Does Georgia Tech have a cut throat environment, where people don’t help each other? Right now I’m between Purdue and Tech, and the academic environment is a big factor for me. Pretty much, I want to know whether Georgia Tech students work together and help each other in their classes.
Thanks!
You are unlikely to get a lot of current students on this thread (try reddit), only parents and recent admits. Parent of a freshman here and according to her the environment is not cut throat at all. Lots of groups working together and friends helping each other. She finds the environment very supportive. For what its worth she is not an eng major, but pre-med/biochem.
My D studies with people all the time and gets lots of help from friends
I graduated from Tech a long time ago, but I remember how vibrantly LOUD the GT main library was with students working through problems sets together. I remember going with a friend one night to an Emory library and it was completely silent. The contrast really struck me.
You don’t get through Tech engineering without working a LOT with your classmates, who will also become your dear friends.
For what it’s worth, my kid and I flew to Atlanta to visit Emory…it was a bust…as @awwarw notes above, its just such a dead campus…it almost felt like spring break yet it was in the swing of the academic year…so, we were sitting there and I said, “hey, why don’t we check out this Georgia Tech place” and wow, we were blown away…the vibrancy, the number of kids walking in groups (at johns hopkins - to give another example — everyone looked very very worried), the loudness in the cafeterias…i don’t know…it was just FUN. The exact opposite of what we expected.
Glad to hear that,@SouthernHope
@southernhope - that is exactly how we felt when we visited GT. Kids actually seemed happy and friendly. No one minded when we walked up and asked them to share their opinions or experiences there. I can only describe it as having a good vibe. Now, the weeks before finals might feel totally different…
@arwarw : To “an” Emory library? You ever been to Woodruff (that library?). I guarantee that is just as intense as Tech’s library lol…but seriously, it gets so loud that often the security guards have to make announcements telling folks to calm down). That library is a little crazy at times. If you want to go to a library that is quiet, you pretty much go to any of the others (because the others serve professional school students and are meant to be quiet. I used to go to either law or heath science library for example when I didn’t want to see people). Even the part of the year where visitors are excluded (near finals), Woodruff is a madhouse (especially at night) that you may not even be able to get a seat in. Also, if it was a long time ago, Emory has actually grown its student body by a lot which is why the library is almost sickeningly intense now. The interesting thing is that you notice it is emptier on thursdays especially if the week corresponds to lots of the major pre-med classes having exams because people just go out (frat, off-campus, wherever) on thursdays when they can. If you go during the day, it is much better because many are still in class and whatnot.
@SouthernHope When you visit Emory, it depends on if you are there during a weekend or not (or the weather) and many other things. A “bust” is actually quite unusual for most weekdays. You could have caught the place at the wrong time. Often Tech students (and others throughout Atlanta) come to Emory for parties for some reason, so I don’t know. Also, Tech is substantially larger, so when it is bustling you can of course tell, but honestly, I went to Emory and visit Tech a lot, and many days you cannot tell the difference. They look different, but feel similar to me. The thing I found cooler about Tech was how Greek Row was more active during the day time (though overall I do not really care for Greeklife that much) and how sometimes you see the Ramblin’ Wreck going through campus. Also, do not go to Emory even around spring break because people leave early and go back late. It functions differently around that because not many are from Ga. and you have the phenomenon of professors cancelling classes so that they and students can leave early. If someone would have visited 2-3 weeks (or even this week), you would see a lot of stuff.
As for cafeteria…you can’t compare Georgia Tech’s student center to the cafeteria in Emory’s student center which has hours where it hardly offers food and more so caters to freshman. Cox, Highland Bakery, and places like that are fairer comparisons. But regardless, the two may not compare but so much until it approaches the end of the year (when the weather improves/gets warmer) because Tech is simply a lot larger. Sorry your visit wasn’t that lively, I notice that some who visit get the short end of the stick. It’s a very on and off type of campus. It’s either intensely bumping or it can be dead. Often there is never a middleground.