Have you been here https://www.cmgleasing.com/property/the-edge-apts/ or here http://www.retreatatblacksburg.com/Community
heck even Foxridge stepping up the amenities https://www.foxridgeliving.com/amenities.aspx
I guess they’ve built some new stuff. That’s good. It’s been a long time since I looked around town. That first link looks like they gave College Park a face-lift. Is it a different location?
Your concerns are valid. The Blacksburg housing market is very tight (this year more than ever). In the fall students start scrambling to find apartments for the following year, which is not ideal. Because of this, larger complexes force their tenants to decide in September/October if they want to renew for the following year. However, even though Blacksburg rents have gone up, it is still fairly affordable compared to many college towns. There are definitely high-end complexes charging $1,000 a bedroom these days, but there are plenty in the $500 per bedroom range as well. Finding larger (3-4 bedroom) apartments seems to be more challenging toward the end of the fall semester compared to 2-bedroom apartments.
And as others have mentioned, most student housing complexes are on the bus route, which is excellent and much more convenient than trying to park on campus.
Did everyone who got their on site decision get accepted?
Does anyone have any insight on about how many of the applicants from years past were out of state? And then how many were accepted from the out of state pool.
Acceptance rate
2016 - 27% OOS
2017 - 35% OOS
2018 - 31% OOS
2019 - 33% OOS
@Momtofourkids @HokieCrazy @sunnyschool
If your student is accepted and matriculates to VT, I strongly recommend taking some time around orientation to explore the off campus housing options. By October of freshman year, the popular undergrad complexes are going to start the leasing renewal/sign up process. (Note: this isn’t unique to VT). Here’s some info based on our experience:
From low to high (depending on # of rooms), the most popular complexes are Foxridge, Collegiate Suites, Terrace View*, The Village, Maple Ridge, Smith’s Landing, The Retreat, The Edge. Many offer furnished units, and include most utilities. All in, the price range per month for your child is going to be somewhere between $650-$1,000+. The Edge is most expensive and sits right on the outskirts of campus (hence the name). Retreat was built in 2016. Asterisk on Terrace View is due to bad managemnt reputation (and it’s also being torn down and rebuilt in stages, so that could change I guess). There are also a lot of small property management companies and/or individual owners who lease to undergrads.
I know students at all the complexes except Terrace View and The Edge. All seem ok with their situation and no horror stories about maintenance, etc. Collegiate Suites fills up fastest - they were taking wait list in early November. Foxridge fills up slowest.
New development trends nationwide are towards “upscale” undergraduate housing, with a transitional nature (community programs, etc. for students). In my opinion, that trend/demand is being driven by a.) parent concerns about run-down apartments (“want the best for the kids”), and b.) the prevalence of 529 plans nowadays. Developers figure parents are more prepared financially, so they are gambling that if they built it they will come. So far they are right.
Before anyone faints - I know families with students in more urban areas where the top end complexes are now $1,300+. Had a conversation last fall with someone with a student at NYU… you don’t even want to know what their dorm-sized off campus rent was.
DM’s are open if anyone has add’l questions.
This is something that I never thought about. Can you use 529 plan money for off-campus living?
@HokieCrazy If it’s a pre-paid tuition plan, then no. But if it is a college savings plan then it can be used for any qualifying expense. The caveat is that if you use it for off campus housing you are capped at whatever the university lists under cost of attendance for room and board. VT’s room and board COE for 2020-21 is $10,390 - $865 per month rent/utilities maxes it out.
Thank you for that information! Very useful.
@Volty123 Are you asking if students who were accepted via onsite got an official acceptance already? The answer to that is no. It comes with the other EA acceptances in the portal (unless, I believe, the student applied onsite AND ED, then that official acceptance would have appeared with the ED decisions). If you are asking if all students who apply via onsite get accepted, that is a no too. Some accepted, some denied, some waitlisted.
Thanks
@ShenVal18 @HokieCrazy
Thanks for the links - very helpful!
So, does anyone have any insight as to how soon after the EA decisions go live we can expect to hear about honors college acceptance? The website only says, “students admitted to Virginia Tech who meet the criteria for admission to the Honors College will receive a separate Honors College decision notification soon after the Virginia Tech admissions decision.” I guess I’m wondering what “soon” means. A few days? One week? More? If you checked the box to be considered for honors will you receive notification that you were not accepted?
I don’t think the data given here is that accurate judging from the state run database on admissions.
Check out schev.org under research and publications and then admissions for the most actuate data
Just got an email from VT saying decisions will be out Saturday Feb 22nd. I’m disappointed
@newty25 - Thanks for letting us know about schev.edu. It really surprised me to see following 2019 data for VT:
In State: 15834 Applied, 9531 Accepted (acceptance rate 60.2%), 4346 Enrolled (yield rate 45.6%)
Out of State: 16155 Applied, 11226 Accepted (acceptance rate 69.5%), 1972 Enrolled (yield rate 17.6%)
The fact that VT accepted more OOS than In State students is truly puzzling.
Got the same notice.
They accept more OOS because they know the OOS yield will be much lower than IS yield.
What surprises me about those numbers is the yield rate of In-State. I guess that just shows the strength of the public schools in Virginia.