Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

I was waitlisted a few ivy league universities and sometimes the fact that I don't have the name like Stanford or Cornell or Princeton irks me. But Virginia Tech really has some amazing opportunities for me. Tech is one of the few colleges with a hydrogen car design club which lets anybody volunteer. Everybody on campus is friendly and open and sunny days on drill field really make you feel at home. Also, Tech is building a brand new facility for genetics and bioinformatics, so if you intend on majoring in that, take another look at Tech. If you're in-state, tech is definitely a great value in engineering. Out of state, tech is still #17 (I think) When compared to schools like MIT and stanford. And that's pretty damn good.

1st Year Male -- Class 2007

Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Surrounding City: C

Virginia Tech has a very strong and high standing in academic areas. Almost all engineering branches are in Top 50 in U.S. rankings. Computer Science program, in which I am currently enrolled was 13th in my freshmen year(I don't know current ranking because it is no longer available on internet). VT has a great range of facilities for everyone. It's impossible to get bored while there are 100s of parties going on every weekend. I can't say a lot about the city because the campus itself is probably larger than it.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2006

Education Quality: A+, Surrounding City: B-

Virginia Tech is awesome. Nobody but yourself can keep you from having a great experience there. There are tons of student help programs, free tutors, and other kinds of help resources. If you want to do well then they will do everything they can to help you. Some of the faculty are a bit cocky or distant, but I've always enjoyed my lectures and they have a nice variety of subjects. The library is phenomenal and if you take the time to get familiar with it and it's capabilities you'll never want for information. The student health center is great, most of anything is free there, and their two fitness facilities are very nice. The on campus cafe has it's own pastry chef and other dinning halls on campus are some of the best in the country. There's a bus system that's free for student which is great, everyone rides it at some point, and it goes around campus, to the different appartment complexes, and even to the mall and Walmrt. If you're thinking about Tech I strongly urge you to visit it and take a tour. The only thing is that the biggest city around it Roanoke and that's forty-five minutes away, but the school has great sports and performing arts so it isn't quite so bad. So if you can survive without a big mall or extensive galleries for more than a couple of weeks you'll love it there. One more thing... VTech is one of two schools in the country that has a corps of cadets and civilian students. The corps people are alright, most of them are just like anybody else, except for being in really good shape and having curfews. Plus, every year at the first big snowfall there's a massive snowball fight between the corps and civies that spans about two football fields. It's lovely.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2004

Extracurricular Activities: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: C+