<p>any thoughts on Galileo living community? Pros and Cons?</p>
<p>I saw a program about it on TV and it was impressive. I would encourage for any student, and esp engineers.</p>
<p>My son is participating in Galileo living community this year (freshman). He is out of state & knew no one which is one of the reasons he explored that option. I asked him at Christmas break if he was glad he did or wish he hadn’t - said he was glad he did. All the guys on his floor (he is on 6th floor but also 7th floor of Lee hall is as well) are in Galileo so that instantly gives the student someone in their classes & same interest. You are assigned a mentor who has 5-6 other guys & they meet every so often. The mentor is also there to bounce questions of off. Tutoring sessions are held. The class itself meets once a week for fall semester however since there are some assignments due spring semester, the grade is not reported until spring semester. I’m sure others will chime in here as well. Feel free to ask questions & if I don’t know I’ll be glad to ask my son.</p>
<p>The Galileo group takes up approx 2 floors and then the rest of the dorm is coed by floor like the others? S wants to be able to meet other students outside of engineering (and girls of any major) and is concerned that it would be too limited. On the other hand he doesn’t want to be in a loud dorm with police breaking up parties etc. because he isnt one that does well without sleep. Are the tutoring sessions for all of the engineering courses? What type of projects are they doing? thanks again for your input</p>
<p>@bandgy - Galileo is housed on the 6th & 7th floors of Lee hall. This year girls were in a different hall however the plan is for them to be on the 4th & 5th floors of Lee next year. He has met other students outside of engineering but not many due to courseload as well as living with all engineers. There are tutoring sessions within different departments (math, chem, etc)but as a group combined with the girls (Galipatia), they will meet to review for tests/exams for intro to engineering classes. Their mentor is there to talk things through, he gave advice re: professors to get or to avoid, etc. Some of the homework/projects they did fall semester for galileo were resume building, planning out their 4 years of classes, & community service. He said that the dorms weren’t loud & also said that there haven’t been any parties in his dorm. Now not getting much sleep . . .that’s a different subject. I think most college students function on a lot less sleep than before. His mentor (a sophomore double majoring in engineering & psychology) frequently gets 4hrs of sleep per night, so all depends upon their courseload, upcoming homework/tests, etc. Hope this helps</p>
<p>I didn’t do the program but I know many people who did. It really isn’t drastically different from regular on campus housing except that you are surrounded by people that are in the same classes as you. This is great for getting study groups together (which is a very very very good idea) and you get some extra support, although you do miss out on some opportunities to give people a smug “Yeah, I’m an engineer.”</p>
<p>I don’t know, if I had it to do over again I probably still wouldn’t have done Galileo. I liked having some diversity in major around me. I mean, you still definitely could, but freshman year a big part of most people’s circle of friends are the people that they live next to. There are definite pros though.</p>
<p>As far as being in a ‘loud dorm,’ I lived on campus for two years and VT is pretty vigilant (in my experience) when it comes to making sure people don’t party in the dorms. Just don’t do the ‘substance free’ dorm, haha.</p>
<p>Some kids would thrive being around all honors/ engineering kids and others would prefer to be around a different mix of people. Only your son knows what he prefers. My junior engineering kid was invited to apply for honors but decided not to apply. He’s pretty laid back but social, athletic, likes a mix of friends. Met his current roommates on his freshman floor and they all have different majors. A kid who likes hanging with kids in his major or areas of interest may really enjoy something like Galileo. He should probably check it out, talk to some current students and go from there with his decision. How excitng to have such great options!</p>
<p>bandgy - D is in Hypatia, the women’s half of Galipatia. She enjoyed it enough to be a mentor next year. It sounds like they did some good things - study groups together, creating resumes, doing community service projects but some of the social get togethers were forced and awkward. She loves the girls on her floor and they have been great support for each other. She hasn’t made any friends outside of engineering and considers that a slight negative. Of the boys that she has mentioned, they all seem to be kids she met in class. So from her point of view, I think she would tell that Hypatia has been highly beneficial from an academic perspective and somewhat less so from a social perspective.</p>
<p>I am currently a first-year in Galileo, and I will be a second-year mentor in the fall. Basically, everything the parents have said is true, to some extent. While the social events are awkward, but forming study groups is trivial, and second-years are always here if you need advice or just want to talk. </p>
<p>You should apply only if you want to make friends and hang out with engineers for your freshman year; if you want to know a greater variety of people, stay away. That said, the reason I chose to apply for Galileo is because I didn’t get into the honors program, and I didn’t want to risk hanging around party people. In that regard, I don’t regret my decision, because I’ve met some really cool people.</p>