As the South’s premier technically oriented university, Ma Tech does not coddle her young. Students must contend with the sometimes mean streets of downtown Atlanta and fight through a wall of graduate students to talk with their professors. Big-time sports offer respite from the engineering focus. Tech’s 60/40 male/female ratio is tempered by women from all-female Agnes Scott.

If you’re looking for lazy days on the college green and hard-partying weekends, look elsewhere. You won’t find those at Georgia Institute of Technology, the South’s premier tech university, and a relatively new member of the elite Association of American Universities. What you will find are challenging courses that prepare you for a high-paying job as an engineer, architect, or computer scientist. “Tech is tough,” reasons one student. “You have to want to be here.” Even those who want to be there are happy to finally arrive at graduation day. What makes Tech a special place? “The fact that I survived it and got out with a degree,” says a computer science major, only partially joking (we think). As part of its efforts to become a top technological research university globally, Tech has developed an extensive offering of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), available for free to the general public.

Georgia Tech was founded in 1885 to promote industry in the post–Civil War South. Located just off the interstate in Georgia’s capital city, Tech’s 450-acre campus embraces 40 undergraduate residence halls, an aquatic center, a sports performance complex, and an amphitheater. Taking in the campus architecture is like traveling through time: building styles include the Georgian Revival and collegiate Gothic of the historic Hill District (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and surrounding area, the International Style buildings constructed from the 1940s into the 1960s, the modernist structures of the 1970s and ’80s, the postmodern facilities of the ’90s, and the newly built high-tech facilities. All these styles coexist comfortably on a tree-filled, landscaped campus that serves as a green oasis in the midst of a dense urban environment.

Regardless of major, students must complete credit hours in social sciences, science, English and humanities, math, U.S. or Georgia history, U.S. and global perspectives, and wellness. Strong programs include math and computer science, as well as most types of engineering, especially industrial, biomedical, aerospace, civil, and mechanical. The school of architecture has done pioneering work in historic preservation and energy conservation. Among the architecture program’s alumni is Michael Arad, designer of the September 11 memorial in lower Manhattan. Students in several disciplines complete a Capstone Design course, in which they work in teams to design, build, and test prototypes of products with real-world applications. Aside from the technical fare, Tech’s business college is increasingly popular. The prelaw certificate is a boon to aspiring patent attorneys, as is the minor in law, science, and technology. Tech has plenty of liberal arts courses, but students say history, philosophy, and English aren’t the reasons why most students enroll.

Courses at Tech are “extremely rigorous,” says a senior, at least in the sciences and engineering. “Grading on a curve creates hypercompetitive situations because your absolute grade is largely irrelevant-you just have to do better than most of the others.” Classes tend to be big, although 32 percent have fewer than 20 students. A computer science major warns that Tech is “absolutely horrible for things like freshman math classes. You’re typically taught by TAs. Things get better as you progress and get to know professors.” Faculty members have real-world experience; some are Nobel Prize winners and former NASA astronauts.

Tech’s demanding workload means it’s common to spend five years getting your degree. Students say the course selection process can be frustrating, and getting into required courses can be an issue. One positive factor contributing to delayed graduation dates is the popular co-op program, through which more than 3,000 students earn money for their education while gaining on-the-job experience with more than 700 organizations worldwide. Tech offers more than 90 exchange programs and 30 faculty-led study abroad programs; 56 percent of students have some sort of international study or internship experience by the time they graduate. An honors program is available for the super motivated, and the Center for the Study of Women, Science, and Technology offers a living/learning community and research opportunities for women in STEM fields.

Most Georgia Tech students are too focused on school or their co-op jobs to care much about politics, although improving campus resources for mental health and the LGBTQ community has been a hot topic of late. According to a senior, “There are a lot of left-brain types here-high on the introspection and thinking, low on the social skills.” And though they may be united in their pursuit of technical expertise, the campus is hardly homogeneous: African Americans account for 7 percent of the student body, Hispanics 7 percent, Asian Americans 23 percent, and multiracial students 4 percent. Sixty percent of undergraduates hail from Georgia, and there are large contingents from California, Florida, and Texas; 10 percent come from abroad. To limit burgeoning enrollment, out-of-state applicants must meet somewhat higher criteria than their Georgia counterparts. Georgia residents who graduated high school with a B average benefit from the state’s HOPE Scholarship, which covers about 75 percent of their tuition over four years, assuming they keep their grades up in college. In addition, Tech has eliminated loans for Georgia residents with family incomes below $33,300 a year. Merit scholarships are available, as are 126 athletic scholarships.

Fifty percent of undergrads live in the dorms, where freshmen are guaranteed a room. A senior says the quality of residence halls varies widely: “Some dorms are new, apartment-style, and nice. Others are foul dungeons.” The campus dining halls offer “little variety and less quality,” according to another student. Off-campus housing is generally comfortable, but parts of the surrounding neighborhood are sketchy. “Far too many cars are broken into or stolen,” says one student. “There’s usually a couple of armed robberies (at least) per semester.” Campus police are said to be quick to respond to incidents. VOICE is a campuswide initiative working to address the issue of campus sexual assault.

Being located smack-dab in the middle of “Hot-Lanta” does have its upside: an endless supply of clubs, bars, movie theaters, restaurants, shopping, and museums, both in midtown Atlanta and the Buckhead district. “Atlanta is not a college town,” reasons a computer science major. “However, it is the best thing going in Georgia,” with friendly, young residents, good cultural activities, beautiful green spaces, and a booming economy. The city also offers plenty of community service opportunities. Fraternities draw 22 percent of Tech’s men and sororities attract 26 percent of the women, and members may live in their chapter houses. Alcohol flows freely at frat parties, but otherwise, students say, Tech’s policies against open containers and underage drinking are strictly enforced. “There’s not much in the way of social life here outside of the frats,” says a senior. “You have your group of friends and you do your own thing.” The best road trips include Florida’s beaches, which are a half-day’s drive, and Athens, Georgia, for basketball or football games against the University of Georgia.

Tech’s Division I varsity sports teams (the Yellowjackets) have become as big-time as any in the South, and when the weekend comes, students throw off their lab coats and become wild members of the “Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech.” The men’s golf team won back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference championships in 2018 and 2019; men’s and women’s track and field and women’s basketball are also competitive. About 40 percent of students participate in the university’s 43 club and 20 intramural sports. Among Tech’s many other traditions is “stealing the T,” in which students try to remove the huge yellow letter T from the tower on the administration building and return it to the school by presenting it to a member of the faculty or administration. The addition of alarms, motion sensors, and heat sensors on the T has made the task more difficult, but “certainly not impossible for a Georgia Tech engineer,” says an electrical engineering major. And then there’s the Mini 500, a 15-lap tricycle race around a parking garage with three pit stops, a tire change, and a driver rotation.

Forget fitting the mold; the engineers of Georgia Tech are proud to say they make it. Self-direction, ambition, and motivation will take you far here, as will dexterity with a graphing calculator and a fondness for highly complex software algorithms. And despite their complaints about the workload, the social life (or lack thereof), and the safety of their surrounding neighborhood, Tech students do have a soft spot for their school. Says one student, “I love a good challenge, and Tech is perfect for that.”

-Fiske Guide