I’m having a very tough decision with the school I will be attending for the next four years. For the last 13 years I’ve been living overseas on a military base so at this point, out-of-state tuition is the only way I can go. Living with the belief that I would never get into Virginia Tech, CU Boulder is another school I’ve wanted to go to just as bad. I had gotten accepted to CU Boulder back in December. However, the other day I got my acceptance to Virginia Tech. I am planning on majoring in physics or aerospace engineering and both schools are known for their science/engineering programs. It is hard to decide whether to give up on Tech’s great engineering program or take that opportunity. I am an outdoor type of person and admire the beauty of Colorado. I’ve visited and loved my time there. Now Blacksburg, VA on the other hand, I really don’t know much about it. Both schools seem equal in academics and if not, VT is the better school. I really like the CU Boulder campus and Colorado in general. If anybody from Virginia would like to tell me about it that would be appreciated. I really do need some opinions on the best choice for me.
Another important factor would be price. CU Boulder comes to an estimated $52,000 a year while VT comes to around $39,000 a year. After four years, if I choose VT, I could save $52,000 ($13,000 difference x 4 years).
Another distinction without a difference. While AE is tops at Colorado, VaTech is very good overall in engineering. And their are plenty of outdoor recreation activities in central Virginia (but clearly the skiing is better in the Rockies than in Appalachia). Save your money; head to VaTech.
One of my kids went to VT in engineering. Beautiful campus, lots of outdoor activities nearby- great academics, school spirit, and job placement. Colorado sounds great too but that is a significant difference in cost. Good luck with the decision.
VT is right in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lots of good hiking.
http://www.outdoor.org.vt.edu/documents/NRV_Hikes_OCVT_1991.pdf
Save the $ and fly to CO to ski once a year.
VT actually has an alpine ski team and a ski club. There is decent skiing in Virginia, WV, and Pennsylvania if the OP does have any interest in skiing.
Visit the VT site here on CC, “What’s So Great About This School”:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/1740538-whats-so-great-about-this-school.html#latest
If you got into the engineering program this past week, you were in a select group of early admittances.
I come from Colorado myself and have been to boulder’s campus and think it’s lovely. But, I moved to Virginia not too long ago and have had two sisters go to tech. I’ve visited and compared cu and tech and honestly, there is nothing cu has that vt doesn’t have better. School spirit, beautiful campus, the entire state basically rooting for you, amazing engineering program, 5th happiest students in America, number 1 dining, top 25 school spirit, great football team, number 1 fittest. There is not a person who I know that will not happily answer the question “what’s a hokie” with “I am”. Cu is kinda lacking in school spirit and just overall atmosphere in my opinion… Eh. So hands down pick Virginia tech.
Oh and if you’re worried about hiking and being outdoorsy and whatnot, we have mountains too! And the cascades nearby Blacksburg and a lot of things to do outside.
Are your parents in the military or retired within last three years? If so you are eligible for instate tuition at ALL public universities in all 50 states that accept the GI Bill. It doesn’t mean you have to use your GI Bill benefits, but that the uni takes GI Bill money. The first semester this takes effect is Fall 2015. It was a small part of Obamas new VA Bill he signed last Fall. Your local Education Center can help you with the paperwork.
Wow, thank you for all the responses everyone! I just got into Cal Poly today, which is making my decision a lot harder. I will take everything into consideration! My parents used to be in the military a few years back, so I’m unsure of my status on the GI bill.
Congratulations on the acceptance to Cal Poly. You might want to look at the Career Services info for each college (look at the post grad surveys about where kids end up going). Do you know where you want to live after graduation? Cal Poly, for instance , will have lots of their grads getting jobs in California and the west coast in general… VT recruits nationally but will have more of their grads getting jobs on the east coast. The DC area , in particular, is popular . Do you know what the cost for you of Cal Poly would be yet?
Remember it has nothing to do with you using GI Bill benefits. The school just has to accept GI Bill monies in general from the U.S. Government…has nothing to do with you other than your parents’ military service,
It does have to do with when the parents left the military.
I am a high school senior living in Boulder, so so I know a lot about the academics at CU as well as the atmosphere. I also applied to VT so I know that it also a highly regarded school. In my opinion, go to VT. Its name is more recognized, especially for engineering, and it’s hard to do research on tech without people professing their love for it. My guess is that the only thing CU has going for it (in this comparison) is its location. Blacksburg is kind of a small town, only half as big as Boulder so obviously there are simply more options for what to do in your free time. Also Blacksburg seems to be pretty isolated whereas Boulder is less than an hour away from both Fort Collins and Denver (two great college towns). If location is important to you, and you want to go to a bigger more quirky city then definitely consider CU, but you can’t go wrong with either school.