VT or UVa?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
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Think you might ever be interested in management consulting, investment banking or some other financial area? UVA is the only choice here for those jobs.

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Completely false. Plenty of VT engineers end up in other fields.

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I don't know where the idea comes from that VT is absolutely a better engineering school than UVA.

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Reality. Something I don't believe they offer at UVA.

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smarter students on average

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You want to go toe to toe with our engineers?

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better overall job opportunities
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Bull***** yet again. In fields other than engineering yes, but you've been talking about engineering this whole post and then you drop this. Not on my watch.
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Would you consider VT over Duke or Yale for engineering?

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If I wanted to work in engineering? Absolutely yes over yale, since I believe Cornell is the only Ivy with a good engineering program. Don't know much about duke's.</p>

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<p>chuy, reread my post and try to respond with some basis in fact.</p>

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Completely false. Plenty of VT engineers end up in other fields.

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<p>Sure, they get jobs in other fields. But do they have the high-end business opportunities available? Absolutely not, without luck or connections. Most of the "elite" business employers don't even visit Blacksburg. </p>

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Reality. Something I don't believe they offer at UVA.

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<p>Lol. Clearly wrong and not worth responding to.</p>

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You want to go toe to toe with our engineers?

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<p>Drop the machismo, dude. Look at the numbers: as a group, engineering students at UVA have better numbers than their counterparts at VT. This leads to enhanced career and graduate school opportunities.</p>

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Bull***** yet again. In fields other than engineering yes, but you've been talking about engineering this whole post and then you drop this. Not on my watch.

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<p>You didn't read my post and you know nothing about the job market. You keep repeating the same hollow mantra about VT engineering being better and providing better job opportunities. I didn't "drop" anything in anywhere. I said in my second sentence that UVA engineers have access to top business jobs that VT engineers don't. Fact. And do you know anything about the job market in engineering? Have you ever compared the recruiters who go to UVA and VT? I worked at a major tech company last summer and dealt with a great number of engineers. They came from all kinds of schools. Outside of the most elite tech companies (think Google and other Silicon Valley firms), the job market for engineers is not terribly competitive. Any engineering grad from UVA or VT will easily get multiple offers from big-name companies like Lockheed Martin, SAIC, CSC, Northrop Grumman, etc. Any UVA or VT grad with above average grades will also get interviews with the more elite tech firms, like Google. But with VT engineers have the opportunity to crack into other competitive business careers through on-campus recruiting? No. All I've tried to assert is that UVA engineers do at least as well in engineering job and graduate school as their VT peers and additionally have the option of taking jobs in fields like investment banking and management consulting. You've responded harshly and irrationally.</p>

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If I wanted to work in engineering? Absolutely yes over yale, since I believe Cornell is the only Ivy with a good engineering program. Don't know much about duke's.

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<p>Flame. Anyone smart enough to get into Yale or Duke would recognize that the high-end intellectual atmospheres at those schools and superior job recruiting render the option of attending VT untenable. At Yale you're either going to use your degree to work at Goldman Sachs or an elite tech firm, or to go to a PhD program. Real engineers at the major companies that I listed above work in cubicles for five-figure salaries - something no Yale or Duke graduate would enjoy.</p>

<p>I'm not trying to bash VT or make unreasonable claims. I'm trying to make rational statements of fact to help people make a decision. All things being equal, I simply can't see choosing VT over UVA at the undergraduate level the way someone might choose W&M over UVA.</p>

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<p>Balls. Just typed out a big block o text and now its gone. Guess I'll restart.</p>

<p>The most important point here is that UVa is a highly regarded top25 university overall - VT is nowhere close to that. Although they are ranked similarly in engineering, ENGINEERING IS NOT THE END GAME. No enterprising person wants to be an engineer forever - they have aspirations of going into technical management, starting a venture capital company etc. For these types of advancements (and not a "five-figure" salary) UVa would be better.</p>

<p>Georgetown Law vs. George Mason Law
Microsoft vs. Sparta (who!!)
Morgan Stanley vs Raymond James
Duke Med vs VCU Med
The list goes on and on...</p>

<p>Anyway, my point is that you will be surrounded by smarter, more ambitious people at UVa. This leads to a more fertile atmosphere for success. All of my friends at VT just party 4 nights a week and get 2.7 GPAs. Sounds fun right!! Sure, for a little while I guess. Perhaps a weekend. Perhaps a weekend in which you make the trip from Charlottesville to Blacksburg to hang out with the old crew. On the bright side, they'll still be in college after you graduate -- weekend trip? anyone?</p>

<p>Sure, the social atmosphere is important at a school as well. VT is less fratty than UVa overall, but in both places these are only small portions of the student population. Both schools are large publics and you will find your niche in either one.</p>

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<p>I hope this thread doesn't get into mudslinging between those who love VT and those who love UVA. They are both great schools and every student that is accepted to both needs to visit and how each school's whole package fits them best. The two schools are quite different, but I do not think that archrival would be less challenged academically at VT than UVA in engineering or CS, which is what the OP wants to do. </p>

<p>Some of us old folks on these boards can tell you that in the end, when the time comes to be interviewed, it is networking and how you present yourself as being the two factors that are going to make or break what types of jobs you are offered over the course of your career. An degree from UVA or VT will hold up well in any scenario with VT having a slight edge for its reputation in producing engineers, in my opinion. </p>

<p>Finally bsball: not everyone wants to change careers away from eng down the road if they are happy with what they are doing. Also, there are "friends" that party and slack off and have 2.7s at UVA, WM, WL, etc. It happens everywhere and at any school you are going to have those that are in the glass and those that rise to the top. </p>

<p>archrival just needs to decide which environment will make him/her the happiest involving the whole experience of college. The part outside the classroom has to be considered as it is so important to enjoy this time of your life!</p>

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<p>Well said, KandKsmom.</p>

<p>Celebrate the fact that Virginia has wonderful public universities and colleges. </p>

<p>As described above, I have ties to both UVa and VT and it was disturbing to me to see this thread turn from encouraging and informative to, well, what it turned into. Not what I expected (or remembered) from Virginia gentlemen (or ladies)!!</p>

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<p>VT is better than UVA in engineering. Any attempt to say otherwise is stupid. UVA is not an engineering school. UVA is better everything else though. If you look at VT's graduating engineers stats, they get more than respectable jobs and get into more than respectable grad schools. I know i looked at it for Chemical Engineering (what I'm going into) and the average starting salary was over 60,000 a year and over 90% were employed by graduation (you can correct me if i'm wrong its been a whille since i looked at it....) The grad schools were top notch, such as MIT, UPenn, etc. </p>

<p>I could have gotten into UVA. Why didn't I apply? Because the people there are so stuck up its unbearable.</p>

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<p>uva is better in most everything else except engineering. But uva and tech have so many different programs that it depends on what you want to do and not the school. I got accepted to uva. But i'm no going because they don't have building construction, which is what I want to do. Virginia Tech is a better school for me. It is impossible to compare uva and va tech overall because they don't have the same programs.</p>

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<p>Virginia Tech is ranked 14th nationally for engineering at schools whose highest degree is a doctorate. UVA is ranked 33rd. Considering there are over 4,000 institutions in the United States right now, I think its safe to say they are both very good programs.</p>

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<p>I disagree with the posts regarding job markets and opportunity between Tech and UVA. Both schools hold a lot of clout when applying for a job. Infact, when my sister first started working for Marriott and HostMarriott (She was a finance major at VT), she worked with several UVA graduates as well. Although the business school at UVA, especially the commerce school, is ranked significantly higher than Pamplin at VT, the opportunities in the job market even out. I think that because UVA is considered second tier Ivy League, there is some preconceived notion that they receive higher entitlement upon graduating...yet, this isn't always the case. While the university you attended may get your foot in the door at some places; what it ultimately boils down to is how you utilize your degree.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses again.</p>

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<p>Ok I visited the uva campus on friday for the admitted/prospective students event. The campus is a bit different from Virginia Tech in that the road I traveled on suddenly became part of the campus. The town and the campus are blended together well. I sat in on a chemistry lecture class and it was a good experience too see how some lecture classes work. The people there were helpful. Fashion seemed to be of big importance there, but there were people who wore regular t shirts and uva branded clothes as well. For engineering, most of the buildings are close together. The tour guide gave a good tour and presentation of the e-school. The weather on the day I visited was really good, so that was good.
Virginia Tech has a more defined campus and in my opinion one that is more good looking than the uva one. In conclusion, going to the campus of uva made it harder for me to decide.</p>

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<p>Hey archrival, even though it seems you may be having a harder time deciding after visiting UVA it is great that you had the chance to go and see the school firsthand. Some kids feel comfortable going to college anywhere without having to visit. But after seeing just how differently my s felt about each of his possible schools once he visited, I am glad he was able to do so as well.</p>

<p>Were you able to see the engineering presentations/classrooms, etc. during your visit at VT or take part in Hokie Focus weekend? I wonder how that went for those who attended. </p>

<p>Anyway, good luck with everything- I hope you will be happy wherever you end up and go on to do great things!</p>

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<p>Hey,</p>

<p>No I ended up being an hour and a half late and missed all the information sessions. I didn't go to Hokie Focus, but I went to a Virginia Tech open house in October where they had information sessions. That was good too.</p>

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<p>You also need to look pass college. What type of work and position would you like to be in, say in 10 or 20 years. If you think you like to be more technical than VT. If management or supervisory position, UVA. Many engineering graduates end up in management positions. Your grade is more important in getting your first job. You probably use less than 10% of what you learn in college (Everything else is learned on the job). The USNews ranking matters little in comparing the two colleges. The advantage of going to a “more prestigious” school are recruitment and name recognition. Often we hear the management say “If he goes to “___”, he is smart enough to do the work.” After your first job, it no longer matters were you went. Your experience is the only thing that counts. We have passed job applicants from Cornell and Columbia with high gpa for a UMd applicant with average gpa and better work experience.</p>

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<p>Well, I am actually in the same situation :P, between Vtech and UVA for computer engineering. </p>

<p>What have you decided archrival ? :P !</p>