First of all Gatech is no different than other respectable engineering school in terms of difficulty, people just like to complain.
And in no way does Gatech deliver an elite level of education. It is not even close to engineering schools like MIT or Stanford, still a long way to go.
@SupplySider Why would you say that? Aren’t you a GT student?
@SupplySider I’m sorry, but that’s just not true. To say that GT is “not even close” to delivering the same level of education as MIT or Stanford is a tremendous overstatement. GT might not have the same cachet as those schools, but it certainly goes toe to toe with them as far as quality of education is concerned.
Georgia Tech: all of the competency, none of the elitism.
At least, that’s what I’ve heard the people say who are hiring 
Hard
= professors don’t hand-hold
= you aren’t told to read the book
= you aren’t told to study
= you are given theory and are expected to work on applications yourself or go to office hours
= you are allowed to fail and that’s that
As for Georgia Tech vs. MIT and Stanford, no they aren’t equal, but somewhat comparable in that if an employer sees a resume with one of those schools listed, it’s a lot of positive points.
Perhaps about ten or so top engineering schools, and you could argue that depending on the engineering field, MIT or Stanford aren’t #1 and #2 (or vice versa) across the board.
I can say that because I am a current student a Tech, and two of my good friends go to MIT and Berkeley respectively.
First off, classes are Gatech aren’t standardized like they are at those schools. A differently professor for a class at tech could cause you to have a wildly different experience. One professor may hand out 10% As for a class, another professor hands out 40% As for that same class. Your GPA is simply the luck of the draw, and more often than not you get screwed over with a harder professor. If you don’t believe me, you can check this for yourself. Go to course critique and look up any class.
Professors at tech are average, while some are amazing and really care about teaching, most are lackluster, this is probably due to Tech being a research school and most professors are worried about researching rather than teaching.
Interestingly enough, if you can find a professor who doesn’t do research, but just works as a full time lecturer, pick them. It’s rare, but I had a lecturer who was just that, and he was fantastic, definitely one the most intelligent and articulate people I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. My friends at the other schools describe every teacher that they had as amazing, but I can’t say the same.
Don’t get me wrong, Gatech is a great school if you want to get a job, employers definitely respect that, but it is just that. A school that produces high quality industrial inputs to engineering and technology companies. If you expect to come here to want to learn and get inspired by beauty science and engineering, it will be difficult here.
@SupplySider, if you’re a GT student you should know that we have many standardized classes - maybe grades aren’t standardized, but ECE 3710, ISYE 3025, chem, physics, etc are all the same lectures/tests, and the push towards more flipped classrooms is only continuing that trend. When it comes to upper level classes, I know my major at least is small enough that there’s only one section offered and usually the same professor has been teaching any given class for years. That’s not true of things like statics or def bods or the math sequence, but I think technology is encouraging class standardization.
I don’t disagree that a lot of professors care very strongly about research, but I do doubt that it’s really different at Stanford or MIT. One professor I had last semester was an alum of Harvard and Stanford and he spoke openly about the fact that professors at those schools were not as high quality as he expected.
The statement that we don’t deliver an elite level of education seems ridiculous to me. I admit that non-engineers don’t respect Georgia Tech, for the most part, but there are so many major companies (Coca Cola, Boeing, Kimberly Clark, etc) which have a majority of GT alum engineers. People who know about engineering schools would consider us an elite school. We always perform well in rankings, we’re an old school with a large alum network, and our admission rate has dropped to 25% - lower than that of Emory, which I don’t think people question being an elite school.
Is Gtech engineering school unnecessarily HARD? How hard is it compared to other schools?
Answer: No, not in my observations. Although I did not attend GT, I also completed a rigorous education, and working at GT, I had a whole lot of interaction with GT students. I met a couple who were getting over a 3.7, in a relatively small sample size. Working with GT students, I saw one thing, there was a strong degradation of work ethic. I really don’t want to sound condescending, but many many students had the idea of “Hey, I got into GT and students with a low GPA get good jobs here at Tech, additionally, the school is hard anyways so I just need to pass the class” This was and is very very common at GT, and to some extent, its a bit true. Industry is willing to hire a GT student with a 3.0, and quite honestly, even lower. Let me tell you something, Engineering is hard in and of itself. It is not easy anywhere. Even the new UGA engineering school has been commented by students as being highly rigorous and hard, and I don’t doubt them. GT is a technical school, so obviously, the focus is on Math/Physics. These are not easy subjects, but if you have the mentality that you want a B, you will get a C. If you want an A, you will get an A. My advice, don’t even ask this question. Don’t listen to what anyone is saying. Don’t aim low. Tell yourself you want an A, and you will get an A. If you talk to the students who are saying GT is extremely hard and they have pull an all-nighter to get a C, then stop talking to those students. They are slacking off complaining and already telling themselves that they are going to get a C.
Now, please don’t get me wrong - I love GT and am very close to the school. Honestly though, there is a lack of ethic in the students who come, just due to the amazing rep that GT has. Yes it is true, GT is a bit more difficult, and getting like a 60% or 70% and getting a curved A in some classes is actually possible (GT students please verify). Additionally, the GT Calc and Physics intro classes have a reputation for being weed-out, but don’t think about that. Make your mentality that you will get an A, and you won’t succumb to pressure. Put pressure on yourself to get that A, and the most you’ll fall is a B.