Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Top Questions

What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?

Rebecca

I wish I would have known more about the stress level that most students face. I also wish I knew that the social scene was mostly Greek/alcohol focused.

Yutong

Study hard and not just memorize but learn the material

Nicholas

I wish I had known more about the research scholorship opportunities a Georgia Tech. I enrolled in undergraduate research my second semester at Tech and did not know about research scholarhips until a full year later. There are many great research scholarship opportunities available for Tech students, however, they are not well represented on campus.

Brittany

That I would be in this much debt, not be able to find the internships this school boasts about, and struggle academically to the point of depression.

Abdoulaye

how tough it is.

Laura

I wish I would've known more about greek life before coming to this school. It is very prominent here. Also I would've liked to know that I could wait to buy my books until classes actually started. Some professors don't even require them which would have saved me a lot of money first semester.

Bret

Apply for more scholarships

Rebecca

I wish I had known how difficult my freshman classes were going to be. I struggled with classes my first semester because I took too many classes that were extremely difficult. I wish I had spread them out so that I could have done better in them.

Shibani

Georgia Tech is indeed very competitive, but help is available at every turn from professors themselves, student-to-student tutoring, TAs, and help sessions from PhD students and others. Your college experience at Georgia Tech is what you are willing to make it. I came in with a negative mindset, thinking I would fail and not make friends. And for the first month or so, I lived in fear of failure and without friends. I changed that, thrust myself into several of the various social gatherings in my dorm, and am best friends with those same people. Be brave.

David

More activities to choose from than imaginable.

Nicholas

I wish that I had learned to utilize and manage my time better. Between schoolwork, projects, extracirricular ativities, and off-campus events, student life at Georgia Tech can get incredibly hectic. At the beginning of the year, I was amazed at how much time homework and studying would eat up and leave me without time to spend with friends. But after talking to my advisor, she helped me to space out work and to plan way ahead to make sure I made the most of my time at Tech. Its something I would advise all new students to do.

Jillian

Before starting college, I wish somebody would've told me how vital it is to get involved in extracurricular activities from the start. During the fall of freshman year, I was afraid to get involved in much, fearing my grades would suffer. However, there are so many amazing freshman leadership organizations that help one adjust to college life, learn time management, meet other freshmen, and get a great start on building your resume! Plus, it's more difficult to get accepted into sophomore-level programs with no freshman year involvement. Looking back, I wish I'd have gotten involved sooner!

Mustafa

A detailed overview of the application process for jobs.

Addie

I wish I had known how much I needed to mentally and emotionally prepare so spend days and nights in the library with barely four hours of sleep a night. Although Georgia Tech is tough, it is nice to have classmates who are in the same situation as you and are always willing to help.

Julia

I wish I had known the level of dedication the courses here require. To make good grades at Georgia Tech, it requires hours of rigorous study time and lots of late nights. It is much more challenging than I ever would have thought.

William

I wish I would have known a better way to earn money. The forms of earning that money could have been either scholarships, grants, a higher paying job to where I would not have to work full time. Not being able to work full time would allow me to have more time to do well in my classes and it would be less stressfull.

Meagan

I wish I had known how important it is to find a sense of balance between academics and social activities. You can't spend your entire college career only studying; you have to find an outlet to relieve stress and make some time for yourself.

Austin

The tuition for out of state students is huge, but if you study abroad with Georgia Tech, you only have to pay in state tuition. Look into studying abroad as soon as possible of you are an out of state student.

Nichole

I wish I had known to get involved earlier in my freshman year. Bigger organizations like the Student Center Programs Council have so many leadership opportunities and the earlier you get involved, the better. Organizations are very open to freshman taking on big responsibilities.

Federico

That curves are unlikely and are only helpfull to those that are already preforming very well. The depth of course work.

Amanda

I wish I had known how to open myself up to people. I have met so many new and amazing people and it has taken me a long time to reaIize that I can trust them. I also wish I had known how hard it would be to get up in the morning and be productive. I have never slept so much as I have in school on days when I do not have classes until twelve o'clock in the afternoon. In summation, I wish I had known to schedule early classes and to open myself up.

Thevuthasan

For starters it would have helped to know how hard the school was going to be. Coming from a small high school that wasn't geared towards engineering made it tough my first semester. It was a large learning curve. But I can confidently say that I have got it now. I also wish I had known about the classes that are extremely tough such as Physics. Then I would have taken Physics C in HS and exempted that requirement with the AP tests. I also wish I had known some computing language coming in. It would have done wonders.

Kaitlin

I wish I had known what the Calculus classes were like.

April

The difficult curriculum and the big classes.

avinel

that most of the classes in ITT Technical Institute were once a week instead of twice a week.

Lee

Be sure that you are ready for the intensity of Georgia Tech. In order to to well here, you will need to be committed to your studies. That means attending class, taking notes, doing the readings, and reviewing each week. But the air on campus isn't too heavy. People (students, professors, administration) generally don't take themselves too seriously, and keep a grounded, positive outlook, which helps the alleviate the grind immensely.

Nicole

I wish I had known the rigor of the courses and been better prepared for the amount of work involved.

Kendall

Before coming to this school, everyone warned me about how hard the school work was going to be. Everyone said school would take over my life, but I wish I had known that no matter what, college is what you make of it. You can stay in your room or library all the time and study, or you can go out to parties and see Atlanta. In both cases it's possible to get A's at Tech.

Mykhail

I wish I had known that this school would be so demanding academically. Georgia Tech education rivals that of an Ivy League school so classes are very difficult. Many of the classes that students generally take their first year are specifically designed to weed out students from certain majors or possibly even the school in some cases. These classes are more difficult than normal classes, which says a lot considering the Institute as a whole is very challenging. The majority of your free time should be dedicated towards studying. It would have been nice to know which teachers to avoid.

Patrick

I would have liked to know about the difficulties one must go through to achieve financial aid in this program. I came from a middle class background, but due to the current economic slump I have faced serious difficulties in paying my tuition. I was told before I arrived at Tech that this would not be an issue as there would be plenty financial aid opportunities. However, these financial aid opportunities only apply to those with diverse ethnic backgrounds, no finances, and those who can maintain a better than average GPA at this difficult school. so I lack financial aid.

Jourdyn

I wish I had known more about how academically demanding this school is. We were warned, but not enough. Students who had never even made a B before can come to this school and make not only their first B, but their first Ds and Fs also. It took me almost an entire semester to get use to the demand of coursework at a top engineering school. It is very difficult, but I have never learned so much, and it is definitely the most rewarding education.

Christine

nothing.

Jayson

I wish I was more aware of the limited interaction between certain backgrounds.

Rebecca

Exactly how much my life was going to suck during Finals Week!

Nicholas

Studying can be important as well as timed management.

KaNisa

I wish I knew more about my original major. I was a little more artsy than the typical computer science major and ended up changing.

Tiffany

I wish someone had told me that the only way to feel like you have a social life is to get involved in some school activities. The work load is definitely enormous and it can be overwhelming. As a student here you are either working (at school or a job) or partying. Since there isn't much down time it seems like the only free time we have goes right to partying.

In

I wish I had better study habits. I learned though my 1 and a half years that good habits are the keys to success.

Sarah

how to study

Sarah

That it was going to be incredibly tough. You go from an A-B student to a B-C student.

Michelle

I wish I had known how much school works hinders having a social life without alcohol.

Colt

The importance of going above and beyond is great. It is worthwhile to get to know your professors.

Raschel

Coming into this school I had no idea the difficulty of exams. Most professors don't give a review and you have to rely on old friends who had taken the same course in a previous year to help. Professors stress theory and urge students to look deeper on exams. Also, EVERY teacher ends up curving test scores because the tests are SO difficult that averages will be around 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}--which means nobody would have a passing grade without the curve. I've had to completely change my study habits from high school to adapt to this style of testing.

Juan

I can't think of anything

Courtney

I wish that I had known that over 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of all freshmen lose the HOPE scholarship. If I had known that I was going to be paying tuition with school loans anyway, I would have attended my first choice in California.

jessica

It is a good idea to get AP credit for biology, chemistry, and physics

James

Nothing

Desiree

Its ok to fail a test, it happens to everyone. Studying will take a lot of time, and you can't get overcommitted, but that shouldn't stop you from getting involved

F.Shaikh

difficulty