From what I have heard and read there is a heavy priority to graduates first and undergrads have to fight through a wall of grad students to talk to their professors. Also, most of the classes are taught by TA’s, a lot of whom dont speak english very well. Can anybody confirm, deny or comment on this for me??? (help needed).
I like this Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at GT:
http://www.cetl.gatech.edu/students/tas
I think TAs are used at all engineering colleges for recitations. Professors typically pick the textbook, decide on the topics to be taught and teach the class, as well as holding office hours. TA’s teach recitation sections, which are recommended but may not even be required, if you are really on top of your topic. Often undergrads may prefer to get extra help from the TA, for all sorts of reasons, such as they are younger, they connect with TA, not because the professor is unwilling to help.
Also, at GT you will learn a TON from your classmates! Its how it works in engineering, you are struggling with multiple problems sets at midnight, and naturally you will talk to other students! At GT, you will have very bright students to consult, thats one of the strengths of GT.
The time a professor allots to an undergraduate course and mentoring undergraduates, is not related to the time he may spend with his research group and grad students, they are two separate activities and GT professors are well versed at balancing this.
Many professors are looking for a few good undergraduate students to hire in their labs and thus doing well and going to office hours may facilitate a student getting a research position at GT.