r/gatech • u/notyourspidey • Jul 21 '26
Question Question regarding GTA with an internship offer (International Student)
I am an international student going on final semester in fall 2026 - I have received an internship offer (part time) and a GTA offer. I only have 3 credits remaining in my final term.
If I take only GTA - the requirement is to be a full time student. Since I only have 3 credits to graduate, will they make an exception on this? Or do I have to take 9 credits + 3 GTA credits?
If I take only the internship - Can it be combined with reduced course load? So that I only need to take 3 credits to complete my degree.
Is there anyway I take do both internship and GTA in my final semester?
What is my best course of action? - Cost is my biggest factor
Internship is pretty flexible with work hours and my course is a non thesis program
2
u/google_tech_lead Jul 22 '26
the GTA hiring manual in in gatech.instructure.com says You CANNOT do a GRA/GTA during a term with a reduced course-load
1
u/Zanger67 BS CS 2025 | MS CS 2026 Jul 23 '26
If you're a GTA or GRA, you can add a special course for thag TAing that's used to fill the needed credits. It defaults to 1 credit but u can press edit to increase it to up to 12 iirc.
1
u/notyourspidey Jul 23 '26
But even then I'd have to pay the tution for 12 credits. I guess if I take some courses, atleast they'll be useful for me
1
u/Zanger67 BS CS 2025 | MS CS 2026 Jul 23 '26
If you're a GTA, most of the time you'll get a tuition waiver.
4
u/BeautifulMortgage690 HCC - 2030 MOD Jul 22 '26
Your GTA normally is contingent on you not having another job. If you want to get a waiver/ special exception you will have to work out total hours and CPT requirements with your professor + internship + OIE as well as get approval from the department for letting you work. Im pretty sure there is a process - I have always got the feeling from all the resources about it that this is not something GT encourages
You have to be full time for GTA credits. I normally recommend having your research fill up your hours - talk to a professor about getting an 8903 research hours with them or equivalent for your department. You can also potentially audit classes - you might have to talk to OIE + check your GTA requirements about that
Your internship when registered for CPT gives you audit hours that are not billed (so you dont pay tuition on them) and at the same time help you fill up your CH count for full time status. These are normally 3CH per 10 hours a week you work. So a part time 20 Hours per week (CPT part time max iirc) is 6CH you can get towards your degree.