I am an International student from India. I have been admitted to the following universities. I am thinking of going to Virginia Tech but am concerned about its location. Cost is not a major issue however quality of education is. I have also been waitlisted from Purdue,UIUC and UW Madison.
Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
What’s wrong with VT’s location?
VT is in a really nice college town. Blacksburg and VT get along well, not an adversarial relationship at all. Town and campus police work together, don’t hassle the kids unnecessarily, and it’s a pretty chill area. Fair number of international students, especially in tech fields. It’s a beautiful area with a lot of opportunity for outdoor activities. This is not an urban school so if that’s what you want, VT would not be a good fit. Closest urban areas - DC is 4 hours, Charlotte NC maybe 2, Richmond VA 2.5. You’re 40 minutes from Roanoke, which is really growing in both population and amenities. Businesses moving in and things are very much on the upswing, makes lists as an area to watch. Fair amount of shopping options in Blacksburg and Christianburg (adjoining town), should take care of your needs. And if not there’s always Amazon (student Prime membership is half price for 4 years with a .edu account and proof of enrollment in college)
Your biggest issue may be transportation to get home. I’d assume you would only go back maybe over the winter break (a month long) and maybe the summer, so it’s not like you’d be doing it on a regular basis. You can fly out of Roanoke which is a small airport but efficient, with a number of flights that would connect you to DC or Charlotte, and from there you’d be able to get international flights easily. Several good options for getting to Roanoke, so that shouldn’t be a problem. 1/3 of VT students are from out of state so you’re not the only one looking for transportation.
Engineering program is solid, very heavily recruited if you want to stay in the states. They are expanding STEM majors in general and building on that core expertise. Their medical school is in Roanoke and has gotten off the ground. First graduating class all found good matches for residency.
Let me know if you have more questions. You might want to check out the VT forum in Colleges and Universities. There are a few good threads there and you can always ask. Today and tomorrow are accepted student days at VT so you will probably start to see a good number of posts from students who visited campus this weekend.
Do you have direct admission to ME at UCD and UW? If not, see
http://mae.ucdavis.edu/changing-majors/
https://www.engr.washington.edu/current/admissions/admitstats
For VT, if you are admitted into the engineering division, see
http://www.enge.vt.edu/undergraduate-changing-majors.html
At VT he should be ok getting into ME with a 3.3 to 3.4, possibly a little lower? Aerospace probably needs the highest GPA, CS under that. ME is the most granted engineering degree and not as competitive as the other 2 mentioned.
Thank you JustGraduate. Do you think VT is the best choice among the other colleges in terms quality and opportunities?