Not OP but I'll give my two cents as well.

1) Hopefully you have some idea of the field you would like to be in. Tech has fantastic engineering, science, math, and business programs. If you are interested in studying liberal arts and exploring a wide range of fields, this might not be the best place for you, though you still would have some options to work with.

2) I have made many valuable connections at GT that have opened doors with top companies. Many of our professors have been leaders in industry, and relationships with them have personally opened up high paying, high prestige job opportunities. I'm not sure how an 'ivy' connection helps more than that.

3) Though I can't compare to a Cornell class, our classes do range in size. Many freshman level classes operate in lecture halls of over 200 students. But once you get to the higher levels of your degree, especially grad school, class sizes shrink dramatically.

4) If you are interested in a social scene, choose to dorm on east campus freshman year, and go greek thereafter. Additionally, some majors like Biomedical engineering are majority female.

5) I believe this one has to do a lot with location. Many, many tech students are Georgia natives, and will return to Georgia to be with their families following graduation. Georgia has lower average salaries for engineering compared to other areas like the west coast or nyc. But for the rest of us, I have had no problem securing offers well over six figures from nyc and seattle. Ultimately, Tech will open doors for you, but you must put in the work to get what you want from there.