ingerp

I just felt like I had to add my $.02. I'm a UVA alum, as is one of my siblings. Another of my siblings went to VT. VT certainly has undergraduate departments that rival UVA's, including many of their engineering departments. It is an extremely strong school academically with a loyal student body. I find it telling that my son, currently a high school senior, hasn't spoken to one kid who isn't totally happy at VT. As another Charlottesville resident, let me just say that nobody who lives here (with a level of maturity beyond "teenager") hates VT. There is a healthy, long-standing rivalry between the two schools, but no group showed a greater outpouring of love and support after last April's tragedy than the students, administration, and alumni of UVA. If you're looking for a large state school with loyal students who passionately support their institutions, both UVA and VT are worth a look.

bln_1975

I found this on the net:

"Virginia Tech ranked 29th among national public universities and 71st among all national universities.[4] Its College of Engineering undergraduate program was ranked 8th among public engineering schools and 14th in the nation among all accredited engineering schools that offer doctorates. Seven different undergraduate programs in the College of Engineering are ranked in the top 20 among peer programs nationally - the industrial engineering program is ranked 9th; engineering science and mechanics, 8th; civil engineering, 11th; environmental engineering, 14th; mechanical engineering, 14th; aerospace engineering, 14th; and electrical engineering, 17th. Its Pamplin College of Business undergraduate program is ranked 24th among the nation's public institutions and 41st overall.[5] The architecture and landscape architecture programs in Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies are ranked among the very best in America. In its 2008 report, DesignIntelligence (the only national college ranking survey focused exclusively on design) ranked the undergraduate architecture program 1st nationally among both public and private universities. The graduate architecture program ranked 5th in the nation and 1st among public universities.[6] In its 2007 report, DesignIntelligence ranked the university’s undergraduate and graduate interior design programs 7th and 5th respectively.[7]

Programs in the College of Natural Resources consistently rank among the top of their type in the nation. The college's wildlife program is ranked first by its peers, and the fisheries program is ranked second. In a recently published study of the research impact of North American forestry programs, the Journal of Forestry ranked Virginia Tech's programs second on the perceptions-based composite score and third on the citations- and publications-based index."

pats4life2003

WOW!!! That's great...but their engineering school is so different than UVA's..They rank them for Technical Engineering. UVa engineering students have a much better business background and make a **** load of more money...It's not even a comparison in overall school

SENI08

I just went on a tour of the science facilities, which are recently built, so here's my input on that front.
Their science equipment and buildings are impressive for the size of university that they are, especially because their size means that these are open to undergraduates, which isn't the case even at UVA, where the expensive equipment is reserved for graduate students and research faculty (I also work in a UVA lab). GMU, on the other hand, didn't even have that level of equipment. Science majors are treated very well. One caveat: the science buildings are distanced from the others because they are new.
The old buildings are also very nice. THe bluestone ones in particular are pretty.

Given the choice between JMU and UVA, prices being equal, I'd lean heavily JMU for science. Partly because of what I've said already, and partly because UVA is full of cliques, rather preppy, and does not have a defined campus hardly at all...it's mixed in with Charlottesville. UVA might have a better science reputation, but keep in mind that it has graduate statistics skewing the picture.

On the downside with JMU, I really disagree with their course requirements.

In general, VA state schools are awesome. JMU is no exception.

strat15

you might want to research a bit more pats because the school you attend does not have that much of an effect on what kind of job you get or how much money you make. NASA yes NASA has hired two friends of mine who graduated from mechanical engineering at VT.Obviously they're doing something right.

ggfan

Hi, I am going to JMU this upcoming fall. I also got accepted to VT, GMU and UMW. I live in N. VA and schools in order of their difficulty to get in are:

W & M
UVA
VT
JMU
UMW

I liked VT but as I am going into the teaching field, JMU had a better program. I know several people who choose VT over UVA b/c VT had the better program for what they wanted to study.
I didn't like how small UMW was and GMU was too close to home. I also applied to UVA but didn't get in.

Either way, most every public or private school in VA are great schools and really you need to make the decision on a school based on many different aspects!

Taysel

I don't want everyone yelling at me for saying this, but just my two cents here...

Does it really matter where each school ranks? All of the schools listed here are good schools. Sure, UVA and WM may be harder schools to get in to and have a more difficult curriculum. But why go to UVA or WM (even if you are extremely intelligent, college life can be difficult for some) and get a sub par or just par GPA when you could go to VT, JMU, or UMW and excel. Also, within a few years, I'm sure statistics will show that most college grads are making about equivelant salaries (from these schools at least). Of course beginning salaries may vary (mainly due to luck), but after a few years, they will all even out.

Just my scatter brained two cents.

clcgirl_1999

I agree with Taysel!
I turned down UVa, VT, UNC, and others for that very reason- I knew I could go to JMU and have a phenomenal GPA and be one of the top students or go to UVa and be another smart UVa student.

JMU also has very strong undergraduate research opportunities in the sciences, as opposed to UVa, where graduate students get most of the research. And, they are really pushing new science facilities- the new CISAT library will open beginning this next year and I believe they were approved to build a new biology building. Not to mention the fact that SRI is sharing the biology building with the faculty and will leave behind all the scientific instruments they use as payment for JMU letting them use campus while SRI headquarters is being built.

ggfan

I agree w/ clcgirl_1999 and Taysel!

I didn't get into UVA but if I had, I would have had a tough decision to make...Like VT is not known for its education program, JMU is and UVA has a good program but over all I've heard better things about JMU's program than UVA's. However, if I was majoring in engineering I would have gone to Tech but of their great reputation in engineering!

Like I said before, you need to find the college where you feel most at home and the one that fits your needs the best.