VMI Overnight

turtlerunnernc said:
Everyone was so friendly. Very much unlike the Citadel wrestling coach my son tried to talk to at the hotel ( they were there for a competition, sure hope VMI won) he was pretty rude and dismissive and my son has no desire to visit the Citadel after that experience.
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Sorry your DS got a bad vibe from The Citadel coach. Surely you would not judge an entire school on the meeting of one individual. But I agree, representatives of the school especially a coach need to put their best foot forward at all times. By the way The Citadel won the match 23-18.
If he ever thought of a visit to EL CID he should make it. What do you have to lose to make a visit if even remotely interested and spend a weekend in beautiful Charleston SC. to boot. But sounds like the choice has been made, at least the DS's parents choice anyway :)
Good luck to DS and best of luck....
 
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Cluelessparent said:
Sorry your DS got a bad vibe from The Citadel coach. Surely you would not judge an entire school on the meeting of one individual. But I agree representatives of the school especially a coach need to put their best foot forward at all times. By the way The Citadel won the match 23-18.
If he ever thought of a visit to EL CID he should make it. What do you have to lose to make a visit if remotely intrested and spend a weekend in beautiful Charleston SC. to boot. Good luck to DS and best of luck....
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Not judging entire school but that experience. He didn't have a lot of interest in the Citadel anyway, but applied mainly because it is a SMC. We may go visit, still.
 
Sheaisland said:
Do most people do this visit in their junior or senior year?? It's tough to schedule a visit because of football in the fall and lacrisse in the spring! (I'm a junior by the way!) sounds like your visit was great!
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I would say 99% of the kids on the overnight were Juniors. I highly recommend taking the time.
 
turtlerunnernc said:
Not judging entire school but that experience. He didn't have a lot of interest in the Citadel anyway, but applied mainly because it is a SMC. We may go visit, still.
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You mentioned Engineering earlier. You may want to take a look at The Citadels stats in that dept and make a curiosity visit. Don't get me wrong I am no recruiter or VMI hater. Both great schools, and student comfort plays a good part but they adapt easily. All I am saying is just cover all bases..... Good Luck
 
My son visited VMI the fall of his senior year. I forget now if he applied before of after attending the overnight. He did have an interview during that visit.
It's an amazing place and my son did love his time there.
And yes, the head of the civil engineering dept is a hoot and a holler! The head of the mech engineering dept - not so much.
 
My DS and I went this past Fall. He is a senior. The majority of the folks that were there with us were seniors in high school although there were some juniors. Turtlerunner may be able to say what the mix was this past weekend.

My guess would be the mix is more seniors for the Fall visits but a growing number of juniors the later you get into the Spring since seniors will have most likely already made their decisions, and the juniors are getting ready to become seniors. In other words -- go when you can!
 
My DS went the spring of his Junior year. We did not do the overnight there, he did his overnight that weekend at VT and hated it. We zipped up the road to visit VMI the next day. We made an unscheduled visit but the folks there were very accommodating. They worked him an in interview while we were there. After his interview they talked more than promising but said their hands were tied basically because he was a Junior and to be sure to contact them later. I was surprised when he chose the other school. Mainly because VMI is a lot further away from home and I thought that was one of his major objectives :)
All that said make two visits if you can, in particular if you are serious about the school.
 
Falcon A said:
My DS and I went this past Fall. He is a senior. The majority of the folks that were there with us were seniors in high school although there were some juniors. Turtlerunner may be able to say what the mix was this past weekend.

My guess would be the mix is more seniors for the Fall visits but a growing number of juniors the later you get into the Spring since seniors will have most likely already made their decisions, and the juniors are getting ready to become seniors. In other words -- go when you can!
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There were very few seniors at this overnight. I would say it was 90% juniors.
 
turtlerunnernc said:
He absolutely LOVED it!!! It is his solid first choice. We were bummed that the parade was canceled, but fingers crossed we will see it with him in it!!!!

Still needs his physical, which we will try to get this done next week. Then there is the financial end. If he wins an AROTC scholarship, it is doable. If not, I'm not sure how we can swing it. Out of state tuition is steep.

I love the structure, small class sizes, that the instructors all have PHD's, that they are all accessible. Love the Dyke system, that there will be someone watching out for my Rat. I like the guards on duty in the barracks. The formation and march to breakfast was really neat to watch as well.

The Civil Engineering dept head is hysterical!
All of the parents that were there to answer our questions were wonderful, welcoming and very helpful.

Everyone was so friendly. Very much unlike the Citadel wrestling coach my son tried to talk to at the hotel ( they were there for a competition, sure hope VMI won) he was pretty rude and dismissive and my son has no desire to visit the Citadel after that experience.

The Rats he stayed with told him to friend them on FB, which he did on the ride home. He felt very welcome and at home.

Fingers crossed DS will be there on Matriculation day.
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My son is there now as a 4th class Cadet (as of last Saturday!). Things are going well for him. I just wanted to tell you that we were out-of-state, so my son never did an overnight, but we did visit as part of a family vacation and took the tour. We were very impressed! But it didn't stop there. We have nothing but good to say about the faculty, the staff, the professors...everyone! All families and anyone we've met VMI are absolutely wonderful! I can't tell you enough how happy I am that my son chose VMI. He was awarded the Army ROTC Scholarship, so that's how we are able to do out-of-state. It was my son's first choice as well and I don't think he regrets it at all. Good luck to you and your son!!! If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I also am still learning, but it has been a good process.
 
INMOM said:
My son is there now as a 4th class Cadet (as of last Saturday!). Things are going well for him. I just wanted to tell you that we were out-of-state, so my son never did an overnight, but we did visit as part of a family vacation and took the tour. We were very impressed! But it didn't stop there. We have nothing but good to say about the faculty, the staff, the professors...everyone! All families and anyone we've met VMI are absolutely wonderful! I can't tell you enough how happy I am that my son chose VMI. He was awarded the Army ROTC Scholarship, so that's how we are able to do out-of-state. It was my son's first choice as well and I don't think he regrets it at all. Good luck to you and your son!!! If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I also am still learning, but it has been a good process.
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Thank you so much. I'm sure I will have questions!! I'm just praying he is awarded the scholarship, it will make the decision easy!

The Army ROTC head @VMI felt he was strong candidate for it, but you never really know. It is so stressful, the waiting!!
 
bookreader said:
My son visited VMI the fall of his senior year. I forget now if he applied before of after attending the overnight. He did have an interview during that visit.
It's an amazing place and my son did love his time there.
And yes, the head of the civil engineering dept is a hoot and a holler! The head of the mech engineering dept - not so much.
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He actually had DS considering switching to Civil. The ME head was very helpful, but not nearly as entertaining!!
 
I think that the head of the Civil dept is the reason why so many graduate with a degree in civil engineering. Only very few at VMI choose mech.
I wanted my son to attend VMI just so that he could learn the head of the civil engineering dept. He seems like an amazing teacher.
 
My DS did not attend an Overnight and only interviewed after he was accepted. He had applied to VMI as the 4-year Navy National Scholarship requires 5 schools and he needed to provide Virginia Schools as some of the 5. He was attempting to get into the USNA and NROTC was his 2nd choice path. He/we really did not know much about VMI, although we new it had a great reputation as a Senior Military College.
After spending an overnight at Virginia Tech we stopped by VMI on the way home. We stopped in the admissions office to get oriented and they quickly organized a meeting with the assistant head of admissions. He spoke privately with my DS for a little while about his goals, grades, and interest in VMI. He suggested we take the tour given by one of the cadets, and he also set up a meeting with the head of the Mechanical Engineering to talk about their way of teaching.
My first impression was the place looked like a prison, not the nice dorms that my daughters experienced at their Universities. This is a Spartan Lifestyle and not for everyone. I kept my thoughts to myself, I wanted my DS to make his own decision without my influence. The Cadet giving the tour did a great job and provided, what I have since come to understand, and better appreciate, a vision of the pride of accomplishment and physical bearing that comes from attending "the hardest military school in America". The Rat-Line is instrumental in this process of transforming High School Students to Leaders, and it is difficult for every cadet in different ways . Those that learn to managed themselves under the pressures of time management, submitting to authority, physical exertion and academic challenges become cadets. About 35 out of 500 (class of 2018) left the school since August. This seems in line from what I have heard from other schools.
After the tour we meet with the Dean of Engineering. He was very engaging and we talk for over an hour in his office. I really liked the process he outlined on how they teach a process of starting at basics and continuously building upon concepts and processes throughout the four years. The students are provided access to tools and instruments that most universities only provide to their graduate level students. Access to Professors and small class size almost guarantees you are not left behind. They do not have auditoriums full of students listening to a Teaching Assistant give a lecture. You do have opportunities to attend speeches/talks in auditoriums given by experts in their fields from Government, Military, and Business leaders that are invited to VMI on a regular basis.
In the end my DS was assigned to VMI by the Navy and he could have transferred his scholarship to Purdue, VT, or Emory Riddle, but chose VMI for several reasons. 1. He has been a dual sport athlete and likes the teamwork and camaraderie that that brings. He is not on a sports team now, but feels he is getting that same "Team" feeling being a "Brother Rat". 2. Everyone at VMI is going through the same process. everyone pulls guard duty, parades, participates in the military lifestyle. In most schools, NROTC is something that is an unusual activity and when a cadet does not receive an in-house scholarship they drop out of the unit - related to item #1. 3. The honor code; A cadet does not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those that do. This is a single incident cause for dismissal from the institute. This code embodies the character my DS has exhibited from an early age.
I advise attending the Summer Transition Program, it's an easy 3 credits and you become familiar with the school.
Good Luck!
 
The son of a dear friend attends VMI and she also highly recommended attending the Summer Transition Program if at all possible.
Her son has had some amazing opportunities as a student at VMI.

I wanted my son to go to VMI and he was accepted there, but when the BFE came from WP this past week, well, that ended all thoughts of going to VMI. That said, I'm happy for him as he has wanted to attend WP for many years now but I really did come to like VMI and I'm sorry that we won't be going there anymore. It truly is a unique place and rats there will get an amazing experience.
 
I wholeheartedly agreed with BLUF...STP is an invaluable experience to get a class out of the way before the Ratline and get geared up for life on Post!
 
INMOM said:
I wholeheartedly agreed with BLUF...STP is an invaluable experience to get a class out of the way before the Ratline and get geared up for life on Post!
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We are considering. Would like him to be able to do it. Looking at $ side and we wanted to do some family things this summer, since he will be leaving. I'm not ready for this, LOL!!
 
turtlerunnernc said:
If he wins an AROTC scholarship, it is doable. If not, I'm not sure how we can swing it. Out of state tuition is steep.
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Did you see the scholarship application for VMI? http://www.vmi.edu/content.aspx?id=130
I see that the applicaiton deadline was 2/1 but they indicate that they'll make exceptions.

I agree that out of state tuition is crazy expensive. There was no way we could send our son there without some serious scholarship money.
 
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