Virginia Tech gets 1,000 more freshman than last year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight as my kids are still in HS. However, a lot of the posters on this thread seem somehow threatened by Tech's popularity or resentful of the fact that they're spending 3x as much to send their kids to some private college. As a somewhat disinterested bystander, I find that telling.

Eh, I think your bias is strong. And I have a kid at VT and another at an expensive private.

[Anonymous]

What are they 15% over? Big whoop!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Found some info from past years.

2018 - needed 1,896 from the waitlist.
2017 - overenrolled
2016 - needed 1,697 from the waitlist.
2015 - overenrolled
2014 - needed 750 from the waitlist.

Those idiots in admission suck at their jobs!

It's pretty difficult to predict the exact percentage in a given year of which kids will decide to attend your school vs. all the other schools they've applied to--especially now that students are applying to 10-20 schools each. Tech/engineering programs have skyrocketed in terms of interest, so the past numbers of how applicants have made up their minds on which school to attend don't apply. 1000 extra is a problem to solve, but not insurmountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight as my kids are still in HS. However, a lot of the posters on this thread seem somehow threatened by Tech's popularity or resentful of the fact that they're spending 3x as much to send their kids to some private college. As a somewhat disinterested bystander, I find that telling.

Tech's popularity? Applications have actually decreased the past few years while most schools have drastically increased. They obviously do not have an admissions director that can do his job accurately if they go from admitting thousands off of WL to have over 1500 too many kids for the last 4 years. The article said it admitted a lot of URM's, increased Pell grants, and accepted more first generations this year. I think 35% of students were in these columns. While this is great, they should have realized this was probably the top college for many of those kids and many weren't going to turn it away.

The concern now is are they recruiting too easily since applications are lower. Do they have the support system in place to help the vast increase in first generation and poor kids to get the help they need to stay in school and succeed. Their freshman retention rate is already too low and their 4 year graduation rate is only 60%. Do they have enough housing for students that need it. How will they help the poor SES students get housing in sophomore to senior year if they can not afford to live off campus but they have no on campus housing for them. Will kids have to pay for an extra semester if they can't get into classes because the enrollment is so huge. Are there going to be crappy TA's teaching a lot of courses now to spread it thin? I mean these are legit questions to ask.

I am not sure how you are taking this as people paying private school rates are jealous. There is no one out there that WANTED to go to VT and had to go to a private instead. VT isn't hard to get into. It isn't UVA or Michigan now. People pick privates because they are smaller, focus on undergrads, don't have classes with 400 students in them, and have great retention and graduation rates. Apples and oranges when comparing. That is why where are many choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Found some info from past years.

2018 - needed 1,896 from the waitlist.
2017 - overenrolled
2016 - needed 1,697 from the waitlist.
2015 - overenrolled
2014 - needed 750 from the waitlist.

Those idiots in admission suck at their jobs!

It's pretty difficult to predict the exact percentage in a given year of which kids will decide to attend your school vs. all the other schools they've applied to--especially now that students are applying to 10-20 schools each. Tech/engineering programs have skyrocketed in terms of interest, so the past numbers of how applicants have made up their minds on which school to attend don't apply. 1000 extra is a problem to solve, but not insurmountable.

They are at least 1500 over right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are they 15% over? Big whoop!

Right now at least 19% over. They are hoping to get down to 15% by Aug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight as my kids are still in HS. However, a lot of the posters on this thread seem somehow threatened by Tech's popularity or resentful of the fact that they're spending 3x as much to send their kids to some private college. As a somewhat disinterested bystander, I find that telling.

Eh, I think your bias is strong. And I have a kid at VT and another at an expensive private.

I have one at a private and and one in-state too.

It’s a dumb argument: students/families make these choices based on so many personal details/needs (money, program, culture, location).

Too many people over-simplify this argument as choosing the cheaper option is best.

You must not have a college kid or gone through this process if that’s your go-to conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers can be hired, classes added, online courses offered, etc. Housing is the issue.

Online courses? Hell no

You’ve not been to college in a while? Also, math emporium.

Even high schools offer online courses. Hello, personal finance!

Maybe VT will start offering deferred enrollment or Spring admission.

Florida State promotes a full 12 month study abroad for freshman. If I had an incoming VT freshman (non engineering) I’d be looking for something like that for a year.

Oh, no. Do not do that. You have to pay so much money when you could have just taken a gap year and went abroad for 1/4 of the price. I can not believe people fall for this.

Just FYI - the Florida State program is a pretty good deal, at least for OOS students. If you do it, you can finish your degree at FSU for in-state tuition.

Thanks for the info! I knew there was some financial bene when my kid looked into it but I couldn’t find anything when I just looked it up. Smart plan by FSU.

Careful. It’s not a promise. “May qualify” with a 3.0 or better. Not saying it isn’t cool but there’s a lot of risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harbinger of things to come?

Middle and upper middle class families finally turning their backs to expensive private colleges?

I bet most of the extra 1k freshmen are because they sat down with their parents and looked at the cost of going to a private college and this was the year that many extra people just couldn't justify it anymore. So the claim that had they known of over-enrollment they wouldn't have signed up probably doesn't cut the cake.

DH went to public college but I went to private. DH thinks everyone should just go to their state college and I am coming around to it for other reasons. I really do think grad school is the new college, and we are not independently wealthy & do work for a living as will our kids - so I think they should do state college for undergrad and save the extra money for grad school now, as opposed to private college (unless they get into my Alma mater which is probably unlikely!). We will see how we all feel about this when they’re older - they’re still young.

Anyway - I did read in the articles linked here that this is the most diverse group of freshman in terms of race and first generation going to college. So to the extent VT wants any “help” here - it might be cool if orgs that promote college diversity and first generation college students help out with ideas. This might be cropping up at other colleges in the future as well and it might be a joint goal for everyone to help colleges handle these increased numbers nicely.

Not everyone has to pay full freight, even donut hole and rich people. My DD had 3 school offers that came in lower than her flagship UMCP, which comes to almost 30K with all the added fees. You really have to pay attention to added costs per major, fees, and if your deposit even goes towards your tuition, etc... And Virginia has some of the most expensive in-state tuition. There are more OOS schools with merit packages that are much cheaper, even before looking at privates. Sure, you can't get merit aid at ivy and tippy top schools, but there are some serious good privates , SLAC's and tech schools that offer stellar merit and/or financial aid packages to make it worth going.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with in-state schools, but don't just settle because you think it is the cheapest. Look around and compare. Also compare housing costs sophomore to senior year. Some big state schools have very expensive off campus housing that charge by the person and are even pricier than campus housing. UMCP being one of them. I mean who is paying $900 a month (for minimum 12 months) plus utilities to share tiny apartments in College Park? Insane.

The other thing to look at is 4 year graduation rates. Many state schools are so overcrowded (VT will be one of them) that kids get bumped out of required courses and it takes 4.5 to 5 years to graduate. And then you are paying another year of all those extra fees and tuition. One less year of earning wages at a FT job too. My DD ended up in a school we are paying about $5K more than in state, but their freshman retention rates is over 95%, 4 graduation rates are over 85%, and many kids are graduating with a masters in 4-4.5 years. She can use her merit scholarship to get her masters and she doesn't have to take the GRE or apply to grad schools. All which cost money and take time. So for us, the extra $5K for 4 years is worth the investment.

And no, not everyone goes to grad schools. Sure, med and law students have to. But if you are smart, you get a great package for a BA/BS and get your employer to pay for your graduate school. My daughter might end up doing that as her major does have a lot of that. And many jobs are just fine with just a BA/BS

A lot of what you say is valid, but let's also be pragmatic. How many kids will qualify for merit at out of state? Or at a more expensive private college? We can't always expect that. But it is absolutely wise to keep your mind open and explore all possibilities. Too many people don't do that.

As someone who went to an expensive elite private college virtually all my classmates went on to get advanced degrees. It is pretty unusual to find someone who went to a top private and who did not also go on to grad school. There are exceptions, of course. And not that many employers pay for graduate school and those who do are usually limited to a few thousand a year, not the full costs (some exceptions, of course). If you have a bright and highly capable kid it's more pragmatic to plan on the kid going to grad school someday than not.

For kids that are getting into schools like UVA, VT, W&M, and UMCP - most of them would qualify for merit scholarships elsewhere. A lot of schools meet more need than state schools do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harbinger of things to come?

Middle and upper middle class families finally turning their backs to expensive private colleges?

I bet most of the extra 1k freshmen are because they sat down with their parents and looked at the cost of going to a private college and this was the year that many extra people just couldn't justify it anymore. So the claim that had they known of over-enrollment they wouldn't have signed up probably doesn't cut the cake.

DH went to public college but I went to private. DH thinks everyone should just go to their state college and I am coming around to it for other reasons. I really do think grad school is the new college, and we are not independently wealthy & do work for a living as will our kids - so I think they should do state college for undergrad and save the extra money for grad school now, as opposed to private college (unless they get into my Alma mater which is probably unlikely!). We will see how we all feel about this when they’re older - they’re still young.

Anyway - I did read in the articles linked here that this is the most diverse group of freshman in terms of race and first generation going to college. So to the extent VT wants any “help” here - it might be cool if orgs that promote college diversity and first generation college students help out with ideas. This might be cropping up at other colleges in the future as well and it might be a joint goal for everyone to help colleges handle these increased numbers nicely.

Not everyone has to pay full freight, even donut hole and rich people. My DD had 3 school offers that came in lower than her flagship UMCP, which comes to almost 30K with all the added fees. You really have to pay attention to added costs per major, fees, and if your deposit even goes towards your tuition, etc... And Virginia has some of the most expensive in-state tuition. There are more OOS schools with merit packages that are much cheaper, even before looking at privates. Sure, you can't get merit aid at ivy and tippy top schools, but there are some serious good privates , SLAC's and tech schools that offer stellar merit and/or financial aid packages to make it worth going.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with in-state schools, but don't just settle because you think it is the cheapest. Look around and compare. Also compare housing costs sophomore to senior year. Some big state schools have very expensive off campus housing that charge by the person and are even pricier than campus housing. UMCP being one of them. I mean who is paying $900 a month (for minimum 12 months) plus utilities to share tiny apartments in College Park? Insane.

The other thing to look at is 4 year graduation rates. Many state schools are so overcrowded (VT will be one of them) that kids get bumped out of required courses and it takes 4.5 to 5 years to graduate. And then you are paying another year of all those extra fees and tuition. One less year of earning wages at a FT job too. My DD ended up in a school we are paying about $5K more than in state, but their freshman retention rates is over 95%, 4 graduation rates are over 85%, and many kids are graduating with a masters in 4-4.5 years. She can use her merit scholarship to get her masters and she doesn't have to take the GRE or apply to grad schools. All which cost money and take time. So for us, the extra $5K for 4 years is worth the investment.

And no, not everyone goes to grad schools. Sure, med and law students have to. But if you are smart, you get a great package for a BA/BS and get your employer to pay for your graduate school. My daughter might end up doing that as her major does have a lot of that. And many jobs are just fine with just a BA/BS

A lot of what you say is valid, but let's also be pragmatic. How many kids will qualify for merit at out of state? Or at a more expensive private college? We can't always expect that. But it is absolutely wise to keep your mind open and explore all possibilities. Too many people don't do that.

As someone who went to an expensive elite private college virtually all my classmates went on to get advanced degrees. It is pretty unusual to find someone who went to a top private and who did not also go on to grad school. There are exceptions, of course. And not that many employers pay for graduate school and those who do are usually limited to a few thousand a year, not the full costs (some exceptions, of course). If you have a bright and highly capable kid it's more pragmatic to plan on the kid going to grad school someday than not.

For kids that are getting into schools like UVA, VT, W&M, and UMCP - most of them would qualify for merit scholarships elsewhere. A lot of schools meet more need than state schools do.

I think the point that's often missing from these discussions is that if your child wants to go to a similarly ranked school, merit aid to bring down the cost to equivalent to in-state is just rather unlikely. My kid is going to William and Mary. Yeah, she could've gone to a far less ranked private school with heavy merit aid, but not schools that would be considered academic peers to W&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers can be hired, classes added, online courses offered, etc. Housing is the issue.

Online courses? Hell no

You’ve not been to college in a while? Also, math emporium.

Even high schools offer online courses. Hello, personal finance!

Maybe VT will start offering deferred enrollment or Spring admission.

Florida State promotes a full 12 month study abroad for freshman. If I had an incoming VT freshman (non engineering) I’d be looking for something like that for a year.

Why? They are money making scams to have guaranteed kids when other drop out of college. College isn't expensive enough? Ask how many of those kids graduate in 4 years? None is the correct answer.

We have dual enrollment and Bright Futures in Florida. Depending on the major, my kid could have taken a year abroad and still graduated on time if not early because he had a fair amount of dual enrollment credit earned in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers can be hired, classes added, online courses offered, etc. Housing is the issue.

Online courses? Hell no

You’ve not been to college in a while? Also, math emporium.

Even high schools offer online courses. Hello, personal finance!

Maybe VT will start offering deferred enrollment or Spring admission.

Florida State promotes a full 12 month study abroad for freshman. If I had an incoming VT freshman (non engineering) I’d be looking for something like that for a year.

Why? They are money making scams to have guaranteed kids when other drop out of college. College isn't expensive enough? Ask how many of those kids graduate in 4 years? None is the correct answer.

We have dual enrollment and Bright Futures in Florida. Depending on the major, my kid could have taken a year abroad and still graduated on time if not early because he had a fair amount of dual enrollment credit earned in HS.

That just means he would have graduated even earlier without going abroad.

[Anonymous]

If they are so oversubscribed they should make an arrangememt with GMU (or UVA W&M JMU etc) to have the NoVA students have an option to take intro/freshman classes locally at GMU and then go to VT for the next level. They are both state unis so tuition reconciliation for these students should not be too complicated.

Even if 200-300 students took the opportunity it would allow VT at least 1 semester to line up housing for these students.

[Anonymous]

Maybe VT will start offering deferred enrollment or Spring
We have dual enrollment and Bright Futures in Florida. Depending on the major, my kid could have taken a year abroad and still graduated on time if not early because he had a fair amount of dual enrollment credit earned in HS.

That just means he would have graduated even earlier without going abroad.

Believe it or not, students earn college credit WHILE they study abroad.

Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers can be hired, classes added, online courses offered, etc. Housing is the issue.

Online courses? Hell no

You’ve not been to college in a while? Also, math emporium.

Even high schools offer online courses. Hello, personal finance!

Maybe VT will start offering deferred enrollment or Spring admission.

Florida State promotes a full 12 month study abroad for freshman. If I had an incoming VT freshman (non engineering) I’d be looking for something like that for a year.

Oh, no. Do not do that. You have to pay so much money when you could have just taken a gap year and went abroad for 1/4 of the price. I can not believe people fall for this.

Just FYI - the Florida State program is a pretty good deal, at least for OOS students. If you do it, you can finish your degree at FSU for in-state tuition.

Thanks for the info! I knew there was some financial bene when my kid looked into it but I couldn’t find anything when I just looked it up. Smart plan by FSU.

Careful. It’s not a promise. “May qualify” with a 3.0 or better. Not saying it isn’t cool but there’s a lot of risk.

You also have to start in May when most OOS haven't even graduated yet. It is 3 full semesters. Summer, Fall, and Spring. You also have to pay $42,000 for the program and that does not include the 6 flight tickets you have to purchase for your child. They do not house you in-between those semesters. You fly back and forth. Interesting though, that is for sure.