Georgia Tech's undergraduate and graduate programs are divided into six Colleges. Collaboration among the Colleges is frequent, as mandated by a number of interdisciplinary degree programs and research centers.
Recently, Georgia Tech has sought to strengthen its undergraduate and graduate offerings in less technical fields, such as public policy, international affairs, economics, modern languages, history and sociology, communication and cultural studies, and digital media.
Set on a spacious campus in the middle of trendy Midtown Atlanta, and with a rich tradition of top-ranked athletic teams and student activities, Tech students have a plethora of social options to choose from.
On campus, fraternities and sororities play a central role in the social scene, and nearly a quarter (22%) of Tech students are members of these organizations. Drawing upon students' engineering prowess, many fraternities host raucous parties that feature creative themes and elaborate set designs and props. Outside of the party scene, a number of student organizations play a central role in the lives of Tech students in other ways. Georgia Tech has over three hundred student organizations, which range from professional clubs to religious organizations, and these all play a large part in the life of an average student at Tech. Tech students are traditionally very active in student organizations, with over 80% of students participating in at least one student organization.
Due to the prominence of Georgia Tech's athletic programs, attending athletic events is always a popular option for students. The school's men's basketball, football, women's volleyball, and baseball games are well-attended by both current students and alums.
In terms of off-campus social options, being located in the middle of a young and vibrant city like Atlanta offers a number of advantages to Tech students. Just off campus, there are several establishments that act as local watering holes for students. Rocky Mountain Pizza, Peachtree Tavern, and Moondogs are all very popular student spots. Meanwhile, "Home Park", a neighborhood that borders the north end of campus, is a popular living area for Tech students and recent grads, and a number of parties and barbecues are hosted by the neighborhood's residents.
Of course, the downside to being a student at one of the most elite and rigorous engineering schools in the world is that students often don't have a lot of free time with which to explore all of these social options. Quoting the Princeton Review summary of student life, "Because of the heavy workload at Georgia Tech, most students are overly stressed, worried about tomorrow's test, and driven by the desire for the degree. Students have only minimal time for social functions". The high levels of stress were the likely causes of a recent U.S. News & World Report which listed Georgia Tech as the 17th most alcoholic school in the nation — the only school on the list that hasn't ever been listed in The Princeton Review's top party schools.
The school's administration has endeavored to reduce the levels of anxiety felt by many Tech students. Most notable have been the administration's FASET (Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech) and Freshmen Experience (a freshman only dorm life program to encourage friendships and a feeling of social involvement) programs, which help to acclimate new students to their surroundings and foster a greater sense of community.
Other school initiatives aimed at improving student life include the administration's efforts to boost female enrollment at the school. Historically, female enrollment at engineering institutions has been quite low, and Georgia Tech is no exception. With about twice as many male students as females, Georgia Tech has one of the most unbalanced male-to-female ratios of any co-ed university. However, this is slowly changing, presumably due to the university's growing liberal arts programs, as well as outreach programs to encourage more female high school students to consider careers in science and engineering, such as the "Women In Engineering" program. The freshman class of 2005–2006 currently has one of the most balanced male/female ratios to date at 71% to 29%.
Arts at Tech
*DramaTech is the campus' student run theater. The theater has been entertaining Georgia Tech and the surrounding community since 1947. They are also home to Let's Try This! (the campus improv troupe) and VarietyTech (a song and dance troupe). *Under the Couch is a live music venue located beneath the Couch Building on West Campus. It is run by the Musician's Network. *Georgia Tech also has a growing music scene, including the up and coming a cappella groups on campus: Nothin' but Treble and Sympathetic Vibrations. *Since its inception in 1996, the Georgia Tech Symphony Orchestra has grown from a dozen interested students into an 80+ member ensemble. It is now one of the largest performance groups on campus. *The oldest student organization on campus is the Georgia Tech Men's Glee Club, founded in 1906, and was among first collegiate choral groups to release a recording of their songs. The group toured extensively and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, providing worldwide exposure to "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech". *The Georgia Tech Athletic Bands play a crucial part for school spirit and athletic support. The Marching Band consistently fields over 175 members and even invites students from other Atlanta Area Universities who do not have football programs (Georgia State, Emory, Agnes Scott, Kennesaw State, etc) to participate.
Student media
*WREK-FM, 91.1 MHz is known as "Wreck Radio." Their studio is on the second floor of the Student Center. The Technique, also known as the "'Nique," is the official student newspaper of Georgia Tech. It is distributed weekly during the Fall and Spring semesters (on Fridays), and biweekly during the Summer semester (with certain exceptions). It was established on November 17, 1911. The Technique's office is located in the Student Services Building.The North Avenue Review is the free-speech magazine of Georgia Tech.
The Georgia Tech campus is located in Midtown, an area north of downtown Atlanta. Although a number of skyscrapers are visible from all points on campus — most notably the headquarters of both BellSouth and The Coca-Cola Company as well as Atlanta's tallest building, the Bank of America building — the campus itself has few buildings over four stories and has a great deal of greenery. This gives it a distinctly suburban atmosphere quite different from other Atlanta campuses such as that of Georgia State University or Emory University.
The campus is organized into four main parts: West Campus, East Campus, Central Campus, and Technology Square. West Campus and East Campus are both occupied primarily by student living complexes, while Central Campus is reserved primarily for teaching and research buildings.
West Campus
West Campus is occupied primarily by apartments and coed undergraduate freshman dormitories. The Campus Recreation Center (formerly the Student Athletic Complex), a volleyball court, a large, low natural green area known as the Burger Bowl, a large, and a flat artificial green area known as the SAC Fields are all located on the western side of the campus. Also within easy walking distance of West Campus is City Cafe, which is open 24 hours, Rocky Mountain Pizza, and Engineer's Bookstore, an alternative to Georgia Tech's official bookstore. West Campus is also home to a music club operated by students called Under the Couch The annual "Ramblin' Wreck" parade at Homecoming displays some really strange contraptions, judged for ingenuity.
Tech has seventeen varsity sports. In men's sports, in addition to football, basketball, and baseball, there's golf, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross country. For women, there's basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross-country. Fourteen of these sports finished in the top 25 during the 2004-5 school year.
Football
Georgia Tech's football team plays at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, the oldest on campus stadium among Division I-A teams. Georgia Tech claims 4 national championships in football: 1917 under the legendary coach John Heisman; 1928 under William Alexander; 1952 under the famous Bobby Dodd; and, 1990 as national co-champions with Colorado under Bobby Ross.
The 1916 Yellow Jackets team set a record for the largest margin of victory in college football history (or in the history of any other American football competition, for that matter) in a game against Cumberland College, 222-0.
The team is currently coached by Chan Gailey, who is best known for his stints with the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. As of the end of the 2005 season, Tech is one of only six Div. I-A teams to have played in a bowl game in each of the past nine years. Only 5 schools have longer bowl streaks. Georgia Tech's winning percentage of .647 in bowl games is the second best in college football among teams with 20 bowl appearances. The Yellow Jackets are 23-13 in bowl games as of 2006. During the Dodd glory years of the early 50s, Tech won six bowls in six years, back when there were few bowls. In 1955, it was the first school to win what were then considered the four major bowls: Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton.
Basketball
Georgia Tech's men's basketball team plays at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The team is currently coached by Paul Hewitt. Georgia Tech has participated in two NCAA Final Fours - 1990 and 2004. The Yellow Jackets advanced to their first NCAA championship game in 2004, losing to the UConn Huskies.
The 2005-2006 team, after losing rising senior Jarrett Jack to the NBA, featured two upperclassmen and nationally ranked sophomore and freshmen recruiting classes. The team failed to qualify for post-season play. However, with the addition of highly ranked incoming freshmen, Javaris Crittenden and Thaddeus Young, at least one early poll places the 2006-2007 squad back in the Top 20.
