I’m currently in the 3rd year design studio at Georgia Tech. There are some really great things about being a design student here and some disadvantages too.
On the good side, Tech is filled with really smart people, and has tons of great resources for every student as far as technology goes. In the design program in particular, there’s a nice machine shop students learn to use including 3d printing for rapid prototyping, CNC machines, lathes, bandsaws, hand tools, and a knowledgable staff. There’s also the advanced wood products lab which has some massive CNC machines, and you can take classes on parametric modeling and learn about some of the more advanced things tech is doing with materials and engineering. There’s an IDSA chapter here and we go to conference and are competitive for the southern conference merit award. I’m excited to go to Austin, TX this spring… Tech also has a lot of active inter-major projects. You can do your senior design with various engineers, take classes that include design students and computer or mechanical engineers, and I recently heard about the Solar Jackets team (that is building solar cars for international competitions) needs designers for modelmaking, testing, materials, and other duties. The design program here is still pretty new, and the third year studio i’m in has about 50 students with 3 professors, and the occasional guest speaker and that kind of thing. The common first year is a love it or hate it thing. It means the first year of studio is a combination with architecture and bc majors, and covers a lot of basic skills from charcoal light studies to technical drawing. You’ll do projects on products, and buildings, as well as developing your artistic eye.
A mechanical engineering degree will typically take 5 years on its own, and you’d have to talk to an advisor about other possibilities, but that doesn’t sound very realistic to me. Several of my friends started out ME, and are now design students (they had to drop their mechanical engineering degree) but they still have some valuable knowledge, especially about CAD, Solidworks, and being logical.
The classroom experience is pretty open. It’s really nice after the CFY to have your own desk, and the studio as a real second home. In and out of class, industrial design students are probably the most social with each other, and close as a class with other students and their teachers. Other classes at tech, like the maths and sciences you will take will be the opposite of personal.
I’m guessing you’re considering tech because you live in-state? This major can be anything you want it to be because of the class structure and the options you have for directing your study as you get older. If you’re in the southeast but not in georgia, other schools may offer you more as far as arranging internships and research for you, while this is mostly left to the student at tech.
I could talk forever, but you should give some more information about yourself if you want better input!
Good luck