there are no chances to get off wait list until late April or early May. /quote]
That’s not necessarily accurate. As soon as all offered students (EA and RD) within a particular major are accounted for by either matriculation or declining offer, then wait listed students could start getting offers. @hopefulhokie24 But, there’s pretty much zero chance that takes place the day RD decisions come out. Like most schools, VT isn’t going to issue a statement that they have begun pulling students off the waitlist and you will not hear unless you are offered. Anyone who has been waitlisted should be heavy into their Plan B.
Yes, going all in on Plan B is a very good idea. Just don’t buy anything nonrefundable until the waitlist closes! You never know. When son got off Virginia Tech’s waitlist, we ended up with a laundry bag in JMU colors with son’s initials on it!
LOL! That’s a good point. I plan to accept the loss of any non-refundable deposits, but I hear you on the clothing and such. At a minimum, we know other kids going to his Plan B that may want that type of stuff.
My son has 7 other schools to choose from with one really his top choice but he still has VT on his mind. I think by the time he hears he will be long gone
I have an update on my daughter. She has decided on Virginia Tech over her second choice University of Georgia. She will be a freshman this fall joining her soon to be sophomore brother!
Hi everyone. I am looking for some advice. My top 3 choices were Tennessee, VT, and South Carolina. I got into both UTK and VT but waitlisted at UofSc which is where I would have gone if I had gotten in. Since Hokie Focus was cancelled I’m not sure i’ll be able to go and tour VT and get a sense of the campus life since students will be taking classes online. I know for sure I don’t want to go to Tennessee anymore. I’m just not sure what to do moving forward. So there’s 2 case scenarios.
Put down deposit at Virginia Tech not ever seeing the campus and just hoping I like it and not getting off the UofSC waiting list.
Put down deposit at Virginia Tech but get off the waiting list at UofSC and lose $400. That is a lot for a non-refundable deposit and my family definitely can’t afford to just waste that.
So I’m really just stuck about what I should do. Any past experience or knowledge would be great. Is it possible to get any of that $400 back?
Have you spoken to UTK to see if possible to get deposit back?
VT is a beautiful campus in a more typical college town then usc and UTK which are attached to larger cities.
I personally like the college town feel. My daughter toured uSC and liked it but decided against the more urban setting she was accepted)). She will be attending VT (which she chose over her second choice Georgia).
UTK and USC are going to have a more southern feel. VT a more mid Atlantic feel (since a lot of northern virginia students).
One thing you didn’t mention was major - that can determine a lot too.
As far as not touring campus. You can get a feel for how pretty it is online. What you can’t tell online is that the campus is very self contained. It also has the town attached to it with nice restaurants etc a quick walk past the student center into downtown. It currently centers on the drill field with residence on one side and academic buildings on the other. It makes for easy walks to most everything. Since all residential dorms are condensed near each other (and a lot of the on campus dining) it makes for a great community feel.
You could always go to VT and do a self tour - and I’m sure you will see students around (don’t know what % will elect to return to school for the semester but most certainly a good number will).
Note VT issued coronavirus update and all on campus events including accepted students events like Hokie Focus are cancelled until end April. We should all prepare that this will be the case for every college, if it has not happened already, and our kids final college choices will be made without further visits to campuses.
I believe you are allowed to tour campus on your own, so it might be worth heading down for a visit. I think others have summed up the campus very well compared to USC, as well. It’s consistently ranked one of the nicest campuses in the country, and the students and faculty are extremely friendly.
Note that Spring Break was extended a week, as well.
Currently according to Niche ratings VT has #2 Best College Food and #3 Best College Campuses
South Carolina #147 Best Collge Food and #128 Best College Campuses
University of Tennessee #602 Best College Food and #636 Best College Campuses
Needless to say - Virginia Tech has an impressive campus if your looking for the typical college town feel (not everyone wants that - some actually want more urban).
@user9167391 If I’m understanding your situation correctly, then your two known opportunities are attend VT or community college. UofSC waitlist is an unknown. $400 isn’t a lot of cash to make up via a summer job, so I would say to take the gamble.
Frankly, you are not going to get much from a self tour. What are your travel expenses for a visit? You will not hear from the dean, advising, the dept. you are interested in, and I doubt you will have access to any academic buildings. You definitely won’t have access to a residence hall. It’s unclear how access to the two gyms will be handled for non-students. You’ll pretty much just get the weather that given day and a chance to peer through windows. There are a lot of videos of campus online.
Slightly off topic, but this is an excellent example of why families should try and visit schools the student is interested in before they even apply. Especially if they are in-state schools.
My travel expenses would not be much because we were given the option to stay at my grandparents friend’s condo in Blacksburg. Their friends are very involved with the university and did say that they could schedule a meeting with the deal of Pamplin if I was interested. I totally forgot about that until I read your reply so I will be following up with that.
I toured 8 schools and applied to VT on the last day I could not expecting to get in and then I did. Spring is such a crazy busy time senior year it’s hard to cram it all in!
I’m hoping I’ll be able to go meet up with someone I know that goes there or something to get some sort of feel for it!
@user9167391 That’s why you visit prospective schools in fall or spring of your junior year ! If you just have gas and travel time it might be worth the trip depending on where you are coming from. A meeting with the Dean will be a bit of a perk, but it’s not like the 45+ minute presentation that Pamplin provides during Open House or Hokie Focus. Follow up on that - if you’re just having a conversation with the Dean and you look at enough VT content online, then maybe you could save the gas and travel and do a call.
@user9167391 My son has gotten into UofSC and waitlisted at VT. He hasnt committed to SC yet but plans to unless there is a last minute change. I can tell you both are great schools but different type settings and campuses. VT is in Blacksburg which is a small town not near a major airport (Roanoke is 45 min away) and as you know Columbia is capital of SC (own airport) and 1 hour or so from Charlotte and a huge airport. Business is great at both schools. If i were you I would put my deposit down at VT and keep your name on the SC waitlist. Unlike VT, SC does take kids off the waitlist. I know for certain several kids not going who used it as a safety school or got into a school they prefer better. yes you would lose $400 but possibly you could get it back if you called and explained the situation after the fact (not being able to come to HokieFocus due to situation) Good Luck with your choice
! If you just have gas and travel time it might be worth the trip depending on where you are coming from. A meeting with the Dean will be a bit of a perk, but it’s not like the 45+ minute presentation that Pamplin provides during Open House or Hokie Focus. Follow up on that - if you’re just having a conversation with the Dean and you look at enough VT content online, then maybe you could save the gas and travel and do a call.