I am a little confused about various references to first and second choice majors. As far as I can tell, My D was only able to indicate one major choice on her application, with an option to indicate interest in a per-professional program. Unlike other schools she applied to (NC State, e.g.) where she could select two or three choices, the Tech application only offered her one major choice. Was this a change from previous years?
@PhilipM I have a copy of my son’s Va Tech application, and it lists Requested First-Choice Major and Requested Second-Choice Major.
@PhilipM it does ask for a 2nd choice major based on what your first choice major is.
From VT: "We only request a second choice major selection from students who choose a restricted major as their first choice major. Restricted majors are defined as programs of study whose demand far exceeds space availability. "
@PhilipM @tonypa engineering and architecture programs are more competitive , so those students are asked to enter a 2nd choice . Students applying to b-school, CNR, or liberal arts only enter one 1st choice
Interesting. My daughter’s major – Creative Technologies in SOVA – is restricted, but that decision doesn’t happen until end of 1st semester so she only had option of selecting Art on the application. There is scant information about what happens to kids who get turned down during the portfolio review for the restricted Art focus areas, which occurs at the end of Semester 1. I suspect they remain in some sort of general Art category.
@msvirginia @lastone03 Oh, I see. My son applied for engineering.
Someone chance me!
White Female In-State but NOT from NOVA
3.7 GPA
1060 SAT (I know it’s low)
Legacy
100+ service hours
Cheerleading all 4 years of highschool
Clean disciplinary record
I applied to Criminology, hoping sense it’s not one of the more popular majors I’ll have a better chance with my SAT score:/ thank you!!
@sharonn2 does your school use Naviance or Family Connection? Your school may have a scattergram which shows the history of students who applied to VT, what their GPA and SAT score was on a graphic and which ones were admitted- FROM YOUR SCHOOL which is helpful. Your counselors might have an opinion too, as they have seen students over the last few years get in with stats similar to yours.
How competitive do you guys think it’ll be this year vs last year
The past two years Virginia Tech has said that the February round of application notices were into the students first choice major, so if you only had to choose one major (less important major) does this include you too or do they not announce those until March ?
They extended the application deadline from December 1st to January 15th at some point during the first week of December. What that means in terms of competitiveness is anyone’s guess.
PSA: just got off the phone with Virginia Tech Admissions and they have stated everyone will be finding out in March this year… I wonder why that is ??
Long time VT head of admissions , Mildred Johnson, left Jan 1 to pursue head admissions role at Radford University - news story via link below - when hearing about changes in deadlines and release dates from past years, it might be helpful to realize that VT admissions is under new leadership http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/radford/radford-hires-johnson-as-new-dean-of-admissions/article_d4feaa6d-c402-5ca6-adfe-a9f9a76a8b0d.html
A friend called admissions last week. 32,000 applications (last year about 27,500 per the website). RD date changed as a result of some guidance counselors not understanding that VT had moved up its RD deadline to 12/1. VT wanted it to be fair so they extended the date into January (where it had historically been). They are currently reviewing apps and will review deferrals, Dec RD, and Jan RD’s all together and notifiy students on 3/15.
That totally makes sense. Sounds like they’re doing everything they can to ensure a fair opportunity for all applicants.
So would this go to say it is going to be much more challenging to get in this year than past years ?
@sharonn2 I think, yes. And they have had more matriculate the last 2 years which created housing issues. My guess is that they will accept less than they have in the past. Overall, it’s just getting more and more competitive. They do approach each application holistically, so if you have lower test scores it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get in. They look at the total package (and the major you chose- some are just harder to get into than others).
I am not real happy to hear that they will not release some early in February. It is the students responsibility to find out when an application is due, not the guidance counselor. If I student is really interested in the school I would think they would have gone to the schools website and checked the due date, that is what my daughter and her friends that wanted to apply did. I understand they got more applications that last year but they have pretty good historical statistics on the strength of their applicants to at least let the top applicants know in February, especially the ones that submitted their applications back in November.
@sharonn2 as far as your chance me, your GPA listed is weighted, right? If so both your SAT and GPA are in the
lower 25% for 2017 admits for the major you applied for (per common data set on school web site). Based solely on this, your chances aren’t great, but there’s always a chance with the holistic review. Good luck.
Someone please chance me!
In-state, but NOT from NOVA
Male, Applied General Engineering
W: 4.2
UW: 3.6
SAT: 1440
4 years Varsity Soccer
Internship throughout university
VASTS
Essays: Good
Do I have a good shot at their engineering program?