Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math emporium brings Tech’s prestige down a peg, IMO. Not the way to learn calculus.

Can you elaborate? What’s the better model and where is it employed?

How about a classroom, like how most professors are teaching math?


This is not normal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech is the “big state u” now. They aspire to be a school of 30,000. Admissions doesn’t look at recommendations or essays. They dont even want a transcript, they want the student to list their courses and grades on Coalition.

They’ve been on this path for years - just look at the Math “emporium” situation (you take math in a giant computer lab at the mall in a defunct store.)

Nothing wrong with that, you just have to go in with your eyes open.

Also no. There are 4 short essays and they said this year that they are putting much more emphasis on the essays than test scores.

Ask them who reads those essays. Not admissions. They're farming that part out and will get a summary of the essays. Admissions is not reading the essays.

Anonymous wrote:The math emporium brings Tech’s prestige down a peg, IMO. Not the way to learn calculus.

Can you elaborate? What’s the better model and where is it employed?

The math emporium brings Tech’s prestige down a peg, IMO. Not the way to learn calculus.

Nope. Two oldest went to Tech College of Engineering. Neither applied to UVA or W&M. Oldest has graduated with great job in hand by October senior year - successfully launched in real world. other is is there now and happy third kid...We will see where she ends up. Different schools with different vibes.

DC, accepted at all three, is a current freshmen at Tech and completely satisfied with their choice. As are we. It was the best fit for DC both academically and socially.

I didn't get into W&M, got deferred early and then rejected from UVA, and then accepted at VT. Obviously I'm biased now, but based on what I continued to learn about the other schools, people I've met from them etc., I am so happy that's how it shook out. It was a better school for the experience I wanted. I went on to get my master's from VT and in the professional world have felt absolutely no inferiority about my alma mater. In fact, my current company has a ton of VT grads in executive leadership, so we have a connection. I've even seen people roll their eyes at UVA grads assuming they'll be stuck up and entitled. W&M is a smaller pool and of the two would probably be the one I wouldn't be surprised if people widely considered that to be more prestigious, but hey, it takes all different types to make the world go round. VT is a great school either way.

Tech is a great school. I would be psyched if my kid went there, and both my spouse and I went to uva.

UVA and tech have more in common. W+M is a pretty different feel and I agree, more like a SLAC.

But I don’t automatically assume that someone couldn’t get into uva or W&M when I hear they got into tech.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W & M had 15,000 applications last year so it appears that somebody applied.

Just saying that it's not like all kids are applying to UVA or W&M as first choices, with VT as the safety.

Maybe back in the day this was the case, but it seems now that the three are of equal stature in the kids' eyes, just different types of kids are applying to each one. That's a good thing I think that they're trying to find the right fit vs. just legacy status. Legacy not as in alumni but legacy as in the past.

My kid is at a STEM magnet so maybe my views are skewed by DC and friends. They report that W&M is more of a SLAC, while VT is the STEM school and UVA is big state U, but they're all equally good according to the kids.

Didn't mean to knock W&M.

You say VT is the STEM school, but I don't think you can say it is stronger in science than UVA or W&M. That isn't to say it isn't good. UVA has the same percentage of majors as VT in Bio/Biomed, Math/Statistics, Computer Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, and W&M has a higher percentage than either. STEM at VT is heavy on engineering. Among national public universities, only Berkeley produces as many STEM PHDs on a per capita basis as W&M. And referring to UVA as Big State U when VT is significantly larger seems like a misnomer.

I was just saying what the kids are expressing these days. I suppose it matters if the parents feel that the kids went to a less-than university, but I would hope it matters more what the kids think, and the kids seem to think that the three are equal. Technically I suppose the kids shouldn't give a cr@p what anyone else thinks, but I don't think we can expect that from most high schoolers with their social media lives these days.

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech is the “big state u” now. They aspire to be a school of 30,000. Admissions doesn’t look at recommendations or essays. They dont even want a transcript, they want the student to list their courses and grades on Coalition.

They’ve been on this path for years - just look at the Math “emporium” situation (you take math in a giant computer lab at the mall in a defunct store.)

Nothing wrong with that, you just have to go in with your eyes open.

Also no. There are 4 short essays and they said this year that they are putting much more emphasis on the essays than test scores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, most in state people will think a Virginia Tech student was a UVA reject. W&M is sui generis.

I don't think you have kept up and have any understanding how difficult it is to get into these schools today. And Tech is a TECH school, like Cal Tech, Purdue, Georgia Tech. Go go there for engineering, vet science, architecture, animal husbandry, etc etc. You don't go to Cal Tech for poly-sci.

Not sure what you’re trying to accomplish here by referencing Cal Tech, which is one of the country’s best schools and far superior to VA Tech.

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech is the “big state u” now. They aspire to be a school of 30,000. Admissions doesn’t look at recommendations or essays. They dont even want a transcript, they want the student to list their courses and grades on Coalition.

They’ve been on this path for years - just look at the Math “emporium” situation (you take math in a giant computer lab at the mall in a defunct store.)

Nothing wrong with that, you just have to go in with your eyes open.

"Not want a transcript": yes they do. You type the list of courses and grades, swear it is accurate and the transcript confirms later. It is their way of getting the transcript earlier when faced with schools that are slow to mail them.

Virginia Tech is the “big state u” now. They aspire to be a school of 30,000. Admissions doesn’t look at recommendations or essays. They dont even want a transcript, they want the student to list their courses and grades on Coalition.

They’ve been on this path for years - just look at the Math “emporium” situation (you take math in a giant computer lab at the mall in a defunct store.)

Nothing wrong with that, you just have to go in with your eyes open.

OP, do you know how much thought I spend to the colleges my kid didn't go to? None.

He mad a choice, a good one, we embraced it, and are now fans (not VA Tech, UVA or WM -- DMV had no appeal to him) .

My kid is so many wonderful things. He is a full, 3D person. I do not spend time worrying about that B in tenth grade Spanish and how it may somehow have made him less-than.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes, most in state people will think a Virginia Tech student was a UVA reject. W&M is sui generis.

I don't think you have kept up and have any understanding how difficult it is to get into these schools today. And Tech is a TECH school, like Cal Tech, Purdue, Georgia Tech. Go go there for engineering, vet science, architecture, animal husbandry, etc etc. You don't go to Cal Tech for poly-sci.

I went to Virginia Tech for political science. It has a good liberal arts program, too. Not as strong as the STEM programs, but still very good.

I did not want to go to either UVA or WM, so I do not nor have I ever felt inferior or like a reject. They are all completely different schools. I feel like I won. I got a great in-state education and had a blast. Out in the “real world” nobody cared where I even went to school after I got my first job.

To be fair, it was a lot easier to get in back when I went to college so take my experience with a grain of salt.