Georgia Institute of Technology is located in downtown Atlanta. The city provides endless opportunities for entertainment when students find downtime from schoolwork. Georgia Tech’s campus is located in Midtown, a neighborhood in the heart of Downtown Atlanta known for its agglomeration of social and cultural events. Peachtree Street is one of the main roads near Georgia Tech; it cuts through Midtown and into Buckhead, a ritzy area north of Atlanta. Students who don’t have access to a car can still walk to a nearby movie theater and outdoor shopping mall. Rocky Mountain Pizza is a favorite off-campus eatery. It’s a hole-in-the-wall place with a reputation for really good pizza and wings, as well as a bar stocked with cheap drinks. Because it’s located on West Campus, it’s a laidback place to drink with friends without having to worry how you’ll get home. (You can walk!) Students on East Campus head to Wingnuts, the Techie-preferred wing stop. Some people like to hang out in Tech Square because it offers a variety of restaurants and green space to sit outside and read a book or have a discussion over coffee. Students rave about the breadth of options presented by Atlanta’s club and bar scene, which caters to the city’s diverse population and tastes. One of the most popular hangouts near campus is Atlantic Station. This area was built fewer than 5 years ago but has quickly grown into one of Midtown’s most prized spots, containing a movie theater and tons of restaurants in addition to an array of stores, apartments and townhouses. Atlantic Park is a short 15-minute walk through Home Park from West Campus (though you might want to walk home with a buddy at night).

Campus is split into four major areas: West Campus, East Campus, Central Campus and Technology Square. West and East Campuses are primarily housing areas and Central Campus is where students have most of their classes and research labs. “Tech Square” is located east of campus in midtown Atlanta and houses Tech’s commercial center, including research labs, retail businesses, a hotel, conference center, and faculty offices. The main place where people like to hang out is the Student Center because it offers a variety of different things to do and is centrally located. Tech Rec, located inside the Student Center, is home to a bowling alley, pool tables, couches, a video game area, ping pong and foosball tables. There are also a number of big-screen TVs in the Student Center, a post office, lots of places to eat, meet, and sit, a massive ballroom, and stores. The area right in front of the Student Center is The Campanile, which is a great place to sit and eat with your friends on a nice day. You’ll often find a number of activities going on there as well. The Berger Bowl is an area of green space where many students gather to play sports. It was the site of this year’s Sting Break (a series of events for Georgia Tech students). Tug, an annual Greek Week event, is held here as well. Another place where people typically meet for athletics is on the SAC fields. These fields are right next to the CRC (Campus Recreation Center) and are known for hosting a variety of events. Freshmen typically hang out at the Freshman Quad, located on East Campus. This area is located between two all-male dorms and two all-female dorms and is a central place where freshmen socialize, play Frisbee, or study. There is another popular social area by the North Avenue apartments where people like to go to relax and have fun.

The Tech dorms may not be the most state-of-the-art, but unless you’re willing to find an apartment in Atlanta, you’ll have to deal. There are traditional dorms that have double rooms and a central hall bathroom; others have two double rooms with a connecting bathroom; and apartment-style residences hold four to six people in a suite with two bathrooms and a kitchen. East campus contains single-sex dorms that typically house freshmen. Since the dorms are right in front of the stadium and next to North Avenue and Interstate-85, it can get quite loud. The fraternities and sororities are on East Campus as well, so in general you’ll find more social events there than in other parts of campus. The North Avenue residences are apartment-style dorms typically reserved for upperclassmen and are located across North Avenue, facing the freshman dorms and overlooking the Interstate. These apartments used to house Georgia State students but were sold back to Georgia Tech in 2007. If you’re looking for a fun time and don’t mind the noise, East Campus is the place to live. West Campus tends to be a lot quieter than East Campus: you can’t hear the Interstate and you tend to see fewer people. The freshman dorms on this side of campus are co-ed and a little bit bigger than the dorms on East Campus. The West Campus apartments are where athletes and upperclassmen usually live. The food is better at the west side’s Woodruff Dining Hall than on East Campus. These dorms and apartments are also closer to Atlantic Station, Wal-Mart, and Piedmont Park.

Georgia Tech is an NCAA Division I school in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Football is huge at Tech and the school has racked up four National Championships. The baseball team is consistently on top and has produced some big-name major-leaguers, and the basketball program is highly competitive as well. All sporting events draw devoted fans and alumni, and though students aren’t always interested in the big game, those who are say Tech athletics provide some of the most memorable moments of their college experience. Christine ’08 says, “Georgia Tech as a whole is so focused on academia that most students don't take pride in the athletic departments or even know all the traditions of Georgia Tech. I wish every student at Georgia Tech loved, more importantly, KNEW every Tech tradition. Sometimes I think it's amazing that our athletic department is as strong as it is, based on the small percentage of fan base.”