Being in Atlanta, GT is considered above Clemson. Clemson is more laid back than GT from my impressions. If you want to live on campus it really does not appear to be a problem. Lots of students live in tech square, homepark, by Ikea and over in collier hills. A Whole Foods on 14th just opened. They just built Northside hospital a few blocks away from Emory Midtown. The area is constantly changing. Over by Howell Mill Rd its trendy with restaurants and stores such as Anthropology. GT’s campus is very safe. And there are some incidents in the surrounding area but that is true for all cities. Over by Homepark you have Antico’s which is fabulous. There is a cafe behind the CRC on Marietta with sandwiches and french pastries. They just torn down a city block there for new apt buildings. I visit there often and I am always in shock to how fast the area is changing.
One thing GT likes to toot is their instate price for travel abroad. Also, because its in a city, jobs are plentiful. If you are in a frat you change your meal plan to the Greek meal plan freshman year. Greek life I found to be quite reasonable price wise. If you are an RA you get free housing. If you don’t live in a freshman experience dorms you dont have to get the freshman meal plan. Co-oping means you don’t pay tuition for those semesters but you can live on campus or off.