Gotta save the best for last 
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My S25 is starting to get cold feet about VT. I wonder if heās subconsciously preparing himself for a rejection. Its been his top pick all along.
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The wait really does make it hard. Iām sure they have their reasons, but giving a student (and parents) extra time to think about other schools has to affect them somehow.
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Do we know of any other top public schools which do early action decision this late?
Agreed! VT was one of my sonās top choices, but since being admitted to his other top pick nearly 2 months ago, heās gotten so much more excited about that one. Iād prefer VT as itās closer to us in NJ, but Iām guessing unless we get a surprising amount of money, heāll end up at his other choice because of this.
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Whatās the other choice?
IU (Kelley)
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It is such a hard wait.
In the meantime, I was wondering about merit aid. Iāve heard that VT doesnāt give much merit, and when I was looking more deeply it seems that most of it is given to in state folks. Is there any chance of merit aid out of state? Iāve heard of someone getting like 5K I think, and Iām guessing that would be about the cap?
Thatās a bummer - itās high on DD list but will need some merit to make it worth it.
Mainly the west coast schools like UCLA, University of Washington, Cal-Berkley and other UCās donāt announce until after 3/1.
My son is a freshman, and someone may have mentioned $10K, but that would have been a unicorn. They were mostly $2,500-$5,000 range, but supposedly can be more generous after Freshman year for top performers at VT.
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Curious what your son thinks about the social scene at VT? My S25 is now saying āIām just not sure if it will be fun there. Wisconsin seems like a much better place if I donāt want to join a frat.ā (He was deferred at Wisconsin, btw, and not admitted to VT yet so it doesnāt even matter at this point to compare! But Iām tyring to appease him)
I know that VT was voted #1 for āstudent happinessā by Niche a few years ago. They boasted that on their tours. Our impression is that the spirit and enthusiasm was noticeable. Students called out to tour guides, everyone was wearing spirit wear.
They also have fantastic food, which is definitely part of student happiness!
A lot of Hokie pride worldwide too. But definitely one thing you will notice on campus is everyone wearing Hokie gear. That says a lot.
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As someone who grew up there and went to school there, I donāt remember VT having a huge Greek life presence. I mean, thereās frats and sororities for sure, but there isnāt a big emphasis on it like a lot of other schools. VT thrives off of school spirit and school pride. Out of all of the schools we visited with my OOS S25ā¦VT far surpassed the sense of school pride and overall friendliness than every other school. So much so that my daughter immediately applied there even though she never really intended to.
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Youāve been to Wisconsin right? My son liked the campus feel vs. urban mix better. Not to mention it was in the 20ās when we visited Madison, and 60 at VT, it was around 65 in Blacksburg yesterday, an anomaly, but stillā¦ UW-Madisonās greek system looks awesome, and an afterthought at VT. UW-Madison felt like everyone was from WI or MN, whereas VT has VA, MD, NC, NJ, PA, NY, etcā¦ Of course youāll find other states at both, but he felt like there was more geographically diverse student population. Tailgating weekends are pretty impressive. He seems to be socially active on weekends (donāt ask donāt tell, donāt add or subtract from the populationā¦).
Honestly, the first couple weeks were rough, as heās out of state and didnāt know anyone, then right into a three day weekend (Labor Day), Fraternity rush is an unorganized cluster F, compared to other schools, and he wasnāt happy. Then he got to know the guys and girls in his dorm better (Vawter), played intramural flag football, pickup basketball, pickle ball, golf, etc, and found his group of 8-12 friends. Signed a lease with three other guys, in the same complex as another four in their group. Heās still checking out Spring Fraternity Rush this week, as everyone else is, but not sure if heāll join a house or not.
Also, besides the greek system, Blacksburg does have under 21 bars/clubs/restaurants, but not necessarily my sonās scene.
Thereās plenty of social and academic clubs as well, Snow/Ski, Hiking, Business, Chem, Bio, Healthcare, etc. Some of those are supposedly big partiers as wellā¦
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My son is a senior at VT and never joined a frat. Heās had a good time and seems to have made friends mainly through getting involved in rec sports and through meeting classmates in his major.
Ok this is all so helpful! We did not visit Madison as we were waiting to see if heād get in first. Hes basing all of this on internet searches and social media. Since heās engineering heās just really concerned about not meeting people that like to party and then not having the time to rush.
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He should keep in mind that the social media will over-represent the partiers/extroverts. My son doesnāt really do social media. It can be a little slower to find connections for introverts (at any school) but if he is consistently putting himself out there, trying different groups, and sticking with it those connections will build over time. Choosing a living-learning community can help too.
To clarify, my S25 considers himself as part of the partiers! Heās like Iāll hang with the business kids. LOL!! And I feel like I can say that bc his sister is a marketing major at an SEC school.
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