Virginia Tech, or as it's more formally known, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in Blacksburg, Virginia, is a very impressive place. It's also a very big place. There are almost 30,000 undergraduate students and to put this in perspective, the largest class on campus has 600 students, and there are 18 buses that go all over on and off-campus. Virginia Tech also has the largest collegiate green space in the US, called the Drill Field, which is 22 acres. If you want big, you will find it in every way, shape and form at Virginia Tech. But the sense of community and the support is there. All freshmen take a first-year experience class where they learn how to acclimate to Virginia Tech: how to join clubs, how to access career services and how to maximize study skills. Also, all students are required to live on campus freshman year. After that, most students move off. In fact, most of Blacksburg is comprised of Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff.

It's very important to note that students here apply directly into their majors, and some are more competitive than others. All of the undergraduate colleges here offer an exploratory major which gives students the opportunity to apply to Virginia Tech even if they're not sure exactly what they want to study. There's even an undergraduate college called University Studies for students who can't narrow their interests down down to one college. If students want to study something else once they get here, transferring from college to college is possible; students work with an academic adviser to make sure they will be successful where they land. Transferring into architecture is not possible, however, and transferring into engineering can be restrictive.

So let's talk academics. Virginia Tech is not just STEM! Here are some really cool majors they offer that you might not expect: Ecological Restoration, Agribusiness, International Trade and Development, Food and Health Systems Economics, Professional and Technical Writing, Building Construction, Sports Media and Analytics, Environmental Horticulture, Cybersecurity Management and Analytics, Sustainable Biomaterials, Multimedia Journalism, Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Public Health, Landscape Architecture, Consumer Studies, Interior Design, Real Estate for Commercial Properties, Real Estate for Residential Properties... I know I'm getting carried away, but these majors are all so very interesting and I don't see these at many other institutions!!

For admissions, they do not accept recommendation letters or resumes and they don't read the personal statement. They only want their supplemental essays - that tells them what they need to know.

What I love most from my visit to Virginia Tech was that I could not pigeonhole the student body; I saw all kinds of different students. I feel like anybody could come here and find their people. That's a quality that most of my favorite schools have in common.