Advice Needed: NOVA Credits vs Reaching for MIT / Ivies / Georgia Tech / Purdue / Vanderbilt / Top Schools
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Anonymous
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Looking for advice from parents/students with real experience.
My child is a Virginia student with: 1595 SAT 3.8 unweighted GPA Very rigorous schedule Strong coding background since childhood Interested in advanced math, computer science, engineering, and eventually Wall Street algorithm / trading / math driven careers NOVA direct and dual enrollment courses completed or in progress: Calc I, II, III Linear Algebra Differential Equations Discrete Structures Computer Organization English / History / Gov We are considering: MIT Princeton / Cornell Carnegie Mellon Georgia Tech Purdue Vanderbilt Michigan Texas Austin Texas A&M UVA Virginia Tech Some are reaches, but I feel he should aim high. His biggest concern is making sure NOVA credits transfer so he does not retake courses. Virginia schools seem safest for that, but I worry he is overvaluing guaranteed transfer credit. He is also not very into the liberal reputation of UVA, though maybe that matters less in math / CS / engineering. Questions: Has anyone had NOVA credits transfer to these schools? Do advanced math credits transfer as real credit or just placement? Do CS courses transfer? Is prioritizing transfer credit a mistake if stronger schools are options? If this were your child, stay in Virginia or aim higher? |
Anonymous
| Since when UVA has a liberal reputation? It's a school leaning conservative. |
Anonymous
From my understanding, Charlottesville is one of the most liberal cities in the state because of UVA and niche marks UVA student body as liberal https://www.niche.com/colleges/university-of-virginia/students/ |
Anonymous
None of my son's DE NoVA credits transferred to UVA. His AP credits transferred to satisfy general education requirements but most schools at that level won't recognize community college courses. |
Anonymous
They didn't take any DE course credits i thought that nova and virginia state schools had an agreement to take all nova courses. |
Anonymous
And FWIW, Charlottesville is no more or less liberal than most other cities or universities in the country. Central VA in general is a fairly purple-y/leaning red area. But my UVA student doesn't really lean either way politically and does not feel any particular political vibe from UVA. There are plenty of people of all political stripes on grounds. |
Anonymous
| No top college will accept DE classes for credit. |
Anonymous
Nope. |
Anonymous
They have an agreement to take passport credits only: https://catalog.nvcc.edu/passport-courses/ |
Anonymous
| Further, for placement purposes, colleges will only take AP tests. They generally have a strong preference for AP classes over DE as DE is seen as less rigorous due to peer group differences between the two. |
Anonymous
I did an analysis just now using the official transfer credit websites for University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Purdue University, and it appears strong public schools do take substantial NOVA coursework. Courses reviewed: Calc I Calc II Calc III Linear Algebra Differential Equations Discrete Structures Computer Organization Programming Object Oriented Programming Data Structures History I / II Economics Results: University of Virginia Math accepted: Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations = 18 credits CS accepted: Discrete Structures, some CS equivalents/electives = about 6 credits Other accepted: History credits and others Total useful credit estimated: 24+ credits Virginia Tech Math accepted: Calc I, II, III, Differential Equations, Discrete Math = about 17 credits CS accepted: Programming, OOP, Data Structures, Computer Science core/electives = 12 to 16 credits Other accepted: Econ and others Total useful credit estimated: 30+ credits Georgia Institute of Technology Math accepted: Calc I, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations = about 13+ credits CS accepted: Discrete Structures, Programming, Data Structures = 10+ credits Other accepted: English, History Total useful credit estimated: 25+ credits Purdue University Math accepted: Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Statistics = 21 credits CS accepted: several CSC courses as CS department/elective credit = 12+ credits Other accepted: History, Econ Total useful credit estimated: 33+ credits Bottom line: It looks like public schools are much more transfer friendly than people say. NOVA credits may absolutely carry real value, especially in math. This means the choice should not just be “Virginia schools guarantee transfer,” because schools like Georgia Tech and Purdue also appear to recognize a lot. |
Anonymous
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UVA is offering a lot of AP transfer credits.
how is your student getting a 1595 SAT? I think that's an impossible score. (scores are only in 10s increments) |
Anonymous
Are you sure? That does not seem right. AP and dual enrollment are different things. AP is an exam based pathway for placement and sometimes credit, while NOVA dual enrollment is actual college coursework on an accredited transcript. I just checked the official transfer databases for schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Purdue, and they show real credit being awarded for NOVA courses such as Calculus I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Discrete Structures, programming, history, and economics. That is more than placement. That is transferable college credit. I agree some elite private schools may evaluate DE more selectively, but saying colleges generally only take AP for placement and view DE as less rigorous does not match what these universities themselves publish. |
Anonymous
If schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Purdue have NOVA courses listed on their own transfer credit websites, then they clearly do accept DE classes for credit. So No top college will accept DE classes for credit is just false if we include top public schools. I think what you probably mean is some elite private schools can be stricter and may only give placement, limited credit, or no credit for DE taken in high school. That is different from saying no top college accepts it. Many strong public universities absolutely do accept NOVA classes like Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, CS, History, and Econ. |
Anonymous
Seems an odd thing to prioritize given his school list. A lot of those schools will want him to take those classes with them to ensure he’s got a sufficient knowledge of the material. |