Electrical engineering at VT

<p>Can anyone comment on the EE program at VT? </p>

<p>I'm trying to encourage a Virginia highschooler I know to apply who has the stats to get in. (there's absolutely no question there--GPA well over 4.0, excellent SAT scores--2100--and 720 on the math part)</p>

<p>How would I find out about the engineering career fair, and what companies seek VT grads? I've heard it said that VT attracts national employers, but how true is this? I think I will have to base my argument to consider VT based on employment opportunities afterwards. I'm going to have to have a list of companies who recruit at VT. Is there anything else you can think of that I can use to convince this student that I haven't thought of? </p>

<p>I can't believe I'm in this position, by the way. In my humble opinion, VT sells itself! It appears to me to be a great university, and I think it should automatically be on any EE major's list of dream schools to attend.</p>

<p>Here is the link to the 2013 Engineering Expo info. Click on “Students”, then click on “Company Information” for a list of companies.
<a href=“Engineering Expo | Student Engineers' Council | Virginia Tech”>Engineering Expo | Student Engineers' Council | Virginia Tech;
This list will not be exhaustive as it is for this fall and some companies would not be on the list yet. You can see where kids end up being employed on the Career Services website.</p>

<p>I’m not sure it makes sense to encourage the highschooler to apply. If he/she isn’t willing to even consider VT then they have some strong views based upon insufficient or inaccurate information. Instead, I’d encourage the student to visit during the Fall Engineering Open House. If he/she then feels that VT isn’t the place for them then there’s no need to apply.</p>

<p>I think VT tends to attract engineering students who look forward to college as the opportunity to finally focus on the math/science/tech courses that they find most interesting. They finally have all the general education courses out of the way and would prefer not to have to revist Plato, Dante’s Inferno or the like even if they had "A"s in those subjects. If your Virginia highschooler is interested in EE but also looks forward to taking Philosophy or similar classes then UVA might be a good in-state option.</p>

<p>BTW - I wouldn’t assume that there’s “absolutely no question” about admittance. I’d say “likely” but we’ve seen some strange waitlist decisions. He/she will definitely have peers at VT with those stats.</p>

<p>Why don’t they want to attend VT? It’s not a fit for everybody; if they won’t be happy without, say, an urban campus then they probably should look elsewhere. That being said we’re all going off incomplete information and VT could be a great fit and maybe the kid just hasn’t thought about college much.</p>

<p>Also I wouldn’t use VT as a safety school, especially if the student is from NoVa. He’ll probably get it, even very probably, but it’s never a sure thing.</p>