Another vote for VT for engineering. Top notch. You’ll develop roots and connections with faculty. Seems like a really collaborative environment in the COE.
If it was an offer from the Emory College campus in Atlanta it might be a tougher call. The Oxford campus is located a good distance away in a small town. You would be there 2 years and then at the Atlanta campus for two years. VT has more going on.
@Houston1021 it’s even a bit more complicated.
This program is two years st oxford campus. One year at Emory main. And two years GT. 3 schools in four years.
And evne more complicated than that as some of the beginning Eng/math courses he’ll need to transfer may not be offered at Oxford campus, so first two years will include commuting to Buckhead.
@bluebayou Thank you. I love Emory and GT. But it seems like being a freshman three times in four years. After the fall we had this year, no way. No friends. No fun. And no fun means not so great at that age. Imho.
If you know you want to be an engineer I’d stick with VaTech. It is a great engineering school and you can have a consistent 4 year college experience at one school studying engineering. I think it would be a nicer academic and social experience.
I am not a fan of the 3+2 programs. Many students don’t follow up on the engineering part for reasons including but not limited to: 1) they are happy where they are and want to graduate with their class 2) they don’t meet the requirements to transfer to the engineering school (be sure you are aware of all GPA, course requirements) 3) the fifth year of college is not affordable 4) they don’t want to spend another year as an undergrad student. If you consider the 3/2 program be sure to get information on what exactly is required for the transfer, what type of aid is available when you transfer, if aid is available for the fifth year of undergrad, and how many student who start off in the 3/2 program end up going through with the transfer to GATech.
I also think @privatebanker has a good point – do you really want to start at 3 colleges in 4 years?
@bluebayou commuting to Buckhead? Do you mean commuting to Emory? Emory isn’t located in Buckehad. Also kids who go to oxford don’t commute to Emory’s main campus. They have all the classes they need for their 2 years on campus. Oxford students don’t take classes at Emory until they officially move over there.
Unfortunately, your guidance counselor was not a good source for your engineering friends if Virginia Tech engineering was presented as a safety. 3 out of 4 in your group not being admitted probably bears that out. Unless you have better financial options elsewhere, you will be well served by Virginia Tech. Top engineering school, beautiful campus, great school spirit, loyal alumni, and great outcomes.
“UVA… because I am OOS”
Wha… you are OOS for VT? What state are you from? Didn’t you apply to your instate colleges for engineering?
It would have been cheaper.
I know and I completely regret that but I kind of went into senior year blind. I did not visit any colleges coasted by with straight As and was mostly focussed on my EC activities and had a lot of music and athletic accomplishments.
I did not realize I needed to prep for the ACT until late because I was told, and believed it was unnecessary to study because It was impossible to study for such a comprehensive exam. But as my junior year came to an end, I started preparing for AP exams (my first real standardized test) and I realized the importance of test prep. I have been grinding ever since to get good test scores/ grades in every AP class at my school (taking 6 APs this year was a bad idea) .
I studied for four weeks and took the July ACT and got a 34. lol moment when my parents thought it was out of 40. I then took the SAT subject tests and only had time to study for the physics by August and on test day decided to add math on a whim because I knew I would need at least 2 subject tests and I was running short on time. To my demise, I picked Math 1 instead of 2 thinking it would be easier to take math 1 without prep. I now realize I would have been more competitive with math 2. Anyway, I got a 730 in physics and 750 in math1 and I deemed that good enough and did not take any more SAT or ACT tests.
Based on my score range and GPA I picked colleges based on my counselor’s recommendations and places were people at my school have been accepted in the past plus some random colleges that were reach schools. If I had to do it again I would have made a much different list and would have visited at least one school.
This is probably more than you asked for but I have a lot of regrets about some stupid easily avoidable pitfalls in my college process including not applying to UMD.
I’d go with VTech. I say this as an Emory student. IMO the 3+2 program is a bit of a mess and going to Oxford would only complicate things.
so VT accepted you initially and You already committed? Emery waitlisted you and now weeks later they decide they want you, but only at the Oxford campus?
Maybe something else is going on that they are still pulling from WL this late (melt or other kids off WL kids declining). That would give me pause as well.
On the other hand, It does tell you something about the competitiveness and impression of VT that your other 3 classmates were denied. Also that VT is “over enrolled”… a lot of students want to be there and are choosing VT over other options.
If you are able to travel the 5 hrs, I’d def go visit. That should help help you with your decision, either way.
Do you have housing worked out at VT? If you can get on-campus housing I think that would make a huge difference. I think it would be hard to be forced off campus freshman year. So much bonding happens in a freshman hall. I know they said they were waiving the requirement for freshmen to live on campus but I hope they are still prioritizing giving freshmen the dorm space.
@Anneiv This is not late for wait listed students. Schools start pulling kids off on average in mid May and continue through August.
I’d go one year to VT and transfer back to a Maryland state school to either UMD or UMBC. Make sure you look over the UMD transfer requirements before signing up for classes.
COA:
UMD 16k instate
VT 42k OOS
160k for a VPISU degree is pretty expensive especially when you could get one at UMD for 60k.
You could also just go to a MD community college for one to two years and transfer into UMD as a junior. Community college is free in Maryland.
@Greymeer Not sure where you’re finding this info but the COA at UMD is 26k for in state students not 16k. They also tack on $2800 per year for engineering students junior and senior year.
As mentioned, you could go to community college in Maryland, then transfer into a state school. Or take a gap year and reapply next year to UMD and UMBC if cost is a major concern. If not, Virginia Tech is an excellent choice. If you start there though , you will probably want to stay all 4 years !
Where you are now is a very good place. VT is an excellent school. Your family can afford it. Congratulations to you!
The only reason VT isn’t as well know for you is because you are in GA. If you were in the VA, DC, MD region you would hear a lot more about VT than GT and people in the mid-atlantic wouldn’t know anything about Emory (which again you see as more prestigious - but hey I’m not big on liberal arts colleges so maybe its just me).
Honestly - I would think about where you want to live after graduation. If in the GA area maybe the GT option would give you a slight bump when it came to recruiting in that area.
If you have any interest in the mid-atlantic region than VT is the obvious choice.
Personally, not just being biased, I would go to VT and if you decide that GT is still on your mind - transfer to GT. You keep mentioning you know VT will have better quality of life - - I think quality of life and getting good grades means a lot more than the school name. Everyone gets caught up in what they perceive as prestigious in their mind. GT is considered a top tier engineering program - VT sits right below it. It won’t matter to employers. What will matter is how well you did in your classes and how your college helped you mature into someone ready to enter the workforce. Those matter much more than GT vs. VT.
^ the poster is from Maryland.