Happiness at Tech

Definitely had classes that kicked my ass a bit, but i loved the challenge and ultimately overcoming those difficult classes. Really enjoyed my later classes, and studied with some really cool people. Cs 4290 (adv comp arch) comes to mind as being one of the hardest I took, but one of my most interesting classes.

Was GDI most of my time there, but I had a really good freshman floor. A bunch of us founded the sigma pi chapter.

Wouldn't trade the experience at all. The work ethic it instilled and the passion for learning have paid dividends in my carrier.
 
I went back to Tech a few months ago to recruit. I was an undergrad student from '88-'92 and a grad student from '98-'99.

Comparing late 80's to late 90's, there was quite a bit of change due to the upgraded facilities due to the Olympics. Even more so, the prevailing mood wasn't as stressful and cut-throat as I remembered.

Going back a few months ago, Tech seemed like a whole different place. Night and day difference between what it was like in my undergrad days. Obviously, there were more new facilities, but the student demographics and prevailing mood were very different. There were more women and the campus population seemed less nerdy on the whole. Students were less stressed out and moderately happy. While not a party school atmosphere, it didn't feel like you were in a prison.

I understand it's a kindler, gentler Tech these days. The days of attrition are long gone and most who enter end up graduating.
 
cincyjacket said:
I understand it's a kindler, gentler Tech these days. The days of attrition are long gone and most who enter end up graduating.
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A few key changes at Tech in the last 20 years have greatly increased retention:
  • Required study groups for freshman
  • Access to more tutoring
  • Increased TA availability
  • Increased access to Word
  • Reduced course load requirements
  • Alternative classes (e.g. Survey of Calculus for Business instead of Calculus)
  • Student quality has also increased
Also, new facilities and buildings makes campus life better. Both were done to increase freshman retention and increase the graduation rate, which impact rankings.
 
I was a cwt host. They told us that in the 80s the retention rate for freshmen year was 70%, but by then was mid 90s. I actually wished they took more and weeded out more, as I don't think SATs are a good metric for intelligence, and that hard work / work ethic werent captured in high school despite being a huge indicator of success at tech.
 
cyptomcat said:
No, we are all semesters, Tech converted couple years before I started.

It seems like 200 quarter-hours is about 130 semester-hours.

Basically, they took 3 quarter courses for a year, and squeezed it into 2 semester courses, so 2/3's the "credit hours".

So your 17-20 quarter hours are maybe about 11-14 semester hours.
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Catching up on old threads here, but it is my understanding, as echoed in a way by @ee8384, that 17 quarter hours are 17 semester hours. The difference in the total hours needed for graduation comes from their being 2/3rs as many semesters as quarters per year.

And yeah, 17 hours means you are in the classroom for roughly 17 hours per week. And of course, spending 2 to 4 times that many hours outside of the classroom.
 
I wasn't looking for happiness at Tech. It was strictly a business proposition. I wanted a useful degree in as short a time as possible. I had a steady girlfriend and left almost every weekend to go home as soon as I could and came back in the wee hours of Sunday night. I lived in the dorms all 4 years (it was much cheaper than an apt back then) and I worked for most of the time in a job. Student loans were out of the question. It was what it was.
 
I went to GT 89-93. I've go back there recruiting every year for the past couple of years. Just like cincyjacket said, it doesnt seem as stressed out as 20-30 years ago. I too noticed a lot more attractive women running around but wasn't sure if it was just that I'm in my 40s now and any 20 year old woman looks good these days lol? It does appear GT's college life is much better.
 
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This is so funny. Everyone who got out "years ago" walked uphill both ways to class in 6 feet of snow... GT is just as hard today as it ever was. When some went here "years ago" the world was still flat. Just embrace that there are some smart as hell students who attend and it still SUCKS. But that is why its worth it. I partied at UGA for 4 years, did not learn öööö. I was smart enough to graduate and make some contacts that helped me get started in my career. College is what you make it. Granted the campus is much nicer now. Its used to be a housing project. GT is a great school because its GT. If is was easy it would be Georgia State.
 
Flea77 said:
This is so funny. Everyone who got out "years ago" walked uphill both ways to class in 6 feet of snow... GT is just as hard today as it ever was. When some went here "years ago" the world was still flat. Just embrace that there are some smart as hell students who attend and it still SUCKS. But that is why its worth it. I partied at UGA for 4 years, did not learn öööö. I was smart enough to graduate and make some contacts that helped me get started in my career. College is what you make it. Granted the campus is much nicer now. Its used to be a housing project. GT is a great school because its GT. If is was easy it would be Georgia State.
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So you were smart enough to graduate from UGAg, where you didn't learn öööö? Quite an achievement.
 
ee8384 said:
So you were smart enough to graduate from UGAg, where you didn't learn öööö? Quite an achievement.
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Thank you. Most don't, they just learn how to get out... Memorizing a bunch of stuff to pass test for 4 years.
 
Flea77 said:
This is so funny. Everyone who got out "years ago" walked uphill both ways to class in 6 feet of snow... GT is just as hard today as it ever was. When some went here "years ago" the world was still flat. Just embrace that there are some smart as hell students who attend and it still SUCKS. But that is why its worth it. I partied at UGA for 4 years, did not learn öööö. I was smart enough to graduate and make some contacts that helped me get started in my career. College is what you make it. Granted the campus is much nicer now. Its used to be a housing project. GT is a great school because its GT. If is was easy it would be Georgia State.
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Flea, I am sure Gt is still difficult relative to the Uga's & Ga. States of the world and nobody is saying otherwise. FWIW, I attended Uga for 2 quarters before transferring so I can speak as well as anyone can about the contrast between the two schools. Most transfers go in the opposite direction.With that being said, us old timers are very skeptical about the new policies. You cannot tell me it is the same. Nowadays everyone who gets in gets out. If you understand that, how can it possibly be as stressful for the typical student? The infrastructure has been changed to ensure the student is successful. It's analogous to the "everybody gets to make the team/gets to play" attitude that has replaced "the survival of the fittest" mindset in our culture.

FWIW, I understand your son plays FB. I can believe the athletes do face challenges that the average student doesn't and I respect that. Nor are most of us is saying that the school is handing out diplomas. The underlying assumption is that a student admitted to GT either now or in the past will put in work, either on day one or as soon as he/she realizes that what they did in high school isn't going to be good enough. Nowadays, that guarantees success. In our days, that wasn't enough. You had to compete to be "one of the three". Just doing work didn't cut it.

The TL,DR version - us old guys now think it's a school for ****** now. Smart, but still ******. FWIW,we don't blame the kids. It's the fault of leadership and striving for a kinder, gentler school to improve their rankings in some bull**** rankings.

Excuse, **** neighbor kids are on my lawn again.
 
Highest stress was the 60's and early 70's. If you flunked out, you were drafted into the Army.
 
Flea77 said:
This is so funny. Everyone who got out "years ago" walked uphill both ways to class in 6 feet of snow... GT is just as hard today as it ever was. When some went here "years ago" the world was still flat. Just embrace that there are some smart as hell students who attend and it still SUCKS. But that is why its worth it. I partied at UGA for 4 years, did not learn öööö. I was smart enough to graduate and make some contacts that helped me get started in my career. College is what you make it. Granted the campus is much nicer now. Its used to be a housing project. GT is a great school because its GT. If is was easy it would be Georgia State.
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I went to Tech from 06-11. I guarantee you that Tech changed radically between those years. When I first got there, we were still having professors fail kids out. When I left most of those were gone and Tech was trying to get everyone to pass. Tech isn't nearly as hard as it was.
 
GT was super easy for me. Of course it helps that I'm a ööööing genius.

I had a lot of fun at GT and was genuinely happy there. I could've done some things differently like explore Atlanta more but being in the rowing team was awesome.
 
Tech was hard, but fun. Work is far more boring, less intellectually stimulating and less fun.
 
gtjeffc said:
Tech was hard, but fun. Work is far more boring, less intellectually stimulating and less fun.
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Gt was work but with no pay. Work was work...with pay. The output at Gt was imaginary whereas the output at work is real, measurable and quantifiable. I prefer work with pay.
 
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