Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Top Questions

Very friendly and welcoming

When one travels to Virginia Tech, it's always a fantastic experience. The students and professors are always willing to help others find their way around campus, or to just simply talk about the school. I feel confident enough about the people at Tech to walk up to any student on campus and strike up a conversation. Never have I encounered such a fantastic student body.

My classmates are thirsty for knowledge and experiences that will help them become better contributers to world around them.

My classmates are spirited, passionate and dedicated to service.

The student body at Virginia Tech may be one of the most friendly and helpful communities I've ever encountered.

The people are all friendly and full of school spirit.

My classmates are a diverse and intelligent group who seem focused on their future.

Accomidating to everyone, no matter what social or economical differences that they may have.

Though quite motivated, Virginia Tech is not incredibly diverse. The school is predominantly white, and most of the students come from either the metropolitan DC area or Virginia Beach area. There are many churches and chapels for Christians but the other religious groups have a limited choice of one or two temples, mosques, or other places of worship. When forming groups of friends, I feel like many of the ethnic backgrounds tend to stick together. Although somewhat segregated with the groups of friends, I have never witnessed a case of racism at Virginia Tech. There seems to be a general tolerance of people of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and income brackets. Since many of the students come from the wealthy northern Virginia area, the students are generally upper middle class. If there were four tables of students in the dining hall, three of those tables would contain all people in the upper middle class. The other table would likely be the jocks who came to Virginia Tech from somewhere other than northern Virginia on a scholarship. They will surely have a VT sports shirt on. The three tables would consist of a table of white engineers, a table of asian engineers, and a table of white cadets, sporting their colors. There are a fair number of cadets, Virginia Tech being one of only two universities with a full Corps of Cadets. These cadets tend to be Republicans, with the rest of the school mainly democrats or ideologically minded libertarians. The only people who really wouldn’t fit in Blacksburg are those who can’t do without big city amenities as Blacksburg is far away from anything resembling a big city.

The students at Virginia Tech cannot be described in one fell swoop because of the immense diversity. The students do tend to stay comfortable and stay with the people they’re most familiar with. The main groups of students are the jocks, fraternities, sororities, engineers, Virginia students, international, architecture, and religious groups. Although there are many groups and within those, types of people, there are plenty of clubs, organizations, and activities to go to where students can feel comfortable and become associated with other students. Being renowned for its engineering, Virginia Tech is ironically stuffed with engineering students. These students periodically see broad daylight as they are consumed with their studies and spend much of their time staring at their computer and calculator in wonder. It is a coined joke to assume that any person who is socially awkward is most likely an engineer because they hardly have to opportunity to talk to others. The international students tend to stick together, spending time alongside those who understand their culture and speak their primary language. Most international students are very focused on doing well on their academics. Of any group of students that may feel place at this school it would be them, not because of Virginia Tech itself, but simply because of the different culture. That is not to say that aren't ways of integrating the international students with others. I have gotten involved with a group called "Bridges" in which English speaking students receive an international student as a "language partner" and they meet periodically for lunch to practice their English and have any questions they have answered, getting them further integrated with a different culture. There is a very active student body at Virginia Tech as students pursue their passions inside and outside their classes. With the abundant clubs and organizations students can easily become involved with groups that support what they are passionate about. Whether it is for sports, academics, literally any sort of hobby there is most likely a club. With a desire to be able to leave college and earn money students are regularly interested in finding a "good" job. It is emphasized that students should pursue internships and companies frequently visit to propose working for their company during job expos. As for most students being at Virginia Tech it is their first time on their own much of the student body is willing to pursue all sorts of activities to see what they are passionate about. I have been able to take a class in which I worked with refugees in Roanoke (whom I still visit) and tutor kids at a local high school. I frequently hike the beautiful trails that are only a few minutes from campus. I also am affiliated campus ministries such as Cru and Intervarsity, which are groups in which I learn more about my faith.