UVA vs. VT Engineering. Could anyone offer us an opinion?

[Anonymous]

My family is a bunch of engineers. Many of them went to vA tech for grad as well. Not uva

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA would probably be the more enjoyable student experience, but come job interviewing time you will want to be at Virginia Tech, which will send many more recruiters there.

Why would you think that?

+1. I will admit I am biased because my degree is from VT (non-engineering) but from what I experienced and many surveys, students love it there. They are two completely different vibes, though. I see VT as much more casual to UVA's southern formal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
THIS! DS got into both. He wanted aerospace engineering. He also got into Georgia Tech and Purdue so had some pretty hard decisions. But he knew he wasn't 100% aerospace engineering although he thought he was at the time. He selected UVA (halleluiah! in-state tuition). UVA has opened his thinking to politics, economics, history, as well as calculus and aerospace engineering. He is in the engineering department now (for aerospace) but I would not be at all surprised if he announced someday that he was shifting over to "Arts & Crafts" (UVA's joke term for liberal arts courses). I have been excited for him. He loves the school and clearly made the right pick. If he had gone to Purdue or especially Georgia Tech, he would be now finding himself forced into aerospace engineering. There is a small liberal arts community there but it is not why you go to GA Tech. As for UVA vs. Tech, unless your daughter is 100% committed to engineering, I don't think there is even an issue on the table. UVA is consistently rated 1,2 or 3 for best public university. Tech simply doesn't have that reputation. She could also start at UVA - which has a great engineering program of its own - my son is being taught by a female astronaut - and if she decides she really wants Tech later, she can transfer. But it would be much more difficult to transfer from Va. Tech to UVA.

There are some great points here.

I went to grad school (PhD) with someone with a ugrad and MS from VTech, and I was not impressed with his preparation. He really struggled with things that should not have been difficult for someone with an MS. William and Mary actually seemed to offer stronger undergrad preparation, IMHO. And, FWIW, though it was ages ago my PhD advisor's undergrad degree was from UVa. I think VTech is much more for someone who wants to be an applied engineer coming straight out of undergrad. It does not offer the more expansive theoretical preparation that someone going on to advanced degree programs or more of a leadership type role could benefit from.

That said, students will be most successful where they feel comfortable and fit in. If you kid likes the feel of VTech better, they will be able to get the prep they need there if they apply themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA would probably be the more enjoyable student experience, but come job interviewing time you will want to be at Virginia Tech, which will send many more recruiters there.

Why would you think that?

+1. I will admit I am biased because my degree is from VT (non-engineering) but from what I experienced and many surveys, students love it there. They are two completely different vibes, though. I see VT as much more casual to UVA's southern formal.

Another Hokie here. I can't imagine how anyone could have doubts about students at Tech having an enjoyable experience.
I've always considered Blacksburg/VT to be the quintessential college experience.

[Anonymous]

I went to tech as a Science major (geological sciences). The engineering school is tough. We called pre-business.

[Anonymous]

This is OP- I sort of thought this thread had died off, so I'm so glad I checked again- this is very helpful and I plan to forward it to my DD to help her in her decision.

She does have a good friend who is wants to study biomedical engineering at UVA and another in English, so she's getting a semi-hard sell. After reading the comments, I'm kind of hoping she chooses Tech. She's the type of kid that likes to be hands on. As for other subjects, she's pretty curious about the world and culture, so I hope she can educate herself if need be.

Thank you again for all of the help!

[Anonymous]

"Arts & Crafts" (UVA's joke term for liberal arts courses)

I literally never heard anyone say that at UVA.

The bottom line is that this thread is talking about two excellent schools that are well known. It's not like we're comparing a tiny, regional school with a large, public university.

So many people want to rank schools, but at the end of the day, the kid is the one doing the work and they should go to the school that fits them best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

"Arts & Crafts" (UVA's joke term for liberal arts courses)

I literally never heard anyone say that at UVA.

The bottom line is that this thread is talking about two excellent schools that are well known. It's not like we're comparing a tiny, regional school with a large, public university.

So many people want to rank schools, but at the end of the day, the kid is the one doing the work and they should go to the school that fits them best.

'


Well you obviously don't have a student there. Google it.

[Anonymous]

I do not know about VT, but at UVA the undergrad classes are only getting larger and for all four years as undergrads are a cash cow. Also many classes are being taught by adjuncts. I would also compare how much computer usage is used in the classes. UVA still talks the game that the kiddies will go right in as managers and sells the BS to the undergrads rather than putting the emphasis on the fact one needs to learn the basics first of engineering. A reputation carries one only so farbifbtherebis little or no focus on the curriculum. You do not win tenure points by teaching too much at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA would probably be the more enjoyable student experience, but come job interviewing time you will want to be at Virginia Tech, which will send many more recruiters there.

Why would you think that?

+1. I will admit I am biased because my degree is from VT (non-engineering) but from what I experienced and many surveys, students love it there. They are two completely different vibes, though. I see VT as much more casual to UVA's southern formal.

Another Hokie here. I can't imagine how anyone could have doubts about students at Tech having an enjoyable experience.
I've always considered Blacksburg/VT to be the quintessential college experience.

Oh, 100%. I had an absolute blast; couldn't have asked for a better college experience. Honestly, my high school friends from UVA always loved coming to visit Tech.

[Anonymous]

Comment on the male:female ratio and diversity at Tech and in the engineering program?

[Anonymous]

My oldest is interested in both, but UVA over VTech. I told her you pretty much need to maintain a 4.0+ and 700+ SATs to even have a shot at UVA (from NoVA). Otherwise, it's going to be VTech.

[Anonymous]

Little late to the party, but I'm a current freshman engineering student at VT. While UVA does have a pretty good engineering school, hands down Tech is the way to go for engineering. It's true that Tech engineering is geared towards more of a problem-solving type learning style, while UVA is more theory based. Someone mentioned that UVA has an honors program for engineering, and I'd like to add that VT has something similar to that, called Galileo (men) and Hypatia (women), which are learning communities for engineering students. It also should be pointed out that every September, there is an engineering job/career/co-op/internship opportunity expo held at Tech. This year, over 290 companies/government organizations were there, including Exxon Mobile, Rolls Royce, GE, General Motors, Texas Instruments, SpaceX, Boeing, Honeywell, all five branches of the U.S. military, and many other well-known companies, making it the second-largest college career fair in the country. There is an extensive amount of research and co-op opportunities at Virginia Tech. In terms of academics, you can't go wrong with either UVA or VT for engineering. However, in terms of opportunities you'll have with engineering, Tech is the place to go for engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest is interested in both, but UVA over VTech. I told her you pretty much need to maintain a 4.0+ and 700+ SATs to even have a shot at UVA (from NoVA). Otherwise, it's going to be VTech.

It's not quite THAT bad at UVA. Here's the freshman profile:
https://admission.virginia.edu/admission/statistics

[Anonymous]

Here is the Unofficial #UVA21 Early Action Admission Statistics. Loosk quite impressive

http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2017/01/unofficial-uva21-early-action-admission_26.html