4th year Galilean here! First of all, congratulations on being accepted to both VT and the Honors program!

One of the major reasons I chose to remain in the program (besides the great community) is the inVenTs Studio. It's really awesome to have such an incredible space in your dorm. They've got hand tools, power tools, a CNC mill, a laser cutter, and even two 3-D printers. All for any resident of Lee Hall to use! It's a fantastic place to work on any personal or class projects and also a great way to meet other students doing cool things. I've used the space to help build a custom RC plane and other students have worked on things like personal 3-D printers, a robotic stingray, and laser engraved business cards.

The inVenTs Studio is also used to host social, academic, and professional development events; Things like movie nights, free donuts certain days of the month, and various exam review sessions. Some of the most popular events are the "Innovation Activities". These are mini design competitions run by actual companies visiting Virginia Tech including National Instruments, Orbital Sciences, and Google, just to name a few. These are great places to network with professional engineers and really show what you know!

All in all, I think that the Galipatia community is fantastic for engineering students (after all, why would I stay here 4 years if it wasn't?). It seems like you might be leaning towards HRC, but if you have any questions about Galileo/Hypatia or Lee Hall feel free to shoot me a message or leave a comment. If you are interested, I could probably set you up with a personal tour of Lee Hall and the inVenTs studio.