<p>After a lot of contemplation and looking here, there and everywhere at potential schools, I kept comparing them to the one school that I really loved the most....so I am applying ED to Virginia Tech! </p>
<p>I just saw on their website that they ranked highly in so many categories from the Princeton Review magazine.<br>
"Virginia Tech ranked in the top 20 in six categories. Of those, four scored in the top 10."</p>
<pre><code>No. 2 Best Campus Food
No. 3 Their Students Love These Colleges
No. 4 Town-Gown Relationships are Great
No. 6 Best Quality of Life
No. 18 Best Career Services
No. 18 Students Pack the Stadiums
</code></pre>
<p>I hope I get in and can find it to be as happy of a place as the people who voted recently! :) Good luck to everyone else who will be applying!</p>
<p>My kid just started her first year at Tech and loves it! The dorm facilities are amazing, there is an abundance of social life, food is unbelievable and the instructors/classes are interesting and enjoyable. No complaints here.</p>
<p>A student who is happy in their surroundings, feels comfortable, and yes-eats well haha is going to do better academically. Our son is in his second year and can attest to that!</p>
<p>I know the food is amazing! My brother goes there and he is now raving about Turner Place, which is the newest dining hall. He said he is so glad it opened before he graduated. </p>
<p>We had one of the admissions counselors visit our school today and I was able to go and hear more about what they look for and how they weigh things. I am so hopeful that I can get in! I want to major in history and maybe minor in geography or urban affairs. I know that Tech is not as well known for their history program as it is for say engineering, but I talked to several people this summer who have said that it is a very underrated program and has some tremendous professors in it. One executive at a local historic site I worked at said that all of the interns that he has had work there who were VT students have been very well educated and have done great work for him. </p>
<p>If I were fortunate enough to get in, I was thinking about doing the Resident Leadership Program. I would like to be an RA later, so I thought that would be a good stepping stone. Has anyone done this program and liked it well enough?</p>
<p>I can’t wait to find out in December what happens! It would make for a great Christmas present if I were to get in!</p>
<p>Yes, that is the program I am talking about. I saw online that you take two 3 hour classes, one in the fall and one in the spring. It may be too early to tell how they are, but do you think the one offered for the fall is interesting so far? I want to apply to be an RA my sophomore year, so I thought the information you learn about conflict resolution, leadership styles, etc. might really benefit me. Do the people in the program form a sort of community bc of being in this program together?</p>
<p>The other program I am looking into is the residential college at WAJ. That one has a 2 year commitment though, so it would delay my opportunity to apply for an RA. It looks really interesting, though! </p>
<p>Anyway, if you have anything you could share about why you chose to do the RLC program, what you think of it so far, etc. I would love to hear more about it! Thanks!</p>
<p>My son is living in West AJ this year. He signed a one-year commitment. The two-year commitment was applicable only to the incoming freshmen. Also, West AJ has many RAs so I don’t understand why living in West AJ would keep you from applying to become an RA in that residence hall starting in your sophomore year.</p>
<p>I have very mixed feelings about the RLC so far. The class I’m taking right now (Introduction to Leadership) is pretty easy so far. We basically are assigned readings from one of three different books every class, and they’re pretty easy reads except for Kellerman which can be confusing. Then, we would just talk about them, and have a short quiz on them once in a while. However, we mostly do a whole bunch of random group work to “analyze” the readings, or just to get the concept of leadership. But sometimes, they seem pointless but that might be just me. However, I think what you do depends on your professor since what people in other classes are doing seem completely different. So, overall it’s not BORING, but I wouldn’t say it’s really interesting either. Also, 2/3 books were reading feels like I’m learning about common sense… which can be both good and bad. For the actual living part, our dorms are actually A LOT nicer than most of my friends’. I expected it to be bigger, but after seeing Pritchard and Slusher, it’s much nicer overall. I thought the suite styled bathrooms would be nice, but I actually see it as a disadvantage because some of my suite mates are not the cleanest, and our bathrooms are only cleaned about once a week so it can be a little gross. Also, it is a little harder to make friends in the room since everyone just sticks to their suite mates or the people across the hall. You have a lot less opportunities to be in situations with other people from PY compared to other “normal” freshman dorms, so that does kind of suck. In a way as of now, I do kind of wish I just stuck to regular housing but being in the RLC probably does look good in a resume especially if you want to have a leadership minor or be an RA, which I also want to do next year. I wish you luck with whatever you decide to do though! Feel free to ask me anymore questions about the RLC or anything tech related! and sorry if this was boring and long… haha</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback Jason. That is the kind of information I was interested in hearing about. I have heard that one of the main reasons people choose to do this program is for option of living in a nicer dorm, with a/c. But my brother also was in a suite style dorm in Cochrane and also said that people in the suites kind of isolate themselves from other suites, so maybe that isn’t all it is cracked up to be. If I get accepted I am going to look more into the other dorms, incl the residential hall WAJ, too. </p>
<p>VTAlumandMom I would be an incoming freshman in the fall of 2013. I guess what I was wondering about is if it a two year commitment for living in the residential housing program at WAJ specifically? If so, would that mean that you couldn’t be an RA till your junior year? </p>
<p>I just called my son and he confirmed that West AJ has sophomore RAs. I am only aware of the two-year commitment for freshmen being applicable to West AJ. My son lived in Galileo last year, a learning community housed in Lee Hall, and that was only a one-year commitment. </p>
<p>I would agree with Jason about living in a more typical freshman dorm (versus suites). My son made many good friends last year with the other students who lived on his hall. Last summer, he visited some at their homes and they visited him. When he returned to campus last month, his friends were waiting to help move him into West AJ. He has reconnected with all the friends that he made in his freshman dorm even though these friends are now living in several different dorms and one is living off campus in an apartment.</p>
<p>Good luck, Country4me, with your application. It’s good that VT offers so many different housing options and that you are taking the initiative to evaluate the pros and cons of each.</p>
<p>I am a current sophomore (I know my username says otherwise) and I was in the RLC last year and am currently living in West AJ as part of the RC. I am going to be honest and say that part of me regrets choosing to live in West AJ this year. Yes, the facilities are nice and there are definitely perks to the building, but the rooms are a lot smaller then your typical dorm room or at least it is smaller than PY. My roommate and I both have our beds lofted, which is somewhat of a hassle, but it’s whatever. Some of the people in the Residential College are extremely annoying and are way too into the whole concept of the RC, which is hard to even describe because none of the residents really know. I don’t know, I don’t think West AJ is all that great. </p>
<p>RLC on the other hand was a great experience for me. Yeah, my suitemates were messy and completely different from me, but that allowed me to branch out and meet all my best friends, none of which were from my suite. All you have to do is put yourself out there to meet people, it really isn’t that hard. Strike up a conversation with somebody in your class, and there you have a new friend that you can hang out with easily because they live in your dorm. In my personal opinion, go with RLC if you can’t. Better dorms, better people, better program. However, this is just my opinion of what I liked better. </p>
<p>Also, off topic, but I am a Hokie Ambassador so if you have any questions feel free to ask!</p>
<p>I compared my son’s West AJ room to his room last year in Lee Hall and it is about 3 square feet smaller. Further, the location of the HVAC system and the placement of the entry door to the room limit your options for arranging the furniture. You need to either have the beds bunked or at least one bed lofted.</p>
<p>As you noted, the building has many perks. It’s a great location, especially for football and basketball games. There are many lounges and the walls are glass so I would not expect them to be converted to sleeping rooms, which happened last year in Lee, when there was a housing shortage.</p>
<p>chuy, my room is not a suite actually. The people for West AJ told us that there would be a lot of suites and hotel style rooms, however, there are no hotel style rooms and only like 10 or so apartment-suites. Somewhat frustrating since I am paying more for a smaller room.</p>
<p>Hi country4me,
My son is a freshman in WAJ and loves it. He’s not really participating in the RC aspect of it (I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. As someone mentioned earlier, the concept is still a bit fuzzy.). The rooms may be a bit smaller, but he’s low maintenance and doesn’t have a lot of extra stuff so it hasn’t seemed to bother him a bit. He loves having a sink with storage below and medicine chest above right in the room. And he said the A/C has been nice. He and his roommate have both of their beds lofted and they are so high that he can’t sit up in bed and read. The only other seating in the room is his desk chair so he has mentioned that there is no place to truly get comfortable and read (besides the floor). I was thinking maybe a beach chair would work - he could fold it up and put it away when not using it. Anyhow, WAJ is brand new, clean, doesn’t smell like other dorms and is in a great location for sports, dining and working out at the gym. The floors are coed so one stretch of the hall will be boys, then the hall will turn and it will be girls. It’s been a great way for him to get to know both guys and girls. Good luck, Country!</p>