The Georgia Institute of Technology

First, the Good and who/why you should attend:

1) Georgia Tech is an excellent engineering school. If you are a Georgia resident, then it's an even better deal, as you'll be paying relatively low in-state tuition for one of the best engineering schools in the nation (currently ranked 4th in engineering overall), and the world, too. The quality of the education and preparation is pretty good, and so I hear, prepares you well for the real world.

2) Georgia Tech also has a very good business program as well, though it is much less advertised/well-known, and often scorned upon by fellow engineering students. Other Students will make fun of management students, and especially those that switch from engineering to management ("hopping on the M-train, as it's known), despite the college's high ranking and very good percentage in getting graduates jobs. It's kinda funny, actually. Management gets a bad rep because of its large percentage of frat dudes, sorority chicks, and athletes, but the program itself is actually very good. In fact, if it weren't for the on-campus culture, I think a lot more people would switch to management.

3) If you are nerdy, into math/science, and one of those people that just really love school, then this is also the place for you. There is a great culture of academically oriented students here. A LOT of people here are nerdy and odd, and into engineering/math/science type stuff. If you're into research, this is also a great place, though if you haven't done research before, it's a million times more boring than they make it out to be on TV or on the media. I've done it, trust me, it's boring, but there are plenty of grad students, profs, and some undergrads that do like doing research. GT is in fact a premier research institution.

4) GT is in the heart of Atlanta. Most students unfortunately don't go out in Atlanta much, but it is a big city with a lot to offer. I would say the best attractions Atlanta really has is the restaurants (so many good ones) and good nightlife, too. And of course you got stuff like the Georgia Aquarium, home of the Hawks, Braves, and Thrashers, World of Coke, and stuff like that.

4) For being a really good engineering university, it's also neat that it has D1 athletics. The athletic programs here may not be the best thing ever, but they are competitive and still Division 1 afterall.

Now, the BAD
1) GRADES. GT is hard, and not many ppl will tell you different. And don't think I'm dumb either. I was a very good student in high school. To give you a picture, I was unweighted 4.0 all throughout high school, ranked number 1 in my school, took plenty of AP classes, and got 5s on my AP exams in Physics, Calc 1 and Calc 2, all while being very involved. I was never satisfied with SATs, but I did get a 1400 on those with a 760 in Math (don't really care about English or writing, lol) and perfect scored the math section on the ACT. And, I didn't really try at all either. Studying was something that the "other" kids did. I barely studied, more like maybe skim some material for a few minutes before a test. My high school was not shitty, and I was respected as one of the best students there, so I promise you I'm not dumb. However, most ppl at GT were just like me in high school, especially the people in the college of engineering. In my freshman class, 25% of the students had unweighted 4.0s, and the average SAT was a 1310. And the most recent freshman class (2010) was even smarter, with (I believe) an average 1350 SAT and about a 1/3 had unweighted 4.0s. In other words, people here are smart, and really, comparable to other elite schools in the nation like MIT or Stanford. HOWEVER, GT is a motherfucker when it comes to grades. Places like MIT and Harvard must recognize that everyone at the school is smart, so even if you're middle of the class, you're still (relatively speaking) doing very well. This reflects in their grades and overall grade point average. AT MIT for example (as a former professor told me), they basically give everyone As and some Bs (they got mad at him for giving a couple student Cs!!). HUGE contrast to Tech (I was like WOW when the prof told me that). GT is the opposite. They actually get mad at professors for giving too many As, and a lot of classes have SET GPAs (meaning even if everyone does really well, the class will get curved DOWN). In other words, your GPA is fucked. It's ridiculously competitive. Me, a former unweighted 4.0 guy, am hanging on with a 3.0. Another reason this sucks is for jobs and grad schools. Employers and schools don't really know or care that the grade distribution at tech sucks for the academic population. So getting a job or getting into grad school is much more difficult. A 3.0 here is really like a 3.8-4.0 at a place like UGA or UF, but people either don't know or don't give a fuck. A 3.0 is still a 3.0, and a 4.0 even at an average school still looks a lot better. This is one of the biggest problems I, and most of the student body, have with Tech.

2) Read above. DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU WANT TO GO TO MED SCHOOL. The rule is you basically want to keep AT LEAST above a 3.5, which is extremely difficult here, even for the gifted. You will get fucked over or have to work incredibly hard even for a worse GPA than if at another school. You'd be much better off with a 4.0 from UGA or wherever.

3) If you're not a nerd, and you're a normal high schooler looking for an awesome college experience, this is not the place. If you're a dude, there's like 30% girls (I know, shitty). If you're a girl, a lot of the guys here are indeed very weird/nerdy. Tech has pretty horrible parties. It's seriously BAD and pathetic; just not a party school AT ALL. Nothing compared to big state schools like UGA or UF. Interestingly enough, GT is still a huge drinking school though, lol. A lot of binge drinking. Mostly, small groups of individuals who drink together in their apartments or whatever. But very crappy parties. If you do happen to come here though, and you are looking for the party experience, then definitely join a frat/sorority. It will make partying and meeting other people (and attractive members of the opposite sex) much easier. Frat dudes tend to be pretty cool, and there are a lot of hot chicks in most of the sororities. You'll inevitably have a pretty good time. Frats tend to get a bad rap sometimes for their stereotypes, but join the right one, and it's a pretty good deal.

4) Tech is a specialized school, so if you're not looking to do engineering, business, or like computer science, I would go elsewhere. It sucks for ppl that find out that they don't really like engineering, and maybe want to do Econ, or something like that, which Tech's programs aren't all that great for.

Overall, Georgia Tech is regarded as a great institution for engineering. When I visited the school, and looked at all the propaganda, it seemed like an incredible college. I mean, it does have great academics, division 1 athletics, sororities and frats like other schools, and in the middle of a great city. Unfortunately, they don't tell you any of the bad stuff. A lot students, including myself, got disappointed along the way. The way I see it, if I could go back, I would have tried harder to get into elite schools with "names" (like MIT, Stanford, or Ivy Leauge schools- where even a 2.0 is irrelevant if you're at Harvard) and really tried to go to one of those. Otherwise, I would have gone to UF. GT feels like an elite school (it's very hard, everyone here is very smart, the curriculum is intense, the social life isn't great), but it has less of a name and gives much worse grades. At least at MIT, you might be depressed, but you're at MIT. Overall, I probably would have gone to another school. Either go to a real "elite" college, or go to a good college with a great college experience.

But some people do like it here, though I would say a lot don't too. I have a buddy who is about to graduate after 3 years with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a 4.0 GPA who has already gotten accepted into grad school at MIT(as a note, this is absolutely insane, and something I've never heard of. There are some 4.0s, but I've NEVER heard of a 4.0 in 3 years in engineering-INSANE). So, miracles are possible I guess for people like my friend who are extremely brilliant, but in general, GT isn't a good place to go if you want to go to a good grad school. GL and hope this was helpful!