Psychology,
for me, is an intellectual and scientific discipline. Psychology
students at tech, for the very most part, just don't
fit this mold. The psychology community at Williams Hall
is very friendly and warm (especially graduate students), but it
is very easy to skate by as a undergraduate for
the most part, and this reflects in some of the
students. With a little bit of effort it isn't
difficult to finish the major requirements in under three years.
So perhaps look for a double major in biology,
business, or something else that blends well. Some
of my classes were a complete joke and completely useless.
Others were mildly stimulating. Psychology should be
about understanding human experience/behavior and self-discovery, and I rarely
get this from coursework. Though I do appreciate the
emphasis on the scientific elements of psychology. It's boring
for most people, but I'm getting sick of psychology being
referred to as a social science or liberal arts major;
it isn't.
The faculty are good for the
most part. Some are very legitimate contributors to their
field, others are practicing scientists but are horrible teachers.
The “textbook + boring slideshow = class” model is
pretty common.
I'm not a big fan of Tech in
general. The students are largely slightly above average high
school students from privileged northern Virginia. It reminds me
of high school very often. Good number of smart
people; a lot of dumb people. I haven't met
anyone who is truly outstanding. Not a great deal
of diversity in terms of ethnicity nor personality. I
feel like there's been an effort to increase the number
of women at the school. Fine, but I'm not
a fan of the idea of letting more women in
just to increase the ratio. There are a lot
of people at Tech that honestly shouldn't even be in
college (men and women), with pathetic writing and communication skills.
Socially, this place is mostly a drag.
There are few decent bars downtown and a massive number
of bland house parties, but that's it. If love
playing beer pong and quarters every weekend in crammed apartments
and 'dancing' to crappy, generic music, then by all means
come here for the social scene. Downtown is one
street. Good restaurants, yes. Food is one of
few things Tech can brag about, but they seem to
talk about that more than their academics. 'Exciting' is one
of the last words I would use to describe Blacksburg.
To put Tech in a word: eh.
Oh, and 'safe.' Academically, socially, and culturally.. safe.
If you can find a niche socially here you'll have
a good time, and very few people truly dislike being
here, but I know I'm going to leave just thinking
I could've chosen better in every way.
Articles
