Quick Questions Thread - Page 2

chuy · 07-25-2007, 08:12 PM

"Help packing your stuff/loading up..."
My dad helps me, yes. He has a truck and all I have is a little car so I sort of need him to come.

Not sure what everyone else does. All he really did was help me carry stuff though. We live about three hours away so it wasn't a big deal for him to drive up. Not sure if I answered you question, hopefully so.

We have closet doors, although a VERY VERY small minority of students do remove them. I do NOT suggest doing this, since you can break bolts or all kinds of bad, expensive things. But they all come with closet doors, yes. I drank the water all year and was fine. I used a Brita filter for the first half of the year but then I got lazy and realized it tasted just about the same from the tap.

$600 seems like quite a bit... Must have gotten some really nice fans.

It's too late now but my suggestion is to always just get the bare essentials, get those moved in, then make a walmart run while you're up there when you know what you'll have room for. Even if you forget something you can always go to walmart or kroger and pick it up.

Zimmer07 · 07-25-2007, 10:25 PM

$600???!!! What did you get?? What did I miss?? Where is this list you are working from?

We went out today and bought the bedding. Even on sale it was close to $80. I got fans about a month ago - the clip one on sale for $4 and the desk was $7. Got towels last month as well. There's so much we already have and s is a very minimalistic guy anyway. He dithered about the eggcrate/other pad and decided to wait and get something if needed after he spent a couple weeks there. He wanted to get a tv but decided to hold off on that one since I said he was paying for that! But we shopped for one anyway just for the lesson in comparing. (There's a great 19" flat screen at Target for $299 that has a dvd player and can also be used as computer monitor!)

Chuy, on the list of supplies that was given out at the engineering session during orientation, the first item is for ""engineer's pad" (problem-solving notebook paper)". What exactly is this? If it's not just regular notebook paper, then where do I find it? And how big do the triangles have to be?

Oh, and I was hoping the closets had doors!! Otherwise....let's see, how to hide all the closet crap??!! And thanks for the water comment. I had read about the Brita thing so I'll forget about getting something like that.

olivian · 07-25-2007, 10:34 PM

Thanks so much for answering our questions. They leave no stone unturned at orientation but new questions always crop up. Does Vtech have a foreign language requirement? I heard nothing about it during orientation. But my D says that on her hokie spa account, there is a red lettered sentencethat says: language requirement not met. We thought it was odd since nobody mentionned this at orientation and also she should have met hers since she got 5 in AP French language and 5 in AP French lit.

Zimmer07 · 07-25-2007, 10:41 PM

Oh, I can answer that one!!! You have to have had at least two years of a foreign language in hs to meet the requirement. On the same page that you mention, there will also be (in smaller print!) a little statement that the information on that page will not be updated until mid-fall. That page was made before they received your final transcript from your hs. So you can relax there. And congrats on those APs!

Oh Chuy! How hard is it to do a semester abroad in engineering?

olivian · 07-25-2007, 10:45 PM

Thanks Zimmer07.

chuy · 07-25-2007, 11:02 PM

Alright, one last response before I go to bed. I'll be able to respond to anything else tomorrow.

"Chuy, on the list of supplies that was given out at the engineering session during orientation, the first item is for ""engineer's pad" (problem-solving notebook paper)". What exactly is this? If it's not just regular notebook paper, then where do I find it? And how big do the triangles have to be?"

At the VT bookstores they have an "engineer's pack" that'll have the paper, triangles and everythings. It's overpriced, but you can look in it and see what it is you need to get from Walmart. Basically an engineer's pad is yellow paper that is gridded on one side and not on the other, and has a special header section. I guess you do have to get it, but it's only used a couple times... if he has any friends there they could pitch in and buy one and just split the paper. Any sized triangle will work, really. It's just something to use as a straight-edge. Remember, VT has a good bookstore on campus, and there are plenty of places to buy things like that off campus as well if he needs them, so you don't really HAVE to worry about buying that kind of stuff now.

Ditto on the brita filter. It's a lot easier to decide that you do need something later and go and get it as opposed to having a bunch of stuff that you didn't need and finding somewhere to store it.

I didn't use a bed pad or anything last semester but believe me I will this year. Those things are not comfortable without one. If you've got the money I'd spring for one of the memory foam things off of overstock (get the 2 inch, largest bed size, double it over and get 4 inches out of it. All bed sizes cost the same for some reason). Again, though, he can try out just the bed and then decide if he needs one or not. I survived without so it is possible.

chuy · 07-25-2007, 11:23 PM

I lied, one more. About semesters abroad in engineering... I never seriously looked into it, but it is my understanding that doing a semester abroad and staying on schedule is very, very difficult. The easiest semester to do it would be second semester freshman year, but then you have to take the engineering class over the summer to stay on target, along with possibly others. There is a whole department devoted to that who can give you a much better answer, though. Go to vt.edu and search for "Engineering Abroad," and you'll find many useful links. People do do it, so don't take what I said to be the gospel truth that it's impossible. I'm just saying that I've HEARD it can be hard to stay on track.

Zimmer07 · 07-25-2007, 11:29 PM

That's what I thought. For some reason s took some of the right AP exams to help him out with his schedule so he will start this fall with 24 credits. He'll have over half of those core reqs done by the end of fall semester. I just wonder what kind of engineering course would be available to take while abroad or would it just be a really fabulous and fun waste of academic time (!!).

Good night, Chuy. I'm sure there will be more questions!!! Thanks so much for your time.

septembermom · 07-26-2007, 06:52 AM

I really stuck to the VT list and didn't throw too many other things in the cart. Maybe NH prices (you know that "Live Free-ha,ha,ha or Die" State) are higher. The biggest purchase at Bed, Bath was the Bed in a Bag thing with sheets, comforter at $129.99. Foam/eggcrate mattress pad was $45.00, and
the other mattress pad thing was $40.00. I spent more on the eggcrate thing because several people told me the ones you can get for 10.00 start falling apart very quickly and the kids have foam all over sheets and room. Two sets of towels came to about $50.00. I did kind of splurge on these because son liked the way they felt. Fleece blanket was $10.00, clip on fan was $14.99 and I bought a multi-hook over the door hook thing for $5.00. Total bill here was $294.
Wal-mart-Biggest purchase was the surge protector for $20.00. Bought all the shampoo, razor blades (why are these things so expensive), cough medicine, Advil, Tylenol, laundry deterg. desk supplies, laptop stand for $15.00, mug, plate, bowl, couple plastice cups, some silverware (3 spoons, forks, knife), a paring knife, tissues, paper towels, trash bags, Zip-loc bags. I am telling you this stuff adds up. I guess I could have put it all together from home stuff, but then I would have needed to replace what I have. Daughter did buy a few things and I did some groceries, so son's stuff probably came to $250.00. I have saved all receipts so can return anything not needed.

chuy · 07-26-2007, 06:57 AM

Make sure you read the articles on VT's website. It actually looks more feasible than I thought it was. There's an office dedicated to it, and they have information sessions and things like that to try and recruit people. Everyone that I've talked to that has gone has loved it, it's just a matter of how the schedule is going to work out for the student.

Edit: Something else to look in to, either now or when you go up to Tech (because they'll be selling them everywhere) is a desk hutch. It's just this shelving type thing you put on your desk that has room for books, a printer, etc. Really helps you stay organized.

Zimmer07 · 07-26-2007, 09:04 AM

I did make a "medicine" kit - basically just tylenol, cough drops, bandaids, and stuff like that, and a thermometer. Just the basics that s would have taken at home if he were a little under the weather. I do remember the nurse from Schiffert Health Center saying that students should have a thermometer.

Thanks Chuy, again, I meant to ask about the hutch!! But if you put the desk under the loft, is there enough room? And how are the chairs?

PS. S does have Chang for Physics. Ms Boone in Engineering office was really adamant about rearranging the schedule to fit that particular teacher in. She said everyone complains about all the other Phys teachers, but that all the eng students love Chang.

chuy · 07-26-2007, 09:23 AM

I know the ones that VT sells will fit with the desk under the loft. If you buy one from somewhere else I'm not sure, but you can get some measuring tape once you get up there and see what you can fit. The chairs are... ok. The thing is, if you bring your own you aren't allowed to take the ones that were in there out into storage or anything, so it cuts down on room a little. They're just basic wooden/padded semi-rocking chairs.

GOOD. Ms. Boone was right, EVERYONE (including me) loves chang and hates everyone else. People not in chang's class will go to his lectures because they'll actually learn something. I literally was at a computer for several hours hitting refresh on the course listings until a spot opened up, and then had to redo my entire schedule, and it was worth every second. Sadly he doesn't teach second semester physics.

shoebox10 · 07-26-2007, 10:03 AM

Ahhh....I see lots and lots of questions on here, and since there seems to be only one other student, I'll try to help as well

Keep in mind I went to VT last year, for EE, but transferred to UVA, so I can only really help with basic/freshman stuff

and YES, Chang is the best. I had Slawny and he was ridiculous. We were at chapter 10 when Change was at 4, the man couldn't teach, his accent was unbearable, and he would call you out and yell at you in class for stupid stuff. I don't know how I got a B in that class, I didn't learn anything.

Zimmer07 · 07-26-2007, 10:17 AM

So who do you recommend for 2nd sem Physics then?

And nice to see you again, Shoebox! Hope you enjoy your time at UVA.

chuy · 07-26-2007, 10:21 AM

No clue, I'm taking it this year. I took one semester each of Chem and Physics freshman year and will take both second halves this year. I'm in Slawny's right now and I know he's horrible, but I haven't really heard anything better about anyone else, and it was one of the few physics classes that didn't conflict with a class I couldn't move.