@scmom2017 If it’s a Freshman Scholarship then it is not renewable. Most others are…I think.
@MSMead We are in the same boat. We live in Pennsylvania. Son got only $3000 from VT…just enough considering we have to take loans. WVU gave him $14,000 per year which is very attractive but we are very worried about the quality of the computer engineering program, opportunities for internships, co ops etc. So it is looking likely that he will choose Pitt who offered us NO merit $$. Only got the federal $5500 loan. I feel so trapped.
I know what you mean. We are seriously considering WVU but he has to have a 3.2 gpa to keep the scholarship (14000 +5500 for engineering) per year or its nearly the same price as VT. I don’t know about Computer Engineering but their other engineering areas had some big successes lately. They were the school that found the VW emissions problems and they won the NASA Mars Robot Retrieval competition. They also came in 6th for the GM ECO Car competition (VT was 2nd I believe). WVU is heavily recruiting higher stat students.
We are visiting VT on April 8th to see if they can justify for us the higher tuition/no scholarship.
I am not sure why all the OOS applicants just assumed that they would get merit scholarships. We did not expect any of that when applying to OOS schools. Virginia schools have been under enormous pressure from residents to “take care” of the in state students which means accepting more in-state and not offering huge money to OOS. Unfortunately @JustGraduate is spot on…everyone has high stats that are applying to these schools…
Actually, the frustration if you look further back in the thread, is that the net price calculator had different results. Ours showed $4000 in grant aid which was acceptable and so my son applied. We did not get any grant aid or anything whatsoever. So, VT will cost $4000 more per year than we were expecting. This could also be acceptable but we need to visit and see.
@lopeztio7 I agree with you that Virginia universities are being leaned on to increase or maintain in-state enrollment. However, nearly HALF of last year’s Virginia Tech entering engineering class (46%) came from out of state. I wouldn’t call that looking out for its Virginia residents, particularly since other states routinely take in only 10% or so from OOS.
S is looking forward to hear of VT’s decision on March 17th, but regardless of the decision, it looks like he’s headed to UCF.
@VABogart I saw that stat as well and was surprise, it’s quite high OOS. Can’t imagine the legislature will be happy with that, they put a lot of pressure on UVa and gained a whole 100 seats for in state students lol. Need to dig into the numbers and see if the issue is in in state/OOS offers of admission or in the student acceptance %. Any way you look at it, it seems to point to a potential need of more instate need, not OOS.
That said, VT is making a concerted effort to broaden their STEM offerings as they clearly don’t want to be known as just an engineering school. They’ve done a nice job getting new research $$ and building more cross discipline programs. So it will be interesting to see what that means for CoE.
The 46% OOS for engineering does seem high. Especially when you have instate kids being turned away with decent STATs, especially from Northern Virginia.
@VABogart @sevmom dug back a bit and found the following engineering OOS stats
2016 - 44% entering freshman engineering from OOS with total CoE class of 1650 students
2015 - 51% OOS - 1744 CoE class
2014 - 47% OOS - 1391 CoE class
2013 - 49% OOS - 1435 CoE class
2012 - 46% OOS - 1435 CoE class
2011 - 44% OOS - 1281 CoE class
2010 - 42% OOS - 1564 CoE class
So OOS entering students are inching up in CoE…even with little financial aid for OOS (or instate for that matter)
Thanks @JustGraduate. It highlights the point that Virginia residents face a tough slog getting into the Engineering School.
S has two more obstacles: (1) he’s from Northern Virginia, where there’s a surplus of qualified applicants to begin with; and (2) Thomas Jefferson High School receives a good chunk of those Northern Virginia admittances – and rightfully so, given the very high caliber of its applicant pool – but unfortunately, it does reduce the number of acceptances extended to other NoVa schools. Despite S’s GPA 4.35 and 1430 SAT, we’re not optimistic he’ll receive an acceptance.
@VABogart The 4.35 and 1430 seem competitive for admission. Good luck to your son!
@VABogart his stats seem very competitive. Praying for good luck on Friday!
@sevmom and @vacollegemom4 Thank you both for the kind words. Just four more days. All the best to your DS also! 
@sevmom and VABogart I haven’t followed this thread very often other than during the February release (to my frustration)…uughh! What schools are your children considering? Is VA Tech their first choice?
@vacollegemom4 S has applied to the engineering schools at (1) Virginia Tech, (2) Texas A&M, (3) University of Florida, (4) University of Central Florida, (5) North Carolina State University, and (6) George Mason University. He was accepted at all of them, except NC State, where he was admitted to the university studies program but not to engineering. S received a large scholarship from UCF and a small (but appreciated) scholarship from GMU. He was admitted to the Burnett Honors College at UCF (he didn’t apply to other honors programs or colleges).
Because of the scholarship and BHC (and other reasons, like the aerospace engineering component and proximity to the Space Coast), UCF is likely where S will go, though an acceptance from Va. Tech could change things. With the UCF scholarship, the cost to go to both schools is roughly the same. With no merit aid, it would be hard to justify Texas A&M ($51,000/year) or U of F ($42,000/year). S will probably take up to a week to decide if accepted to Va. Tech; if not accepted or if deferred, he’s on his way to UCF. How about your DS?
@VABogart how is job placement at UCF? Any idea how many job fairs/year and which employers attend? That’s one area we’ve found to be outstanding at VT
@vacollegemom4 I follow this because I have a son who has already graduated in engineering from Virginia Tech. He only applied instate for engineering, also to GMU engineering. Another son graduated in engineering from UVa, also only applied instate there. Good luck!
@VABogart Congratulations to your son with the UCF scholarship and honors! It is so nice to have a terrific acceptance under his belt while he waits for VA Tech. We’ve had a little rough acceptance season. DS will be a business major and was accepted EA at James Madison along with a nice 4 year merit scholarship and honors college. We were elated because we’re in state and don’t qualify for financial aid. He was deferred at W&M and rejected at UVA. He’s waiting on Tech but at this point I don’t think anything can top his opportunity at JMU. We can afford JMU, he could graduate without debt and his major is well regarded. College costs are giving me serious anxiety these days and I’m having to coach myself to breathe
@VABogart If you haven’t already done so, you could look on VT Career Service’s Post Graduation Survey to get an idea of where aerospace grads from there end up. With VT, you start in general engineering and move to your engineering major after your first year. There is always a small chance that your son will change his mind about choice of department once he explores all his options. The Engineering Expo at VT brings lots of recruiters to campus. Maybe UCF has similar listings of where their grads end up and what employers recruit there. VT is higher ranked overall in engineering but fit and cost are important. Cost seems to be similar though for you in this instance. Not sure how much Honors would matter at VT in engineering. The LLC’s (Galileo for men) seem interesting. Although both sons enjoyed rooming with kids from different majors so didn’t pursue things like that. I think your son has a good chance of good news soon from VT. If so, good luck with the decision!
@vacollegemom4 We really liked JMU . VT kid only applied there, GMU and VT. But, at JMU he would have done an Integrated Science and Technology major, not engineering. VT is great for engineering . JMU and VT both have good programs in other things. You can’t go wrong with either school.
Thanks @sevmom. VT definitely beats out UCF on overall engineering rankings. Only question is fit and suitability. S loves Florida and we have family in Orlando. He did the Cybersecurity Camp at UCF last summer and loved it. Lockheed says they have more UCF grads than from any other college, but they have a large presence in the Orlando area. The nation’s 7th largest research park is adjacent to UCF, which is a nice draw for internships and co-ops. Having said all that, VT is clearly the stronger academic institution. I do feel the Burnett Honors College (esp. if S doesn’t make VT honors) goes a long way to making UCF very attractive.
@JustGraduate I think I saw somewhere where UCF gets about 250-275 recruiters. We know that Texas A&M and NC State get 400+; I’m sure VT is in the same category as those two. S really wants to be in Florida when he gets out of college, so UCF would be a nice fit on that basis.
In the end, it’s S’s call to make. I went to UVa and was in the Government & Foreign Affairs Honors Program and loved it, but it’s been a long learning curve for me to understand the engineering school world. BTW – S visited UVa engineering and roundly declined to apply there – dagger to the heart! :((