| Full-time undergraduate program |
The social life on campus is one of the worst aspects of the school -
at least that's what almost everyone seems to complain about. This is
why Tech is consistently ranked one of the worst party schools in the
country (if that's good or bad) - the people filling out surveys are
the ones who don't make any effort to leave their own dorms or venture
2 seconds off campus to find something fun to do. Come on, like I said
earlier, this is one of the largest, most exciting cities in the
country (I think it's actually ranked in the top 5 best places for
young professionals to live), there's definitely something to do.
Tech has been trying harder to get students involved on campus. They
held a few free concerts, with actually well-known bands, and they've
rented out Six Flags Over Georgia theme park for student and friend
admittance only. There are also a few "student appreciation" days,
with free food, etc., but don't count on those to sway your college
decision.
Off campus however, there's more to do than you can imagine. If you're
under 18 (very few), there's tons of movie theaters, high-class malls
and incredible shopping, thousands of restaurants, Underground Atlanta
(kind of dangerous), the World of Coke, Six Flags, Piedmont Park (kind
of like Central Park in NYC), etc., etc. Atlanta's also building the
South's largest aquarium within the next few years.
If you're over 18, you can almost start to enjoy Buckhead, which is the
well-known mid-town bar and club area. One night a week (Thursday or
Wednesday) a lot of the bars will hold college night, for ages 18 and
up. For anyone over 21 however, you can enjoy this area anytime you
wish. Atlanta just changed the bar closing times, but they still stay
open til around 3am most nights. Besides Buckhead, mid-town, the
Virginia Highlands and the Vinings are gaining popularity for hang-out
spots. Even if you don't like the bar or club type stuff, all of these
areas have tremendous restaurants (some of the best in the country),
and they're great to go hang out and walk around in.
The restaurant scene in Atlanta is something to definitely talk about.
There's a huge range of prices, cuisines, locations and settings. Some
local student favorites are Eats (about $8 pasta or chicken), Mama Fu's
Noodle House (about $10), any burrito place ($6 more than you can eat),
countless BBQ places ($6-$15 all you can eat to more than you can
handle), Kool Korners Cuban Sandwiches (lunch time only $6-$8), and the
world-famous Varsity (world's largest fast-food restaurant, started by
Tech grad's a long time ago). It doesn't matter what you like, Atlanta
has it: steak, seafood, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese/sushi, Indian,
American, southern, BBQ, Mexican, etc., etc.
The Greek system on campus is probably the best way to have fun ON
campus. If you aren't in one of the 36 or so fraternities or 9
sororities, then you'll probably have a friend or 2 who are.
Especially during the Fall semester, parties are non-stop, every
Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can roam the Greek area from party to
party (anyone is allowed to attend most of them). With the football
games every weekend, it's a great place to tail-gate or just hang out.
I would recommend the Greek system highly, or at least taking part in
Rush, which happens the first week of the semester - lots of cool
people, free food and good activities going on.
The dating scene on campus seems to be pretty harsh. At least within
Tech, there's a well-known "disease" called Tech-Bitch Syndrome. It
seems that most girls who are either attractive, or slightly less than,
become "high and mighty" when they see that they can get all the
attention from the guys they can handle. This causes them to become
very picky, and a lot of the time, down-right bitchy. It's hard to
explain, but anyone will learn their first semester at Tech. The
male/female ratio is one of the largest complaints around campus. Tech
has been doing a better job recently about recruiting females (by
expanding non-engineering majors), but the ratio still seems to be
close to 2.5 guys to every girl. Especially in a lot of the high-level
engineering classes, where out of 50 students or so, you may see 2
girls (personal experience). Industrial engineering, architecture,
industrial design, international affairs and especially management are
known as the "most attractive" majors on campus, as they have by far
the largest female enrollment. If dating is your priority, then look
into one of these majors. As with everything else though, people
complain without making an effort. Tech may not have a lot of females
to spare, but Georgia State, Agnes Scott (women's college), Oglethorpe
University, Emory University, University of Georgia and countless other
schools are very close by. Atlanta has plenty of southern girls and
guys to go around - you just have to look. As far as that goes too,
Atlanta has one of the major gay populations in the country (I think
San Fransisco is comparable). Mid-town seems to be the center of this
lifestyle, so if that's your deal, then you don't have too far to go
either.
|
Georgia Institute of Technology Admission & Application Surveys
