I forgot to mention that when I said your Quant score is average I meant average out of the accepted for engineering graduate school. To me your score is competitive for graduate schools but not these two schools you have your heart set on. Georgia Tech is a top ranked school that is tough for any good applicant to get into and Columbia is still going to be strict since it is a Ivy league school.
Columbia mentions average GRE school for graduate school
http://gradengineering.columbia.edu/standardized-test-scores-0
And for Georgia Tech the average GRE scores for EE (damn that is high for a average)
http://www.ece.gatech.edu/academics/graduate/apply.html
Also here is UT-Austin who breaks down the mean accepted scores nicely by program
http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/prospective/stats/pdf/avg-gpa-gre-2012.pdf
Yes, it is easier to get into a non-thesis degree in my opinion. I think this because I applied to 12 schools and my first acceptance (even before the deadline) came from a out of state school that I applied to for a non-thesis. But some university applications don't let you specify a non-thesis degree in the online application so check your schools. Honestly though, you should choose between a thesis and a non-thesis based on what you want in a future career. A thesis degree will not only be better for going for a Phd, but will also be better if you want to pursue a career in a research focused position like at a national laboratory. All my other applications are for thesis options because my professor recommended it to me based on my career dreams in research.
Finally, you need to build up your research experience if you want a shot at high ranked schools like Georgia Tech. Shoot for a submission for a publication while your in school. As for industry experience, if your not busy in the summer with research then try for a internship. But applications are only ~$75 each school....so you can always apply and if you don't make it, then you can go into the industry to build up your work experience for your application. Also remember that work experience is going to be needed to land a job after completing your masters as well. But get that GPA up past a 3.0 so you don't run into recruiter GPA cut-offs.
Good luck and hope this info helps. I'm a low GPA overall of a 3.26 so I always root for the underdog.
