Tech has a number of legends and traditions, some of which have persisted for decades. These include:

• Triple Play: This is a shorthand term for executing 3 or more of the several traditional, officially discouraged traditions. They include stealing the T, swimming in the president's pool, climbing the coliseum, climbing the stadium lights, and jumping off the 10 meter high dive.
• Stealing the T: Tech's historic primary administrative building, Tech Tower, has the letters TECH hanging atop it. A number of times, students have orchestrated complex plans to steal the huge symbolic letter T, and on occasion have carried this act out successfully . The T was then returned at its traditional time, and the student's achievement celebrated. Stealing the T is sometimes also called climbing. Although the administration used to turn a blind eye to this practice, it is now officially discouraged, due to the risk of fatal falls and the potential for damage to the building. Security features such as pressure sensitive roof tiling and fiber optic cabling running throughout the letters have been added to the T to help prevent its theft and aid in catching the perpetrators. The last successful attempt occurred in 1997 by 3 members of the Gamma Eta Chapter of Beta Theta Pi, who were subject to disciplinary action. Tradition dictates that the first T to be stolen should be the one facing east, as this can most easily be seen from the Downtown Connector.
• To Hell With Georgia: Georgia Tech has an ongoing rivalry, mostly in sports, with another top-tier school in Georgia, the University of Georgia, often simply called Georgia for short. An annual issue of the school newspaper, The Technique, focuses on this rivalry with an issue that spoofs The Red and Black, the newspaper of the University of Georgia. "To Hell With Georgia" is also known as "The good word." If one student asks another "What's the Good Word?" the response is always "To Hell with Georgia!"
• RAT Caps: Although slowly fading into history, every year new freshmen are given yellow caps and a number of freshmen wear yellow baseball caps throughout the year, most notably freshmen band members. RAT, short for Recruit At Tech, the RAT caps are decorated with the football team's scores, the freshman's major, expected graduation date, and "To Hell With Georgia" emblazed on the back of the cap. The tradition of RAT caps is maintained mostly by the marching band.
• George P. Burdell: Legendary imaginary student George P. Burdell is said to possess nearly every degree Georgia Tech offers, after many students took a variety of classes in his name. Since the 1960's, some students have managed to ensure that George P. Burdell is always enrolled at the university in the school's registrar's computers. The initial forged enrollment was performed in the era of computer punch cards. When Tech switched to online class registration, Burdell managed to get his name on the roll for every single course offered that term. After initially vigorously searching for the hackers, the university has since accepted the presence of George P. Burdell in every year's class. George P. Burdell is also a common tool for pranks at various school events and games. His name is paged over the stadium intercom at every homecoming football game.
• 41-38 Score of two momentous victories by Georgia Tech over the University of Virginia in college football, hence a Tech rallying cry whenever the two teams meet. In 1990, Virginia won its first seven games and had a #1 ranking in both polls. Undefeated but unheralded Georgia Tech came into Scott Stadium in Charlottesville and beat the Cavaliers 41-38 on a last-second field goal by Scott Sisson. In 1998, the first year since 1990 that both teams had come into this game with high hopes, #25 GT hosted undefeated #7 UVa, and again pulled off the upset. This time, the Yellow Jackets came from three touchdowns behind and survived a 54-yard FG miss by UVa kicker Todd Braverman as time ran out. Since then, any time the two teams have met with rankings and bowl positions on the line, GT fans have used "41-38" as a rallying cry.
• The Big Teat Alexander Memorial Colliseum is a wide, domed building, with a smaller dome at its top. For years, students would paint the dome pink, with a darker pink on the surmounting dome. The result was to make the building look like a female breast (also sometimes known as "the Nipple").
• Drownproofing: From 1936 to 1987, Tech offered a class called Drownproofing which was required for graduation. This was a result of the many Tech alumni who went on to serve as pilots in the U.S. Forces, and was intended to help save lives if pilots had to bail out over water. The class taught students how to float in water for extended periods of time with ankles and wrists bound, and other water survival skills. At the time it was considered a prime example of the difficulty of Tech's curriculum.