My D has been accepted to both Virginia Tech and Louisiana Tech in Nanoscience undergraduate majors. She is having a tough time deciding between the two. She is out of state at both. Louisiana Tech is offering a huge scholarship. They also have a track that is more designed for what she eventually wants to do after graduate school. However she has always wanted to attend Virginia Tech. She spent some time there last summer at Nano camp and feels that the new research facilities and the professors met are amazing. Not to mention the better reputation that Virginia Tech has.
Please chime in on your experience on either School especially if you have experience within one of the Nano programs.
@scmom2017 As a Louisiana resident, I would not recommend the schools here. The funding is being butchered and the schools are taking a heavy blow. Hope this helps!
Super late response here…Louisiana’s budget has been hit hard lately, and yes some cuts have been made in higher ed. The last special session held ended in a positive way for higher education (no further cuts) which was not the expected outcome. To me, this is a positive sign.
I love Louisiana Tech, and the atmosphere is ultimately going to be extremely different than Virginia Tech. I’ve been here for nearly a year now and EVERY professor I’ve had (last two quarters, this one is just starting) has known my name.
As far as Nano goes, nano and biomed are the only two engineering majors that are given their own buildings dedicated solely to those majors and research associated with them. This shows that the university definitely has an interest and a commitment to the nano program and sees it as a huge asset.
As far as the research interest you mentioned, although they are seperate buildings, the institute for micro manufacturing and the biomedical engineering building are connected and they do collaborate on research often. I mention this because someone in the biomed department may have research interest that align with your daughters, and they may would be open to hiring a nano major. I know personally that biomed faculty have ME and ChemE undergrads work with them on research, so I assume they will work with nano undergrad as well. I will post the link to the researchs areas focused on by biomed faculty, and I will try to find one for the nano faculty.
Thank you! I will share this with my daughter in a few hours. She couldn’t get enough scholarship money for VT. She has pretty much decided on latech. We are still waiting on a few outside scholarships, but they won’t be enough for triple the price.
The only other thing she is considering is doing undergrad in bioengineering in SC. She has been looking into their study abroad options. She really wants to study abroad and that doesn’t seem to be as big a program at latech. We will be visiting both schools in the next few weeks (while she mourns VT)
Wouldn’t expect VT to take big cuts in funding in the near term - their revenue streams are pretty solid and the VA legislature isn’t talking about major cuts to the university system. So I think funding will be safe, which is still a concern with schools in LA, MS, and a few others. As it appears the general mode is going to be for programs under federal control and $$ are going to be moving to state control and funding, I’d be concerned about budget hits in the future where there’s less diversity in state revenue.
VT is also aggressively expanding their STEM offerings and getting a new med school off the ground. They are already very well regarded in this area but clearly are interested in not being known as just an engineering school. Also hear their connections to NIH are very good, which makes sense given the relative proximity to DC.
Geez, I hate to play VT cheerleader but…the one thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that VT students absolutely love the school. Yes I know every school says this but this is definitely a step above normal in that. Look at Princeton Review ratings and things like that. I can tell you it’s real. This was actually a turn off to my son when he was younger but he ended up there and is now totally in the love my school camp. It sounds hokie to say but it’s something intangible. Good luck wherever she goes
Nanoscience at VT is not actually in the Engineering college. So maybe a good thing? However, she only got 3000 1 year scholarshil. The outside scholarships are 2500 1 year and 10000 renewable. So, evenifshe gets both of those, she is looking at about 30000 first year 35000 after. Latech is going to be about 16000 in a dorm. She is however thinking she will try to do masters at VT.
If the ultimate end game will need graduate school, do consider saving on UG education so your total cost will be reasonable. I know, I am stating the obvious but it tends to get lost in our desire to either pick the “best” program or our child’s “perfect” school. Best of Luck you have great options. Very exciting.