<p>Hello...the choice is mostly coming down to UVA Engineering versus Virginia Tech & Honors. Any thoughts on the choice and advantages or disadvantages would be appreciated. In at UNC-CH, JMU honors, Vandy & Waitlisted at Duke but $ is an issue so....have to stay in-state.</p>
<p>Search my old posts. I went VT first year and transferred, all engineering</p>
<p>I was in your situation and the decision was easy for me to choose UVA. I loved it when I visited. But you have to go where you think you will do well and enjoy your time.</p>
<p>shoebox, is there a way to access your old posts? I can only get the most recent 200, and you were already at UVA at the earliest of those. My S is in the process of choosing between the same options.</p>
<p>Hmm. I suggest just searching “shoebox” or “VT” and go from there.</p>
<p>Long story short: I chose UVA because of the thesis, ability (and we’re HIGHLY encouraged) to take classes outside engineering in other fantastic schools, and the smaller, more intimate size. I felt like VT was just churning out cookie cutter engineers. People always say that VT engineers are chosen over UVA engineers when it comes to jobs, internships, etc. As a fourth year, having been through all of these processes, I think everyone has regarded UVA engineers just as high, or higher, simply because everyone knows UVA is a GREAT school.</p>
<p>Have you looked into doing a tour? The E-school here does its own tours, gives you a great glimpse into our life here. Very personalized and not your standard admissions tour, we’re quite an interesting bunch of guides regulated very little ;)</p>
<p>My D chose UVA over VA Tech honors engineering and has really been happy with her choice. It was a relatively easy decision for her, however, in that she wanted to pursue biomedical eng and VA Tech didn’t have a program in that discipline. More importantly, however, is that she wanted to make sure if engineering wasn’t her cup of tea, she was at a world class university with excellent business and other majors. Since a lot of engineers/premeds wash out of those majors for various reasons, this was a key point and one you should take into account.</p>
<p>“More importantly, however, is that she wanted to make sure if engineering wasn’t her cup of tea, she was at a world class university with excellent business and other majors. Since a lot of engineers/premeds wash out of those majors for various reasons, this was a key point and one you should take into account”</p>
<p>^ I agree Boneyard, but a student can also take that point into account when deciding for VT. UVA has programs that are stronger than VT. VT has programs that are stronger than UVA. If the student has other interests and decides to change out of engineering, he/she could also find many highly regarded majors should he/she decide to matriculate to Blacksburg. </p>
<p>It just depends on the student and which great school fits them better overall!</p>
<p>Another agreement to that point, but I think UVA is a better school if engineering isn’t your D/S’s forte. We are #2 for a reason, and the comm school is #1. Unless agriculture or something along those lines is a backup to engineering, I think UVa wins as the smarter choice, but that’s my opinion</p>
<p>Smarter for you shoebox. I am glad you are happy and are content with your switch. Seems like a perfect fit for you!</p>
<p>Personally, I know I am in the minority on cc, but don’t get too caught up in overall school rankings; it is the strength of various programs that gets my attention for a school. For example, a kid who has interests in engineering and the visual arts? I wouldn’t say UVA or VT would be a better choice than VCU. Obviously, VCU isn’t anywhere near the rankings of UVA or VT, but would be a great choice for a kid who, if the engineering placement didn’t work out, may want to venture off into that area. </p>
<p>“I felt like VT was just churning out cookie cutter engineers” </p>
<p>^ Now, to that point, I have to share this point…</p>
<p>There are a lot of companies out there who historically have shown they like that VT cookie dough and a lot of VT engineering cookies out there making a lot of dough :)</p>
<p>As your generation likes to say “It’s all good”!</p>
<p>Companies today are not that way anymore. I worked with VT students this past summer, and we were equally as strong. My boss was actually happy he got the UVA kid over the VT kid. They don’t see UVA engineering as a joke, at all. Top companies come here, just like at VT, and I can tell you that I have a higher salary than the VT kid from this past summer. It’s semi-annoying to have people say “VT is automatically the better school because it’s the traditional engineering school”. Engineering, especially in my field, isn’t about cookie-cutter engineering anymore. The world and its demands on engineers is rapidly shifting, and whoever adapts their teaching style to that wins.</p>
<p>Applause for shoe!</p>
<p>Neither are MIT, Cornell or Stanford, the differences are negligible in engineering but they are worlds apart when it comes to everything else.</p>
<p>Whoaaa…please don’t misinterpret what I was trying to say, shoebox. I guess my attempt at a humorous play on words didn’t come across well. I didn’t mean to sound like I was taking sides between VT and UVA and I am sorry if I provoked you into making a response to that effect. I just wanted to respectfully disagree with your opinion that Tech was putting out “cookie cutter” engineers who are less creative or capable of higher levels of thinking. Let’s just say we agree to disagree on that one.</p>
<p>I truly have a healthy respect for graduates of both engineering schools (and both schools in general). Each has a top notch program, but just goes about it in a different way. You are right, many companies are happy to hire graduates of either school and I bet most of those recruiters know the route between each campus pretty well! Good luck with the rest of your year!</p>
<p>I agree with Boneyard1981. My daughter was also accepted to honors VT engineering and UVA. If my D does not like engineering and wants to transfer to another school I believe UVA has the stronger programs. Having visited VT and UVA and having worked with new engineering grads from both I think they both have strong engineering programs. It all comes down to which type of school is the right “fit” (size, non engineering options, feel of the campus, etc.)</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to being less creative or capable of thinking. I was just pointing out that while my colleagues at VT are taking courses on “Engineering Economy” and given total free realm when it comes to taking a course on human behavior, UVA demands students learn about ethics, how engineers interact with society, and how we need to approach the world as an engineer, in addition to various humanities courses of our choosing, and in addition to making sure we know how to write technically (not to mention the thesis).<br>
My friend at VT and I have compared the schools and our curriculum (both EE), and even he agreed that VT is putting out great engineers, but they’re all alike. He commented that it was hard for him to go into an interview and say “this is why I’m different from the other 100+s EEs from my school”. </p>
<p>Like I said, the engineering world is changing. The world is dying, literally, because of a lot of failing engineering practices. Ask me about my thesis topic and you’ll get a jolt of “holy crap, engineers need to do something about this!”. More than just a change in the technical side of engineering needs to happen…</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that information shoebox. I am learning quite a bit through your posts. </p>
<p>One thing I have also heard a lot about in comparing the two programs that I would like for you to comment on (if you have time) is the difference in the upgraded facililities that VT has as compared to UVA. </p>
<p>Several kids/parents that I know (two of which had dads that were engineers) went to each school to visit after applying and came back totally sold on VT because they said it was so obvious that Tech put a much bigger emphasis on their program in terms of the budget for facilities and equipment. While is it a fact that VT has the bigger (numbers-wise) program, those two dads strongly felt that Tech supported their engineering school more. Also they said that the improved facilities/equipment and infusion of more $ into the program would subsequently allow their kids better options for cutting-edge research and real world applications. Was their observation out of line? Or is it just a matter of personal opinion?</p>
<p>In my line of work and being a VA resident I talk to a lot of high schoolers who are interested in both UVA and VT engineering. I appreciate hearing your opinions regarding the program you have gone through. And share your thesis topic…I would love to read it :)</p>
<p>Depends on what type of education you want and what do you want to do in the future.</p>
<p>UVA is more rounded and VTech more technical. Graduates from both schools are smart enough to get hired. Most engineers learn on the job and use only a small perentage of what they actually learned in school. I would say many engineers will end up in less technical positions after 10-15 years, unless you are in research. Or should I say most will end up being more non-technical, (ie: as a lead engineer, project engineering, supervisory or management positions).</p>
<p>KandKsmom, I would have to agree that VT sinks more money into their programs since those programs are the premier ones at VT. VT is also planning to build a state of the art engineering building (“Signature Engineering Building”). It has not been started but here is the link that describes the facility [<a href=“http://www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding/][/url”>http://www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding/][/url</a>]. The web site says it will be the number one priority this year for funding at VT. </p>
<p>I also know that UVA is working on upgrades including the new Rice Hall [<a href=“http://www.seas.virginia.edu/pubs/uvaengineer/rice.php][/url”>http://www.seas.virginia.edu/pubs/uvaengineer/rice.php][/url</a>] which seems geared more towards computer engineering than the traditional degrees. I may be wrong on that but that is one of the many questions we hope to get answered during DOL visit.</p>
<p>My D went to a two week summer camp for woman interested in engineering at VT prior to junior year and a one week camp at UVA last summer. It gave her an opportunity to look hard at both schools. I believe both produce excellent engineers they just have a different way of getting to the end state. I also agree with davh01 assessment regarding the differences between the two schools. UVA allows for engineering students to take electives outside SEAS. That was something my D was interested in doing. I would recommend you look at a typical degree outline at VT and compare it to UVA. I believe you will see what Im talking about when you put them side by side.</p>
<p>VT spends “more” money on its buildings for two reasons:
- It spends less on other majors, drastically
- There’s more than double the students. They have to build the buildings. I felt overcrowded when I was there, and I totally agree more buildings need to be built. The “new” one when I was there was mostly devoted to office space/labs…not real conducive to learning.</p>
<p>UVA is building, rapidly. I’m sick of the construction actually 
Rice Hall is going up, then a second building will go up, and Small Hall will no longer be Small (double the footprint, triple the floors). All to be done by 2015. Biomedical Engineering got a brand new building three years ago, same with ChemE. EE will take over the entire C/E wing of Thornton when Computer Engineering moves to Rice next year. And when you feel like venturing out of the e-school, the South Lawn project nearly doubled the classrooms available on South Lawn.</p>
<p>I’m in no way trying to hate on VT’s engineering. Heck, I went there for a year! But you can’t say it’s automatically better than UVa engineering. Each program has its strengths and I know people at both schools who couldn’t imagine themselves at another. But I don’t think a rising first year should be directed to either school because “it’s better”. Gary is right, curriculum’s should be compared. Both schools will get you fantastic job/life opportunities, it just depends what you want to do for your four years.</p>
<p>Thanks shoebox10 for your insight. Having gone to both schools you have a much better perspective then any of us.</p>