Should I go to Virginia Tech or Penn State?

DIII Recruit wrote:

I suggest VA Tech, as it is a good, Christian, southern, conservative tool. You can learn a marketable skill such as mechanical engineering and possibly help Build the Wall!

In contrast, PA State, by virtue of being in the north east, is far more likely to be a liberal academia campus.

Blacksburg consistently votes blue in local, state and national elections, largely because it is a college town. It and Radford are blue dots in a sea of red that is southwest Virginia.

Wrooonnnggggg wrote:

DIII Recruit wrote:

I suggest VA Tech, as it is a good, Christian, southern, conservative tool. You can learn a marketable skill such as mechanical engineering and possibly help Build the Wall!

In contrast, PA State, by virtue of being in the north east, is far more likely to be a liberal academia campus.

Blacksburg consistently votes blue in local, state and national elections, largely because it is a college town. It and Radford are blue dots in a sea of red that is southwest Virginia.

Unfortunate. In that case I suggest neither. You should go to your local community college and Learn a Trade!

The Starved Elephant wrote:

Hmmmm? wrote:

"non elites"

That says everything about you. Either you're a troll or trash. Either way, it would be waste of time to continue conversing with you. Have a good one, bud.

I was being totally sarcastic and mocking a poster above. I believe both are excellent schools.

Nah. Any school that is borderline forced to accept in-state chum is by definition going to be fairly average, unless that state is as large and Asian as California.

They're good. Not great, and certainly not the equivalent of other schools that have been thrown around on this thread.

Max: they're both hick schools in the middle of nowhere. Neither is a particularly strong team, and neither will get you a foot in the door of FAANG.

nah right wrote:

The Starved Elephant wrote:

I was being totally sarcastic and mocking a poster above. I believe both are excellent schools.

Nah. Any school that is borderline forced to accept in-state chum is by definition going to be fairly average, unless that state is as large and Asian as California.

They're good. Not great, and certainly not the equivalent of other schools that have been thrown around on this thread.

Max: they're both hick schools in the middle of nowhere. Neither is a particularly strong team, and neither will get you a foot in the door of FAANG.

. . . and here's the guy I was mocking.

Max, as someone who ranks in Penn States all time top ten lists at 1500, mile, 3000, 3000sc (actually all ten performances there), 5000 and 10000, I'd strongly advise you to go to Virgina Tech.

Penn State only recruits sub 9 hs kids, who end up doing exactly nothing in college. Most of the all time greats at Penn State come in with stats just like yours.

The real question is, do you want to spend four years in a cult-like atmosphere, your eardrums bursting from a shrill chant "WE ARE..." ten times a day, or do you want to hear "Enter Sandman" every Saturday in the Fall?

The choice is clear -- go where you'll be appreciated. Go where you'll have a chance to grow. Exit light. Enter night. Go with Metallica.

As a PA guy, I don't really know much about Vtech other than its a D1 school. I don't believe they are as strong of a track/xc powerhouse as PSU so you might have a better chance of walking on there. I would call/email the coaches to see what there standards are.

As far as academics, I would say both school are roughly equal. PSU is a strong engineering school. If you can get into the Schreyers Honors College that would be better.

From what I've heard on the grapevine of PA distance running, PSU chews up runners and spits them out. Its a very sink or swim program with little room to develop (something a walk on might be looking for). Assuming you don't injure yourself from the intense training, you still might only be looking at one race per track/xc season until you're cut.

nah right wrote:

The Starved Elephant wrote:

I was being totally sarcastic and mocking a poster above. I believe both are excellent schools.

Nah. Any school that is borderline forced to accept in-state chum is by definition going to be fairly average, unless that state is as large and Asian as California.

They're good. Not great, and certainly not the equivalent of other schools that have been thrown around on this thread.

Max: they're both hick schools in the middle of nowhere. Neither is a particularly strong team, and neither will get you a foot in the door of FAANG.

VT is one of the best engineering schools in the world, with a lot of funding as well. PSU is definitely a little weaker, but certainly strong in some programs. Neither is a hick school (unless you consider conservative, but educated people hicks), neither is in the middle of nowhere (unless you consider anything outside of a major city the middle of nowhere). Both have very strong teams (VT won the DMR last indoor and has had a lot of success the last few years in particular, PSU is a consistent powerhouse in the mid-distance events with school records of 1:14, 1:44, and 2:18, as well as solid distance. FAANG do not just go to MIT and Stanford, they are perfectly happy to offer jobs to students from other schools with excellent resumes (undergrad research, top grades, etc.). Not to mention they aren't even that important in the engineering world, where you can make a lot more money working for energy companies.

Ever hear of Peter Seufer? Pretty good distance guy. That being said, VT is more of a mid distance school.

So is PSU.

Academically even for engineering.

The kid should visit both. Which one seems a better fit is the one.

Max, I raced against you at the Lake Braddock hall of fame 3200 (I remember you talked to me during the race) . I currently go to Virginia Tech and am on the running club. For Virginia Tech, you would likely be racing "unattached" but the new fieldhouse here is top-notch and had a lot of fast performances this indoor season. From what I've heard, the guys on the team are all pretty cool and coach Eric is a reasonable guy that is very supportive. (he let me run unattached at a 6k despite not being on the team) . I'm a little biased, but I'd highly recommend joining the Hokies

YouLikeThat25 wrote:

Max, I raced against you at the Lake Braddock hall of fame 3200 (I remember you talked to me during the race) . I currently go to Virginia Tech and am on the running club. For Virginia Tech, you would likely be racing "unattached" but the new fieldhouse here is top-notch and had a lot of fast performances this indoor season. From what I've heard, the guys on the team are all pretty cool and coach Eric is a reasonable guy that is very supportive. (he let me run unattached at a 6k despite not being on the team) . I'm a little biased, but I'd highly recommend joining the Hokies

Max is already faster than William Mulherin was in high school, and he still has his senior season to go. Look at how Mulherin developed in the Hokie system.

Mulherin high school

800 2:01.81

1600 4:34.76

3000 9:21.54

3200 9:31.75

Mulherin college

800 1:53.04

1500 3:46.17

Mile 4:00.21

3000 7:52.54

5000 13:41.06

Max Greczyn wrote:

Hello all!

I have been accepted into both Penn State and Virginia Tech, and am torn between accepting admission. Though I plan to focus mainly on academics in college, my track and cross country performances are enough to merit a walk-on position on either of the school's Division I teams.

What would you suggest I do?

Max, you're smart enough to get into UVA. I assume that you applied Regular Decision and are waiting to hear. If you get in, walk on there.

If, you didn't apply to UVA and it's really down to PS vs VT, it's a tough decision. I would have said VT was a no-brainer until Thomas went to Oregon. Now, I don't know. I guess that I would still stick with VT because it's in state and the engineering program is very good.

Good luck!

Pulling out an exception is not helpful. Again, the OP stated he wanted to focus on academics. He did not say he wanted to do everything he could to get better. My advice is still the best on this thread. He should go to a lesser D1 conference school or D3 or plan to run club at a tougher school. In any event, if he wants to walk on to Penn State or VT, he should contact the coaches and see what they say and not assume they will let him. These schools do have budgets after all.

LOL, there is literally nothing true about this. Let's go one by one:

Assertion: "VT is one of the best engineering schools in the world"

Truth: Ranked #31 according to USN&WR

Assertion: "Neither is a hick school"/"neither is in the middle of nowhere"

Truth: Both are at least three hour drives from any major-league town (Charlotte and Pittsburgh, respectively); if that isn't "in the middle of nowhere", I'm not quite sure what is, other than Wyoming or Alaska or something

Assertion: "both have very strong teams"

Truth: Neither are top 25 programs (per rankings, Nats finishes, etc.) and even if they were, that'd actually work against Max's preferences, considering he wants to walk on

Assertion: "FAANG do not just go to MIT and Stanford"

Truth: This one is the most laughably untrue, you are deluding yourself if you think that FAANG does the same amount of on-campus recruiting at friggin' Virginia Tech that they do at Stanford. It'd be a marginally true argument if you said that there were lots of decent to good tech entry level jobs available from PSU/VT, but for the elite jobs, the FAANGs and the top hedge funds? Go to their Campus Recruiting pages, or go see where Jane Street goes. PSU? Hilarious. No chance. I know this personally, so the fact you assert otherwise tells me that you don't tells me that you're talking out of your ass.

Assertion: "you can make a lot more money working for energy companies"

Truth: LOL. Go look at the starting salaries at FAANG and get back to me. Energy companies? There aren't enough L and O's in the world to attack how dumb this is.

[/quote]LOL, there is literally nothing true about this. Let's go one by one:

Assertion: "VT is one of the best engineering schools in the world"

Truth: Ranked #31 according to USN&WR

Assertion: "Neither is a hick school"/"neither is in the middle of nowhere"

Truth: Both are at least three hour drives from any major-league town (Charlotte and Pittsburgh, respectively); if that isn't "in the middle of nowhere", I'm not quite sure what is, other than Wyoming or Alaska or something

Assertion: "both have very strong teams"

Truth: Neither are top 25 programs (per rankings, Nats finishes, etc.) and even if they were, that'd actually work against Max's preferences, considering he wants to walk on

Assertion: "FAANG do not just go to MIT and Stanford"

Truth: This one is the most laughably untrue, you are deluding yourself if you think that FAANG does the same amount of on-campus recruiting at friggin' Virginia Tech that they do at Stanford. It'd be a marginally true argument if you said that there were lots of decent to good tech entry level jobs available from PSU/VT, but for the elite jobs, the FAANGs and the top hedge funds? Go to their Campus Recruiting pages, or go see where Jane Street goes. PSU? Hilarious. No chance. I know this personally, so the fact you assert otherwise tells me that you don't tells me that you're talking out of your ass.

Assertion: "you can make a lot more money working for energy companies"

Truth: LOL. Go look at the starting salaries at FAANG and get back to me. Energy companies? There aren't enough L and O's in the world to attack how dumb this is.[/quote]

What do you do and where do you go that makes you so much better than everyone in this thread? Blacksburg is two hours from Charlotte and around four from DC, so you were only half right.

Your elitist tone reeks of insecurity. I'm sorry you were picked on growing up but you don't have to spend your'e adult life trying to prove how much better you are than everyone else, on a running message board no less. In all likelihood, your job and existence that you seem to find so important won't mean anything to anybody in the end.

Hmmm? wrote:

Your elitist tone reeks of insecurity. I'm sorry you were picked on growing up but you don't have to spend your'e adult life trying to prove how much better you are than everyone else, on a running message board no less. In all likelihood, your job and existence that you seem to find so important won't mean anything to anybody in the end.

Elitist, sure. Doesn't mean I'm wrong.

You can worry all you want about feelings and saying the right things. I'm right. Max is not going to an elite, or even a very good school if he goes to either VT or PSU.

nah right wrote:

Hmmm? wrote:

Your elitist tone reeks of insecurity. I'm sorry you were picked on growing up but you don't have to spend your'e adult life trying to prove how much better you are than everyone else, on a running message board no less. In all likelihood, your job and existence that you seem to find so important won't mean anything to anybody in the end.

Elitist, sure. Doesn't mean I'm wrong.

You can worry all you want about feelings and saying the right things. I'm right. Max is not going to an elite, or even a very good school if he goes to either VT or PSU.

You're not right, though. There have been and will continue to be plenty of successful people from both schools and he will have no problem finding a job if he does well in school. I'm not worried about saying the right thing.

I know hundreds of VT grads that are killing it in their chosen profession. Both schools are consistently ranked in the top 100 in the country. VT alum do very well in the DC area and elsewhere. Your idea of what schools are "good" is delusional.

Just because you're a tool about it doesn't make what you say fact and what I say opinion or feelings based. You just come off as a poor man's Ben Shapiro.

So I'll ask again: what do you do and where did you go?

Let me tell you that Happy Valley, despite its name, is not a happy valley.

If the kid is as smart as the elite school kids, his potential. If not, his potential is probably but I agree with you that it is not the school that is the determining factor. Do you know which school has graduated the most current Fortune 500 CEOs? It must be Harvard, or Stanford, or Princeton, or Northwester. No, it is Wisconsin, a school that most would put in the category with Penn State and VT.

hmmm? wrote:

You're not right, though. There have been and will continue to be plenty of successful people from both schools and he will have no problem finding a job if he does well in school. I'm not worried about saying the right thing.

I know hundreds of VT grads that are killing it in their chosen profession. Both schools are consistently ranked in the top 100 in the country. VT alum do very well in the DC area and elsewhere. Your idea of what schools are "good" is delusional.

Just because you're a tool about it doesn't make what you say fact and what I say opinion or feelings based. You just come off as a poor man's Ben Shapiro.

So I'll ask again: what do you do and where did you go?

You moved the goal posts quite a bit.

Are there successful people from both schools? Yes. Are there as much as Stanford, MIT, etc? No.

Both schools are in the top 100 in the country? Yes. Wow! 100! Amazing. Every kid should aspire to go to a peer school of Rutgers, Southern Methodist, and UConn. What you're defining as a "delusional" ranking is backed up by just about every service that ranks these things, not to mention the reality of hiring practices and entry-level salaries.

You're doing this kid a disservice by white-washing how average these schools really are. Can he succeed and thrive with a degree from there? Sure. It's unequivocally, immeasurably harder though. All of the effort you're putting into making people with average degrees from average schools feel good about themselves is noble, but wrong.

Not that you'd believe me, but undergrad MIT and grad Stanford. Work in tech, Bay Area, FAANG. I can count on one-hand how many people in every new employee cohort we bring in from something other than the elite schools. You can complain all you want about how it's fair or unfair, but it's the truth. And half of them are going to be millionaires before they're 30 in ten years simply due to the salaries and the RSUs.