My S has a hard decision to make. UVA or VA Tech for engineering and I was wondering if you all could help with our pros and cons. S was pretty sure he was going to Tech until last Friday when he heard he was accepted at UVA. He has visited and likes both campuses. He feels he would fit in both places. He thinks he might want to study Biomedical engineering, but doesn’t really know for sure yet.
He is competitive, not sure about joining a fraternity, is social, but not a partier, wants to play club soccer.
As far as we know, both schools are pretty evenly matched. However, he thinks that if for some reason he decides against engineering (changes his major) he will want to be at UVA.
He does plan to attend the accepted student days at both schools.
This is a good, but difficult dilemma and we would appreciate any input the CC community could provide.
First, let me say congratulations! What a great situation to be in…
My DS was faced with similar thoughts 4 years ago. He is finishing his ME degree at VT in May. He picked VT for the following reason, rightly or wrongly…#1 VT had a higher ranking/ “reputation” in ME (He never considered changing majors), #2 He felt he would fit in at VT more than UVA #3 He was a legacy at VT. Fast forward 4 years (he does have a job offer after graduation)…he says the following based on what he has seen, learned and experienced…
1 Rankings are not really that important and he feels the UVA program, their engineering approach/philosophy and professors seem to be much better (based on comparisons after discussions with his Engineering friends at UVA) #2 He still loves VT and feels UVA would not have been a good fit socially for him #3 Legacy was just silly to consider.
So, either is a great choice depending on your son’s specific thoughts. I imagine those visits to the campus will probably be the key for him. Hope this helped some. Congratulations to your son again.
You might want to look up some of the other threads about this. There is an alumna, shoebox10, who attended both schools as an undergraduate and wrote some very thorough posts about her experiences. There was also someone named MechWahoo who posted regularly about engineering.
@Dean J Thanks. I will look up those threads. I was reading some from shoebox10 last night. She had some good insights. I know you had an engineering open house last week, but we missed it. Is there any way to sit in on an engineering classroom or get a tour of the engineering buildings, etc.? I’m thinking maybe he could go to accepted student day and then maybe get a feel for the engineering side of things another day.
I’ve spent some time going through the pros and cons of these two schools. We’ve attended both the accepted student days and an engineering open house at VA Tech. Here’s some of the data I’ve come up with. Some is fact, some is my opinion. I’m posting in hopes that it might help other people with this tough decision.
Cost: We are in-state - they are about the same
Distance: UVA is in a better location for us (only about 2 hours away and I-81 is a pain)
School Spirit: Both schools have great spirit
Types of People: UVA - smart & preppy - VA Tech - smart & more varied
Classroom Instruction and Class Size: About the same
Dorms: About the same - some have A/C and some don’t
of Students: 16,000 at UVA and 24,000 at Tech
of Engineering Students: 2,600 at UVA and 5,800 at VA Tech
Gender: 44%M/56%F at UVA and 59%M/41%F at VA Tech
Gender (Engineering): 69%M/31%F at UVA and 75%M/25%F at VA Tech
Weather: UVA good - VA Tech not great
Graduation Rate (4 years): UVA 86% and VA Tech 61%
Freshman Retention Rate: UVA 97% and VA Tech 93%
Dining Hall Food: UVA not great - VA Tech really good!
Average Freshman Engineering GPA: 3.29 at UVA and 3.01 at VA Tech
Coop Program: UVA no and VA Tech yes (VA Tech encourages this, which partially explains their lower 4 year grad rate)
Business Minor Available to Engineers: UVA yes and VA Tech no
Biomedical Engineering Major: UVA yes and VA Tech no (however they are working on one with Wake Forest)
Variety of Engineering specialties: More at VA Tech
Engineering Labs & Current Projects: UVA don’t know (didn’t attend engineering open house at UVA) - VA Tech amazing!
Freshman GPA needed to get into engineering program of your choice: UVA 3.2 (85% got their 1st choice and 93% of students got into their 1st or 2nd choice last year. Interesting note only 20% of students stayed in the major they had initially expressed interest in) and VA Tech 3.0
Median Starting Salary: $66,323 UVA and $62,000 at VA Tech
Engineering Philosophy: UVA broader (engineering in the world) and VA Tech more technical
I typed a lot on another thread. I’ll try to summarize:
I would consider Tech if I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the foreseeable future after graduation. Excellent facilities and research, and when you come out, you’ll know your major area very well.
I would choose UVa if I was interested in Engineering, but wanted to prepare for a broader future, particularly if I was assuming I’d go to grad school. More electives, more exposure to bright students in a variety of disciplines, better foundation in a traditional liberal education, but still preparing one well in the major fields.
Wanna work at Company X? Go to Tech. You’ll always be able to find a job in that field and you will be an outstanding engineer.
Wanna be equipped to work at a broad variety of companies, or go to law school, or go to business school, or do policy analysis, etc., etc.? Go to UVa.
Oh, and regardless of the choice: a motivated student can always get a lot of the other school’s advantages by just being aggressive.
Example: at UVa-- worried about having a strong enough specialization? Take fewer humanities electives and fill in the engineering electives. Do targeted research.
At Tech-- worried about insufficient breadth? Live with motivated liberal arts students. Aggressively attend political and cultural events and lectures. Don’t waste your electives on easy A’s. Study abroad. Emphasize courses that require public speaking.
But they’re both awesome schools, and either one will provide a great experience. Just PLEASE don’t be petty toward whichever school is not chosen. I’m sick of the anti-UVa bile that I hear from Tech students, and I know when I was at UVa the attitude toward Tech was silly. Both great schools.
My DS was accepted for Engineering at UVA and VATech. He started at UVA in Biomedical Engineering but he graduated in 2014 in Mechanical Engineering. I just appreciate and agree with this thread. My DD has just accepted an offer from VA Tech, after visiting campus, last week, she really wants to switch from CALS to Engineering, so I was looking for any insight on that. I think VA Tech will be the better place for my DD, even though my DS loved UVA, had great opportunities there and excellent job offers, currently loving his job. I’m gearing up to be a proud Hokie but I’m a bit bothered that one of the main definitions of Hokie is “hates UVA” because I love UVA.
@Maiadawn, I think all that “hates” UVa or " hates " VT stuff tends to be overblown. I spent four years as a UVa parent followed by four years as a VT parent. Both kids in engineering. They ended up at the right schools for them and I loved both experiences. I think you will have no problem with quickly becoming a “proud Hokie.” Congratulations to your daughter on her acceptance to Virginia Tech!
