Isolation Defined Cho's Senior Year

The Chos told friends that they came to the United States for the sake of their children's education. They arrived in Detroit, where the family had relatives, before moving to Northern Virginia. Cho's father, Seung Tae Cho, worked long hours pressing pants in at least four dry cleaners in Manassas, Leesburg, Herndon and Centreville. Cho's sister, Sun Kyung Cho, entered Princeton University in 1999. Despite his silence, Cho was academically capable as well.

Taylor Van Buskirk, who was in the science club with Cho at Westfield High, recalled that Cho seemed to get irritated when other club members tried to talk to him. But Van Buskirk said he had no doubts that Cho was smart. During a science competition his sophomore year, Cho played the key role in helping his club win a first-place prize when he figured out the right formula to use during an experiment.

"He seemed to be a math whiz," Van Buskirk said. "He just kept to himself. He studied by himself. He got good grades; he didn't have any tutors."

Two other members of the club said that Cho was in honors classes and at least one Advanced Placement class at Westfield.

Cho started at Virginia Tech with high ambitions. He declared his major as business information technology, according to the 2003-04 university directory. A combination of computer science and management coursework offered by the Pamplin College of Business, BIT is one of Virginia Tech's most challenging undergraduate disciplines -- and No. 6 on the university's list of majors with the highest median starting salary after graduation.

Cho's freshman roommate, Francis Virtudes, said Cho seemed to study all the time, sitting at his desk or by himself in the dining hall, an open book in front of him.

But by December 2005, Cho was exhibiting signs of trouble. Two female students he tried to contact found his behavior disturbing and contacted campus police. He was sent to a mental health facility that month, and a judge ordered him to receive outpatient treatment.

And by his senior year, Cho appeared to never go to class or read a book, said Grewal. He would type on his laptop, go to the dining hall or gym and clip his hair in the bathroom (and clean up the mess). During one period last fall, he rode his bicycle in circles in the parking lot of their dorm, Grewal said.

Cho was an English major at the time of the shootings, no longer studying business. Virginia Tech officials, citing privacy laws, would not discuss Cho's academic record, including why he changed his major, what his grades were or whether he attended class in the months before his rampage. Mark Owczarski, Virginia Tech's director of news and information, noted that the school offers many programs to help students deal with campus life.

Any college campus hours from home would have been a difficult place to fit in for someone who struggled to communicate as much as Cho did.

Cho was close to none of the other Westfield graduates who entered Virginia Tech in 2003. He made no friends his freshman year, Virtudes recalled. He did not have visitors to his room on the second floor of Miles Hall. Cho moved in with Virtudes partway through freshman year, but only after inquiring whether Virtudes played loud music.

The aloneness could have only grown worse for Cho on an enormous campus where for many students social contact is at least as important as academics. Sixty-four fraternities and sororities are active on campus. And there are 600 registered student organizations -- from the Boxing Club to the Romanian Student Association.