VT - what is is like currently?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

THIS ^^. I think it’s pretty clear that a lot of this is simply sour grapes. Their kids didn’t get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

THIS ^^. I think it’s pretty clear that a lot of this is simply sour grapes. Their kids didn’t get in.

So here we are...now we have the VT booster crowd going!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

+1 My kid in 2021 with a 4.83/4.0 from a Governor's School, #4 of 600+, 35/1560, 3 varsity letters with a captainship and state championship, state and regional chemistry awards, senior internship with an orthopedic surgeon and all of the other bells and whistles (NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Special Olympics). Accepted to Duke, Vandy, UVA (Echols Scholar), W&M (Monroe Scholar), Pepperdine Presidents Scholarship and Pitt Honors was waitlisted at VT for the College of Science (Chemistry). The 3 ahead of them are all at a HYPSM and the one after is OOS at a coveted UC. Of the total top 5, 3 were waitlisted the other two accepted to engineering but as I said are at a HYPSM. I would say admissions are unpredictable at VT and don't take it for granted.

Yield protection, pure and simple. VT knows that applicants like your child with the bona fides for the most selective schools will very likely choose to study elsewhere. If your child really wanted to attend VT (I assume it was their safety), they should have clearly indicated in their essay or elsewhere that VT was their first choice.

Yes, they understand the Tufts Syndrome or "yield protection" and yes it was a safety but would have been a high consideration for reasons not germane to this discussion. The point of my post was to highlight that VT admissions are indeed a conundrum for the high stats and for lack of a better term borderline high stats students...you simply cannot consider it a safety anymore as many of the PPs have stated. JMU is now the premier safety school that meets that criteria in VA, all of the students mentioned above got in. So as PP said if you really want to go there than ED VT otherwise don't count on it for non-engineering if you are a high stats kid.

The majority of students that were accepted to VT from my kids class ranged in the 10-30%. Personally, I think all of our VA schools getting more selective is a good thing. As a UCLA grad raised in CA now living in VA, I would like to see VA move towards a great collegiate system like they have there with multiple selective universities in both the UC and CS systems, no other state can compete with CA when it comes to the breadth and quality of it's college education. I will say this though, turning down high stats students because you think they won't attend is short sighted especially if you want to increase your already outstanding educational experience. If a school is that confident they won't attend than what is the point of not accepting them? Who knows they might go? A lot of high stats students don't ED, they don't need to and no student should have to beg an institution for acceptance.

DP. I think what you’re missing here is that many high-stats students ARE accepted. We hear the individual stories of this or that kid who wasn’t accepted; but what about all the top students who WERE accepted? VT can’t take every one of them. Nor can any other school. These schools select who they want, as much as that pains many people to acknowledge. High stats students are a dime a dozen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

+1 My kid in 2021 with a 4.83/4.0 from a Governor's School, #4 of 600+, 35/1560, 3 varsity letters with a captainship and state championship, state and regional chemistry awards, senior internship with an orthopedic surgeon and all of the other bells and whistles (NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Special Olympics). Accepted to Duke, Vandy, UVA (Echols Scholar), W&M (Monroe Scholar), Pepperdine Presidents Scholarship and Pitt Honors was waitlisted at VT for the College of Science (Chemistry). The 3 ahead of them are all at a HYPSM and the one after is OOS at a coveted UC. Of the total top 5, 3 were waitlisted the other two accepted to engineering but as I said are at a HYPSM. I would say admissions are unpredictable at VT and don't take it for granted.

Yield protection, pure and simple. VT knows that applicants like your child with the bona fides for the most selective schools will very likely choose to study elsewhere. If your child really wanted to attend VT (I assume it was their safety), they should have clearly indicated in their essay or elsewhere that VT was their first choice.

Yes, they understand the Tufts Syndrome or "yield protection" and yes it was a safety but would have been a high consideration for reasons not germane to this discussion. The point of my post was to highlight that VT admissions are indeed a conundrum for the high stats and for lack of a better term borderline high stats students...you simply cannot consider it a safety anymore as many of the PPs have stated. JMU is now the premier safety school that meets that criteria in VA, all of the students mentioned above got in. So as PP said if you really want to go there than ED VT otherwise don't count on it for non-engineering if you are a high stats kid.

The majority of students that were accepted to VT from my kids class ranged in the 10-30%. Personally, I think all of our VA schools getting more selective is a good thing. As a UCLA grad raised in CA now living in VA, I would like to see VA move towards a great collegiate system like they have there with multiple selective universities in both the UC and CS systems, no other state can compete with CA when it comes to the breadth and quality of it's college education. I will say this though, turning down high stats students because you think they won't attend is short sighted especially if you want to increase your already outstanding educational experience. If a school is that confident they won't attend than what is the point of not accepting them? Who knows they might go? A lot of high stats students don't ED, they don't need to and no student should have to beg an institution for acceptance.

You make good points. And here's one more thing -- despite practicing yield protection more than some other Virginia schools, the Common Data Set for VT says that an applicant's level of interest isn't even considered. Yeah, right.

That’s not what we were told. I think if you’re interested in *any* school, it’s just common sense to show it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

THIS ^^. I think it’s pretty clear that a lot of this is simply sour grapes. Their kids didn’t get in.

So here we are...now we have the VT booster crowd going!

You mean people are actually countering your ill-informed posts with their own actual experiences at VT? Imagine that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

+1 My kid in 2021 with a 4.83/4.0 from a Governor's School, #4 of 600+, 35/1560, 3 varsity letters with a captainship and state championship, state and regional chemistry awards, senior internship with an orthopedic surgeon and all of the other bells and whistles (NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Special Olympics). Accepted to Duke, Vandy, UVA (Echols Scholar), W&M (Monroe Scholar), Pepperdine Presidents Scholarship and Pitt Honors was waitlisted at VT for the College of Science (Chemistry). The 3 ahead of them are all at a HYPSM and the one after is OOS at a coveted UC. Of the total top 5, 3 were waitlisted the other two accepted to engineering but as I said are at a HYPSM. I would say admissions are unpredictable at VT and don't take it for granted.

Yield protection, pure and simple. VT knows that applicants like your child with the bona fides for the most selective schools will very likely choose to study elsewhere. If your child really wanted to attend VT (I assume it was their safety), they should have clearly indicated in their essay or elsewhere that VT was their first choice.

Yes, they understand the Tufts Syndrome or "yield protection" and yes it was a safety but would have been a high consideration for reasons not germane to this discussion. The point of my post was to highlight that VT admissions are indeed a conundrum for the high stats and for lack of a better term borderline high stats students...you simply cannot consider it a safety anymore as many of the PPs have stated. JMU is now the premier safety school that meets that criteria in VA, all of the students mentioned above got in. So as PP said if you really want to go there than ED VT otherwise don't count on it for non-engineering if you are a high stats kid.

The majority of students that were accepted to VT from my kids class ranged in the 10-30%. Personally, I think all of our VA schools getting more selective is a good thing. As a UCLA grad raised in CA now living in VA, I would like to see VA move towards a great collegiate system like they have there with multiple selective universities in both the UC and CS systems, no other state can compete with CA when it comes to the breadth and quality of it's college education. I will say this though, turning down high stats students because you think they won't attend is short sighted especially if you want to increase your already outstanding educational experience. If a school is that confident they won't attend than what is the point of not accepting them? Who knows they might go? A lot of high stats students don't ED, they don't need to and no student should have to beg an institution for acceptance.

DP. I think what you’re missing here is that many high-stats students ARE accepted. We hear the individual stories of this or that kid who wasn’t accepted; but what about all the top students who WERE accepted? VT can’t take every one of them. Nor can any other school. These schools select who they want, as much as that pains many people to acknowledge. High stats students are a dime a dozen.

No one is missing anything, of course many high-stats students ARE accepted. But to try to conflate that students accepted to top 10 schools but waitlisted at VT is somehow equal is just not genuine. I imagine you are the one the keeps posting the "top students mantra." I applaud your child if they are at VT, it is an amazing school where they will receive an amazing education but is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

This does sound strange. Is it like that at every other VA public? How about JMU and UVa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

This does sound strange. Is it like that at every other VA public? How about JMU and UVa?

Not at UVA. They simply don’t send the sheer numbers from a single high schools as they do at Tech or JMU. My kid is at UVA And almost never sees anyone from their HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

+1 My kid in 2021 with a 4.83/4.0 from a Governor's School, #4 of 600+, 35/1560, 3 varsity letters with a captainship and state championship, state and regional chemistry awards, senior internship with an orthopedic surgeon and all of the other bells and whistles (NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Special Olympics). Accepted to Duke, Vandy, UVA (Echols Scholar), W&M (Monroe Scholar), Pepperdine Presidents Scholarship and Pitt Honors was waitlisted at VT for the College of Science (Chemistry). The 3 ahead of them are all at a HYPSM and the one after is OOS at a coveted UC. Of the total top 5, 3 were waitlisted the other two accepted to engineering but as I said are at a HYPSM. I would say admissions are unpredictable at VT and don't take it for granted.

But your snowflake didn’t want to attend Tech and they can tell that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

DP. Like your daughter, ours has met tons of new people and become immersed in clubs, activities, etc. But she said she doesn’t know anyone from her FCPS HS who has stuck together in a clique like this. Everyone else seems to be branching out as well. Perhaps this particular group of kids is sticking together - it’s certainly not universal and sounds like the polar opposite of what my daughter has been experiencing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

This does sound strange. Is it like that at every other VA public? How about JMU and UVa?

I have kids at all three of the schools mentioned and none are experiencing that. Sounds very strange to me.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

This does sound strange. Is it like that at every other VA public? How about JMU and UVa?

Not at UVA. They simply don’t send the sheer numbers from a single high schools as they do at Tech or JMU. My kid is at UVA And almost never sees anyone from their HS.

Why did I know this would be the response? VT, JMU, and UVA are all large enough schools that no one has to see their high school classmates unless they deliberately plan to do so - which most never do. Sounds like someone is trying to paint an inaccurate picture of VT. How surprising. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside all the stats stuff for a minute, will weigh in on current atmosphere. DC is a freshman from a DC a private. Not a top 3. VT is home for her—She adores it. Engineering major. She has made a nice group of friends. The calc class is very challenging but she is holding her own. She is in a living learning community for women engineering majors called Hypatia. Access to mentor resources, speakers, help with resume, practice sessions with employment fair, etc. highly recommend.

My DC is applying to VT from a DC private as well. All the talk here of high school cliques is a bit disconcerting. Is it hard for kids that didn’t go to a FCPS high school to make friends? Are the high school friend groups excited to expand their group of friends to include new people? It sounds sort of awful.

It is awful- and SO strange! Why are these groups of HS kids sticking together and not branching out to expand their social network and meet new people? My DD is there with about 30 from her HS. She is one a a small handful who went for an unknown roommate (met online, so not totally random, but not a known HS friend). She's intentionally meeting new people, joining clubs, etc. But the vast majority from her HS (and from what she can tell many hs) are choosing to form cliques and just stick to what is familiar and known.
Is this a byproduct of covid policies? Just so weird. Your kid won't have trouble meeting people to connect with and likely wouldn't want to break in to one of the FCPS 13th grade cohorts.

This does sound strange. Is it like that at every other VA public? How about JMU and UVa?

Not at UVA. They simply don’t send the sheer numbers from a single high schools as they do at Tech or JMU. My kid is at UVA And almost never sees anyone from their HS.

Why did I know this would be the response? VT, JMU, and UVA are all large enough schools that no one has to see their high school classmates unless they deliberately plan to do so - which most never do. Sounds like someone is trying to paint an inaccurate picture of VT. How surprising. /s

I am the PP, why would I care to paint an inaccurate picture of VT? It's a great school. It was on my kids list. They didn't end up going there. I harbor no ill will for the school at all. My DD runs into one kid from her HS at UVA, because they travel in the same social circles, but not really often and they are not really friends. Conversely, my DD's boyfriend goes to Tech and he hates seeing other HS kids he went to school with, BUT it's big enough that it doesn't happen that often. He does however live with a friend from HS so not sure he did much branching out, despite his wishing to. That's on him but from the stories he tells about it, he has hated the social experience there though he loves the academics and already has a great job lined up in FAANG for spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some posters here who REFUSE to believe the VT admission got really tough.

Yes the admission rate is still relatively high. But getting in as a Virginia resident is difficult. Getting in from Nortern Virginia is even more difficult. Getting into VT engineering from Northern Virginia is really difficult especially if your DC is a white male.

VT used to be a safety school 30 years ago. JMU used to be its peer school. Things got changed but some posters just don’t want to accept the current trend.

+1 My kid in 2021 with a 4.83/4.0 from a Governor's School, #4 of 600+, 35/1560, 3 varsity letters with a captainship and state championship, state and regional chemistry awards, senior internship with an orthopedic surgeon and all of the other bells and whistles (NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Special Olympics). Accepted to Duke, Vandy, UVA (Echols Scholar), W&M (Monroe Scholar), Pepperdine Presidents Scholarship and Pitt Honors was waitlisted at VT for the College of Science (Chemistry). The 3 ahead of them are all at a HYPSM and the one after is OOS at a coveted UC. Of the total top 5, 3 were waitlisted the other two accepted to engineering but as I said are at a HYPSM. I would say admissions are unpredictable at VT and don't take it for granted.

But your snowflake didn’t want to attend Tech and they can tell that.

Yes my fragile little snowflake used little ole tech as a safety...kinda how it all works. Students pick reaches, targets and the ole' safety...you seem defensive, so who is the snowflake? My kid is just fine. Have a blessed weekend.