UVa, William and Mary, Virginia Tech should be shut down and split up or expanded

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC applied to all three of these schools last cycle and will be trying again. These three schools are getting more competitive and out of reach for everyday people. I think each of them should be split up into multiple different schools that each have less competitive admissions or they should each double in size. Not just a 10% increase or 2% increase every year or whatever thing like that. They need to start construction NOW to build at least 2x the housing, classrooms, etc. to accommodate double the number of students and all new students should be required to come from Virginia. These admissions practices have gone way too far. As soon as admission rates hit below 50% for in-state applicants there should be mandatory student body expansions

The UVA in state admissions rate is 25%
The W&M in state admissions rate is 44%
The Virginia Tech in state admissions rate is 57%

It's not the colleges being too exclusive.
Have you considered whether your child doesn't actually deserve a spot at these schools?

I disagree with the OP but your stats don't tell the full story. If you are from certain public HS in Virginia the acceptance rate is much lower and, more to the point, a students' stats have to be far above UVA's averages to even have a chance. The bitterest among us are the parents of very good but not tippety top students. Or maybe even tippety top applying to a very competitive major. There is a lot of competition and they won't make the cut for the top three but feel like the next tiers are "saftey schools." I think other than parents of this small group, everyone else is thrilled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC applied to all three of these schools last cycle and will be trying again. These three schools are getting more competitive and out of reach for everyday people. I think each of them should be split up into multiple different schools that each have less competitive admissions or they should each double in size. Not just a 10% increase or 2% increase every year or whatever thing like that. They need to start construction NOW to build at least 2x the housing, classrooms, etc. to accommodate double the number of students and all new students should be required to come from Virginia. These admissions practices have gone way too far. As soon as admission rates hit below 50% for in-state applicants there should be mandatory student body expansions

The UVA in state admissions rate is 25%
The W&M in state admissions rate is 44%
The Virginia Tech in state admissions rate is 57%

It's not the colleges being too exclusive.
Have you considered whether your child doesn't actually deserve a spot at these schools?

I disagree with the OP but your stats don't tell the full story. If you are from certain public HS in Virginia the acceptance rate is much lower and, more to the point, a students' stats have to be far above UVA's averages to even have a chance. The bitterest among us are the parents of very good but not tippety top students. Or maybe even tippety top applying to a very competitive major. There is a lot of competition and they won't make the cut for the top three but feel like the next tiers are "saftey schools." I think other than parents of this small group, everyone else is thrilled.

W&M in state is also now down to 34%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:w&m going from 10k to 20k would cause williamsburg to absolutely riot

More than that, it would absolutely change the character of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That makes no sense. There are a lot of great VA in-state options. Why not attend one of those?

Their child has a 4.0! They deserve to get in!

Someone with a 4.0 deserves to get into all three. DC didn't even get into VTech. Waitlisted. Ridiculous and absurd.

I’m guessing they went test optional. It’s unfortunate, because with grade inflation and multiple retakes, all these college know a 4.0 doesn’t mean much coming from public schools like APS where anything 89.5 and above is an A. It’s meaningless without the high SAT or ACT to back it up.

+1 At my kids' APS HS, a weighted 4.0 is about the top third of the class. The "everyone has a 4.0" line is definitely an exaggeration but still a weighted 4.0 is no way in range for UVA, borderline for W&M w/out a strong test score, and possible for VT only if not applying to engineering/business.

FWIW, my DD who barely squeaked a weighted 4.0 at the end of junior year but had a 1480 SAT was waitlisted at W&M with the option to do Fall semester abroad and start in Spring. She chose something else but the Spring-start is one way they are expanding opportunity to attend W&M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC applied to all three of these schools last cycle and will be trying again. These three schools are getting more competitive and out of reach for everyday people. I think each of them should be split up into multiple different schools that each have less competitive admissions or they should each double in size. Not just a 10% increase or 2% increase every year or whatever thing like that. They need to start construction NOW to build at least 2x the housing, classrooms, etc. to accommodate double the number of students and all new students should be required to come from Virginia. These admissions practices have gone way too far. As soon as admission rates hit below 50% for in-state applicants there should be mandatory student body expansions

The UVA in state admissions rate is 25%
The W&M in state admissions rate is 44%
The Virginia Tech in state admissions rate is 57%

It's not the colleges being too exclusive.
Have you considered whether your child doesn't actually deserve a spot at these schools?

I disagree with the OP but your stats don't tell the full story. If you are from certain public HS in Virginia the acceptance rate is much lower and, more to the point, a students' stats have to be far above UVA's averages to even have a chance. The bitterest among us are the parents of very good but not tippety top students. Or maybe even tippety top applying to a very competitive major. There is a lot of competition and they won't make the cut for the top three but feel like the next tiers are "saftey schools." I think other than parents of this small group, everyone else is thrilled.

Are you saying that if you aren't tippy top, you should get into a school with a 25% acceptance rate? How would that work, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That makes no sense. There are a lot of great VA in-state options. Why not attend one of those?

There is too much hierarchy. Alternatively, they could combine all of the universities (UVa, VTech, William and Mary, Gmu, Jmu, Cnu, Longwood) into one university and have a lottery for all who are accepted to decide who goes to which campus.

Maybe make it more like NC. UVA separate but then Virginia U - GMU campus, VAU - Longwood campus etc.

This is basically just changing the makes of existing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all are so lucky to live in VA. We are considering paying $70-$80k to send our kid to one of your schools…if they are lucky enough to even be admitted.

Maybe Virginia need to shrink the out of state student body to make more spots for taxpayer in state kids.

The answer is very simple - convince the legislature to fund the schools at a level that will allow for increased in-state attendance, along with the lower tuition. And accept that there may be a slight drop-off in the rankings.

[Anonymous]

VA should follow GA's lead and require 80% in-state.

[Anonymous]

Maryland, Delaware and NJ only has one Flagship. VA has three.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps raise tuition for the three flagship to double for in state students vs. the lessor schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maryland, Delaware and NJ only has one Flagship. VA has three.

Huh? There's only one. LAC don't count. Based on your criterion, there are 7 UC flagships.

[Anonymous]

the focus should be that these schools expand their online degrees to accommodate more students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps raise tuition for the three flagship to double for in state students vs. the lessor schools.

Really? You want to reduce demand by pricing students out of the market? For a state school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC applied to all three of these schools last cycle and will be trying again. These three schools are getting more competitive and out of reach for everyday people. I think each of them should be split up into multiple different schools that each have less competitive admissions or they should each double in size. Not just a 10% increase or 2% increase every year or whatever thing like that. They need to start construction NOW to build at least 2x the housing, classrooms, etc. to accommodate double the number of students and all new students should be required to come from Virginia. These admissions practices have gone way too far. As soon as admission rates hit below 50% for in-state applicants there should be mandatory student body expansions

The UVA in state admissions rate is 25%
The W&M in state admissions rate is 44%
The Virginia Tech in state admissions rate is 57%

It's not the colleges being too exclusive.
Have you considered whether[i] your child doesn't actually deserve a spot at these schools?

[b]


This! It's obvious My DD was never a contender for a top VA public but knew that freshman year of high school. With the plethora of data provided by SCHEV bolstered by Naviance and Scoir systems, there really us no excise for OP's ignorance about her kids' chances st the top VA schools.

[Anonymous]

All of these suggestions would end up killing the very thing OP wants- a well-respected, highly competitive, cost-effective education. It’s remarkable that VA can offer three such places, as well as a host of other good options and yet OP’s suggestion is to fundamentally change them all so his/ her kid can get in.

I’m not opposed to getting more $$ from the legislature and the obligation to state students that might follow but with so little funding coming from the state I don’t think too many demands for change are reasonable.