RISE
High school students who are interested in engineering are invited to join us in Blacksburg, Virginia where you will meet students, alumni, staff, and faculty who want to introduce you to Virginia Tech and what we have to offer.
While this program is designed to attract underrepresented high school students and/or first-generation college students, we welcome the participation of any student who has a potential interest in Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. Our program activities are planned using a multicultural perspective though we place special emphasis on First-Generation, African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian and Indigenous populations.
The RISE program consists of a series of events, one per semester, starting with the spring of a student’s sophomore year. Students may apply to the program as sophomores or juniors.
Spring of sophomore year – visit labs, complete a hands on activity in our InVenTs Studio maker space, and attend a tailgate prior to viewing the spring football game one Saturday in April
Fall of junior year – attend a Saturday Pre-College Initiative event organized by the National Society of Black Engineers
Spring of junior year – learn about student life by having dinner with current engineering students followed by socializing at the BreakZONE one Sunday in April. The next day, students attend the Engineering Open House
Fall of senior year – invited to apply to and attend admission’s Fall Visitation Program where students can receive a regular admissions decision in November. There are minimum standardized test scores, GPA and course rigor requirements for Fall Visitation.
Food and lodging (when needed) as well as transportation for students traveling from Tidewater, Richmond, and Northern Virginia are provided free of charge.
The College of Engineering is committed to increasing the diversity of the engineering professional community. As part of that commitment, CEED is pleased to host the Recruiting Initiative for Student Engineers (RISE) event series.