Virginia Tech | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Sarah

Class: Senior
Major: Communications
Gender: F

High School: Centreville High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The best thing about Virginia Tech is the atmosphere and spirit. There is nothing better than walking accross the drillfield on a beautiful day. I am in love with hokie stone and all of the beautiful buildings made from it. Our duckpond is gorgeous, and there is so much to do on campus. But even better than the physical surroundings is the atmosphere. There is just something in the air on our campus. Everyone is so happy and proud to be a hokie. Some people will try to say that VT is too large. I disagree. I LOVE the fact that I can come to know SO MANY amazing people on this campus, and yet I can still go out and meet new people every single chance I get. And with so much to get involved in at Virginia Tech, you forget that the university is so large. It just seems like such a tight knit community, even if that community happens to be made up of tens of thousands. People have a great reaction when I tell them I go to Virginia Tech. There is a lot of national hokie pride and love. I run into alums everywhere I go, and it seems I can't go anywhere with Virginia Tech clothing on without someone yelling "GO HOKIES!" to me. I spend a lot of my time on campus at dining halls, the duck pond, the drillfield, and Squires student center (aside from my classrooms of course.) Blacksburg is DEFINITELY a college down. The entire town of Blacksburg is bursting with hokie pride, and there is NOWHERE else anyone would want to be than Lane Stadium on gameday. The whole town practially shuts down to come show support when there is a large event going on on campus. I have a very high opinion of our administration here at Virginia Tech. After the tragedies of April 16th, President Steger received a large amount of criticism that I personally feel was undeserved. He acted courageously and the best that he could under such difficult cir***stances. While the media and other outsiders tried to put him down and blame him for certain things, I do not know a single student that didn't give him a standing ovation any time he spoke after the events took place. There is MORE SCHOOL PRIDE HERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE! I have yet to visit another university in my 4 years of college that is bursting with pride like we are. Everyone is so happy to be here, and so proud to be a hokie. The experience I'll remember most during my time here took place during the Concert for Virginia Tech, during the fall semester following April 16th. At one point, the Dave Matthews Band broke into a cover song, and without any prompting, the ENTIRE STADIUM began singing the one hook of the song over and over... "Dont' worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright." The band eventually just completely stopped playing and stared in awe at the whole stadium singing and waving their hands. I remember having tears pouring down my face as I sang, and it brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it. I think that was the point when I truly knew that we were on the road to recovery as a community. I will never forget that night or those feelings.

Academic Life

I have honestly never had a professor I did not like at Virginia Tech. My favorite class at Tech is an elective class called World Regions, taught by John Boyer. He wrote the textbook for the class, which is hilarious! I have never had so much fun and learned so much. I truly could not wait to go to class. Students study often, and usually in large groups at places like the math emporium and the library. Intellectual conversations are frequent outside of class, because we are lucky enough to have professors that prompt us to expand our thinking and understand new ideas. I have grown so much as a person during my time here. Some students are competitive, but not in a way that has come accross as negative or abrasive. I would rather say that students here work hard to achieve their own individual goals. Virginia Tech's academic requirements have gone up each year since I've entered. I came to VT with a high school GPA of a 3.8. Now I would say that the typical GPA of the freshman class is even higher than that. The best part of education at Virginia Tech, besides the amazing professors, is the fact that what we learn here not only puts us on a career path, there is also an element of learning just for it's own sake. I think that some universities tend to focus on one or the other, while at Virginia Tech we have a healthy balance between the two.

Student Body

Virginia Tech has a very diverse student body. My experiences here have made me a much more open-minded individual. I have not experienced tension among different racial, gender, or socio-economic groups. I think our climate is very tolerant and accepting. You can come to VT as you are and expect to do well and make great friends. I can't really think of a certain "kind" of student that would feel out of place here, because we offer so many diverse programs. Virginia Tech students are from all over the nation, even the world. In one class I have this semester, I have classmates from Virginia, California, Texas, Maryland, Bolivia, Australia, and Romania. I suppose everyone, no matter how far away they grew up, wants to be a hokie! Financial backgrounds vary at Virginia Tech much like I assume they do at any other public university. Obviously some students come from wealthier families than others, but VT offers great scholarship opportunities and financial aid programs in order to allow every student and opportunity to acheive their goals. Many students here are politically active and aware, and there are many student organizations, both left, right, and moderate, that reflect this.