@hopefulhokie24 Hello. Current VT student here. I thought about how I would write this response to you in the way I could try to understand and help as I was on the opposite side of this process two years ago.
First and foremost, BREATHE! And I mean that in actuality, and to say that as from what I’ve what read, you were deferred, not rejected. I would understand being a little worried, but it’s really not over yet. You also have to remember that there are a lot of other applicants who were deferred for one reason or other, so again, it’s really not the end of the world. Just means a bit more waiting.
In terms of what previous posters have said, I would recommend writing the LOCI. Yes, I have seen it work and do wonders. Especially in your case being a legacy, it just might work. Had a friend who ED’d for engineering who was a legacy and ended up go through the whole process and then getting off the waitlist in May. It can happen, if you’re willing to play the waiting game.
Second, I think I don’t need to reiterate that choosing to apply to only one school was definitely not the best decision, but you do need to have a back up plan. Honestly, at this point, the community college route seems to be the best course of action second to VT. If you truly plan on transferring to Tech after one year, then I don’t see much of a point in paying for a four-year university, especially since you’ll likely have to take community college classes anyway because of how specific VT is about transfer credits. Trust me, I transferred from a four-year to Tech and I can tell you that Tech’s complete and total transparency with the VA community college system has been a godsend as not all of my credits transferred over from my former university and I’ve had to “jump through hoops” to make things work.
Lastly, if you do decide to go the CC route, you will need to make sure to keep your GPA up as high as you can. That first semester Calc class should gear you up for what’s to come if you end up not attending Tech. You’ll want a 3.0 or above to be the most competitive.
Again, you still have time to make a decision. I would just go ahead and write an LOCI and utilize the advice from posters above. And no, at this point, driving down there would be the worst thing you could do, unless you haven’t already taken a tour. I don’t know if they still do this anymore, but I remember hearing something about how they track interest through tours. Might help, but honestly, that letter will probably help more.
Best of luck!