Anonymous wrote:OP, you're right to be worried. VT admits only the best of the best math/science students, and then funks them out, or they are forced out of engineering. Too many of them. It's a total lie, or funding priorities don't align, that our state's engineering school/our state/our country wants to promote STEM, especially engineering.

HS STEM teacher. Judging from what I see on my end, they don't admit only the best of the best. They admit good students in general. A few are great. Some are terrible at STEM (but they may not be aiming for science or engineering--at least I hope they're not).

This is why my son chose UVA. It's direct admit to your engineering major. UMD is too once accepted but I don't know anything about UMD.

We have a family friend that graduated from VT engineering about five years ago. She said that maintaining a 3.0 GPA needed to matriculate to her intended engineering major was a constant source of stress for her and her classmates. I think that she struggled to even graduate with a 3.0 GPA. She did get an internship and was hired through the internship with an excellent company and has been promoted a couple of times, so even a 3.0ish GPA in engineering from VT will set a student up for success.

My kid also intends to major in engineering and I am worried about meeting the GPA requirement to apply to his intended engineering major. We are in state and VT is their first choice, but I would be happy if they chose an OOS or private school with a direct admit to engineering.


Responding to the post above, engineering is stressful everywhere. It is not the major you choose if you are trying to avoid stress. Virginia Tech engineering in-state is a good value financially, but you have to evaluate the tradeoff between financial value and being direct admit at another school. Also a 3.0 GPA is not necessarily a bad GPA for engineering. Key is to get project team experience and internships.

My son graduated from the engineering school in 2020 with a CS degree. The 3.0 is doable. The student should use AP credit if possible to avoid courses like chemistry which is often a tough freshman course. Read professor ratings to try to get the better professors freshman year. Try not to bite off too much freshman year. Don’t take the hardest courses possible. Don’t try to accelerate the timeline to graduate. Take non-engineering courses to help the GPA. If a course will kill the GPA drop it and retake it over the summer. Form study groups. Use office hours.

Thanks! You said "Try not to bite off too much freshman year. Don’t take the hardest courses possible." - but aren't there courses that have to be taken freshman year to even be able to pick your major?

You also said "If a course will kill the GPA drop it and retake it over the summer." But if you don't have chemistry until the summer can you even pick your major? And why would chemistry in the summer be easier just because it's your only class? Or are you suggesting taking it somewhere other than VT?

This was all great advice. Just trying to understand.
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I wrote the post above. What I mean by saying "try not to bite off too much" and "don't take the hardest courses possible" ... Sometimes, students have the option, for example, to start in calculus 3 versus calculus 1 or 2 because of what they took in high school. They may sign-up for calc 3 (multivariable) thinking they should accelerate the time to graduation. But it is often better for the GPA to start in the lower level course. I can't remember what the options are at Virginia Tech. My point is - if the student has options - think about what course selection will maximize GPA first year. On summer courses ... if the student is struggling, it is easier to get through 4 courses with good grades than 5 courses. That 5th course taken in the summer is easier if it is the student's only course. As I recall, you can still declare the major after the summer, but you would need to confirm that.

Anonymous wrote:My son graduated from the engineering school in 2020 with a CS degree. The 3.0 is doable. The student should use AP credit if possible to avoid courses like chemistry which is often a tough freshman course. Read professor ratings to try to get the better professors freshman year. Try not to bite off too much freshman year. Don’t take the hardest courses possible. Don’t try to accelerate the timeline to graduate. Take non-engineering courses to help the GPA. If a course will kill the GPA drop it and retake it over the summer. Form study groups. Use office hours.

Thanks! You said "Try not to bite off too much freshman year. Don’t take the hardest courses possible." - but aren't there courses that have to be taken freshman year to even be able to pick your major?

You also said "If a course will kill the GPA drop it and retake it over the summer." But if you don't have chemistry until the summer can you even pick your major? And why would chemistry in the summer be easier just because it's your only class? Or are you suggesting taking it somewhere other than VT?

This was all great advice. Just trying to understand.

OP, you're right to be worried. VT admits only the best of the best math/science students, and then funks them out, or they are forced out of engineering. Too many of them. It's a total lie, or funding priorities don't align, that our state's engineering school/our state/our country wants to promote STEM, especially engineering.

My DS just finished his first semester, I think
with a 3.9, and was able to select his engineering major. I guess if you take the required pre-requisite classes and get a good gpa, then you can put in for your major after the 1st semester.

We have a family friend that graduated from VT engineering about five years ago. She said that maintaining a 3.0 GPA needed to matriculate to her intended engineering major was a constant source of stress for her and her classmates. I think that she struggled to even graduate with a 3.0 GPA. She did get an internship and was hired through the internship with an excellent company and has been promoted a couple of times, so even a 3.0ish GPA in engineering from VT will set a student up for success.

My kid also intends to major in engineering and I am worried about meeting the GPA requirement to apply to his intended engineering major. We are in state and VT is their first choice, but I would be happy if they chose an OOS or private school with a direct admit to engineering.

Anonymous wrote:My dd did just fine ….3.8 …and she was on the soccer team. Lots less free time to Study. It wasn’t bad.

what major?

My dd did just fine ….3.8 …and she was on the soccer team. Lots less free time to Study. It wasn’t bad.

Your gpa will be enhanced by some of the non-major classes. In my experience, 75-80% will hit the 3.0. The ones that don’t probably would have flamed out later in the engineering curriculum and you probably don’t want to advance in the bottom 20% anyway.

Friend's TJ kid says not hard at all.

My son graduated from the engineering school in 2020 with a CS degree. The 3.0 is doable. The student should use AP credit if possible to avoid courses like chemistry which is often a tough freshman course. Read professor ratings to try to get the better professors freshman year. Try not to bite off too much freshman year. Don’t take the hardest courses possible. Don’t try to accelerate the timeline to graduate. Take non-engineering courses to help the GPA. If a course will kill the GPA drop it and retake it over the summer. Form study groups. Use office hours.

So if you’re admitting to the engineering school and you don’t get a 3.0, you don’t get to select you major? How does that work?

Looking to hear from students or parents of students who have been in the last 3-4 years: How challenging is it for a first-year engineering student at VT to achieve a 3.0 GPA, often required to select their desired major? My daughter is concerned because engineering programs are known for rigorous "weed-out" courses, and VT has a reputation for poorly taught math classes. How difficult is it for the average student, not just the top performers or those struggling the most, to earn a 3.0 as a first-year? What does the grading curve typically look like? Is it similar to schools where earning a C feels like a major accomplishment?