First-Year Cadet Class Profile

Large groups of new cadets and their training cadre stand in formation on the sidewalks on Upper Quad. — The first milestone of New Cadet Week is completing evening formation in front of parents on M-Day, after only a few short hours of drill instruction. Photo by Katie Mallory for Virginia Tech.

Meet the Corps’ Class of 2030

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Class of 2030 arrived for M-Day on Aug. 14, which marked the beginning of Forge Week, a nine-day session of basic military instruction focused on followership, teamwork, confidence, resilience, fitness, and service to others. During New Cadet Week, first-year students (called “new cadets”) are introduced to military drill, uniforms, customs and courtesies, corps and university history, and participate in college orientation and Weeks of Welcome sessions.

New cadets stand in two lines on a sidewalk outside the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building. — The roughly 40-minute check-in process was completed on M-Day by 11:30 a.m. During check-in, new cadets rotated through stations to complete paperwork, screenings, and receive uniform items. Photo by Katie Mallory for Virginia Tech.

The makeup of the Class of 2030

This information is based on data pulled from the Class of 2030 Corps enrollment information on August 13, 2026.

Class size: 494 (the second largest first-year cadet class since 1965)
Demographic breakdown: 74.3 percent of the class are men and 25.7 percent are women.
Colleges: All Virginia Tech colleges are represented across the corps’ Class of 2030. The top five colleges represented in the class are the College of Engineering (47 percent), the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences (18 percent), the College of Science (12 percent), Pamplin College of Business (10 percent), and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (6 percent).
Military and Citizen-Leader Track enrollment: Cadets choose between two tracks to prepare them for employment after graduation. Eighty-one percent of the Class of 2030 is enrolled in the Military Track (27 percent in Army ROTC, 26 percent in Navy ROTC (including Marine-Option), and 28 percent in Air Force ROTC) while 19 percent are enrolled in the corps’ Citizen-Leader Track seeking employment in public and private industry or graduate school upon graduation.
Academic averages: The average high school GPA for the cadet class was 3.97. The average SAT score was 1276 with 640 for evidence-based reading and writing and 634 for mathematics.

New cadets in uniform sit in a darkened auditorium facing a speaker and screen. — After saying goodbye to loved ones, new cadets filled McBryde Hall during their first briefing on expectations for training. Photo by Katie Mallory for Virginia Tech.

Rankings, extracurriculars, and more

High school class rank: 46.2 percent of the Class of 2030 were among the top 20 percent of their high school graduating class, 76.5 percent finished in the top 60 percent.
Varsity sport: 91.7 percent of the class participated in a varsity sport.
Worldwide: The Class of 2030 in-processing stats show cadets were admitted from 33 U.S. states and five different countries.
Legacy cadets: Ten percent of the Class of 2030 have a relative who is an alumnus of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.

See more Class of 2030 Forge Week photos on our accessible photo platform, PhotoShelter, and watch Corps videos on YouTube.

New cadets in uniform stand in two lines facing each other as cadet instructors teach them about drill. — During military drill, new cadets learn how to follow commands as a unit. Drill emphasizes the importance of teamwork, discipline, unity, and attention to detail, and was a frequent activity during New Cadet Week. Photo by Katie Mallory for Virginia Tech.