<p>I'm really upset because my parents decided I can't come out to the Echols Day on the Lawn. (I live in Portland, Oregon, and it would be a little cost-prohibitive. That darn jet fuel.) The problem is that I was accepted also to Cornell and Tufts and now I don't know where I want to go.</p>
<p>I actually stayed overnight on Grounds during spring break a couple weeks ago, but it felt kind of like any big state school. I couldn't tell what was special about it, I guess. Would being in the Echols program change my mind? Also, I swear, everyone (<em>everyone</em>) I met there was from Virginia, and that's not that appealing.</p>
<p>Lastly, I don't have any idea what I want to study... I'd put it 50-50 I'd transfer into Engineering by sophomore year. (I'm well set up to do so, have taken four years of calculus and two of physics.) So, do you think UVa stands out, or should I think a little farther North? Does this Echols program really make any difference? (The letter claims it's "the best undergraduate experience in the nation", which makes me wonder why I hadn't heard of it before.)</p>
<p>Tufts is a small, great engineering school where you get individual attention and special opportunities, yet its also in the middle of Boston, a big plus. Cornell is also good for engineering, but it is in a more of a rural setting.</p>
<p>flavian, rodman is for engineers and echols is A&S (I believe) therefore I don't think if you transfer from one to another the status would follow</p>
<p>wahoo, you're right that they're separate programs, but the website and the Dean of Engineering told me that it's fairly easy to switch back and forth, and UVa students do it all the time.</p>
<p>yes, students do switch between engineering and A&S but the previous posters question (I think) was do echols and rodman status carry over and I don't think that they do, but please correct me if you know better.</p>
<p>Sorry, should have clarified, that is what they told me: that Echols scholars can transfer to Engineering and usually become Rodman scholars in so doing.</p>
<p>Well, essentially the Echols Scholars program gives you an academic experience similar to attending Brown University. As an Echols Scholar, you receive a lot of educational freedom: no required classes, you have priority class registration, and you could choose to create your own interdisciplinary Echols Scholar major. Also, you live together w/ other Echols and Rodman Scholars your first year.</p>