<p>Also, VT is definitely comparable to UC Davis or Irvine. If that is the level of selectivity and prestige you are looking for, you have a good fit in VT. Overall, it is a good school, but perhaps you shouldn’t have posted this on the VT forum. * Really? * What are people going to say? And I brought up UVA as a comparison point. If you lived in Virginia, perhaps you would understand the relevance.</p>
<p>I know the relevance and the rivalry. My point is I asked for a comparison to California schools not Virginia schools.</p>
<p>If you notice, the point was brought up that Virginia Tech is the school where all the “smart” in-state students try to go. That’s wrong. UVA is the top choice among strong in-state students. That is why I brought up UVA. The other posters blew it out of proportion.</p>
<p>OP… Tech is a good school and believe it or not many students choose it over their own IS schools because they feel they will be happier there and in return do well. If you are successful at Tech and have a strong GPA/network yourself etc. then you will do well. It is a very good state school and a lot of fun and you are right the general population is more familiar with Tech than UVA so go for it and dont worry about prestige so much. The school will give you what you need and then its up to you to do the rest. As for the OOS price, it is cheaper than most other schools. If you can afford it then send the deposit in already!</p>
<p>Hmmm…Fermat25,
Apparantly you don’t understand the use of quotes in a sentence. I quoted your statement directly from your post, and I directly refuted that. I don’t see how I misconstrued your statement.</p>
<p>Other flaws:
Virginia Tech is ranked 25th for grad school. Grad school does not pertain here; moreover, VT Engineering is ranked around 12-15 for undergrad- get your facts straight.</p>
<p>Don’t even try comparing the opportunities post-graduation for a Yale grad and VT grad from engineering. Many employers shy away from private school graduates simply because of grade inflation. At VT and other public schools, you actually have to work for a grade. </p>
<p>Also, gorehpakoreh is correct about people out west not really caring about UVA. I’m also from out west, and never even once thought about attending UVA. Everyone knows VT is one of the best engineering schools- UVA can’t compare.</p>
<p>Anyways, I won’t argue this anymore. There’s no point in arguing with someone who hasn’t even attended college and clearly knows very little about academic reputation or recruiting.</p>
<p>Gorehpakoreh - there is a significant rivalry between VT and UVA which flares up whenever anyone brings up VT on the UVA board or vice-versa. You asked the following:</p>
<p>If someone in virginia has said they attended virginia tech how does one see them?
- wow must be a genius - - no (at least not in Northern Va). Yes if you were accepted to MIT.
- Must be really smart, a competitive applicant - Yes, if Engineering, Architecture
- likely just an average smart kid Yes - for all other majors
- He could be a smart kid must have slacked off a bit - No
- eh he must be alright - No
- Wow everyone gets in there - absolutely not.</p>
<p>All the smart highly competitive students in Virginia (if not majoring in engineering) do hope, or at least consider, attending other universities, e.g., UVA or W&M. These two schools are Virginia’s equivalent to Stanford/UC Berkeley in local prestige. However, because the decisions are so subjective and Admissions has to sift through so many applications you will definitely find students with higher GPAs/higher SAT scores rejected from UVA and accepted at VT. VT is the largest university in Virginia and therefore will have more available spaces.</p>
<p>VT is similar in many respects to UC Davis (but Tech’s campus is far more pretty IMO). The two year CC route in California can save you a lot of money. If you transfer later to UC Irvine or similar that may be a good way to go. If the choice winds up being a Cal State school then I’d definitely go VT.</p>
<p>Gorehpakoreh: I do not know much about Irvine since I am on the East Coast, but NYU is probably a better school overall and the schools are probably equally expensive since you are out of state. </p>
<p>Fermat:</p>
<p>“Never do people from the top of my or surrounding high school classes attend.”</p>
<p>I actually know FOUR people who chose VT over UVA and were not in architecture or engineering. They said they thought VT was less arrogant and had more “diversity” in personality. Just saying.</p>
1 Like
<p>Scratch that, the site said I couldn’t edit after 20 minutes but NYU is actually far more expensive than VT OOS</p>
<p>If I go back and actually read the last two pages I’m just going to end up depressed again aren’t I. Oh well, I’ll give it a shot.</p>
<p>Yep.</p>
<p>Anyway, a couple things, and I know these aren’t all related to “Should I move across the US to go to VT” but I feel obligated to say a couple things. First off no we’re not comparable to MIT or CalTech. Nobody is, except MIT and CalTech. They’re on their own planet. We’re kings of the mortals, they’re gods.</p>
<p>Second, engineering isn’t the only major that students would probably prefer VT over other in-state schools, all other things being equal (which they never are). Anything in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, which has a better ranking (if not national reputation due to how much smaller CAUS programs are than Engineering programs) than even Engineering does. I would also venture to say that anyone in the animal science or other majors in that avenue would prefer VT, especially small animal science where VT is in the top two on this half of the US. We got the nickname “Virginia’s Cow College” for a reason, haha.</p>
<p>Fermat is actually right about one thing; VT’s engineering program is more suited toward getting you a job in engineering while UVA’s is more suited toward getting you into something else. All other things being equal (which they never are) if someone wanted to do engineering and then go into investment banking, or med school, or something like that UVA might be the better choice. If they wanted to get a job when they graduated, or go to grad school for engineering, VT would probably be the better choice.</p>
<p>But, like I said, all things aren’t ever equal, and in the end what the right school for somebody is depends, mainly, on financial considerations and whether or not you’ll fit in on the campus. Now if you have big, concrete goals like “I want to work for ‘x’ company” or “I really want to go to a top law school” then that can shade your decision also, but the vast majority of 18 year olds either don’t know that or will end up changing their minds anyway. People get way too wrapped up over rankings and “this school is better” without considering that what makes a school better for one person doesn’t make it better for everyone.</p>
<p>Now, to actually answer your question, having lived in both CA and VA now, my opinion is that VT has an overall reputation about like UC-Davis, with MAYBE a stronger national reputation (but not ranking) if only because more people have heard of VT for various reasons and UCD gets overshadowed a bit by UCLA/Berkley/etc.</p>
<p>Fermat25 is somewhat right, VT has a low prestige level among high school students and parents for 1) ranking 71st overall and 2) having a high admissions rate. From TJHSST the admit rate is >95% (i think 98% last year) and most students complete the app in 30 minutes. BUT in the real world VT engineering is top tier (except mit, caltech, and stanford which are god tier as chuy said haha). The same companies that recruit at UVA come to Tech with the exception of some investment banks, but there are many companies that go to VT but not UVA. Also, many of the top students from TJ and in Northern VA turn down UVA for VT.</p>
<p>To the OP: While VT is a great school, I dont think it is worth the OOS tuition. Why would you not go to UCI/UCD/UCSD…and I am not even counting UCB/UCLA here…But I’d take UCI for the in-state tuition…if that is your only other choice.</p>
<p>Also factor in travel costs across the country.</p>
<p>The VT application shouldn’t take a long time because it doesn’t really require much, if any, essays. There are a couple of personal statements (optional) but that’s it. I’m not surprised that the acceptance rate for TJ is in the high 90s. As you know, TJ (science and technology magnet school) is ranked the #1 HS in the entire nation. Someone from TJ may consider VT a safety school because of the high probability of acceptance and because they are very competitive applicants at a number of high prestige schools.</p>
<p>VT is perfectly fine for Accounting (the OP’s prospective major).</p>
<p>My quick reply to Fermat would be that I’m a liberal arts student at Virginia Tech. Many people would consider UVA, and especially William and Mary, to be a “better” liberal arts school than VT, just based upon reputation and rankings. And I was considering William and Mary up until the last minute. I almost went there.</p>
<p>But then I looked at the competitive attitudes there. At Virginia Tech, it seemed much more collaborative. Students love going here. They genuinely love working with and helping out their classmates.</p>
<p>I looked at my department. The faculty in my major were far superior to the ones at UVA and W&M. These faculty had serious prestige. The department had major resources – a friend who went to a truly top-tier school in my major (far better than any VA school) admitted that of all of the schools she visited, the resources at VT were there best.</p>
<p>I looked at the campus and the town. Students respected and loved the community, and the community is in many ways set up for the students. The town of Blacksburg and the New River Valley has ended up transforming my research.</p>
<p>So I don’t really care that US News & World Report doesn’t validate my experiences. I was told for years in high school that as someone pursuing a liberal arts field, that UVA and W&M were the best ways to go. That was before I actually did real research on my field of study. It’s a much “smarter” decision that I came here.</p>
<p>My thing is that… On my UC application (which is one application for all the UC schools) I messed up and half my essay was missing. UC’s rely heavily on the essays. I basically was screwed from there and waitlisted at the UC’s i applied to due to this. I am not looking for a school that is super presitgious like Caltech or UCB or even UCLA… Just something that is respected and that people wouldn’t look down on. I know where I am from the dumb kids go to San Diego state and Im sure many would still say its a “good” school so this forum is getting really hard for me to judge.</p>
<p>gorehpakoreh, Virginia Tech is not where the “dumb” kids go(I really don’t like that term-I’m sure there are some very bright kids at SDSU).
Rankings are not everything but here are some USNews rankings of National schools.
Virginia National Unviersities: UVa 25, William and Mary 33, Virginia Tech 71,George Mason 138, Old Dominion (not ranked, considered “second tier”). Virginia Tech is ranked number 15 for undergraduate engineering,I believe (and has a couple of departments in the top 10).
San Diego State is ranked number 164.
Good luck with deciding on a college. Sorry the finances don’t seem to be working out at Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>@ Sevmom I’m sorry I used that term but that is just the stereotype here and I don’t want anyone to doubt the worth of my education. I by no means think that bright kids don’t attend SDSU</p>
<p>Thanks, gorehpakoreh, Stereotypes are tough ,that’s for sure, and sometimes keep kids from looking at some schools. One of the National Universities I left out in Virginia is VCU at 170 (closest to San Diego State). VCU has good programs in health professions and the arts.
We are lucky to have such good schools in Virginia (and California also has many top schools). It is interesting that Virginia Tech is actually ranked higher than many other state’s flagships by US News (again, rankings aren’t everything but usually interesting).Examples:
Virginia Tech 71
University of Alabama 75
University of Deleware 75 (tie)
University of Vermont 82
Suny Binghamton 90
University of Missouri 90 (tie)
UC Boulder 94
UMass 94 (tie)
University of Kansas 101
University of Nebraska (tie)101
University of Oregon (tie)101
University of Tennesse (tie) 101
Unviersity of Arizona 124
University of Maine 152
WVU 164
These are just examples. I have left out many other public flagships and other public schools but it is pretty interesting.</p>
<p>It is always so interesting to me to read different perspectives about the Virginia schools. So varied depending on where you are coming from! A potential applicant really needs to do their homework…hokiegirl you are one sharp cookie I think 
and base their decision on their own findings, not from personal opinions of those posting on a message board. </p>
<p>UVA is a great Virginia school. VT is a great Virginia school. WM is a great Virginia school. VCU is a rising great Virginia school…each has its own character and appeals to different kids for different reasons, academically and socially. Fermat, the assertion that “all of the smart kids in Virginia want to go or go to UVA” is your opinion, but I would strongly disagree. Different high schoolers seem to prefer different schools. In our area, VT is the top choice of most of the high achieving kids, and not just those interested in engineering/arch. WM, UVA and JMU come in there next, and believe it or not, VCU. Its Honors Program is really taking hold with some of the brightest kids, especially those interested in medical and engineering fields. I look at that school to be really on the rise in the next few years.</p>
<p>OP if you can afford to attend (the biggest factor here imho) and don’t mind the distance, you have the opportunity to get a tremendous education in Blacksburg. Good luck!</p>
<p>I would imagine it’s probably more in the NOVA area that UVa and William and Mary are so far above Virginia Tech in status. Even lots of competitive kids in TJ and other competitive schools seem to feel they are settling even at UVa. Prestige and rankings seem more important in general there(and there seems to be more money there in general so that more kids aspire to the privates). VT is just not “sophisticated” and prestigious enough. I’m stereotyping for sure. In Southeastern Virginia, UVa and Virginia Tech both seem very popular, depending on personality and parent’s affiliation. William and Mary seems to be less popular (maybe too close and seems to attract more studious kids). Most of the “top” kids do seem to gravitate to UVa but there are always some who prefer Virginia Tech ,even if also admitted to UVa.Agree with Kandksmom, lots depends on where in Virginia you are from.</p>