Atlanta's feelings about Georgia Tech (Boston, Carlton: real estate, chapel, hotel)

[brett9897]

Hey, I am moving to Atlanta from Saint Louis to get my masters degree from Tech and almost everyone from Atlanta who finds out where I am from asks the same question, "How did you hear about Georgia Tech?". Do people in Atlanta not know that it is a top 10 public university? It just seems odd to me that so many people have asked that question. Anyways, what are your thoughts on why people are confused when someone from "the north" (p.s. people from Missouri don't consider themselves as northerners) shows up in Atlanta to go to Tech?

[JPD]

You must be speaking to a lot of dummies.

Most of us feel that Tech is one of the things we should be proud of.

[go falcons]

If anyone spends anytime there at all , they soon realize that the students come from all over the world, not just the U.S. Many of us do realise that it is a great school , doing some great things in many different areas especially the engineering fields it is well known for.

[neil0311]

The only people who have a problem with Tech are usually the folks who went to the University of GA, since there is a sports rivalry between them, and some UGA grads wouldn't have been accepted to Tech and have a chip on their shoulder.

[aries4118]

Um, I don't know who you've been talking to, but GT is well-known around the world--especially among Atlantans/Georgians/Southerners.

[AlGreen]

....not to mention that the campus grounds are awesome

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by AlGreen

....not to mention that the campus grounds are awesome

And it was the site of the Olympic Village and swimming venue

[WriterDawg85]

You might need to make some smarter friends around here if they're asking you those types of questions.

I'm a proud UGA grad and second generation Bulldog, but I don't think any alumni (as opposed to "Dawg fans" who don't actually have any affiliation with the school) would ever deny that it's a very high quality school for people interested in engineering.

I'm just glad I didn't have to go there :-)

[jsimms3]

I go to Tech. 1/4 of my fraternity is from the Boston metro. Another half of my fraternity come from various locations, mainly CT (3 brothers from Glastonbury alone), NY, PA, NC, CA, FL (I am from FL), and TX. The minority are from the state (usually Atl metro). We also have brothers from India, Jamaica, China, Canada, basically Cuba, and Mexico. That may sound diverse to you, but actually most foreigners don't join American traditional fraternities. Expect the student body to be about 35% international (though many have found ways to have in-state residencies) with another 30-35% out of state (originally from another state in not out-of-state altogether). It has the laid back atmosphere of a public school (I went to private high so I definitely see a difference in atmosphere) with the student body of a world renowned institution. Most of our international students come from somewhere on the Asian continent (i.e. South Korea, China, or India). For a public school in the south there is a healthy Jewish student body (I only have a couple in my fraternity even though so many people from heavily Jewish areas), but Emory is known as a very Jewish school in the South, as well as Tulane and University of Florida, so usually if you are Jewish you head to one of those 3 schools.

Georgia Tech is consistenly 3rd or 4th overall for engineering (up there with MIT, Caltech, and one of the Midwestern schools...IU or Perdue or UofI I think), and of course our Computer Sciences are highly rated. What many people do not know is that we have one of the best business schools in the country and many engineers earn dual degrees with the business school, or they do engineering undergrad and then get their MBA at Tech after a few years of work. The management school (business) is probably going to be a top 20 after this year (we are number 22 this year I think, tied with Emory and well ahead of any of the other schools in GA...only Chapel Hill and Duke and UVA have higher ranked schools in the South).

The school is also a leader in green design and green technology developments (Suniva was started by a Tech grad and the LED was actually invented by a Tech professor, as well as all work in 3D Nano PV cells and harnessing wasted energy in our every day movements (heart beat, breathing, walking, etc) to power small devices like an ipod or cell phone. Just google Dr. Zhong Wang. Finally, the emerging field of nanotechnology is huge at Tech. We have the south's largest clean rooms and lab space devoted to nanoscience in 4 buildings that have all been recently built. The latest is the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, named after billionaire and donor Bernie Marcus. It's a very modern and interesting building.

Companies that were started by Tech grads include, but are not limited to: Suniva, Invesco, Dewberry Capital, the New York real estate mogul Richard Kalikow (owner of many a famous building such as the Helmsley, came and spoke to my class this year), Ritz Carlton before it was sold to Marriot in the 90s, Earth Link, Days Inn, Citrix Systems, Kaneva, Internet Security Systems, Sportsline, Mayfield, Waffle House (the company's founders are actually who bought the lone Ritz Carlton in Boston and turned it into one of the largest international luxury hotel chains, they came and spoke ti my class this year), developer of Mozilla, and believe me the list goes on. Current CEOs/directors of companies that are Tech grads include the CEOs/directors of Wal-Mart, Apple back in the day, Coca Cola, AT&T, Norfolk Southern, Sun Trust Banks (both sons in my fraternity , and list goes on.

You will do well by graduating from Tech! BTW what are you getting your master's in? I am finishing up my senior undergrad year (graduation Dec. 2010) in the College of Management (business). Oh forgot to mention we have one of the best architecture/city planning/industrial design programs in the country (John Portman is perhaps the most well known to come from that school), but their classes/buildings are pretty dismal. They weren't designed by Tech students, I can tell you that, haha.

Sorry for the long post...I'm just a ramblin wreck from Georgia Tech and not a helluva engineer (that's why I am in the business school, ha), but I love Tech (it's difficult, though, and took me 2 whole years to adjust), and To Hell With Georgia Did I mention we have good athletics and the best gym in the South (was built for the Olympics)...Ok I'll stop.

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by brett9897

Hey, I am moving to Atlanta from Saint Louis to get my masters degree from Tech and almost everyone from Atlanta who finds out where I am from asks the same question, "How did you hear about Georgia Tech?". Do people in Atlanta not know that it is a top 10 public university? It just seems odd to me that so many people have asked that question. Anyways, what are your thoughts on why people are confused when someone from "the north" (p.s. people from Missouri don't consider themselves as northerners) shows up in Atlanta to go to Tech?

I'm guessing the problem is that most people living in Atlanta simply don't know very much about Missouri. Therefore, your revelation of where you are from is a bit of a conversation-stopper and they are simply casting about for something to say to keep the ball rolling and can't quickly come up with anything better than "How did you hear about Georgia Tech?"