<p>can't believe I just discovered this forum ten days ago! It's too late to help us with the college application process, but the tips and conversations I have been reading have been helpful in other areas. </p>
<p>My daughter applied to six schools. She did not get into her top two choices. That leaves four schools to choose from. Two of the four schools do not offer the engineering program she now thinks she wants to study. That leaves two schools. Her two choices are Ohio State University and Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>Ohio State has accepted her into the honors program (small scholarship included). She also received a small engineering scholarship. OSU is close to home and offers the advantage of in state tuition. They have a good engineering program and an excellent business program.</p>
<p>We visited Virginia Tech three weeks ago and my daughter was very comfortable with the campus and the students. She qualified for the honors program but did not receive any type of scholarships. In addition, the combination of out of state tuition and no scholarships make it about twice as much as OSU.</p>
<p>I found this forum as I was searching for help in making this decision. It's about more than money, but that is a factor. Being close to home can be a positive and/or a negative. She loves that VT is an outstanding engineering school, but what if she decides she hates engineering? To complicate things further, the recent tragedy at VT has made me a little uneasy, but she said it doesn't factor into her decision. </p>
<p>Any comments, words, suggestions would be appreciated. May 1 is right around the corner!!!</p>
<p>I wouldn't let the recent tragedy at VT be a factor. Both are great schools, and I'll admit that I don't know that much about either. However, I think they are comparable, and I don't see how the cost difference would be justified. So, that's one vote for OSU... I'm sure you'll get lots of other opinions!</p>
<p>I've visited OSU a few times and I loved it. Their engineering program is very good for a public university and the low cost helps. Also, since it seems like she isn't quite set on a major (considering two of the colleges she applied to don't have her major) OSU would probably be a better choice because she could receive a decent education in just about any major.</p>
<p>How close to OSU do you live? If it's more than an hour, it shouldn't be such a bad thing.</p>
<p>At the time she applied to colleges, she knew she wanted to do something that involved math. She considered actuarial science, but not many schools have that as a major (although OSU does). When she went to visit OSU, she was excited when she heard about the engineering program, which led her to apply to Virginia Tech at the last minute. When we visited Virginia Tech a few weeks ago, she was impressed with the students and the faculty. She liked the campus and the overall feel of the place--and the fact that it was smaller than OSU. She learned more about industrial and systems engineering and was told that she could minor in business and math. (She wants to do both!) My concern is that many kids go into college and find out the major they thought was for them really isn't, so how do you figure that into the equation of making a college decision???</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated. She always wanted to go away to school and now that it's here, she isn't sure that's what she wants. By the way, we live less than thirty minutes from OSU.</p>
<p>I think the Virginia Tech tragedy should be a huge factor. If it was the first time something happened at VT, then I would understand but this is the 3rd incident like this in the past year in Blacksburg.</p>
<p>Despite that, Ohio State is still more presitgious and has a better department than VT. On the down (or upside depending on how you see it) VT has 1/2 the people that OSU has</p>
<p>The VT tragedy would weigh heavily for me. It's an unfortunate fact that it will be seen as a tragic place for some time--what does the name Columbine do for you. It will effect the campus feel. It's one thing if you're already there but why sign up for that?</p>
<p>Those are good points. From what I've read, though, VT is ranked 17 in engineering and OSU is ranked 30. The industrial and systems program is ranked 7th. I'm not sure about OSU. Maybe that's not enough to make a difference since they both must be pretty good programs. If anyone out there has attended/is attending either VT or OSU and studied engineering, it would be great to hear from you.</p>
<p>There are other factors to consider other than ranking so that's what makes it so hard. The tragedy adds a whole new spin to things. I agree with your point about current students wanting to return, but why subject yourself to that if you don't have to. My daughter says it has nothing to do with her decision. It's the other things that are making it hard for her to decide.</p>
<p>Would it be a good idea to visit the schools again? OSU is local and VT is about 5 and a half hours away.</p>
<p>A friend suggested that I send in registration fees to both schools and have her attend the orientations and then make her decision. Has anyone done that?</p>
<p>Please give any advice you can on choosing between these two schools. The May 1st deadline is approaching and my daughter is having a tough time trying to decide.</p>
<p>If you go to the Colleges section of the discussion group, there's an alphabetical listing of colleges. You could post a request for feedback under each school.</p>
<p>I had a few friends who attended VT about 30 years ago and loved it. But I don't thank that's too relevant for you now! </p>
<p>I would assume both schools are large enough to offer a variety of majors, should your daughter change her mind mid-stream (as most kids do). BTW, my husband works with many actuaries and I think most of the time they were undergraduate Math majors. Then they sit for the actuarial exams later (I think they take post-graduate courses, maybe even a masters?) My point is I don't think most actuaries majored in "acutarial studies" as undergrads.</p>
<p>lafalum, thanks for the suggestion. I posted under both VT and OSU. Also, it's great to hear from a "real world" connection that you don't have to major in actuarial science to become an actuary. I would bet that both schools have good math programs, althought I don't know that for sure. </p>
<p>Erin's Dad, thanks for your input. When I asked my d, she just looked at me and said, "I don't know!" (She's on overload!) Maybe it will give her some food for thought.</p>