Last year, they notified some students in December: earlier than expected.
This was also the year they did away with early decision, so in a way, they just went ahead and notified some kids at the time when they would have given early decision notifications.
From what I saw, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason with who heard in December and who had to wait until January. The admissions office insisted (when I called to ask) that it was random and not indicative of anything.
It created a lot of ill will with students because of the different treatment they received. The earlier people had a chance to accept the offer sooner, thereby placing them higher up on the housing priority list, which wasn’t really fair to other early action applicants.
It’s based on when the student signs their housing contract after accepting their offer. IIRC, that happens a day or so after acceptance, once the student’s new vt.edu email is active and they have access to the housing portal.
So housing is first come first served? Is that with other colleges as well? My concern is come Feb and rejected, would miss out on priority housing for other schools as well. Most are coming out with decisions in Dec/Jan.
Completely school dependent. Some are totally random and not correlated to when you accept (CU Boulder, Tennessee). Others will allow you to put down a housing deposit now and its refundable until may 1st (UCF).
Edited to add, that the VT wait is agonizing! I wonder if they will change their admission dates yet again next year depending on how this year shakes out. If I’m remembering correctly, last year they accepted very few from the waitlist.
Yeah I am surprised any school waits for EA notifications until mid Feb. It places them at such a disadvantage. Kids start picturing themselves at these schools they get offers from. I wish Virginia Tech would move it earlier.
VT does let you accept and put a refundable deposit down.
Based on going through this last year, it is very agonizing WHEN you are going through the process, but hindsight, mid Feb is just a few weeks later than a lot of comparable schools. You still have until May 1st to decide. Our student had early offers from other schools, but had his heart set on a select few, and was willing to wait to know for sure.
It’s a tough and stressful process, so take it day by day. Some are better than others with three rejections on the same day, even the reaches that you thought were longshots hurt the ego, but then they get an offer from one of their top schools and the mood changes.
VT wasn’t his first acceptance, wasn’t his last, wasn’t the cheapest with the most scholarship money, wasn’t in his original top 3, but he absolutely loves it and now feels like it’s was a perfect fit!!!
It’s a rollercoaster, but trust that they’ll end up where they’re meant to be…
Signing the housing contract gets your place in line to choose your dorm room, so there is definitely priority for those who sign first. BUT my kid signed super early and got a dorm that was one of the “best” - with AC - and spent most of her time in the dorms without it because they had better community feels. Basically “best” isn’t always best.
The tricky thing, though, that I wish they had a better system for, is that you choose your bed in a room (much like an airplane seat) and if you don’t have a roommate group, you can pick a room that is empty or a room with someone already in it. So many people choose the empty room that if you’re a later contract signer and you have a roommate group, you may have to split up because the dorm rooms all have one bed taken.
The trick at Tech is you should NOT pick an empty room when you select housing, because any random person can join you then. The trick is to pick a room with one person in it already. You can then look at their profile and see if you will be compatible with them. My son did this and found a great roommate. He avoided the people who had things in their bio like “I adhere to a strict bedtime routine” and picked someone with similar interests.
Chances of getting into Virginia tech? 3.74W 3.62UW, test optional, applied Exploring Natural Resources(undecided). Out of state, ok extra Curricular’s and decent awards.
Hard to say without knowing the context of your classes vs. what was offered at your school. They also put a lot of weight on the four VT supplemental essays from what I’ve heard/read. Since you’re not applying to Engineering, you’re already starting with a higher admit rate.
Can confirm. I would heavily advise searching out a roommate BEFORE selection comes. In addition to the StarRez platform students get access to, there are Instagram and Facebook “matching” pages that will pop up around the time decisions come out. (Do note that these pages are NOT run by the university, so do not give them any sensitive information.)
I made the mistake of going random for my roommate. Never again.
My OOS son did not select a roommate prior and chose an open/empty room and has been just fine. He’s made many friends in his dorm, classes, intramural sports, etc… He’s in a group of 8 that have already made living arrangements in two four person townhome units in the same complex for 2025/26.
We tried to get him to look into the Instagram and Facebook pages, but he passed. When it came time for Dorm/Room selection, he didn’t like the profiles/matches of the occupied rooms, and rolled the dice that someone would have similar interests to his. While he and his roommate do have things on common on paper, they aren’t really a match as friends, but they get along just fine.
Just my opinion, but I think it’ll be tough with the data you’ve provided, none of which is bad and absolutely nothing you should be ashamed of, it’s just REALLY competitive. I only say this, as there were plenty of in-state and OOS applicants disappointed last year with higher 3.8+UW / 4.0+W GPA’s, 1400+ SAT’s, load of AP’s, etc. that didn’t get in.
That being said, you aren’t applying to Engineering or CS and if you nailed your essays, you’ve still got a chance.
Even if Virginia Tech is or is not a fit, you still should be able to find a number of schools thrilled to have you and actually offer you merit/scholarships to attend (VT doesn’t really offer much, if anything at all).
It would not be great for them to release so late many schools are releasing earlier than announced. It will leave a bad taste in many people mouths. I hope they do the rolling release like last year but not sure.