I am currently set to be a Virginia Tech engineering student next fall. I just graduated high school less than a week ago. I was pretty excited for Virginia Tech for all the excellent opportunity. However, it is the exact opposite school than the one I wanted to go to. My biggest problem with my high school is I hated how glorified football was. I think other sports are fun to watch, but I hated football so much. Virginia Tech glorifies football a lot. I don’t like that. I am not too fond of the class size. It is too big for me in terms of just the total amount of students and students in each class. I am coming from a high school with a graduating class of 149 kids. What swung me towards Virginia Tech was the way the engineering program was run. I like how I had a class which introduced me to all different types of engineering, and I got to pick one to major in after my freshman year. Can someone help me figure out what my options are? I don’t know how much it matters now, but I got a GPA of 3.65 out of 4.0 and 1470 (780 and 690 on math and English respectively). I had a lot of extracurriculars such as robotics team captain, tennis team captain and more leadership roles within my school. Is it worth it to go there for a semester and transfer out? Go for a year, figure out what I want to study and then transfer out? What schools would be good schools for me to transfer into? Is it too late to find another school with a good engineering program and small class sizes and attend there this fall? I live in California, should I attend community college? The local community college that I would attend is Foothill College. If you have any advice, please tell me.
Even the smallest college will have large class sizes for freshmen. Don’t be turned off by that. Schools like VT will have smaller recitations and there are plenty of opportunities to interact with your professors and TAs.
My D goes to a big sports school. She’s not that into it. Even on game days it still doesn’t permeate the campus. There are plenty of other activities if that’s not your thing. VT says they have 800 clubs and organizations. I’m sure you will find like minded people! My D missed her school in the March Madness tournament to go to a theater show (the auditorium was packed).
My last piece of advice is to not start college thinking that you should transfer. VT has a fabulous engineering program. Start with an open mind. There will be opportunities for robotics and tennis at VT if you want to continue on with them.
It’s natural to nervous and worried but don’t let the fear outshine the positives!
Why did VT end up on your application list? Did you ever visit the campus?
Where else were you accepted? Why did you choose VT over the other options?
Are there any money issues? VT is excellent for engineering, but it probably is not worth breaking the family bank over.
What about deferring enrollment for a year, and just doing something else for that time?
I’m not sure that I’d want my kid to go to VT next year, especially if they weren’t planning on staying all 4 years. With the 15% overenrollment, classes and dorm rooms, etc will be far more squeezed than usual. They’re actually paying VA residents to defer for a year. What might be a manageable size and community would likely be less so next year. Students at VT are generally pretty happy and there’s a high retention rate, but next year will be challenging for all involved.
Deferring enrollment sounds like a very good idea. Hopefully during that time you can visit more and warm to it. @momofsenior1 is right that there will be plenty of other things to do than cheer football.
VT is large enough that you will easily find your niche. The school might promote sports (basketball too), but there will be students and profs who don’t even know where the gym is. I say to go with an open mind assuming you will find your niche. Absolutely no one expects you to change to be some mythical example of a college student. Hang out in the labs or with others who like the clubs/extra curriculars you like. I bet you’ll love it… even if they’re over-enrolled.
Give it an open mind try. If, after a year, you really don’t care for it, then change. You’ll know at that point if engineering is really a field you like or not too.
Foothill is fabulous, so, as far as I’m concerned, you have two excellent options! That’s a great dilemma. The really good news is that Foothill will still be an option if you really don’t like VT. If you’re feeling certain that VT is a mistake, go to FH in the fall. If you’re not sure, why not give VT a try? Foothill will welcome you mid-year or next year, if need be. You might be surprised how many kids head to FH after an unsatisfactory first semester or year elsewhere, and then go on to transfer to an excellent school of their choice.
How are you paying for VT out of state’s tuition?
Transfers get lousy aid and you have excellent stats so if you go to VT it has to be affordable. I guess that if you didn’t like it you could transfer back to Foothill with no problem. But it’s still not an optimal mindset, especially if paying involves loans.
I wouldn’t worry about football. Just choose a living learning community that focuses on one of your academic or extracurricular interests (robotics, etc) or research.
Smaller engineering schools include Olin, WPI, Clarkson, Union, Bucknell. If you’re a girl, Smith. Run the NPC, look I to them. Olin and WPI are nerdy and very hands on, union, Clarkson, and Bucknell are more work hard/play hard.
@123234ed This stood out to me. What is the school you wanted to go to? Were you not accepted? What made you want to go there?
As others have asked - did you visit VT and attend a presentation from the engineering department? Who’s funding your tuition? Have you found a roommate, signed your housing contract, etc,?
All medium to large Div 1 state schools are going to have at least one flagship athletic team. I wouldn’t consider that to mean they glorify a sport though. The dynamic between student athletes and their classmates in a university setting is dramatically different than what I imagine you may have experienced in a small high school setting. That said, plenty of students don’t go to the games and there are lots of activities to spend time on.
There are both rec and club level tennis teams/activities, and pretty much a club for most everything. Don’t sweat the “my high school graduating class was small” - our student’s graduating class was about the same size. VT students (especially incoming freshman who are all in the same boat) seem to be a pretty inclusive, welcoming bunch from our experience. And they love it there, whether they are football fans or not.
Large GenEd class sizes during your freshman year are the norm at state schools.
If finances aren’t an issue it might be worth it to give it a go. I’m not sure what a year at a CC would do to change your perspective or concerns about VT. If however you’re not sure you are ready for being away at college, then choosing a CC initially is a great option. I would only caution you that Tech is probably going to be getting tighter than they already are re: transfers, especially into Engineering.
“However, it is the exact opposite school than the one I wanted to go to.”
What type of school do you want to go to? Why did you apply to VT?
“My biggest problem with my high school is I hated how glorified football was.”
I am very sympathetic with your dislike of football. It is a dangerous sport, and I don’t see why great football players are glorified and great scholars are not. Which quarterback has won the most superbowls? Everyone knows the answer. Who did the structural engineering for the golden gate bridge? Hardly anyone knows the answer. However, every time that I have driven over the golden gate bridge I have been impressed by the engineering behind it, and whoever did do the structural engineering accomplished something of very real and very lasting value. It is also beautiful.
However, you do not have to participate in the football rah-rah just because you are at a school with a football team. I did my bachelor’s degree at a school that did not even have a football team. I did my master’s at a school where football was a big deal. However, if you did not go to games, you would not notice the difference. Outside of the actual games (at one school), people were focused on academics at both schools.
“I am not too fond of the class size.”
There are very few small schools that are good at engineering. Large class sizes is sort of the cost of being a freshman and an engineering major. When I think “small” and “strong at engineering” I think of Caltech and Harvey Mudd, but your grades and SAT scores do not suggest that you are going to get accepted to either.
“What swung me towards Virginia Tech was the way the engineering program was run.”
VT is very good and quite well known for engineering.
If you want to be an engineer, then you can do very well at Virginia Tech.
Did you already apply to the various Universities of California and get turned down? Are you able to afford Virginia Tech? To me it seems like a great place for someone who wants to be an engineer.
Just as an FYI - if your still on the fence (I personally would say unless your intimidated by the size of VT - go to VT… and don’t go to football games). But if you want to try the waters at Community College …. I will bet if you call VT admissions and ask them if you can defer admission a year for you to go a year to your local community college that they will jump on that. I would do that before declining your acceptance and going to the local community college. If you are scared to go this year get them to defer your admission a year (it will be very hard to transfer in later if you decline now)…… unfortunate you don’t live in Virginia as VT would have picked up your community college tuition for you.
You can find your pod in engineering. Many students at big football schools totally ignore football. I went to grad school at a big football school and it was a social non issue except for crowds on games days. This is a perfect time to go grocery shopping.
If you don’t like football, get a job for those 6-8 Saturdays a year when there are home games. You’ll be a much desired employee because you don’t care about the game. Library will be wide open - take any table you want! Go for a hike.
Nothing you can do about class size. You picked a big school, the classes will be sort of big. My daughter went to a smaller engineering school but her classes were often 40-50 students, and others only had one or two sections offered. Big school, more sections.
Not really. Don’t know, don’t care. I wouldn’t recognize any football player if I sat next to them on an airplane. Never saw a Superbowl on TV either - don’t even care about the commercials. Actually, I get amused that advertisers have so many people willingly watching commercials. That’s quite the sales pitch of its own.
Definitely more know sports stars - or Hollywood - or whatever can be found in People magazine, but it’s certainly not “everyone.” I’m not sure even a majority of Americans watch the Super Bowl. A lot do, but more than 50%? I’m not sure that’s true.
I get the gist of what @DadTwoGirls is saying. I could take a guess at which quarterback might have won the most Superbowls and at least I’d be naming a football player (and maybe even a quarterback). I wouldn’t even hazard a guess at who designed the Golden Gate Bridge.
I think it’s important for OP to make sure wherever they go is affordable for their family. Transfers don’t get much aid.
Take the advice of “monofsenior1”: “My last piece of advice is to not start college thinking that you should transfer”.
VT engineering is a strong enough challenge for any student. Attending a college with the intention of transferring may not be a positive approach when faced with an increase in academic challenges. You were a very strong student in HS and gained admission, you are still likely to find the first year a challenge. You want to find a group to help you adjust.
I’m not a football fan myself, but VT is a big place. Get involved with tennis, robotics, etc. Don’t underestimate the importance of a support group. It will help you!
Transfer is not easy in a popular major as admission numbers are very controlled by department as they try to control their numbers and the more popular university.
FWIW - while I am a Hokie engineer who loves football, both of my young Hokie engineer co-workers do not. I’m sure they never attended a game. They probably don’t even know the rules. VA Tech is so big that you can find your people. Go in with an open mind and you may find you like it better than you think.
My kid is a rising junior in engineering at VT and is totally not into sports. Besides being busy in some places on campus during the games, it’s not a big deal. As far as the class sizes, it depends. My kid was able to place out of a bunch of classes that probably were the larger classes. He did have a few larger classes freshman year, but not as many as you would expect.
If you can, think about going to Summer Academy. You can get credits during SA, but the main benefit is getting to know the college early and make new friends before fall session starts. Plus you get the move into your dorm early.
If class size and dislike of football are your only main concerns, I really encourage you to go to Tech. My kid loves the university, location, and his program.
Good luck!
I don’t give a hoot about either. People are more likely to remember various facts when they care about something. My “who/what/where” trivia knowledge can answer the questions for math/science/geography. I was a loved team member for Trivial Pursuit back in the day, but could rarely win on my own because I rarely got the Sports or Entertainment questions correct.
Very few people know everything about our planet, nor do they need to. We get to pick what we enjoy and want to know more about. It’s our collective differences that keep life operating.