We visited UVA this weekend...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Said by a creature from Faulkner's barn.

Haha! Yes!

I can't believe we're 8 pages in and everyone still thinks OP went to the University of Oxford.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY, PEOPLE! In Mississippi!

Wat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I do find that it's the parents that seem over the moon about UVa, much more so than the students themselves. This is just my experience from talking to families I know at UVa. And I'm no bitter parent, my kids are just in Elem School and I'm sure I'd love the bargain you get at UVa too. But it is something that I've noticed, the students' reactions to their school are much more muted. Everyone I've talked to have said they like the school but it's not really the enthusiastic "I Love it!!!" reaction that you hear from the parents. My guess is that, the students were pressed into going because of the instate tuition, that it would not be their first choice if money was not a factor.

Then why are you on this thread? If you don't have any teenagers of your own, you could be completely misinterpreting the attitudes you are seeing. Teens these days are raised on social media and don't have the social skills of their parents.

Could not be more wrong for this family. I couldn't shoehorn my DD there out of the place if I wanted to. She and her friends LOVE the place. Love love love. They (a group of about 75) are so happy. Not one of them is into the Greek scene. Three are in the Jefferson Society, the debate and literary society. A number are on the school newspaper, the Daily Cavalier. Others are into drama. Three into political clubs. They've all found their niche and are so happy there. I've not heard of one single complaint or student in her class that wants to leave.

This is my experience with my DD as well. She adores it, as do all her friends. They are very attached to the school and based on the loyal and devoted alums, I would say it's students not parents who love the place. UVA is not for every kid. That's true for most schools but this board loves to trash UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Said by a creature from Faulkner's barn.

Haha! Yes!

I can't believe we're 8 pages in and everyone still thinks OP went to the University of Oxford.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY, PEOPLE! In Mississippi!

There is no Oxford University in MS. Are you talking about Ole Miss? OP specifically said "Oxford University." As in, England. As in:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's so important to visit all of your state's schools. From chatter among parents you'd think UVA is all there is. It's wonderful but it's definitely not for everyone. We also have state schools that are huge, small, near cities, near the beach, near the mountains, near historic areas, have huge Greek life, have no greek life, have a huge sports focus, etc.

THIS. So much ado over one school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I do find that it's the parents that seem over the moon about UVa, much more so than the students themselves. This is just my experience from talking to families I know at UVa. And I'm no bitter parent, my kids are just in Elem School and I'm sure I'd love the bargain you get at UVa too. But it is something that I've noticed, the students' reactions to their school are much more muted. Everyone I've talked to have said they like the school but it's not really the enthusiastic "I Love it!!!" reaction that you hear from the parents. My guess is that, the students were pressed into going because of the instate tuition, that it would not be their first choice if money was not a factor.

Then why are you on this thread? If you don't have any teenagers of your own, you could be completely misinterpreting the attitudes you are seeing. Teens these days are raised on social media and don't have the social skills of their parents.

Could not be more wrong for this family. I couldn't shoehorn my DD there out of the place if I wanted to. She and her friends LOVE the place. Love love love. They (a group of about 75) are so happy. Not one of them is into the Greek scene. Three are in the Jefferson Society, the debate and literary society. A number are on the school newspaper, the Daily Cavalier. Others are into drama. Three into political clubs. They've all found their niche and are so happy there. I've not heard of one single complaint or student in her class that wants to leave.

This is my experience with my DD as well. She adores it, as do all her friends. They are very attached to the school and based on the loyal and devoted alums, I would say it's students not parents who love the place. UVA is not for every kid. That's true for most schools but this board loves to trash UVA.

Nah - it's a perfectly fine school. No need to bash it. It is fun to bash the crazy UVA boosters on here though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also visited UVA two weeks ago. We liked it overall, it is a good safety school for us and they do have a program that my child is interested in. The only thing that really jumped up to me is how white is the student body. We've spent on the campus the entire day, and then ate a dinner near UVA and probably saw 3 asian kids and one or two AA. It is such a big difference from what we've seen in Harvard or Columbia.

I'm Asian and I hear this all the time from current students at UVA. How white UVA is.

Here is UVA's demographic breakdown:

0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
13.1% Asian
6.5% Black/African-American
6.4% Hispanic/Latino
4.7% Multi-race (not Hispanic/Latino)
0.0% Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander
63.3% White
5.8% Unknown

It's also about 8 percent Jewish, and when I went there a decade ago had the most active Jewish campus life at any Virginia school, FWIW.

So it's less diverse than Harvard or Columbia but hardly all southern WASPs.

I attended UVA and most of my friends were Asian or black. I participated in a sorority but did not have a drinking problem. Definitely went to parties but there's a lot to do and lots of other groups and outlets other than Greek. I played a lot of IM sports, a lot of students volunteer, participate in music, singing, the arts, student government, radio, newspaper, U Guides, and more. I didn't know any slackers but I did know a lot of people who would work hard and play hard. My college friends have all been very successful adults.

[Anonymous]

UVA discriminates against Asians. It has the same % of Asians in UG as Michigan but VA has a state has twice the concentration of Asians as Michigan.

Asian enrollment in every other 'peer school' is a lot higher.

[Anonymous]

I realize this was 20 years ago but my boyfriend at the time who was accepted to Wharton didn't get into UVA. Very tough admit for out of state students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could not be more wrong for this family. I couldn't shoehorn my DD there out of the place if I wanted to. She and her friends LOVE the place. Love love love. They (a group of about 75) are so happy. Not one of them is into the Greek scene. Three are in the Jefferson Society, the debate and literary society. A number are on the school newspaper, the Daily Cavalier. Others are into drama. Three into political clubs. They've all found their niche and are so happy there. I've not heard of one single complaint or student in her class that wants to leave.

I hope everyone's child lands at a place that makes them feel this way!

I wish that for everyone! We got the right fit!

In the end, that's what it is all about, right? Not getting in, but finding the right fit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realize this was 20 years ago but my boyfriend at the time who was accepted to Wharton didn't get into UVA. Very tough admit for out of state students.

That's truly weird.

[Anonymous]

People get mad if you don't love UVA. It's kind of like if you don't like cilantro. No one wants to let it go.

I happen to like UVA but know it would not have been the right fit for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I realize this was 20 years ago but my boyfriend at the time who was accepted to Wharton didn't get into UVA. Very tough admit for out of state students.

That's truly weird.

It was fairly easy to get into Penn 20 years ago. Not sure about UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I realize this was 20 years ago but my boyfriend at the time who was accepted to Wharton didn't get into UVA. Very tough admit for out of state students.

That's truly weird.

It was fairly easy to get into Penn 20 years ago. Not sure about UVA.

I assure you, as an accepted student at both places, that it was very difficult to get into Wharton undergrad 20 years ago. UVA probably had an in-state acceptance rate of around 45 percent and an out of state rate that was higher than Wharton's. Let's keep perspective, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People get mad if you don't love UVA. It's kind of like if you don't like cilantro. No one wants to let it go.

I happen to like UVA but know it would not have been the right fit for my kid.

I can't stand cilantro, but I like UVA. Or the idea of it at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA discriminates against Asians. It has the same % of Asians in UG as Michigan but VA has a state has twice the concentration of Asians as Michigan.

Asian enrollment in every other 'peer school' is a lot higher.

Incorrect. You are comparing apples and oranges. There is a high Asian American concentration in the No. Va schools, including, Langley at 21% , McLean High at 22%, and Thomas Jefferson at 60-70%, but no where else in the state. UVA is a state flagship for the entire state and tries to take students from every county in the states. It can only take so many student (this year @676) from No. VA. 76 of those alone (mostly Asian Americans) come from T.J. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for caucasian males and females to get into UVA from No.VA. UVA isn't going to pick up Asian American students in the outlying counties near Kentucky and the Carolinas. It's first priority to to take the best and brightest from all of the state. To do so, it breaks down the state geographically by school district. Those looking at the map (posted somewhere above) show Fairfax county in the lead with some 676 students going to UVA but when you consider 76 of those are TJ, and that FCPS has some 30 school, then they are also entertaining applicatoins from kids living in Fairfax but attending private and parochial schools, you end up with some pretty mad parents in NoVA. But if you follow the map out to the west and south of the state you will find some counties sending 1 or zero students -hence the "redneck" joke that is sometimes made makes no sense. Michigan's Asian American population is much more evenly spread out.