<p>As expected its probably going to come down to Vtech or PSU for my S who is interested in computer engineering. He has been accepted to both schools as an engineering major. He has also visited the schools several times and likes both (similar type campuses so at least he knows what he likes). He's leaning towards Vtech because it feels "more comfortable to him". We'd like to hear from parents of engineering students and student themselves with opinions and experiences positive or negative. Are your kids happy and liking their classes? Are you as students loving still loving TECH?? Any thoughts appreciated. Any computer engineers out there with info?</p>
<p>I’m an engineering graduate. I can write more later, but PSU and VT are very similar in a lot of ways, and I don’t think he’d be missing out on anything at either.</p>
<p>Those are both great schools to have to choose from. Son is a junior in engineering at VT and has done very well there, Dean’s list every semester. No major problems getting the classes he needs. Only had potential issue with getting one class so far but did a force/add type thing and it worked out.Likes VT alot.Kids seem pretty down to earth in general. Enjoys the football and basketball games. He did a week long volleyball camp at Penn State when he was in high school so we saw Penn State then. Both schools have very nice campuses. VT has a smaller , more compact feel to me than Penn State. VT seems pretty manageable in getting around. Good luck with the decision.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your son’s admittance to two top schools; you must be very proud!
My son is in Industrial Design so I can’t speak for Engineering classesb but you mentioned in your post that your son said that VT felt “more comfortable to him”, I think that when a student feels comfortable and enjoys the school he or she will be a better student.
Like Eng, ID is a very demanding program that requires a lot of time management. Aside from many hours studying, he manages to go to every home football and basketball game, works out everyday, and has met lots of new people.</p>
<p>Here are some great threads to read through: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/373603-quick-questions-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/373603-quick-questions-thread.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/762449-hows-life-blacksburg.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/762449-hows-life-blacksburg.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/629399-if-you-have-question-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/629399-if-you-have-question-me.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/1092677-helpful-info-thread-new-hokies.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/virginia-tech/1092677-helpful-info-thread-new-hokies.html</a></p>
<p>As far as general information about my experience in engineering, I could write a book but here are the major things. Bear in mind while reading this that overall I loved Virginia Tech and, if I had it to do over 100 times and knowing everything I know now, I would have gone to Virginia Tech 100 times.</p>
<p>Classes freshman year are kind of a drag with a couple exceptions. The intro to engineering class is very tedious (although not hard.) Classes are also generally pretty big freshman year. Math classes are usually reasonably sized and there is a pretty ok workshop that goes along with the intro to engineering class where you’ll actually learn a bit about engineering. Second semester is kind of more of the same. This is the year where it really helps to set up strong study habits, even if that means you overstudy a little bit sometimes. There still is time for social stuff (I partied… often) and intramural sports and all that; it all comes down to time management. I strongly, strongly suggest joining the engineering mentoring group. You’ll get assigned a mentor along with five or six other freshman engineers and you’ll meet up a couple times a month for free dinner and have someone to get advice from. If nothing else it is free dinner for no work and you get to make a couple connections with people which is nice.</p>
<p>Sophomore year is harder. Not everyone agrees with me on this one, but I considered the difference in difficulty between freshman and sophomore year to be considerably bigger than the jump from highschool to freshman year. You’ll be taking several classes where you get into the core concepts of engineering at the same time, and it is challenging. The time commitment is larger also. Most of the time I still had time to go out (and I never missed a football game) but there were a couple weeks where I more or less lived in class/the lab/a study hall. (Fun Fact: My RA once called the police to file a missing person report on me when I didn’t come home a couple nights because I ended up sleeping in a student study lounge. He was always a little… jumpy though. And yes I did come back and shower.)</p>
<p>Sophomore year it is really important to find friends in your classes that you can do homework and study for tests with. The good news is that, in that respect, VT is exceptionally non-competitive and very collaborative. The idea that someone would refuse to help someone else because it would ‘hurt the curb’ or something is ridiculous to me and it is something I never saw. So basically as long as you talk to a few people in your classes (they’re going through the same thing too!) it is easy to get into a study group. You just have to do it.</p>
<p>Junior year is going to vary based on a lot of things, like what classes you’ve already taken, what major you are in, and how good you’ve gotten at managing your time. It is considerably easier than sophomore year for a few reasons though. First of all most of the professors have grown tired of beating you. Second, you’re going to be taking mostly classes within your major. In a lot of majors this means much smaller classes, and ones that are taught by people who are actively engaged in the subject. Also they really don’t want any professors that fail everybody since that would clog up the pipeline, so… yeah. And since you’re in the same classes with the same people quite a bit it gets easier to do study groups. Basically junior year is where you’ve proven you belong, and it’s time to become an engineer. I had a lot of fun junior year.</p>
<p>Senior year can be anything from retaking classes you’ve failed (something I luckily avoided) to taking the minimum number of credits to remain a full time student because you took most of your required classes in previous years (do this!) Since I was only taking 12 credits and most of them were project/lab based I had a lot of time to do some research on the side and work that year. I also did some job hunting but I had a job tied up by December so my last semester was pretty low pressure. The classes this year are almost all specific to your degree which is really nice since they are very small and detailed.</p>
<p>So, I don’t know if that answered what you wanted to know or not. The classes are really hard sometimes but like I said, a lot of people made it through before you and a lot will make it through afterward. Later on the classes are really fun though. Anything else feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Thank you again for all the info above… I guess I was also looking for reassurance that all is still well at Tech and kids are still happy. I thought I would hear from more. Next post will be about housing… Do the kids get to choose preferences and if so what do you recommend?</p>
<p>Current sophomore here at Tech.</p>
<p>Housing:
Yes, we do get to choose our dorm preferences, but the chances of actually getting the one you chose isn’t guaranteed. They occasionally overbook (such as this past year) and ask kids to move off-campus in return for a small stipend and guaranteed on-campus housing next year.</p>
<p>The one you choose really depends on what you more concerned with (partying, studying, etc.) If you want to party, I heard O’Shaugnessy has some pretty wild parties (the cops occasional have to come). Personally, I like a quite dorm. I’m in Miles Hall, and I like it. If you’re in honors, definitely apply for the housing at East AJ (or Hillcrest, but it’s on a fairly annoying hill).</p>
<p>Freshman year your housing is pretty much random. The dorms are better than they were when I was a freshman, but I lived in two of the ‘bad’ ones back then and I liked it pretty well. Not having AC is a little rough the first month or so but after that it isn’t a problem, and more and more of the dorms have AC now.</p>
<p>After freshman year if you decide to stay on campus (quite a few students do for sophomore year, pretty much everyone is tired of having someone sleep in the same room as them by Junior year) you get put in a lottery. You pick what dorm you want (you can even pick the room) and if they don’t fill up before you get to your number you’re in.</p>
<p>What dorm is the ‘party dorm’ kind of changes every year based on who the RAs are and the students there. My freshman year it was Barringer and the year after it was Pritchard (back when it was all-male.) Partying in the dorms is a bad idea anyway because you can get in way more trouble getting a party with alcohol busted in the dorms than if you’re off campus. Having a couple friends pregaming is one thing but if it gets to the point where anyone can hear you from the hall things could go south quickly. Just do your partying off campus and save yourself a lot of headache.</p>
<p>bandgy, Congratulations on your son’s admittances. Two great schools. Not too many students frequent this board as a whole, mostly alums or parents, but that goes for many of the schools I look at on cc. I have a 4th yr (out of 5 - arch program) who has really enjoyed his time at VT. He said just the other day that he is glad he is in a 5 yr program so he doesn’t have to graduate for another year. 
He really wants his younger sister to go there, too because he knows she will just love the atmosphere. </p>
<p>Regarding housing, he has stayed on campus all of his time there so far and loves it. I have been in been in two of the nicer dorms, New Hall West and Cochrane, when visiting him and our neighbor’s kids. The quietness factor of Cochrane depends on which floor/suite you end up in. New Hall West is like a Marriott. Honestly. Ceramic separate shower for the two roommates, granite counters in the sink area, wall to wall carpet, AC, larger than usual sized room with built in closets/cubbies, a very nice dedicated lounge with TV and kitchen facilities, the works. I believe it is reserved for juniors and seniors, but you don’t have to be in the honors program to be housed there. </p>
<p>I really like the looks of the new dorms that are opened up this fall and will next fall, too. If our d is admitted and decides to go there, she would have even more options in terms of nice dorm space than he did. I think VT is trying to keep their aging buildings up to a high standard. My s didn’t place a lot of emphasis on the dorms when he was looking at schools, but she certainly is! </p>
<p>Good luck with everything!</p>
<p>Finances are a personal matter, so if the finances are equal…I don’t see any problem with your son making an emotional choice for one school or the other. If he is excited to somewhere, the odds are better that he will do well. By many objective measures, rankings, recruiter preferences, student body, the schools are comparable enough that you won’t make any startling quality difference discoveries. For what it’s worth, the food at Va Tech is pretty awesome. For a young man, that is not a trivial thing.</p>
<p>I think the decision comes down to finances and feel. As a freshman at Tech, and student who was accepted at Penn State you really can’t go wrong. As an engineering student, I love Tech and everything that it has offered me. Yes the classes get tedious, but I’ve already met so many great people and I’m having the time of my life while getting Dean’s List grades. Good luck to your son, hopefully he figures out exactly what he wants. P.S. Slusher and Pritchard are the two best dorms because they are huge and have a lot of girls. I’m in O’Shag now and it’s already getting pretty cramped (It is a smaller dorm) I guess you could say</p>
<p>Hey bandgy - hope you got my private message. But just in case I thought I would post here as well. As ouknow our daughter made the same choice between PSU and VT. She was accepted to RPI, Tulane and UMass Lowell (full ride) as well. She chose VT because of the way the women in engineering reached out to her, the civil engineering program had a great reputation, the down to earth feel of the place.</p>
<p>Its all worked out very very well so far. She has made great friends, and really enjoyed the football games. She called home the other day to tell us about the 1000+ students engaged in a huge snowball fight on the drillfield. She is not a partier - no at all- but still has tons of fun. Reports that the meals are good - healthy options available. Also told us that 4 years wasn’t going to be enough time at VT - she’ll have to stay to get a masters there too!</p>
<p>From an academic viewpoint, its harder for us to assess but I know she is challenged, works hard, has easy access to academic advisor, has used the tutoring services for chemistry and has adjusted to the online math courses with ease (something we worried about). She has participated in 2 job engineering only job fairs - primarily to gain experience with researching companies and getting comfortable with the process.</p>
<p>I cannot stress to all of you how much help your responses have been. I know Vtech is a special place and had a feeling it would come down to our in state PSU and Vtech. Cost is not necessarily too much of a factor because the difference in room and board is approx 5k a year. I wanted to hear from you because my S and we as parents thought that Tech had a fun, friendly cozy environment while providing a great education for his intended major computer engineering. Bennie I cant thank you enough for your input and yes I did get your PM. I also was concerned about the online math courses (thanks for the reassurance). The other minor concern was the networking of PSU vs Tech in the northeast as S wants to head back to the PA area (thats what he thinks now anyway) for a job eventually. I did notice alot of the same companies recruit at both schools but was wondering if alot of kids end up working in Virginia and Dc etc. …
Aguthner …were you in state for PSU as well? What made you turn down PSU?
S liked PSU alot but felt a bit overwhelmed with the size of the school and the hustle and bustle around it. His personality fits in so much better at Tech from what he can tell. So back to housing … its abit confusing but I guess he will figure it out… he’s liking Slusher and Pritchard after Aguthner remark about the girls. He currently attends an all boys school and is anxious to be in school with girls again. Any other comments would be great…keep them coming!!</p>
<p>bandy - my daughter lives in Slusher Wing and has really enjoyed it. I thought it was okay but not great in terms of the overall condition. Its location is pretty central - mere seconds to D2 dining, and very close to drillfield.</p>
<p>Next year Slusher will be different because Hypatia and Galileo are moving to a different dorm. I don’t know what that will mean to the mix of women to men living in Slusher. </p>
<p>Also, there are a significant number of kids from PA at VT. Two of D’s close friends are from the Pittsburgh area and chose VT over PSU. Not surprisingly almost all of her friends were accepted to both schools. One has landed a summer internship in the Lynchburg, VA area. But D reports that recruiters at the recent job fair were from alll over the East Coast.</p>