I have to say that I could not agree more with your assessment of Virginia Tech and Pamplin. We arrived Saturday evening for Hokie Focus on Sunday. As we drove through the campus and town, my daughter’s comment was that it was love at first sight. We spent time that evening on campus and of course the next day and the students are really the most friendly we have encountered across at least 25 college visits with our two kids. The campus is beautiful, the school spirit is top notch and yes, the food is excellent. The whole place has a happy and friendly vibe. But as you mentioned, Pamplin left us disappointed. Until that session my daughter really felt like she had found the perfect match. We were disappointed that we really did not get any information on internships, job placement numbers, quality of the teaching, etc. In fact we were really surprised that we didn’t hear anybody even mention the quality of the teaching. Nor did we hear from any teachers. One administrator was very proud that the job fair is sold out with 120 companies attending. That sounds great until you realize there are 4000 business students at Virginia Tech. At UVA McIntire the students get 10 interviews for every one interview and arts and sciences student gets. There are literally more jobs and internships and there are students. We met a couple of really dynamic Pamplin students during the end of the Innovate session a little bit later in the day and were very surprised to hear that they had struggled to find internships after their sophomore years. Our plan is to get back to Pamplin with a list of questions, but it might be too late. It really is a shame because Virginia Tech has so much going for it.
One note on Penn State from our visit there on Saturday. Although students are directly admitted to Smeal, they must achieve a 3.5 average GPA in 8 qualifying classes to enter the finance major and 3.2 just to stay in Smeal with any of the other majors. This’s was quite a surprise. Seemed like a classic “bait and switch”. We love Miami Farmer. They really seam to have their act together. If my daughter could love Pamplin 75% as much as Farmer, she would be a Hokie for sure. Not sure where she will end up, but will post again.