There’s nothing like a night football game in Lane Stadium, just sayin’
@suntala is she leaning one way or another? Make sure she understands the travel thing with Purdue - if there are flight delays or cancelations, missed shuttle, etc., is she the kind of kid that can roll with that? I get anxiety just listening to the VT parents deal with the air travel! I am grateful that my D is an easy 3 hour drive away.
Has she been able to get a sense of how easy it is to get classes in her major at each school? Had a chance to talk to a current engineering student at either school?
Possibly another thing to consider is that I’ve read that Purdue has had housing issues for the past couple of freshman classes, resulting in kids having to live in dorm lounges. Not sure if that’s still an issue for them.
My son was between Purdue and VT for engineering last year. We are from the Northeast, so neither school was easy to travel to but we visited both schools last spring to help him decide. Purdue’s engineering programs seemed amazing, and we were captivated by the little food delivery robots buzzing around campus. Campus seemed very quiet and we didn’t see may students around. He wasn’t feeling the campus for some reason, and in the end couldn’t really picture himself there. On the flip side, he felt more at home at Virginia Tech from the start. He liked the feel of the campus, the “Hokie stone” buildings, the campus design with residential buildings on one side of the drill field and academic buildings on the other, and being able to walk into Blacksburg. He ended up committing while we were there. He’s had a great year so far - doing well in classes, has made friends, enjoys football and basketball games right on campus and being able to explore the quarries and mountains off campus. Oh, and the food is great! Anyway, he’s very happy at VT. I don’t think you can go wrong with either school, they are both amazing. It really comes down to where your daughter feels is the best “fit” for her.
We are from San Diego but grew up and lived in Syracuse into our 30’s. Our D is a current Hokie and native San Diegan. She was offered admission to SU but knowing the weather conditions and her frailties we advised her against. Her adjustment to Blacksburg was tough the first year but the weather there is much milder. Syracuse is definitely not for the meek. Unless they love continual gray skies and 7 months of winter (much of it harsh with lake effect snow) I would definitely lean towards VT. Crime is also higher at SU, but Greek life is superior if that is a factor. D sorely missed SD first few years because of the lack of things to do but now considers VT home.
My daughter is also a native San Diegan headed to VT in the fall. Your feedback gives me reassurance on the transition. She is looking forward to trading in palm trees for pine trees. We definitely got the feeling when we visited the campus last summer that she would have everything on campus easily available to make it her home since she won’t be coming home very often. Not to mention a campus that has lots to keep her busy and involved.
i did see on the VT site that you can catch a bus to get to the airport. Has your daughter used the bus to get to NoVa or Roanoke in order to fly home? It’s looks she could also fly in and out of Charlotte?
We actually met two Syracuse seniors yesterday from California who said the transition to Syracuse was no problem, much easier than they ever expected. They said the cold doesn’t bother them (they mentioned its really only Nov-March and they are home for winter break during a chunk of that time anyway), and they enjoy all the fun snow activities like sledding right on campus. They said there are a lot of West Coast kids, and pointed out more than once how much personalized support there is at Syracuse, and how the student body seems to be a nice mix from all over. Just thought I’d mention since we just happened to meet these students yesterday.
We ended up moving here since we were close to retirement and my husband qualified her for instate tuition by being a veteran. We live in Salem now which is in Roanoke county but our D has an apartment near Campus. She has gone back to visit friends a few times and flies out of Roanoke but yes Charlotte is also an option. There is a bus that runs from the Roanoke Airport to Campus Mon- Sat. Sundays require Ubers but those of us local are always willing to pick up anyone and take them back to campus if they cant find transportation. There are quite a few San Diegans and southern Californians attending. Make sure you join the Virginia Tech Parents Page on FB to connect. The one with 24k members. It is an incredible source of support. I am certain your D wil LOVE VT.
Thats great to hear! The past few winters have been mild however. But yes I suppose not being there over winter break does help considerably. Especially since Jan. tends to dip below zero. A lot of kids from milder climates love the snow and activities especially if they are not the ones shoveling out lol. Most S Calis I met however did not fare welI. I worked at the bookstore there for a few years and can attest come mid March there are quite a few depressed faces when the next 12-24" drops and they just returned all tanned from Spring break. Just saying its not for eveyone and yes there are definitely those who will thrive there. Visiting is definitely a plus and helps the decision process. Also watching a few Syracuse winter storms on youtube to know how to prepare for their adventure.
There’s not currently a bus to the Charlotte airport from VT, but there’s a group of parents trying to get one added. Hopefully that will happen. I believe there’s also a FB VT carpool page to try and find rides.
Blacksburg definitely has a winter but much shorter, less snow and cold than Syracuse (former Syracuse resident here, husband is a Syracuse native), and there are definitely more sunny days in Blacksburg. If you love a place enough, the weather is something you get used to.
My older daughter was born in Syracuse on April 21st - on April 14th that year, which was Easter, we had snow.
Very helpful. Thank you so much! My kiddo is not going to be interested in Greek life. Great insight on weather and lacking things to do. Thanks again!
When we fly in for our visit next week, we are flying into Charlotte and getting a Turo to Blacksburg but I did also have this question about a bus for kids flying into Roanoke. Thanks for the hints on the FB pages!
Not really any downside other than the extra time driving. Traffic is light here in comparison to SD. You just have to share with the Semis which can be intimidating for some. If you have WAZE loaded you can get around any accidents by taking the back roads which are actually quite nice. Christiansburg is closest and only 10-15 minutes. Radford is also close and Salem/Roanoke is about 25-35 minutes. Downtown Roanoke is very quaint with quite a few nice restaurants. Lots of parents find hotels much less expensive on the outskirts and lots of discussion of best options on the Parents Page.
One disadvantage might be having to haul your overnight stuff along with all the move-in stuff, whereas if you stay in Blacksburg you can leave it at the hotel right up until check out. Things were a little different for us in 2018 - there weren’t time slots - so it was well worth the $ and peace of mind to stay the night before at the Inn.
VRBO’s and AirBnB’s are options as well.
It looks like timeslots aren’t known until summer so that makes reservations trickier.
Best of luck to the kids on the wait list, especially the instate kids . Nice there is movement already before May 1st, before other deposits need to be lost if first choice is VT.
D22 accepted off the waitlist, OOS! “General Engineering with Interest in CS.” She’s already committed at IU-B so I’m curious what her thoughts will be.
