I have now seen from multiple sources (like the link below) that freshman housing was an issue for 2 years in a row now. Having a son apply EA and VT being one of this top schools, I think not living on campus would be a big drag on him. This problem will compound itself if not resolved.
If you are living in one of the hotels or have a child living there, can you share anything about their experience? Sorry to start this thread if it is out there already.
Freshman on campus housing was not an issue for students entering Fall 2018 (there were fewer incoming students that year than 2017). In 2017 there were some temporary triples while one of the residence halls was coming back online. I beieve that didn’t extend beyond the fall semester.
Our student doesn’t live in one of the hotels, but I have stayed 2x now at the Inn (not HIE) since the conversion and the students seem to be doing fine. Triples can be a pain, but there’s lots of stories out there from current and former students who said it was manageable, even fun. Both the Inn and HIE have grab and go breakfast options on site. HIE definitely has a larger PITA factor re: transportation. That all said, the two hotels are being pretty much run like residence halls.
HIE is slated for a full remodel in the summer, and Inn has it documented from the university that this is a single year situation for them (according to management staff I spoke with in the summer). There is a new residence hall under construction at this time. And, I think everyone is expecting the number of offers to attend for Fall 2020 to drop (and admissions to potentially more competitive than Fall 2018 which was highest stats on record). So all of those things should mitigate a repeat of 2019.
Probably should have led with this though - you think not living on campus would be a drag on him… what does he think?
Thanks for great info and insights. My son said he wants to be actually on campus, close to other dorms and classes. The Inn maybe an option, but anything with needing transportation is a non starter.
The Inn and Hotel this year have students that chose those or students that waited until the deadline to accept their offer. Any student who wanted to be in an on campus dorm and accepted their offer within a reasonable time of being accepted had the opportunity to pick a normal dorm. My son did Early Action and accepted shortly thereafter and had his choice of about any dorm (most were fairly empty at his time to choose).
@HappyNJOOS The funny thing is that the Inn is actually a little closer to the academic side of campus than many of the residence halls are. And like @cbl1 notes, the HIA and Inn options didn’t come online until well after students were able to accept and sign their contracts - even those who were accepted under regular decision. Anything can change, but if your son signs his housing contract as soon as it’s available then you should be fine.
One thing to keep in mind though - after 1st year, on campus housing is not guaranteed. Most 2nd years and up choose to live off campus, but if he is really interested in being on campus for more than 1st year then he should apply to be an RA or apply to one of the 2-year LLC’s once he is accepted to VT.
Thank you all for your comments. Feb 22 can’t get here quick enough for a decision for my son. He will have results from all other schools way before this date so it will be a quick decision I bet.
Are the regular dorms Air Conditioned at VT?
And is the Rec Center air conditioned? I remember we visited in summer and it did not feel AC and the kids in camps in the gym looked SO hot.
@sunnyschool Some of the dorms have A/C and others do not. You pay more for the A/C dorms. My son and almost all his friends were in dorms without A/C and they managed just fine - 2 window fans (one pulling in, the other pushing out) and a small desk fan.
War Memorial Gym did not have A/C, but is undergoing a complete renovation which I believe includes air. McComas has A/C.
The residence hall description show A/C or not
https://www.housing.vt.edu/experience/YourResidenceHall.html
AJ - East yes
AJ - West yes
Barringer no
Campbell - East no
Campbell - Main no
Cochrane no
Donaldson Brown yes
Eggleston - East yes
Eggleston - Main no
Eggleston - West no
Harper yes
Hillcrest no
Johnson no
Lee no
Miles no
New Cadet Hall yes
New Hall West yes
New Res Hall East yes
Newman no
Oak Lane yes
O’Shag yes
Payne yes
Pearson yes
Peddrew-Yates yes
Pritchard no
Slusher Tower no
Slusher Wing no
Vawter no
My son lost his bookmarks for checking his VT application status. Can somebody send the link?
if you type “Virginia Tech Portal” into google, its the first thing that pops up.
go here and then click button top right that says access your guest account
There is also an instructional video on the page below
Do you pick your dorm when you accept?
Once you accept and setup your VT account. It then takes about 48 hours for them to get you into the database for Starrez portal site. Check Starrez each day until you can login. Then go in and sign your housing contract.
Once you sign your housing contract then you are in line to pick your dorm. So it is important you sign your housing contract as soon as your starrez account becomes active.
Once you are in line … sometime in early July you will get an email with your time slot to go online and pick your dorm. If you already know who you want as a roommate then the roommate who has the earliest selection date can then add their other roommate to the room (so the selection time for the other roommate doesn’t matter).