<p>blue, that sounds bad (even if nothing is broken) – hope he heals up quickly!</p>
<p>Thanks! We’re still at the ER waiting on the x-rays to be read. My son is making the mckayla maroney not impressed face. Lol!! :)</p>
<p>Hope nothing IS broken, blueiguana! And hope you are out of the ER soon! Good luck!</p>
<p>blueiguana,
I hope your son is OK. Thanks for the great link. I will make sure we sign up for the Engineering Open House. Do you know approximately when they open it up for reservations? </p>
<p>I am very impressed with VT’s engineering program (being an engineer myself). I just get the feeling that DS does not want to go that far away from home. Before the Sandusky scandal, it would have been a ‘no brainer’ for PSU, but now we are having second thoughts. Another thing that concerns me is PSU’s ‘entrance to major’ criterion, where a prospective civil engineering student is guaranteed admittance to the major only if he/she attains a 3.0 GPA for the first 3 semesters. They do this to control the number of students in the popular majors. I know how hard it can be to maintain a 3.0 GPA in engineering, especially in the first couple of years. Does anyone know if such a requirement exists at any of the other schools?</p>
<p>Thanks LC82. Looks like a sprain. Whew!!</p>
<p>I don’t remember when the site opens for reservations. I want to say about two months out. Just try checking back if you can remember. You won’t have a hard time getting a space a month out, it’s the preference of what your son wants to tour. For instance the RoMeLa lab fills up almost immediately.</p>
<p>I understand your concern over entering a program that has a competitive major component. I would try to find out which majors are the most competitive and see how that might affect your son. Also ask what percentage of students get their first choice. This information should be available.</p>
<p>UVa’s program is competitive by major. The students apply during their second semester. Biomedical is the most competitive. Of my son’s friends the only one’s that didn’t get their first choice were students that applied for biomedical.</p>
<p>I don’t remember if VT’s program is competitive by major. sevmom has a student there so hopefully they’ll jump in and let you know. It is a great school but I do understand the hesitance with the distance.</p>
<p>I do have a friend whose son is going to be a soph at Pitt in the e’school and he really loves it. They are OOS and I believe he received a nice merit award. They’ve really been pleased with the program.</p>
<p>sprained ankles can be nasty too! Hope he heals up quickly!</p>
<p>The thing that’s kind of nice about the schools that have requirements to enter the major is that the kids don’t lock into a major straight out of HS – they have a little more time to explore and figure out what they like and are best at before locking in. But yes, it would be a disappointment not to be able to affiliate with your preferred major! So such a school is probably best suited for someone who isn’t certain how they want to specialize yet, and/or open to being flexible about it.</p>
<p>At VT, you start in General Engineering and then move into a particular field after a year . All of the requirements for a particular major would be on VT’s website. Same at UVa -you start out with general engineering classes then later move to a particular field. Systems is fairly popular . Since you are in Pennsylvania, I would look closely at Pitt. But I am biased since I went to graduate school there and love Pittsburgh!</p>
<p>More about Virginia Tech. Sounds like may not want to travel that far but it is a good program. There are lots of other Pennsylvania kids there. Even as Va residents,we are 5 hours away. My son had kids on his freshman floor from Rhode Island,California, one from S.A.(can’t remember which country),etc. The average SAT for kids entering in 2011 was 1297 and 4.06 GPA and seems to be going up every year. [Engineering</a> Facts | <a href=“http://www.eng.vt.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.eng.vt.edu](<a href=“http://www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding/facts]Engineering”>http://www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding/facts)</a>
One thing to consider is employment . VT has a very good Career Services program with a large Engineering Expo every year. <a href=“https://expo.sec.vt.edu%5B/url%5D”>https://expo.sec.vt.edu</a> My son will be a senior and got many interviewing opportunities through Career Services and his individual department. He had an internship this summer which led to an offer of employment when he graduates. Lots of the jobs will be in the northern Virginia/DC area.
UVa son also had good luck with their Career Services. Lots of those kids also end up near DC,many in consulting types of jobs. I’m sure the other schools provide similar help and placement. Some schools probably do a better job than others. These have just been my experiences with VT and UVa. Good Luck!</p>
<p>sevmom,
Thanks for the advice. The new VT Signature Engineering Building at the “Engineering Facts” link you provided looks impressive. </p>
<p>Since you have a son at each school (VT and UVa), how would you (or they) compare them?</p>
<p>LC82, Virginia Tech’s engineering department is much larger than UVa’s and it is higher ranked at the undergraduate level(#15 currently on US News-I think UVa is around 36 so still very good ). There are good employment opportunities and recruiting from both and lots of kids end up near DC. More UVa kids probably gravitate toward consulting types of things, although even my VT kid had a consulting internship this summer near DC with a science and technology firm. The differences may be more in the general feel of the schools. UVa has a smaller,more “private” school type of feel. Not all kids there are by any means preppy but, in general ,you will see more prep types at UVa than VT. If your son really likes Penn State, Virginia Tech may be closer to that type of school. If you do go back for a visit, check out Lumenhaus if it is still near the Drillfield (I think it still is but not 100% sure). It is a joint project of engineering,architecture and interior design departments and won an international competition. [Virginia</a> Tech Lumenhaus](<a href=“http://www.lumenhaus.com%5DVirginia”>http://www.lumenhaus.com)</p>
<p>Newbie here. How do you know if a college likes to see “demonstrated interest?”</p>
<p>Look at the schools’ Common Data Set. Under Item C7: “Relative importance of each of the following academic and nonacademic factors in first-time, first-year, degree-seeking (freshman) admission decisions” …there are various factors listed. One is “Level of applicant’s interest.” The school will list it as “Very Important”, “Important”, “Considered” or “Not Considered”.</p>
<p>Here is a link to thread that has many of them: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html</a></p>
<p>In general schools with low admissions rates and high desirability rates don’t bother tracking interest. They know you’re interested. Smaller schools are more likely to care. Some schools (like Tufts) want you to demonstrate a good fit, but they don’t expect you to do it by visiting. However visiting may make it easier to write those “Why __ College?” essays. Theoretically you can find out enough on the websites, but my son felt it really helped to see the campus and also see how the admissions office was selling the college. </p>
<p>My oldest, the math guy, hated college visits. I dragged him to see four schools junior year and he said he’d wait to see where he got in to visit any more. We had four schools to see in April - luckily only Carnegie Mellon was too far away for a comfortable drive.</p>
<p>Thanks LC82 and math mom for the info!!! Will go over it carefully. It’s hard to afford visiting but will do our best. This list will help! Many thanks</p>