS program here is one of the tougher ones out there. and even though i've done my share of complaining about physics 2 and nasty all night coding sessions, i earned my grades through my work. but because i'm a CS major doesn't mean that i lack a social life, or all i do is play video games. and before people say things, being a girl has nothing to do with it. i get the same grades and the same treatment as everyone else. but aside from a great education tech allows you to create your own college experience.

for instance, there's the greek system at tech. and i say this as a GDI (g-ddamn independent), the greeks provide an immense support system for their members. not only with homework help, but they provide a social alternative on campus. off campus you're still in a city of 4.5 million people. i've eaten food i never imagined existed, i've been to awesome jazz clubs, great bars, rockin concerts, etc etc. i come from a medium-sized town in tennessee, so atlanta definitely allowed me to stretch my big city muscles and it's been great. but each decision i've made here, i've made with my own happiness in mind. i've joined several organizations and student unions, and they've provided a great alternative to school. i'm minoring in film so that also provides me with a break for my left brain. if people choose to sit in their dorms with their friends and play halo, that is their decision. i (and many others i assure you) chose to go out into the city and live our lives.

i did not come to tech to make money, i came to tech because it was the best education i could get taking into consideration my family earnings, distance from home, and other factors that make college possible. i realize of course that my degree will be worth a lot when i leave, but why short change yourself and your future by going to a lesser school in the first place? if you can go to tech, or harvard, or MIT, or caltech without significant hardship on your family then why not do it? going to tech will give you the training you need and the education you deserve.

school is not fun. it never has been fun, it never will be fun. wherever you go there will be finals, jerk professors, hard painful classes, it's inescapable. if you want to be superficial about your college mates, and pick your future based on how many hot girls you'll meet in your classes, then you've got serious priority issues. tech is a great opportunity and a unique experience, you're getting a private school for a public school price. i turned down many very very good colleges to go to tech and i don't regret the decision one bit.