<p>I'm considering committing, but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>check this out <a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf11313/pdf/tab62.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf11313/pdf/tab62.pdf</a>, if you are seeking undergrad research opportunities, tech is one of the best places to go (rank#2 in US)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Starting salaries</p></li>
<li><p>Big time D1 athletics (maybe a shallow reason, but having BCS quality athletics was a must for me. I would rather go to GT than MIT even if money meant literally nothing and I got into both because of athletics)</p></li>
<li><p>No liberal arts mamby-pamby bs</p></li>
<li><p>Love how it’s in Atlanta. Seeing the skyscrapers all around is awesome</p></li>
<li><p>Instate + HOPE </p></li>
<li><p>Girls just distract you from studying.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am from India so I am paying outstate but I chose tech for the insane number of research opportunites. I will be doing BME so TEch is ranked as one of the best</p>
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<p>Georgia Tech does have the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, which is a pretty strong college. For jobs, they have a stronger placement rate than the College of Architecture and the College of Sciences, and they have a higher median starting salary than the College of Business and College of Architecture. Liberal arts majors who choose to go into consulting end up making significantly more than most engineering majors. I would hardly call them “mamby-pamby,” and I suggest you not come to college thinking you are better than someone else due to what you choose to major in. In fact, you may benefit from a few liberal arts classes.</p>
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<p>There are plenty of girls on campus.</p>
<p>I chose Tech because it’s been my dream college ever since I was a high school freshman. I’ve visited the campus numerous times and each visit brought about a new fascination with the school. I’m not sure what it was but I always got the feeling that I belonged there (not in a conceited way, but in a “my home away from home” kind of way). I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve learned in my engineering academic career thus far at my current college and I know that once I go to Tech, this experience will be even greater.</p>
<p>…And also items 3-5 from rickdust8’s list lol xD</p>
<p>rickdust8 is spot on.</p>
<p>For me it was:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>#1 for return on investment (Biggest employers are Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, IBM)</p></li>
<li><p>International brand name for engineering</p></li>
<li><p>Top 10 for all engineering disciplines (Aeronautical, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial, Materials, Mechanical, Nuclear), something that no other university has, so I can switch to whatever I want and be at the best.</p></li>
<li><p>No mandatory artsy-fartsy nonsense in any “core” curriculum. Only 2 required English courses Freshman year, and you can place out of one. Then it’s only electives that you can pick.</p></li>
<li><p>Atlanta is home to the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, and has a GDP of over $280 billion, meaning that the city itself has a larger GDP than Venezuela or Finland (so it’s very thriving), and there’s lots of culture and things to do, (World’s largest Aquarium, World Of Coke, Opera houses…etc)</p></li>
<li><p>Division I athletics, and a highly ranked sports program, so there’s that to do and watch as well. We also have the number #1 voted athletic facilities (courtesy of the '96 Olympics)</p></li>
<li><p>And most importantly, it has the second fastest internet speed on campus out of any university (beaten by only Stanford).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I have finally found a place that does everything I need. (I’m an incoming Freshman)</p>
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</p>
<p>In additional to your English courses, all students are required to take 6 hours of humanities, fine arts, or ethics courses. You also have to complete 12 hours of social sciences. You can, of course, pick these courses, but most of the options fall into what several of you would likely deem “artsy-fartsy”. </p>
<p>In my experience, it is exactly the students who do not want to take these courses that most benefit from putting some time into learning to write well and communicate effectively, which are both things that engineering employers like to see. </p>
<p>“Artsy-fartsy” is also a vulgar term that typically applies to people or subjects that are pretentious. It is not really appropriate for most of the humanities courses at Tech, which are very practical in their approach.</p>
<p>I think its great that you feel the curriculum suits your passions, but outside of not requiring the study of a foreign language, which many students choose to do voluntarily, Tech has pretty much the same humanities and arts requirements of other major universities, including UGA and Emory. In saying that Tech doesn’t require as many of these courses as other universities you are both incorrect and propagating the stereotype that Tech students don’t care about a well rounded education. Perhaps it’s less of a stereotype than I had hoped…</p>
<p>InPursuit, you misunderstood the last sentence on my point. When I said it’s only electives you have to pick, I was saying that it’s a good thing that GTech doesn’t force certain courses on you, it allows you to pick what you want to do (I KNOW that you have to take mandatory humanities, but you get to pick which ones to take, and that’s what I like). And you’re wrong, many universities, especially ones founded on liberal arts, force students to take many more humanities, like Columbia’s infamous Core curriculum.</p>
<p>I know that the humanities are important, to succeed, you need to have right and left brain thinking. I read excessively and love poetry, and I’m going for Computer Engineering, and that’s one the reasons I scored a 720 in reading and 790 in writing in the SAT. I don’t underestimate the value of a liberal arts education when mixed with engineering.</p>
<p>Additionally, since OP asked for why we chose GTech, I gave a response that covered subjects between schools, and not within them. By saying “artsy fartsy”, I wasn’t referring to the Ivan school for arts in GTech, I was referring to the curriculum in other schools that focus on just liberal arts, because of their “pretentious” attitude towards the engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>InPursuit, my point was that GT does not have a hoity-toity (i love these euphemisms for airy humanities classes that we’re using) liberal arts culture at all. Like you said, the humanities classes are practically-oriented. It doesn’t seem to have that air of ‘cliche leftist college liberal arts classes’ like there is at a lot of places. And there aren’t really any liberal arts people on campus- yes, I know about Ivan Allen, but it’s a marginal group compared to the STEM people.</p>
<p>Also, please avoid the condescending tilt of your comments- disliking liberal arts does not equate to necessarily being bad at them. Fwiw, I got a 1580 on the SAT CR+W, so it’s not like I’m just bitter ‘cuz I sho do have trubel lernin’ them werds</p>
<p>Columbia’s core is unique, rather than the norm. With the exception of not having a foreign language requirement, Tech’s core curriculum is in line with Stanford, Berkeley, UGA, Emory, MIT (also does not have a language requirement), etc… These schools, like Tech, let you pick which courses you want to take to fill their requirements. The point that Tech’s humanities and social science curriculum does not differentiate it with respect to the requirements for people pursuing a BS degree is not “wrong.”</p>
<p>Having high SAT CR and Writing scores also does not necessarily equate to being able to write well and communicate effectively at a college level. It means you can read well and write a few coherent paragraphs on a rather simplistic prompt. AP exam scores in English are much better indicators of writing ability, but they are still timed tests and say nothing of ones ability to have an articulate oral discussion. In any event, I did not mean to imply that either of you could not write or communicate, and since that is how I came across, I apologize for the insult.</p>
<p>While we’re on the topic on condescension, you both may want to go re-read some of your comments. Nearly 1,000 Tech undergrads major in fields that you just demeaned as “artsy-farsty nonsense,” “mamby pamby bs”, “hoity toity,” “marginal,” and “leftist.” I’m sure a fair number of them would find your remarks condescending. </p>
<p>Perhaps instead of blatantly demeaning certain fields of study, you could have simply said that Tech allows you to focus on courses you are passionate about. Although, as I have pointed out, Tech does not do this to any greater extent than a number of other universities that an applicant may be considering.</p>
<p>Berkeley and some of the others you’ve mentioned have a significantly larger range of mandatory courses that they require, and Columbia is not the only one, I know that Princeton mandates it as well. Some courses that are necessary are Foreign Languages, Economics 101 related courses, and others.</p>
<p>I apologize if I sounded like I was bring demeaning towards the humanities, but if you reread my comment, not once did I degrade the arts; in fact, I pointed out their necessity and importance. And you’ll see that I have nothing against the Ivan school, which I actually admire because it itself is in Georgia Tech which demands a calculus course for everyone. I’ve just had the enlightening misfortune of having had to visit many “techy” universities, which all turn out to be liberal arts and humanities wrapped in a coat of “Engineering”. GTech didn’t do any of this, and it showed itself as a truly pure engineering institution for those who were looking for one (not that it isn’t great in other things).</p>
<p>And yes, these are truly some great euphemisms.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but you are simply incorrect. </p>
<p>Georgia Tech requires 2 English Courses, 2 Humanities Courses, and 4 Social Science Courses of all students. All engineering majors except BME require an economics course as part of the social science requirements. [Georgia</a> Tech 2012 2013 Catalog](<a href=“http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/index.php]Georgia”>http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/index.php)</p>
<p>Berkeley engineering requires 2 English Courses, and 4 Humanities/Social Science Courses. <a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/handouts-and-items-for-main-page/2011-12%20Announcement.pdf[/url]”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/handouts-and-items-for-main-page/2011-12%20Announcement.pdf</a></p>
<p>So it appears Berkeley actually has fewer requirements than Tech, and also does not require engineering majors to take foreign language courses.</p>
<p>I don’t have time to do this for every school I have mentioned, but you are free to Google their catalog’s on your own time.</p>
<p>My comments have taken this thread a bit off topic, so I want to apologize to the OP, and list a few of the reasons why I love Tech.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>We’re in Atlanta. Atlanta offers a lot of opportunities to enjoy culture, the arts, southern history, music, food, etc… It also means there are quite a few major companies to work for in town, which means great opportunities to network, intern, and co-op while staying connected to campus or even taking classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Research and entrepreneurship opportunities. Although I didn;t take huge advantage of these during my time at Tech due to a change in my post-Tech interests, these were huge factors in drawing me to Tech. Undergraduate research is abundant, well supported, and easy to get involved with. So if graduate school, or even med-school, are in your future, this is a great place to start. For those who are more entrepreneurial, Tech has one of the world’s largest Technology incubators, ATDC, and now has Flashpoint, which will provide start-up funding to undergraduates who want to start their own company, as well as an environment to learn and grow along other entrepreneurs. </p></li>
<li><p>Tech offers everything one would expect of a typical college. Whether that be getting involved in Band, Drama, student government, major specific groups, sports, Greek Life etc… or just being able to hang out and party on a weekend. We’re not the socially isolated campus many people make us out to be.</p></li>
<li><p>Academic and career support. Tech has one-on-one tutoring, group tutoring, academic advising and coaching, learning assistance programs for major courses like calculus, physics, computer science, etc in your freshman dorm, and communications lab to help with writing college level papers, etc… Freshmen are often worried that Tech will be too hard, but if you got in, and you take advantage of the resources Tech has to offer, you can thrive here. Resume workshops, career counseling, mock interviews, and abundant career fairs and company information sessions mean that if you put in a little effort, it is fairly easy to obtain a great internship, co-op, or job.</p></li>
<li><p>Involvement with the community and local government was a big deal for me, and Tech students certainly excel at this. Tech students spend many thousands of hours each year volunteering in the community and helping local students through tutoring. There is also a GT Day at the Capital where students interact with state legislators and present research projects they are working on that reinforce the importance of funding schools like Tech. There are also scholarships and programs to support those who want to intern at the state capital or in DC.</p></li>
</ol>