<p>The 2013 edition of Fiske gives a fairly harsh description of GT. The gist is that its an all work no play school and students are generally just relieved to have graduated. There's also criticism over large class size and lots of TA taught classes. Is this a fair assessment of the school?</p>
<p>Fiske is a low level site that I honestly haven’t even heard of until 5 minutes ago. I would take every word they say with a grain of salt…or a bucketful of salt if possible.</p>
<p>Also remember that collegeapps had this to say about them, “Student contributors don’t always provide fully accurate information”, so remember that when someone has a reason to ***** and moan about a bad time, they will try to tell EVERYONE what a bad time they’re having, so you only hear about them. I’m at Georgia Tech right now, (Freshman, Industrial Engineering), and I’m having the time of my life. Parties every Friday, too many friends to count, and the academics are no where near the difficulty I thought they would be at (I’m taking 17 credits, which is more than most take).</p>
<p>I know I have to wait for the really hard courses to kick in, but the opportunities that are here are ridiculous. My only reason to complain is that I have to wake up at 7:30 for my 8:00 calculus (which is honestly my fault for taking that time slot), and that there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything that I want. I’m part of 3D printing (free for students), Student Government, Startup Exchange (An entrepreneurs paradise), and other clubs which are just outstanding. Also knowing that I’m going to the college that was one of the highest ranked Co-op programs in the country is satisfying. (I’m doing a co-op in Beijing/Singapore this summer).</p>
<p>The part on them complaining about TAs is hilarious, since the TAs do a better job than the professors sometimes. My Calc TA is a graduate student in Math, so you won’t hear me complaining. She’s one of the best teachers I’ve had, and every other class of mine is taught only by professors.</p>
<p>@freelancerMaine, you must be quite a student! Anyway, glad to hear you can find time to have some fun on the weekends and in clubs. Fiske Guide to Colleges is one of the most widely used college guides out there. Its a book, not a site. Its surprising how many negative quotes are used in the GT write-up which is why I am looking for feedback from actual students or former students.</p>
<p>My D (non engineering freshman) is having a great experience so far. I don’t know about the TA part -I will ask her but I think most of her instructors are Professors. </p>
<p>She is really enjoying the social scene and so far her grades seem to be good. She is a hard worker. I think she finds the work challenging but do-able </p>
<p>I will ask about large class sizes. She was looking forward to big classes. She went to a small private HS and was sick of small group discussion and wanted to just get on with the work. </p>
<p>Anyway -I am having trouble getting her to come home she loves it there.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman (engineering) and loves it. We live less than 10 miles away and he hasn’t been home once since he moved into the dorm (and no, I’m not a horrible mom or anything!). He’s on a couple of intramural sports teams and while he rushed, he did not join a frat, but is able to go to the parties on the weekends if he wants since he knows some guys that are in the frats. He’s not taking that hard of a load (Calc I, Chemistry, and a couple of seminars), but has A’s. He says the Calc and Chem are basically reviews of what he did in HS. I know harder classes will be coming and I hope he hasn’t gotten complacent. He likes the food in the dining halls and says there are lots of pretty girls (contrary to Tech’s reputation).</p>
<p>DS is a freshman(engineering) so far loves it. He told me that he has to study for the tests. English II is really easy while Calc II requires a study group. He did not get the easy ‘A’ Calc II teacher at 8:00 am . If you end up a GT try and get that time slot for Calc II in the fall. He did visit the frats during rush for the free food.I was surprised he ended up finding a frat he really liked. He got a bid and is pledging. The only thing he doesn’t like so far is the food in the dining halls… he is definitely not going to go with the all you can eat plan next year.:)</p>
<p>@freelancer - Very impressive you already have a co-op. How did you get one so fast? I though freshman mainly started interviewing for co-ops at the beginning of second semester.</p>
<p>so is the co-op a summer only thing or is this an option similar to Northeastern’s program?</p>
<p>@Michigan - the food was another criticism in Fiske. </p>
<p>It really was a negative writeup but based on the positive feedback here and from a colleague who’s son recently graduated and loved the place I am re-warming to GT. I suspect similar complaints could be made of MIT, CMU, RPI, CaseW etc. Generally tech schools are just hard, no two ways about it. In fact, tech majors generally are hard. I can remember resenting the non-tech majors when I was in school for having it so easy. Maybe some of these students had gone in with the wrong expectations about work load since its a state school. </p>
<p>Here’s one for students or parents to ask their students. Are there TA-led study or work sessions scheduled during the week to supplement the classroom lectures? I know MIT has this and its where the students really learn the concepts in tough classes.</p>
<p>Yes they have recitation every week for a number of the classes. I know my son has it
For calc ii. I think it is twice a week. Not sure about that though. Plus he got in a
Study group with some other kids that have calc also. Not all have the same prof but
They all need to understand the same material. I believe he has recitation for chem also.</p>
<p>MichiganGeorgia, your son and my daughter sound like they could be studying together. LOL. Of course, not likely given the odds. But she too is in Calc II, goes to recitations, has a study group, etc. She lucked out and got the good TA for Chem, I think it was, who apparently is a much better teacher than the prof.</p>
<p>In response to the original poster, my daughter loves it so far and is doing well. She went to a very good boarding school, so she may have a leg up with regard to time management and a familiarity with a truly rigorous curriculum. But she’s loving it. She has already secured a position in a neuroscience lab which has turned into a paid position, joined several organizations, including a Freshman Leadership Organization. She is part of the Grand Challenges program. I’ve been impressed with the Career Services and Internship/Co-op opportunities. There are many opportunities and resources at Tech. It’s just a matter of taking advantage of them!</p>
<p>If you are interested in the Grand Challenges program, make sure to apply. They have their own dorm, have lots of interaction with faculty, etc and tend to be one of the more active and social dorms. (They also have two 3-D printers in the dorm.) They seem to be well represented in the leadership organizations. It’s a relatively new program, so you may not have heard too much about it yet.</p>
<p>@jaharrison. Wow sounds like your DD is really on the ball. DS started out in BME is in the intro BME into class and has talked to people because he is interested in neuroscience.Figured out he has more option as an EE major. But I think thats it so far. I don’t believe he has started trying to find a research opportunity yet. So kudos to your DD. DS needs to start moving on that…I. think he is still trying to figure out what to register for next semester…:)</p>