<p>I applied to VT for transfer but I don't know if I will get in. Anyway, a lot of people from my high school are there & I love the football atmosphere... + my 3 best friends, my brother, and a lot of other friends are there...</p>
<p>I don't drink alcohol and I was never really one to party in high school, usually because everyone would hardcore drink there aha. I'm wondering, will I have a hard time fitting in if I don't drink? What is there to do on the weekends? I wouldn't mind going to parties but would other people care if I'm not drinking?</p>
<p>Hey! I go to Tech right now, I'm a freshman. I absolutely LOVE it. For one, like you said, the football atmosphere is so much fun and everyone gets really into it, it's great. We do party pretty hard here at Tech, but people who don't drink have no trouble fitting in at all. I have a couple friends who don't drink and they come to the parties with us and no one bothers them about it because people are super laid back here. No one would judge you at all. There's other stuff to do on the weekends like see a movie and go to the club downtown and stuff like that, but honestly the parties are the most fun part of the weekend even if you're not drinking! A lot of the frat parties have dance floors, so if you're like me and you like dancing, that's always a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Basically there's so much to love about VT. The people are so nice and fun and easy going. Also, it's a really tightly knit campus. I went to a 6-12 high school with only 500 kids, so I was kind of afraid that Tech would be overwhelmingly big. But I don't get that feeling at all now that I'm here, I feel like everyone knows everyone even though there's 26,000 students. And that Hokie Spirit is always going strong, haha! Anyway I hope you do decide to come to Tech if you get in, because it's pretty much the greatest place in the world! :)</p>
<p>As far as not drinking goes you just have to find friends that don't drink and you're golden. And there are plenty of people who don't drink on campus. How the party would react depends on what party it is. Frat party? Bad idea. But you aren't going to have a good time at a frat party not drinking anyway, so who cares. At most house parties nobody is really going to care if you don't drink, especially if you're there with friends.</p>
<p>If you live in the dorms all you have to worry about is them finding parking, which can be a pain. There are lots around blacksburg where somebody can park, though. The most common thing is to have them park in apartment lot that doesn't require a parking pass and then take the bus to campus. The bus is free for students but other people have to pay around $1.50 I think.
edit: They can eat at the dining halls but it'll cost them more, around twice as much. Most places take cash but at West End you have to put the money on a card first (there are machines around WE for that purpose) OR you could just buy their food on your card and have them pay you back. You aren't really supposed to do that but nobody has ever said anything to me when I did. For football games I'm assuming you're talking about tickets, and there are no guest tickets. Even as a student you aren't guaranteed a ticket to every home football (or basketball) game. So you basically have to find them a non-student ticket, which can be pricey.</p>
<p>I think you have understood it right, I may have just had a skewed point of view before. I have visited my girlfriend at University of Richmond before and had no problem with her getting me food and I was pretty much able to walk right into their basketball game. Then again The game wasn't quite on the level, so I guess its pretty similar to VT. Another question, are VT's sporting events free for students, or are tickets an extra cost?</p>
<p>For all sports other than men's basketball and football tickets are free; just show your ID (or not even that for some sports) and get in. Basketball and football do the season ticket/lottery system. You can buy a season ticket for around $70 for football and that'll get you into every game. You CAN NOT buy a season ticket if you are a freshman. There is a limited number of season tickets, but if you get on the website to buy yours the day they go on sale you'll be fine.</p>
<p>For everybody else there's the lottery. It works pretty much the same in basketball and football. You enter your name into it online, then they randomly select who gets a ticket and who doesn't. I'd say you're usually looking at hitting the lottery around 2/3rds of the time, but if you're unlucky it's possible not to hit a single one. If you do hit it you print off a little slip and bring it to the box office on the designated day and pick up your ticket. If you want to sit with people just bring their slips too and you'll be next to eachother. Tickets through the lottery are free.</p>
<p>The other way to get a ticket is to scalp it. This is supposedly illegal and if you get caught they will supposedly take away your lottery privileges. There are scalpers on facebook and in front of the stadium, and ticket prices range widely based on the game. For a crappy game you can get one around $25 and for a really good game you're looking at $75.</p>
<p>Every game is a sellout. You haven't been able to buy a football ticket at the box office on gameday in a long time, the only possible exceptions being when the visiting team returns a lot of tickets, and even then they go very quickly.</p>
<p>Alright, that doesn't sound too bad at all. I guess with the Football program the way it is tickets are hard to come by.</p>
<p>How is housing decided? Is are you grouped by major or anything, or is it completely random. Also, should I get my roommate through VT's survey, or should I actively seek one out via facebook ect?</p>
<p>Regular housing is more or less random, although after your first year you can request a building/room. As a freshman you're supposed to be guaranteed a room but they've run short the last couple years. The situation works itself out eventually when people drop out or move off campus (there are now TONS of vacancies) but some people do end up living in converted lounges or with an RA or something. </p>
<p>As far as the roommate thing goes, that's up to you. If you find somebody you want to live with go for it, if you think you're fine with living with a complete random go for it. I did random my freshman year and it worked out great, but obviously it won't for everybody. You could end up with an awesome new friend or somebody you completely hate, but I suppose you could end up with that finding your own on facebook too.</p>
<p>Haha, that's actually my thread from last year. Amazing how much time you have to post when you have an internship with 90% downtime... haha. Good stuff in that thread.</p>
<p>Three more questions, do you register for classes during the summer, or orientation? Is there a freshman orientation? And is there any kind of penalty for computer infractions? Such as uploading massive amounts of stuff or bittorrent?</p>
<p>There is a freshman orientation. They give you a class schedule and then let you go and change it if you want. Sign up for an earlier orientation and you'll have more options for classes, although they say that they leave spots open for later people. The orientation is overnight and mandatory, I think. You do some stuff around campus, sleep in a dorm, do your schedule and are on your way.</p>
<p>For uploading just about anything on bittorrent a few things can happen. The first time if it's just a lot of uploading and nothing illegal they'll just restrict you, so your internet will be very slow for a few days. If you keep it up they can give you a JR and you can get anywhere from a BS class you have to attend to deferred suspension, depending on how bad what you did was. If you upload something illegal they can take away all internet privileges and/or give you a JR. Do not use bittorrent in your room. There is wireless internet around campus that many people use for stuff like that, but you have to sign in and I don't know if they track people on that as well.</p>
<p>Judicial review. You have to go in front of some people and they decide your punishment. For minor things it's usually just a class on "Choices" or something like that; for more major things they can actually kick you out.</p>