Atlanta's feelings about Georgia Tech (Boston, Pitts: how much, transfer, best schools)

[WriterDawg85]

Originally Posted by jsimms3

Agreed that most people in the South just choose one of the big state schools nearby to attend. Georgia Tech is not a "Southern" school in that sense and most people actually think of it as a private school (which I think it should be so we don't have to fight the Board of Regents about everything because they favor State and UGA). It is actually a public school.

I can't stand going out into the burbs to a place like Mall of Georgia where I am the only one not wearing some sort of Bulldawg fan gear. I guarantee 95% of the people wearing UGA stuff never even went there. That is a pretty big difference, too, in the schools. Many Tech grads end up living in the City of Atlanta and don their fan gear, and of course some close family members and a few wannabes, but everyone else in GA is a **HUGE** Bulldawg proudly displaying whatever memorabilia they can even though close to none of them ended up going to UGA, which is also a good school, just different and more of a "big state school."

The "Dawg fans" who have never set foot on campus in Athens but do nothing but wear Georgia gear and talk smack annoy UGA alumni as much as they annoy Tech fans. I think that's something upon which we can all agree.

But the point is, OP, that Tech is well-regarded and well-known. I wouldn't take people just trying to make conversation as some sort of red flag.

[RainyRainyDay]

And to be fair, some authentic UGA alumni are also right into the gear. Our veterinarian is a proud UGA grad (she has the DVM diploma on her wall to prove it). She also has a bunch of UGA memorabilia in her office and on game days sports a UGA sweatshirt under her lab coat, UGA earrings etc. I think her allegiance is cute, and as a DVM grad, she certainly has the real-alum cred.

[WriterDawg85]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

And to be fair, some authentic UGA alumni are also right into the gear. Our veterinarian is a proud UGA grad (she has the DVM diploma on her wall to prove it). She also has a bunch of UGA memorabilia in her office and on game days sports a UGA sweatshirt under her lab coat, UGA earrings etc. I think her allegiance is cute, and as a DVM grad, she certainly has the real-alum cred.

My irritation isn't with the gear (I have a sticker and a front plate on my car, as well as a sticker on my laptop cover and a hoodie I wear often in the winter), but more with the image that some non-alumni fans foist on the school. As with most large state schools, a lot of people who are very comfortable in their ignorance and lack of education tend to vocally support the Dawgs despite having no affiliation with the school, merely since it's the state's flashiest public college.

I'm all for people buying gear (after all, that money goes back to support the school and its athletic programs), but I wish that those who choose to do so would behave themselves and act like adults while wearing it. And also, on the off chance that they want to come to Athens to enjoy a game, I wish they'd clean up after themselves and not trash the campus.

This is all OT, I apologize, but I wanted to clarify my previous statement.

[jsimms3]

From Georgia Tech Daily News:

In a couple of weeks, Georgia Tech will welcome its newest freshman class, one of the most diverse in the Institute’s history. With applications from 49 states and 89 countries, the class boasts an average high school grade point average of 3.89 and an SAT of 1376/2025, as well as increased female, African American and Hispanic populations. In all, more than 13,500 students applied to Georgia Tech, an 18 percent increase from last year.

[jsimms3]

Originally Posted by WriterDawg85

As with most large state schools, a lot of people who are very comfortable in their ignorance and lack of education tend to vocally support the Dawgs despite having no affiliation with the school, merely since it's the state's flashiest public college.

Couldn't have been said better. I bet there is a state school with worse overall non-affiliated fans, though, and most likely here in the deep south. (I hate to rag on UGA even though I go to Tech).

[testa50]

Caring about people who didn't go to your college wearing your apparel and cheering for your football team has gotta be one of the more wrongheaded things I've heard. There are people from throughout the south who love the Braves but have never set foot in Atlanta...should we hate on them too? People enjoy watching Georgia Football because it's a great on-field product and off-field experience. College athletics has produced a sport so entertaining that people who have no direct interest are compelled to cheer for a team. What exactly is the problem with that?

And the idea that Georgia fans who didn't go to UGA give the school a bad reputation is absurd as well. Top-notch schools like Michigan, Texas, OSU, Notre Dame, and Florida all have the same fanatical football culture that extends well beyond the alum network, and anyone with half a clue understands that just because you see a G on someone's car doesn't mean they went to Georgia.

Finally, if you're arguing that all of these Georgia fans have never set foot in our campus yet they are responsible for destroying it, well, I don't know what to say. And Georgia was just crowned the #1 party school, so to suggest the university is some straight-laced institution that is co-opted by hooligans from around the state who have nothing to do with the university is obviously bunk.

Just enjoy college football and the fact that you're part of something significant and fun that's cherished throughout the state.

[jsimms3]

Actually people that went to UGA worked hard to get into UGA, hopefully stayed at UGA, worked hard during their college years and spent a lot of money to go there. They deserve their football team and to be a part of the fan base for the rest of their lives and hopefully will contribute to UGA later on. Same goes for Georgia Tech, obviously. The people who are obnoxious fans of any major college who didn't go there don't really have a basis, so no, I disagree with your analysis.

As for fans of the Braves, professional sports is very different. The Braves are the South's team, so anyone from the South who is a Braves fan is inadvertently showing their Southern pride. Someone who just moved here from Pittsburgh is most likely not going to drop their allegiance to their hometown Pirates and pick up being a Braves fan immediately. That will come with time, maybe, if they drop some roots in Atlanta, and therefore the south.

I don't understand people who root for college teams they really have no association with and then don't end up supporting their major league teams. If I was from Atlanta, I would be a Falcons, Hawks, Braves, and Thrashers fan most likely. Actually I am only a Marlins fan because my semi-prof team in Jacksonville is the feeder team for the Marlins, but otherwise I would be a Braves fan because I have been here for over 4 years. I go to Braves games regardless.

I say if college sports is your favorite thing about college, try to get into the school you root for so you can be a legitimate fan. I for one did not choose Tech because it happens to have pretty good sports teams, though that was a side benefit.

[testa50]

Well I don't feel any more right to enjoy Georgia football than anyone else, despite being an alum of the institution. I know some people who went to Georgia but root for teams like Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn because that's their traditional family school--what about these folks?

College football in the south is a cultural force and tradition that transcends attending an institution. Until ~1960 the south was completely left out of the NFL and it still is underrepresented in MLB with only one franchise in the south and perhaps a couple more that are remotely southern (Cincy, Houston, STL), so it shouldn't come as a surprise that college football is much more deeply entrenched among everybody, even if they didn't go to the institutions.

The fact that some people seem to think there should be an aura of exclusivity surrounding college football totally ignores the history and traditions of the sport and is disheartening indeed. You don't need to do anything to "deserve" to be a Georgia fan as you suggest. I'll happily cheer alongside anyone who considers themselves part of the Bulldog Nation.

[jsimms3]

Well forgive the rest of us who did not grow up with these influences and find them odd.

[MathmanMathman]

My general impression of Georgia Tech is that it is ridiculously difficult. By that I mean, obviously you have to study hard to pass the course but the tests can be so difficult. I heard stories that in Chemical Engineering, tests scores of 40 was an A, 30 a B, 20 a C, etc. I read a story in the GT newspaper from a former grad student that in the 1970s, the math department had a "mission" to "weed out" about 25% (I think) of the freshman class. So at times they intentionally try to force students out. I recall preparing for tests, knowing how to do all the homeworks, able to recite the class notes, and still make a B because the exam was either so difficult or too long. I recall on one final, I only had time to do half of the test! Didn't flunk...but that was absurd! On another, the material was different to what we had been doing all quarter long. One student raised his hand and asked sarcastically, "Can we have the real test?". The prof said that he wanted to see how we do on this kind of test. Perhaps we could have done well if had taught that material and allowed us to prepare for it. Another prof gave an exam and said that on about half of the problems, if we had solved them, the department would have awarded us a PhD! Great! He wasted our time trying to solve problems more appropriate for grad students, that might require years of work, and even the prof didn't know the answer!

And there was, and maybe still is, the "word" system. Old tests held by fraternities and sororities that give those who possess them an unfair advantage. I was able to get an old exam from a friend and the fool prof gave the same exact exam. Made a 99 and lost a point because of small typo that the prof jumped on to deduct 1 point.

Tech has a good reputation but I guess they have so many bright students that they have to make exams very hard. I recall a visiting prof saying after giving his first exam that he had to make future exams harder because there were too many A's. I made a 93 and that was made the cutoff for a B. My general impression is that you have to bring outside knowledge to the class to do well or just be a natural genius. They don't really test you on the class material but rather they give advanced questions or just make the exam ridiculously long.