Newest (for now) FAQ and Quick Question Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
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<p>I thought about just bumping an old one but I figured there are plenty of new people that might have a new take on old questions. If you don't know, I'm a recent graduate of Virginia Tech in Materials Science Engineering. I lived on campus two years in Barringer and East AJ (although EAJ has undergone major renovations since.)</p>

<p>First a few that get asked a lot, but feel free to add on or ask more about them:</p>

<p>What's the Math Emporium?</p>

<p>Basically it's a giant room full of computers about 5 minutes off campus. Some lower level math classes do not have a regular meeting time with a professor, and instead you go to the Math Empo whenever you'd like during the week to take quizzes and tests. There is a professor available if you need additional help and video lectures are usually put up online. It's not a great arrangement but it's really not that bad.</p>

<p>How do the meal plans work?</p>

<p>You pay and then get a certain amount of money on your dining plan. You can use this money at any dining hall on campus, although you cannot use it at the Subway on campus. If you run out of money you can add more. There isn't a good way to estimate how many meals per week you can get because the cost of meals can vary wildly. A salad will be really cheap while lobster (yes we have fresh lobster in a dining hall) will be expensive. There are also all-you-can-eat dining halls, although in my opinion the food there isn't as good as the a-la-carte places. The food in general is fantastic though, and Virginia Tech constantly ranks in the top 3 for on campus dining. West End is generally regarded as the best dining hall, and Shultz as the worst.</p>

<p>More info: Student</a> Programs - Virginia Tech - Dining Guide</p>

<p>How does Hokie Passport money work?</p>

<p>On your hokie passport (aka ID card) you actually have two accounts; your dining plan account and a second "hokie passport" account. The second account functions as a basic debit account. You can use it for vending machines and laundry on campus, and at several local businesses off campus. I only ever used it for laundry though, since I already had a debit account.</p>

<p>What are the dorms like?</p>

<p>They vary wildly in quality, although as a freshman unless you're in the RLC you'll probably be in one of the more basic ones. I can't really answer much about specific dorms anymore because since I lived on campus a lot has changed. If you're going to be in a non-air conditioned room between you and your roommate make sure you have two box fans. Set them up in your window blowing opposite directions and you can keep the room pretty cool. If the option is available (as it usually is in Freshman dorms) I STRONGLY recommend lofting your beds. It gives you much more room than the standard bunk arrangement.</p>

<p>Specific information on dorms is available here: Student</a> Programs - Virginia Tech - Virtual Tour</p>

<p>What is there to do around Blacksburg?</p>

<p>There's pretty much always some sort of show or performance going on on campus, but you should still take some time to explore off campus. The Lyric is a great one screen community theater right off campus that shows cheap movies. There are a ton of restaurants right off campus that are very good. Sycamore Deli, The Rivermill and Cabo Fish Taco are a few places I'd recommend, but if you just take a walk around downtown you'll see 20 other places that are probably good as well. There's live music downtown; check for flyers, especially right outside Moe's, to find out when and where. There's a fantastic comedy club at Attitudes one night a week, although if you're easily (or otherwise) offended you won't like it.</p>

<p>How do you get around Campus/Blacksburg?</p>

<p>Campus is EASILY walkable, and even when I lived on one corner and had class in the opposite corner my walk time was still only about 15 minutes. There are racks to lock up bikes, although sometimes it can be hard to find an open space. Unless you really like to bike I don't think it's worthwhile to bring one when you live on campus. There is a bus that runs around campus called the Hokie Express, but seriously just walk. Downtown is directly off campus so you don't have to worry about transportation there (or back.) The BT services most of Blacksburg and parts of Christiansburg, runs till around 2 on the weekends, and is free to students. There is also a bus that costs a few dollars that runs to Roanoke, including the airport.</p>

<p>I'm taking Physics I and</p>

<p>GET. CHANG. AS. YOUR. PROFESSOR.</p>

<p>More FAQ Information</p>

<p>Here's the link to the official VT FAQ. It has a lot of good info. Student</a> Programs - Virginia Tech - Frequently Asked Questions</p>

<p>Alright, that should answer some questions at least. Go ahead and ask/answer whatever is on your mind.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all your informative posts, Chuy, and congratulations on your graduation!</p>

<p>After searching around for transportation options to/from Tech via bus or train, it seems like a real pain in the rear. I’m now thinking our son is going to either need to carpool with another student who has a car or we’ll be getting him a car sooner than we thought.</p>

<p>We live in Southern Maryland and visit family outside Pittsburgh at Thanksgiving so he’d be traveling to/from home in MD and grandma in PA during the school year. A trip that would normally take 6 to 7 hours (depending on MD or PA destination) by car would take 12 to 14 hours for him by bus or train, and both options have multiple transfers and layovers which sounds extremely unpleasant IMO.</p>

<p>Other than just asking around, how can students find carpool rides from other students traveling to/from MD, PA, or other locations?</p>

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<p>Posting on here is a good start; I’m from Pittsburgh :slight_smile: I’m on Co-Op in TX now though so I won’t be at Tech in the fall.</p>

<p>As far as finding rides: Facebook is the most common that I’ve seen. Even if your son’s friends aren’t making the trip he needs to make, odds are they know someone who is. While rides won’t be as abundant as if he was traveling within VA, finding rides should still be doable.</p>

<p>I would recommend riding with friends over taking the bus, too. Friends of mine did the greyhound thing and weren’t crazy about it, but it certainly got them where they needed.</p>

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<p>There are ride-share groups on facebook, although I’ve never used one so I don’t know how easy it is to find something. I figure around holidays it is much easier though.</p>

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<p>If the meal plans only provide 10-12 meals a week where are the other 10ish meals coming from? I assume the typical person goes in town?</p>

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<p>O I can’t edit on a iPod touch! How do I go about requesting chang? It seemed to me that they make you schedule for you when it comes to large classes like that. Like when I was researching stuff for orientation they made it clear to NOT change the bigger classes like that and that they scheduled the general Ed reqs for you. Is there something I’m missing?</p>

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<ol>
<li>do honors students pick both teachers and classes at orientation?</li>
<li>i’m trying to get the T900 laptop but am wondering whether i should get it from the school or from newegg. i know i will lose out on the warranty provided by the school, but will the technical group still fix my computer if it crashes? what are the possible flaws to getting the same computer from newegg?</li>
</ol>

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<p>GoOakland: You’ll be making some of your own meals. Cereal for breakfast, sandwiches, etc. You can bring a mini-fridge to keep supplies and there are kitchens in all the dorms. </p>

<p>As for getting Chang, there’s a drop/add period (not sure when exactly it opens) during which you can switch into and out of classes. Sit there and hit refresh on that page whenever you have a chance until a spot in his class opens. I think he usually has an 8am so some people transfer out of it.</p>

<p>cambodianstudent: No clue on honors. With the computer I really like newegg. The problem is that you’ll have to ship it off if it breaks and you’ll be without a computer for that time. There are classes where that is not an option. If you buy from VT you can get a loaner if yours breaks. So it’s a risk/reward thing; you can pay less and risk not having a computer for a week or two, or you can pay more and possibly never need the warranty. If you have the money I’d buy from VT for the peace of mind.</p>

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<p>Most people take physics the second semester of their freshman year. When you do course request for the first time (requesting courses for your second semester) you can designate which section of physics you’d prefer to go into. If you can’t get into your preferred section, then you can resort to the drop/add method chuy mentioned.</p>

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<p>If we buy the laptop from VT with less memory than required, then add memory bought from Newegg, will that void the warranty? My son wants to do this to save $ but I want him to have the warranty and be able to have it serviced by VT.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure, you’d have to check the details of the warranty. You could also contact them and find out. I’m pretty sure it would not void the warranty, but check before just in case.</p>

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<p>is it necessary to have a graphing calculator the first year for engineers?</p>

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<p>It’s not really necessary the first year, but you ought to get one anyways since you’re probably going to end up using it at some point in one of your classes.</p>

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<p>cambodianstudent: I don’t think the repair team (SWAT is the software team, the bookstore does hardware) will service you, at least not for free, if you buy from Newegg. When you take your computer to the bookstore if it breaks (mine did frequently, they knew me by name and I’m not kidding) I’m pretty sure they ask if you bought it from them. I assume this is what makes all of your repairs free, and that they validate it, but maybe they don’t.</p>

<p>As much as I love Newegg, if you’re going to buy the tablet, might be best to buy from the bookstore. Of course, I don’t recommend buying the tablet pc at all if you’ve seen some of my other posts and the posts of many people here.</p>

<p>I’d get the graphing calculator, and I’d get familiar with some of the ‘more advanced’ functions. They’ll come in handy and I just flat out prefer to work with a TI than some random 4 function calculator. When you’re pushed for time on a test, you don’t want to worry about whether or not your inputs really made it to the calculator because of the buttons being weird or things like that.</p>

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<p>Honestly after your freshman year, you don’t use any function of your tablet at all or at least are required to. Some students choose to take notes on the tablet and it’s pretty convenient but it is mostly your choice. I know a lot of juniors/seniors with their 2nd system a cheap laptop or mac ect because their first tablet got old or broke and they didn’t want/need to buy another tablet since it’s never used. Every professor I’ve had in CS so far has always told the class in some way that they are against the tablet policy as well and don’t care if you have a tablet or not, just some sort of portable computer that can do the course work. </p>

<p>I think it’s just the intro engineering classes that might use the tablet functions.</p>

<p>I think it’s a rip off until the nice touch screen iPad looking tablets become more common and powerful and can be used as your primary/only PC system while being under $1000. The ones now including the one I currently have crack easily and cost anywhere from $1800 to $2500</p>

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<p>Yeah, the CS department does seem to be a tad outspoken against the tablets (and Windows in general?) at times. I don’t think I’d EVER want to use a tablet for notes without a stylus, though. No iPad notes for me.</p>

<p>In some classes you might find it better to take handwritten notes. I stopped bringing my tablet to a class because it became a distraction at times. Sure you can turn the wifi off, but Bloons Tower Defense 4 or Facebook can be pretty strong lures.</p>

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<p>Bump for the new people</p>

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<p>Bump for the accepted ED applicants. All questions are of course welcome!</p>

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<p>Once you get the Housing/Dining contract, can you choose what type (suite, single/double etc) of dorm room you want? Or does VT randomly give you a dorm room and the different prices are for upper classmen or something?</p>

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<p>They randomly assign you a dorm. The only real exceptions are if you have a doctors note (severe allergies, handicapped, etc.) or if you’re in the Residential Leadership Community. The odds of you getting a single as a freshman are effectively nil; they actually end up with three people in a room occasionally (and usually temporarily.) Your odds of getting a suite as a freshman (again, barring allergies/RCL) are about the same.</p>