Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Outreach at VT

Virginia Tech places great emphasis on outreach. Why? Because it helps to prepare students for the modern workforce and enriches the communities where Hokies live and work. In 2008, the university developed the Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships (CSECP). The purpose of the CSECP is to be a liaison between campus and the community, which furthers the university's land-grant mission and helps Hokies live Virginia Tech's motto: Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).

The CSECP, with the aid of Service-Learning at VT, even works with faculty to incorporate community service into coursework. In addition, through partnerships with VTEngage, the CSECP encourages student volunteerism. If you decide to transfer to Virginia Tech, we hope you will check out some volunteer opportunities!
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Thursday, February 11, 2010

At Virginia Tech living off campus is practically living on campus

By Tyler Murphy
2009 Graduate
2009 Admissions Advisor


Off campus housing may as well be considered on campus housing. Blacksburg is a small community and living within the immediate area, the farthest I ever had to travel was approximately 2 miles. With the Blacksburg Transit bus system, getting to campus was easily accessible and time efficient.

In fact, I quickly found that I was filling my gas tank a couple of times every few months. I rarely needed my car even living off campus because of the options made available to me. If public transportation isn't your thing, you'll find people biking all over town. And trust me, there is a bike rack every few hundred feet so no need to worry about where to put your bike once you arrive to your next class or other destination. Even the Blacksburg Transit buses have bike racks on the front.

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Where do all the transfers go

We've said it before and we'll say it again: when you transfer to Virginia Tech, you're a Hokie. No "T" label for transfer students. Nope. You're a Hokie, simple as that.

One thing that is slightly different for transfer students is housing. When you're a transfer student, you don't have guarenteed on-campus housing. You can sign up for an on-campus lottery (a transfer housing waitlist), but you should check out off campus housing.


Virginia Tech does a couple of things to help students find off campus housing:





Keep in mind that when living off campus, you can still take advantage of things like alternative transportation and dining on campus.


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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Whether living on or off campus, the award-winning dining is a must

By Erika, a junior in the College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Major: sociology
Minor: psychology

Virginia Tech's dining halls have a variety of food options, all of which are amazing! I enjoy West End Market; I love the pasta and burgers there. I also like Hokie Grill & Co., which has a Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut.

Whether you live on campus or not, I would personally suggest getting a Dining Plan. Although I live off campus, I usually eat lunch and get snacks on campus. I also grab an occasional dinner on campus as well. Most places on campus only accept Dining Plans and Dining Dollars. If you do not purchase a Dining Plan, but find yourself wanting to eat on campus you can add Dining Dollars to your Hokie Passport either throughHokieSpa or Hokie Passport machines located in the dining halls.

Virginia Tech has a variety of options when it comes to Dining Plans, it is important to choose the one best for you. Some things to consider are: whether or not you will be living on campus, how often will you buy groceries or cook for yourself, and if you prefer to go out to eat.

When you get to campus, I hope you give Virginia Tech's national award-winning dining a try!

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Upcoming Deadline, March 1: The FAFSA, everyone's doing it

Attention! This is important. Seriously, it's about money. The priority deadline for the FAFSA and Virginia Tech's General Scholarship Application is March 1. The sooner you complete these deals, the better it is for you. Even if you're unsure you'll end up in Hokieland, you should still complete both of these forms. And, even if you think completing the FAFSA is a waste of your time, it's not because some of our scholarships require a completed FAFSA.

To learn more about scholarships and financial aid at Virginia Tech, visit www.finaid.vt.edu. While you're there, check out the Scholarships Gateway to search scholarships at Virginia Tech.

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Virginia Tech: Think outside of the classroom

By Erika, a junior in the College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Major: sociology
Minor: psychology


In my career at Virginia Tech, I have been very active with the university as well as the community. I am President of the Sociological Association at Virginia Tech (SAV) and a Transfer Orientation Guide Leader (TOGL). Both of these positions allow me to hone my leadership and communications skills while having a good time! I have also gained great networks but best of all friends.

Although leadership positions and memberships to organizations are important, service learning and volunteerism is as well. Service learning and volunteerism are amazing learning experiences that everyone should have. I take part in the annual BIG EVENT, which is a community wide service project, which involves the students of Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg and surrounding communities.

Community outreach is significant at Virginia Tech but so is Virginia Tech's global initiatives. With all the options Virginia Tech has there should be no problem for anyone to find their place in the Hokie Family, while making great impacts in others lives as well as their own.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

James' Story: transferring to VT was a smooth transition despite obstacles

By James, a senior in the College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Major: sociology

Transferring to Virginia Tech has to be one of the best things that I've done in my life thus far. As a high school junior in 2002, I already had my sights locked on Virginia Tech, but a lack of doing homework on a consistent basis landed me with a denial letter and several dashed hopes during the last few months of my adolescent educational career. Deep down, however, I knew that I would be seeing Blacksburg again and that the title “Hokie” simply had to belong to me some day. Therefore, I made my decision to do everything possible to achieve that dream and enrolled in a community college. A few years of hard work later, everything paid off.

My best experiences with the transfer process had to be with the individual care and attention that I received throughout the administrative journey. In the spring of 2007, I received a personal telephone call from an admissions officer welcoming me to Virginia Tech. After I had finished bouncing off of my walls and ceiling with excitement, I sat down and began to realize the work ahead; transferring credits, moving, learning a new curriculum, the list goes on. I received a different kind of phone call shortly thereafter, however. This one had less than stellar news: I was being deployed to Iraq two weeks into my would be first semester at school. The understanding from both the admissions office and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences was phenomenal. With a few simple phone calls and emails, my transfer package was put on hold and I was issued a very heartfelt “Godspeed” by a staff member that I had never even met. I set my sights once again on Virginia Tech, but this time I had a year and a war to get through first.

As the fall of 2008 quickly approached, I was still deployed and out of communication with the “real world” for days and weeks at a time. This didn't hurt my confidence that, when I finally arrived home, things wouldn't all be in place and set for my first semester. Sure enough, when I arrived home 32 hours before my first class started, I, without any significant effort on my own part, had a housing assignment prepared, a complete class schedule with all syllabi waiting in my in-box, and several emails from professors and the Transfer Student Orientation team welcoming me home. Bear in mind that I had yet to meet any of the faculty or staff at Virginia Tech. Never had I felt so well treated or at home (when I hadn't even been there long enough to call it “home”).

I believe that my take-away from all of this is: Virginia Tech showed me that it really was worth it to pursue my goal of becoming a Hokie. The people that populate this great university's offices and classrooms really do care and are not afraid to go out of their way to show it. I received the personal attention that I would attest only to the smallest of schools (normally) and I will forever be grateful that I had all of these wonderful people that wanted nothing more but than to help me become the Hokie that I am today.

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