Some questions on VT

james2014
Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:04:24 +0000

Is VT only a good school for Engineering and Architecture?


Absolutely not. VT has a variety of amazing programs and tons of research. Biology is one of the biggest majors on VT campus. That isn’t saying that they are all Pre-Med, but to be completely honest they probably are.

When I first started at VT, I was a Biology major and Pre-Med. I’ve recently switched to Electrical Engineering and I’m still Pre-Med. I like the way that the university approaches Pre-Health students. There is an office on campus called “Pre-Health Advising.” It focuses on students doing Pre-Med or Pre-Dental. You can find more information on Pre-Health Advising here:

[Health Professions Advising | Career Services | Virginia Tech](http://www.career.vt.edu/HealthProfessionsAdvising/Index.html)

There is a lot of research. On Facebook I am subscribed to the Virginia Tech page. I usually see at least 4 articles a week on some type of advancement by a Virginia Tech student in Biology or Biomedical Engineering. There are courses you can take where all you do is research with a professor. I wasn’t in the Biology major long, so I’m unsure about professor cooperation, but the professors I did have were very helpful.


What is the weather like?


The weather is kinda unpredictable here. I’ve lived in Southwest Virginia my entire life, so I know from experience. Some days it will be 70-80 degrees, while the next day it is near freezing outside. It is normally hot from the start of the semester until about the first of October… then it starts to get a little cold outside on some days. As for snow, you usually don’t see much snow until mid-November. It has been known to hit at the end of October before, but it is usually just flurries or a light dusting. That doesn’t mean that we don’t get some heavy snow down here. It is pretty common to see 6-10 inches of snow fall at least twice a year. Unfortunately VT has 'round-the-clock snow plows, so don’t count on the university getting closed or even delayed unless it is really really bad.

It does get really cold here. During the winter months, the temperature rarely gets above 40-45 degrees. Since you live in NJ, 40-45 degrees might be a bit warmer than you are used to, but when you are walking across campus from the dorms to the academic side, it gets cold fast. Definitely invest in a good jacket for October-November and a heavy coat for December - February.


What are the dorms like?


The dorms are pretty small to be honest. It really depends on what hall you are placed in, although the room sizes don’t vary by that much. What you saw on the website is probably a regular sized room. As for room temperature, it does get pretty hot the first two month of the semester and the last month or so of the Spring semester. The best thing to do is for you to bring a box fan and have your roommate bring one as well. Set one of the fans up in the window and set the other one up on the opposite side of the room so they face each other. This will keep the air circulating and it won’t be so bad.

I never really had a problem with Winter. My roommate and I still kept two fans running and the windows open even when it was cold outside. It wasn’t hot in the room, but I guess we liked the temperature around 60. I don’t know what your preferences are so you will have to determine what you like the room temperature to be and compromise with your roommate. It never really got cold in our room and you should have a wall heater in your room. It did a nice job of keeping the room at a decent temperature when the temperature was in single digit range.


Roommates


From talking to my friends who attend VT and from my own personal experience, most people don’t have any severe problems with their roommate. I’ve only seen one case of where the roommates did not get along and they just relocated one of the roommates. If you have any trouble with the person you are roomed with, you can always complain to your RA and they will do everything they can to help you.

Now to the roommate form:

It asks some very basic questions like “Do you smoke?” and “Do you drink?” It also asks your preference on what dorm you want to be put in. I think you can list 3 dorms on the application. I don’t know if you are guaranteed to get into one of those 3, but they do try. When I applied for on-campus housing, I put Cochrane Hall as my 1st choice and I did get into that hall… so it isn’t impossible to get your first choice.

You mentioned getting to know people at Orientation. I don’t think it is too late to request a roommate at that time as long as you get an early orientation date. I went to orientation last year on the 2nd day and I saw several people make some new friends and ended up switching ID numbers so they could request each other as a roommate. I do know for a fact that that is guaranteed… It actually tells you that on the form, plus two of my friends requested each other and were placed in the same room. At orientation you are placed into a group of around 10 people. I’m not exactly sure if it is done randomly or if you are sorted by your major. There are enough people in each group that you will find someone to talk to and possible become good friends with. If you decide to be roommates, you both have to request each other. Just swap ID and phone numbers and put their ID on the housing application. All of this is done online, so it is hassle-free.

I hope this information has helped better inform you about VT campus.
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