Gatech ECE
Program Overview
Degree: Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering, abbreviated MSECE.
Campus: Primarily the Atlanta main campus; you can also spend time at the Lorraine (France) or Shenzhen campuses.
Graduation requirements: 30 credits + one mandatory easy course, ECE 6001 (presentations + startup/entrepreneurship discussions).
Pace: Can be completed in as few as 3 semesters; if you want to take it slow, officially you can stretch it up to 5 years — stay enrolled, keep developing your skills, and graduate after landing a job. You can use GRIP to return home for internships while maintaining school enrollment, which does not affect CPT applications. PhD transfer-friendly.
Course selection flexibility: 6 ECE core courses of your choice (you can pick all software-focused ones); plus 4 free electives from any school — CS / CSE / ISyE are all fair game.
One-line summary: If you want to study hardcore chip design, there is a path for that; if you want to transition to CS, you can arrange your schedule to look almost like a CS degree.
Admission Preferences & Representative Data Points
US-undergrad friendly; prefers ECE undergrad backgrounds.
- IIT CS undergrad, GPA 3.9, two years full-time at MathWorks
- Gatech ECE undergrad, GPA 4.0
- Gatech ECE undergrad, with Google STEP internship
Job Outcomes & Data Points
Both hardware and software positions are represented; overall job outcomes are quite good.
- Gatech ECE undergrad, no internship, landed a hardware company
- Gatech ECE undergrad, small-company hardware internship, landed Apple
- Gatech ECE undergrad, landed NVIDIA internship and converted to full-time
- Indian undergrad, two years full-time at NVIDIA (hardware), landed AMD full-time in the US
- Gatech ECE undergrad, Intel internship, landed Arm internship
- Indian undergrad, one and a half years full-time at BlackRock, landed Apple hardware position
- USC undergrad, small-company SDE intern, landed AMD hardware intern
- Mainland Chinese undergrad, North American big-tech intern, landed Amazon
- Mainland Chinese undergrad, mid-size company intern, landed Apple hardware position
- Mainland Chinese undergrad, landed NVIDIA and Amazon intern
Course Selection
How do you actually snag courses?
Two-round system —
Round 1: Reserved for your own department only — first come, first served.
Round 2: Opens up to all university courses right before the semester starts. Popular CS courses require watching the waitlist for openings. On the last day of Round 2 in the afternoon, a free-for-all begins — waitlists are cleared and you can race to grab remaining spots.
No extra charge for overloading — beyond 12 credits it is free. If you have the stamina, nobody will stop you from taking 4+1 or even 4+2 courses.
How to Prepare for Internship Hunting After Arriving at GT
