Virginia Tech vs NC State

[Sandra in NC]

My son and I visited Virginia Tech this week and we were impressed with their engineering program. The campus is gorgeous and has the feel of a private university.

 

For engineering, VT is rated #14 in the country; #8 among public institutions. They offer a combined aerospace/ocean engineering degree (I've never seen that before!) and they are one of only 8 schools to offer a mining and minerals engineering degree. There is 100% placement in the latter, with students often securing job offers in their sophomore year.

 

The dorms seemed ok. Freshmen stay in traditional hall-style dorms with NO air conditioning. The heat is an issue for a couple of months out of the year and up to 4 box fans are needed to be comfortable.

 

Their food service is rated #3 in the country.

 

Overall, we preferred VA Tech to NC State. Unfortunately, it would cost $16,000/yr. more with out of state tuition. Unless my son can get some substantial scholarships (not likely from VA Tech), it's not a good choice financially.

 

We visited NC State in February. It is rated #30 in engineering. It's an urban campus, so it doesn't have the cohesive, well-planned feel VA Tech. It's a hodgepodge of buildings in various styles/ages and it's very spread out. It doesn't have theme living for engineering students (VA Tech has halls reserved for engineering students -- a good idea to avoid being next door to a party-person!) We got more of a feeling of community at VA Tech than we did at NC State.

 

NC State will exempt my son from freshman English based on his SAT CR score. VA Tech won't do that, but they do accept the English Comp w/Essay CLEP; a score of 50 on a 90 minute test earns 6 college credits. You also earn 6 credits for freshman English with a 4 or 5 on the AP exam. Isn't it interesting they require a "C" on a CLEP, but a "B" on the AP? (By the way, I found a similar discrepancy at East Carolina University. They accept the equivalent of a D on the Microeconomics CLEP, but require a B on the AP exam for credit.)

 

All in all, we love VA Tech but NC State is our best choice financially. I don't know if our visit to VA Tech will inspire my son to apply for outside scholarships or just depress him. NC State looked a lot better before we saw VA Tech. Clemson and GA Tech are next on the list. He wants to visit these schools and understands that our funds are limited so if he wants to go somewhere other than NC State, he'll have a lot of work to do writing essays for scholarships!

Edited July 4, 2009 by Sandra in NC

[hsmamainva]

Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi! :D

 

Sorry....I'm biased!

 

Virginia Tech is a great school!!! It's H-U-G-E, but awesome!!

 

Our best friends in the world -- we were best man / maid of honor for their wedding, and they shared the same honor for us -- have two children, both at Virginia Tech. Their kids love it...absolutely love it.

 

In addition to the monetary difference in out-of-state tuition, it's also harder for out-of-state students to get into Tech because (I believe) 70% of their student body must be from Virginia. So those who are applying from out-of-state are facing greater competition, and therefore need higher SAT scores, etc.

 

Btw .... I have an engineering friend who graduated from Clemson and LOVED it, so be sure to make a visit!

 

How exciting for your son!!! Enjoy the visits...and apply to every school he likes. You never know what will be offered until the acceptance letters come in. If the offer is good, then he's free to accept or decline and all it cost was the application fee. It's worth a try!

[8filltheheart]

State is an excellent engineering school. My dh earned his chemE there. :)

 

As far as engineering dorms, my ds lived in an engineering dorm his freshman yr but didn't find any benefit to it. He found it much more effective to search out the other serious students and form private study groups meeting in a library conference room.

 

The major corporations all recruit from NCSU. We live in VA and my dh's corp currently has 2 NCSU and 2 VT co-op students.

 

FWIW, there is no way I would accrue the extra debt you are describing in choosing between those 2 schools since they are both excellent choices. I don't think your ds will care if his dorm rooms were great or if the food was fantastic when he is paying back the college loans and both schools would have resulted in equal career opportunities.

[Laura in VA]

State is an excellent engineering school. My dh earned his chemE there. :)

 

As far as engineering dorms, my ds lived in an engineering dorm his freshman yr but didn't find any benefit to it. He found it much more effective to search out the other serious students and form private study groups meeting in a library conference room.

 

The major corporations all recruit from NCSU. We live in VA and my dh's corp currently has 2 NCSU and 2 VT co-op students.

 

FWIW, there is no way I would accrue the extra debt you are describing in choosing between those 2 schools since they are both excellent choices. I don't think your ds will care if his dorm rooms were great or if the food was fantastic when he is paying back the college loans and both schools would have resulted in equal career opportunities.

 

:iagree: My oldest will be a junior at NC State next year. I would not pay the extra tuition to go to VA Tech.

[MomsintheGarden]

Dh and I both graduated from VA Tech in the late '80s with BSEE degrees. We met in the stairwell of the EE building (how romantic!). I agree with hsmamainva's comments.

 

It is a good school with a beautiful campus. They have built quite a lot since we went there, but it still has a spacious feel. We like how it is in a rural area, but it does have a city-like feel to us because most students there are from NoVa (not to knock them or that area, it's just that we are from a very small town so it feels like a city to us!).

 

Our son just completed his freshman year in the engineering department, after having been totally homeschooled. He had a very successful year, both in his studies and personal life. We attribute his participation in the Galileo housing community (freshman engineering guys) to part of his success. It was easy for him to make friends, the atmosphere was one of studious fun, and they all helped each other.

 

Here are some randomly ordered comments:

1. Good for you looking into APs and CLEPs now. I wish I'd gotten savvy about them earlier. Our son placed out of Freshman English with the CLEP (his hallmates were very jealous - ps students aren't told about it), and got credit for a couple of APs. Almost all of his friends had AP credit - it's the norm for freshman in engineering, and you should plan for it.

2. Definitely plan on your son having Physics AND at least 1st semester Calculus in high school if you want him to have a good chance to get in. One of ds's friends was accepted to Tech but not the engineering dept because he didn't have physics or calc in high school. If he gets AP credit in Calc, he will still be required to take a placement test at the start of the fall semester. Most engineering schools require a math placement test of all students.

3. Tech has an amazing variety of fun outdoor activities. This is a huge plus! Our son went hiking at the Cascades, a beautiful waterfall about 45 minutes away, played paintball with a club, rode his bike on the path to Christiansburg (12 miles away, a nice ride), played with lightsabers around the duck pond and on the drillfield (they made their own club), played ultimate frisbee (another club), and played tennis on the courts right next to his dorm. He really enjoyed this aspect of Tech.

4. The bus system is very well done. A student only needs to show his Tech ID to ride the bus all over Blacksburg and Christiansburg. You pay a $40/semester bus fee. Ds didn't need a car, which was a big savings.

5. There are some excellent instructors at Tech, and also some not-so-great ones. No one seemed to like the freshman engineering courses or their instructors. Ds liked his math classes and his CS classes, and also Chang for physics. If you are in the honors program you get first priority for course selection (after the athletes) for freshman spring semester and beyond.

6. Because we see more negatives than positives about Greek life, we recommend avoiding it.

7. I wouldn't call Tech a party school, but a lot of students drink. Most RA's look the other way, as does the director of student life. Only one student that we know of drank in the Galileo community (he was considered the oddball), with rather sad results. There is also a Wellness community that prohibits substance use.

 

Tech is a good school, but I don't know if it is worth an extra $16K/year. We live in Virginia so tuition is much cheaper for us. I have heard that some states allow in-state tuition for students majoring in degrees not offered in their own states. Could you look into this?

 

Best wishes in your search.

 

GardenMom

[creekland]

Hubby and I are both VA Tech grads and absolutely loved our time there. Interestingly enough, hubby was put on the wait list for VT and accepted at NC State. (He's from NC.) He was totally expecting to go to NC State when he got the call from VT saying there was an opening... He switched immediately and never regretted it even once. Me either - since I got to meet him that way! He's a VERY successful Civil Engineer with his own business now... and had no problems getting a job - ever - headhunters still call him now periodically.

 

I'd apply to any school he's interested in and see what financial packages are offered... it can't hurt.

 

Our own boys are heading down different paths than we did (my degree is in Physics)... one of my biggest things to 'get over' has been the idea that my offspring would go to VT too (sigh). They all want a smaller college for their future education. Such is life, and since it's theirs, they'll be going where the best fit for them is. I'll always be a VT lover...

[Sandra in NC]

I have heard that some states allow in-state tuition for students majoring in degrees not offered in their own states. Could you look into this?

 

Thank you for your detailed reply/advice! Unfortunately, NC doesn't participate in that program. At least, it doesn't do so for undergraduate degrees in VA.

 

To everyone who has posted comments/votes, thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to share your insights!

 

Sandra

[Oak Knoll Mom]

 

All in all, we love VA Tech but NC State is our best choice financially. I don't know if our visit to VA Tech will inspire my son to apply for outside scholarships or just depress him. NC State looked a lot better before we saw VA Tech. Clemson and GA Tech are next on the list. He wants to visit these schools and understands that our funds are limited so if he wants to go somewhere other than NC State, he'll have a lot of work to do writing essays for scholarships!

 

My husband is a Clemson engineer, but we live in NC and he works with many NC State engineers. He really feels that he had a superior education compared to many of these co-workers. Of course, it will really depend on what type of engineering he wants to get into.

 

Clemson has an absolutely fabulous campus. I truly loved my time there!