Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 15:22     Subject: Re:UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We hire from both schools, they’re both fine and appeal to different types of students.

The person who thinks there’s a discernible difference between a #14 and a #35 ranking doesn’t know what they’re talking about.


Of course there’s a difference between 14 and 35. I have to wonder about your mathematical skills here.


I said discernible difference. I have to wonder about your reading skills here.


But obviously, there is indeed a discernible difference. Which is why VT is consistently ranked high on engineering lists and UVA… isn’t.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 15:21     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The only major I would choose over UVA for Tech is engineering. But:

You have to be sure you would STAY in engineering. Many people I know started in engineering and switched majors.

They are different schools and “fits” and therefore different college experiences. You have to ask yourself where you’d rather spend 4 years.

They both have good reputations, you really can’t go wrong with either.


Have you posted this before? There is absolutely no reason a student can’t switch out of engineering at VT. I have a DC who started at VT engineering and decided to switch to their liberal arts college. Having a wonderful time and involved in many activities. The liberal arts college is fantastic and has so many majors to choose from. Our younger DC is going to apply to VT for a LA major next year.


DP here. Yes, of course you can switch out of engineering at VA Tech. But if you're not going to go into engineering, UVA is far better regarded across the state and the country than VA Tech. So it would kind of suck to give up UVA because Tech is ranked higher in engineering, and then wind up not majoring in engineering.


I completely disagree. As I said above, my DC switched to a liberal arts major at VT that isn’t even offered at UVA. So had they started at UVA in engineering, and then decided to switch out, their preferred major wouldn’t have even been available. There are far more options to choose from at VT.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 14:48     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
VT
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 14:38     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The only major I would choose over UVA for Tech is engineering. But:

You have to be sure you would STAY in engineering. Many people I know started in engineering and switched majors.

They are different schools and “fits” and therefore different college experiences. You have to ask yourself where you’d rather spend 4 years.

They both have good reputations, you really can’t go wrong with either.


Have you posted this before? There is absolutely no reason a student can’t switch out of engineering at VT. I have a DC who started at VT engineering and decided to switch to their liberal arts college. Having a wonderful time and involved in many activities. The liberal arts college is fantastic and has so many majors to choose from. Our younger DC is going to apply to VT for a LA major next year.


DP here. Yes, of course you can switch out of engineering at VA Tech. But if you're not going to go into engineering, UVA is far better regarded across the state and the country than VA Tech. So it would kind of suck to give up UVA because Tech is ranked higher in engineering, and then wind up not majoring in engineering.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 14:38     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
PP
Would add that the engineering school’s programming at DOTL was good. I wish that we’d gotten back to VT for their admitted student days but we didn’t. My kid was admitted there in October so it may have just fallen off the radar a bit.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 14:37     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:Can't get my kid to even attend the admitted students day at UVA, VT is great, but I'm thinking half the drive time.


My kid got in both for engineering. Both great schools, of course. But the shorter drive from Nova to Cville is great and the train, too.
(Wouldn’t make the choice based on that but it’s been a bonus).
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 14:27     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Can't get my kid to even attend the admitted students day at UVA, VT is great, but I'm thinking half the drive time.
Anonymous
Post 02/01/2026 13:46     Subject: Re:UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We hire from both schools, they’re both fine and appeal to different types of students.

The person who thinks there’s a discernible difference between a #14 and a #35 ranking doesn’t know what they’re talking about.


Of course there’s a difference between 14 and 35. I have to wonder about your mathematical skills here.


I said discernible difference. I have to wonder about your reading skills here.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 16:26     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:UVA if your kid has an inkling they might change majors, which 80% of students do at least once. It was for this reason that my aerospace engineering kid picked UVA over Ga Tech, Purdue and VT. And after Calc 3, he decided that he was a humanities kid and switched from engineering to Arts & Sciences, as did his best friend. It was the right decision. Entering Yake Law in the fall.


Kids change majors all the time at VT. As I just posted, mine changed from engineering to a liberal arts major and is doing great. UVA actually doesn’t even offer the major DC is currently in, so their choices would have been more limited there. Highly recommend VT for all majors, not just engineering.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 16:24     Subject: Re:UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:We hire from both schools, they’re both fine and appeal to different types of students.

The person who thinks there’s a discernible difference between a #14 and a #35 ranking doesn’t know what they’re talking about.


Of course there’s a difference between 14 and 35. I have to wonder about your mathematical skills here.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 16:19     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Which would you choose and why? Interested in Civil, but that might change.
difficult to say


Not really. Civil is ranked #9 at VT and not ranked at all at UVA.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 16:18     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:The only major I would choose over UVA for Tech is engineering. But:

You have to be sure you would STAY in engineering. Many people I know started in engineering and switched majors.

They are different schools and “fits” and therefore different college experiences. You have to ask yourself where you’d rather spend 4 years.

They both have good reputations, you really can’t go wrong with either.


Have you posted this before? There is absolutely no reason a student can’t switch out of engineering at VT. I have a DC who started at VT engineering and decided to switch to their liberal arts college. Having a wonderful time and involved in many activities. The liberal arts college is fantastic and has so many majors to choose from. Our younger DC is going to apply to VT for a LA major next year.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 13:05     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:Visit both. If your kid doesn’t want to be somewhere, they aren’t going to do their work. It’ll be a waste.


+1

There is far too much of this "VT is higher ranked in engineering" and "UVA is ranked higher overall" going on. Don't have USNWR do your thinking for you.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 09:56     Subject: UVA or VT Engineering?
UVA if your kid has an inkling they might change majors, which 80% of students do at least once. It was for this reason that my aerospace engineering kid picked UVA over Ga Tech, Purdue and VT. And after Calc 3, he decided that he was a humanities kid and switched from engineering to Arts & Sciences, as did his best friend. It was the right decision. Entering Yake Law in the fall.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 09:52     Subject: Re:UVA or VT Engineering?
Anonymous wrote:We hire from both schools, they’re both fine and appeal to different types of students.

The person who thinks there’s a discernible difference between a #14 and a #35 ranking doesn’t know what they’re talking about.


+1