My son also wants to study computer science. He applied ED to VT Engineering and was deferred back in December. He was declined regular admission to VT Engineering last week but he was offered admission to his second choice major, General Studies. This major was advised if he wanted to try to transfer to engineering.
We are also from Northern VA.
Summary
GPA (w): 3.98
SAT: 1510
SAT Math: 760
SAT Reading:750
11 AP classes
Extracurricular/Awards:
Football – 9th & 10th
Youth League Basketball – all 4 years
Coached Youth League B-ball – all 4 years
Youth League B-ball referee – 11th, 12th
DECA – all 4 years
American Legion VA Boy’s State
National Honor Society – all 4 years
AP Scholar with Distinction
National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Student
It is very difficult to get into VT engineering now, especially from NoVA and this year for Fall 2018 entering class was even harder because of the record number of applications. Our son had good credentials and I think he wrote pretty good essays.
I’m not sure what advice to give you as far as increasing your chances for VT but I will tell you that our son is now glad that he did not get accepted ED since he has looked at other schools since then that he likes better. He does not plan to attend VT. The school made it clear in their admissions letter that it is difficult to transfer into engineering and that if you do get admitted as a transfer, it will add another year or more to your graduation date.
FYI – my son was accepted early at JMU, George Mason, WVU, University of SC, Univ. of Maryland, Penn State, Ohio State, Arizona State and Purdue (general, deferred computer science.) We are still waiting on UVA but very doubtful.
My son wants to go to a Division 1 Big Sports school so he ruled out Mason and JMU. He was offered extremely generous merit scholarships at WVU and USC making the tuition less than many of the Virginia in-state schools. Ohio State and Arizona State also offered generous scholarships bringing the costs a little over but still in range. Still waiting to hear from Maryland and Penn State on merit money.
This son is our oldest so it is our first time navigating the college application process. A few words of advice based on our experience (and this is more, in general, than specifically to VT)
- Don’t take the SAT with essay (unless you are really strong with essays) unless you know one of the schools you are applying to requires it. We were advised for our son to take it with the essay just in case one of the schools needed it. He applied to 11 schools and none of them required it.
- Additionally, he took 3 SAT subject tests at the end of his junior year. None of the schools required the test. We automatically sent the test scores to the three “free” schools included with the test fee. Son didn’t do that great on the SAT Physics test even though he was in AP Physics because the SAT subject test had different material that he didn’t really study. If you take any subject tests, I wouldn’t automatically send the scores until after you know what you scored. Not sure if VT engineering looked at the subject tests or not (but his subject Test scores would have hurt, not helped.)
- Start looking at out of state schools that offer good merit scholarships. Most of the college websites mention minimum or average GPAs and test scores for recipients. Son asked his guidance counselor for recommendations but now I realize we could have found out more information on where to look using college confidential forums. Think about where you would want to live if you go out of state. Do you prefer the south? Or do you care? Now that VT is not the choice for him, our son wishes he had applied to more schools in the south. Also, look at how your AP credits would transfer. NOTE: very important to apply by priority deadlines in order to receive scholarships!
- If you aren’t looking for the big sports programs and want to stay in-state, I know a lot of NoVA kids want to go away but George Mason has a good engineering program. I have a friend whose son got into UVA, VT, and Johns Hopkins, and he chose George Mason because he wanted to stand out there and he is getting great research opportunities and loves it there. Additionally, we were impressed with what James Madison computer science department presented. I’ve also heard good things about CNU… I know they are not the same as VT but you probably should consider since VT engineering admissions are so competitive.
- This is hearsay so I don't know if it is true but we have also heard from many people that the first year in VT engineering is extremely difficult and there is a bit of a "weed out" approach and that a lot of people do end up dropping out. Engineering is going to require harder classes wherever you go, but some of the schools we visited did not seem to have a "weed out" philosophy.
If our son gets into UVA, he will likely go there. I went to school there and our family loves UVA plus it is just hard to turn that school down for any of his other options.
Assuming UVA won’t happen, his top two choices right now are South Carolina and Ohio State. We know South Carolina is not a top tier engineering school, however, we really liked the campus, the Computer science faculty we met, the students (and the weather 70/80s in Feb) and with the scholarship, the school is a real bargain. With all of his AP credits transferring, our son could easily double major or graduate and start pursuing a masters in just three years. We would also be paying a good bit less than VT would cost. USC also has a top ranked Honors College. Our son didn’t apply in time for the Honors program but he was invited into their Capstone scholars program. Ohio State has a better engineering/computer science ranking than USC, but would cost us about $30,000 overall more than USC over a four year time period (plus the weather is a bit rough in the winter.)
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my son’s stats and what we learned along the way.
Best of luck to you!