<p>Hello to everyone out there, thanks to everyone who will read this tread and even more to those who will answer. I have some concerns about entering the engineering college of VA tech, via NOVA. I do not have the GPA, or the Scores to apply directly to VA tech, so I was considering entering this community college first, and through their guaranteed agreement transfer to VA Tech to earn a degree in Electrical engineering. I was hoping that someone who has transferred this way could share his/her experience, I have some questions I would appreciate you could please help me with.</p>
<p>Was your preparation at NOVA good enough to perform well at VA TECH?</p>
<p>Did you have any difficulties at the moment of transferring, even though you satisfied the agreement?</p>
<p>Did you transfer immediately after you completed your Associates degree, if not what happened in between?</p>
<p>Was it worth to go to NOVA, or will you have rather attended another university after all?</p>
<p>Ok, I was planning on going to NOVA in order to attend VA tech and earn my degree there due to the VA TECH reputation, so I wanted to know If anyone has walked this path before? </p>
<p>Thanks again</p>
<p>I can’t answer all your questions, but my old roommate transferred under guaranteed agreement from NoVA into Engineering, for similar reasons as you. Although there were no difficulties transferring, he is not graduating in 2 years. He is staying for a third year at Tech, which would be his 5th year in college. Not sure if this is an issue for you, but it seems to be something that many transfers into engineering have to do.</p>
<p>In addition to that, he has had to take some summer classes because there is such a big difference in difficulty between NoVA and Tech, so he has only been able to take 12-14 credits per semester in order to get good grades.</p>
<p>He doesn’t regret going to a community college because he’s saved money and become more prepared for upper level engineering courses, and also can tell he would not have done well if he started at Tech as a freshman.</p>
<p>My oldest son, a rising senior at VaTech, graduated magna cum laude from NOVA with an A.S. in Science, specializing in math. He initially was doing the engineering track at NOVA, but our distance to the Annandale campus made it difficult and no fun (we live near the Loudoun campus), so he switched over to science. He completed chemistry, calculus 1,2,3 and a bunch of other math classes, biology, and a host of general ed classes, including communications, biomedical ethics, world religions, and the like. He felt NOVA coursework prepared him very well, grew up a lot in those two years, saved a lot of money, and developed a sense of pride in having done well in difficult classes. I think any major at Virginia Tech would have accepted him, but by that point he chose biological sciences and is earning a minor in mathematics in large part to his work at NOVA. He has transitioned well to Virginia Tech, was an undergrad research student last semester, and is there this summer for a paid science fellowship. They offer tremendous opportunities, and you just can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>I have another son, a rising sophomore, who was accepted into the Pamplin business school after one semester at NOVA, plus coursework during the summers before and after last year and a handful of AP credits. He has had a good experience with professors and coursework at NOVA also and is hopefully positioned to do well at Virginia Tech. They did not require an Associate degree to accept his transfer and, while I would love to see him stay home and grow up some more for another year, the business course offerings are not as extensive and it is just best for him to transfer now.</p>
<p>If the campus you live near offers engineering courses, NOVA is an excellent path to use for transfer. Be sure to consult the course equivalency database when selecting classes. If you want to get your A.S. degree, most courses will transfer (except SDV) but not all will hold the same value. Most important is to hunker down and do well. Check Rate My Professors when selecting instructors so that you have half a chance at a good classroom or online experience. Good luck!</p>