We have two students in my family that are new freshman this year. It’s been a bad experience for both kids in different ways. VT has been very disorganized, the kids are really off the rails partying, they had to shut down welcome events due to the kids being out of control. Some of the kids have been mean to each other, its been like middle school level maturity from this group of incoming freshman, a real mess. Then when we saw that VT was included in the schools with students chanting the F word about the president at the football game, it reflects badly on the school and the students.
We’ve removed VT from my son’s application list who’s a senior now. I wish we had known VT was going to go downhill, we are OOS paying full price for a Walmart quality experience.
Yep absolutely. However there have been non-stop issues with the school’s organization getting started. It’s not just me, check the Facebook parents page, many many kids and parents have been very frustrated with the school being disorganized. I know some professors down there too, even they’re shocked how bad things are. This isn’t typical college freshman wild behavior either, it goes beyond that, they’re rude and disrespectful. Fwiw we’ve had 6 older kids go off to college and never experienced issues like we had this year with VT.
So, you have a freshman child at Virginia Tech currently as well as an OOS high school son who will not be applying now? Are you looking at transferring since you say you are OOS? Sorry you are very upset. Is your child also this upset? Virginia Tech was a wonderful experience for one of my kids (of course not perfect) , but might not be the best fit for your family. Good luck.
I do think you could have voiced your concerns in a less disparaging way, to both Virginia Tech and Walmart!
Sorry to hear. I Googled VT and apparently there was some bad fan behavior at the football game with bottles being thrown at North Carolina fans. Doesn’t sound fun.
What “non-stop issues with organization” are you referring to, specifically? I have a freshman at VT who has had the complete opposite experience that you are describing (we are also OOS). My daughter has remarked to me on multiple occasions about how friendly everyone is. It’s one of the main reasons she choose VT over other universities. I was just there two days ago to have lunch with her and every student I met was polite and kind and seemed very happy with their experience there. Campus was busy getting ready for today’s football game but seemed very organized.
I agree with you that the first football game was a a bit wild at times, but if you follow the various VT social media accounts, you’d know that they immediately acknowledged the issue and have made many changes to procedures at the stadium as well as reaching out to students about their behavior. I will be at a game in October and am confident that they will have worked through the kinks by then.
I am also on the FB parents page and have not seen the parent frustrations you are describing (perhaps you are the parent who is complaining about lack of the right kind of fresh vegetables?) The only regular frustration I am seeing are the delays in students receiving their mail.
I wouldn’t want to pay OOS tuition if my kid was unhappy either. The big university experience isn’t for everyone but anyone reading this should know that there are many of us with students at VT who are having good & great experiences.
Best of luck to OP’s student as he/she goes through the transfer process.
“ Anyone know if this is at all considered for admissions? My son is about to apply, both his older siblings are there currently and my mother graduated from UMD undergrad and grad. Thanks”
So I’m confused. If BOTH of his older siblings are at UMD, how is someone at VT?
Which welcome events were shut down? My D went to the concert, the rec. sports information event, several of the group fitness classes and the Gobblerfest club day.
Not defensive really - just looking for more than generalities, if you’re going to passionately disparage a university that is otherwise a positive experience for many.
I’m the first to acknowledge that no college or university is 100% perfect, but I’m not seeing (or otherwise hearing about) the disorganization, unkindness and off the rails behavior you speak of. Not saying that it doesn’t exist in spurts, just that it hasn’t been my family’s experience since being at VT - therefore, I am interested to hear specifics.
I agree, it’s definitely important to investigate and figure out the right fit. My S21 is a freshman at VT and having a good experience. Made friends quickly, classes and teachers are good, joined a couple clubs.
They complaints I see on the parent Facebook group are mostly about math emporium. I did find move-in/orientation a bit confusing and it seemed like kids were pretty much left to themselves to decide if they were going to participate in orientation activities or not. I think that could be a problem for some kids. A big school definitely is a better fit for kids who are self-starters. My son tends to be that but it also helped that he decided to live in an LLC. He has an assigned sophomore mentor which is an added bit of support. It also avoids the super-party dorms which are not his style.
VT has a program that would be of interest to my D23 but VT would not be a good fit for her. She wants a smaller school and math is a challenge. I know the VT math emporium approach would be a bad experience for her.
The math emporium has been around for over two decades now. It’s almost a rite of passage to complain about it! Some kids do better with it than others but some kids definitely will probably do better at a smaller school. Cost and fit are always going to be key. Good luck with finding a great school for your daughter!
I’m a proud alum who met and married my H there. But I admit the math emporium was a big turn off to me when my kids were looking for schools. Still love the school.
I’ve heard VT has research showing that the emporium did improve pass rates so it clearly works for some. Ironically, my S21 would probably have no trouble with it but as a CMDA major he gets a calculus class with a teacher.
It does seem to be targeted toward the non-STEM majors. My D21 is in business calc so she is routed through the Empo. No troubles for her so far but she doesn’t see the point of having to physically go there just to take quizes and do labs, since the rest of it is self-paced. Agree that it is a rite of passage and gives kids something to chat to each other about.