Schools Like UVA But Easier to Get Into

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is applying to UVA but there is a good chance she won’t get in. She likes the size of the school (or larger) the outgoing student body, location (not urban) and the school spirit. Need ideas for similar schools but easier to get into. They do not have to have to be in-state. She prefers a warmer climate.

A few good responses so far on this chain. And SO MANY bad ones. To put all the good responses in one place:
In-state: JMU & Virginia Tech
Out of state: Clemson, UTK, Bama, Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Arizona
Out of state but not "warmer": Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami of Ohio
Really cold and kinda urban (and not an easy admit) but super outgoing and spirited: Wisconsin

you forgot Penn State in the not warmer category

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about Vanderbilt fools

Harder to get into.

[Anonymous]

W&M wants people who want it. They will let in someone with somewhat lower stats if they can see a lot of demonstrated interest and knowledge of what kind of school it is.

W&M is great for kids who would like a more artsy, less rah-rah, hype squad scene. So many of the people who choose W&M are not interested in UVA so it isn’t some kind of back up choice.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:U of Miami much more similar to UVA than Miami U

University of Miami is a great choice. A little smaller, maybe 12,000? not sure about that.

Much easier to get into but not the name prestige as many other schools

I think you're confusing the Miamis

Yes U of Miami private in FL pretty tough to get into
Miami of Ohio public not so much

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:One best answer = William and Mary

It may be easier to get into, but it’s nothing like UVA. My kids didn’t even consider it.

And it's not even that much easier to get into--roughly same academic profile needed, just less popular overall so higher acceptance rate at W&M.

Exactly. And I know more than a couple kids who got into UVA but not W&M.

I know only the reverse in
most recent years: want UVA but have to settle for W&M.

I'd happily take either one if I were coming along now.

+1. Omg yes! My dd wasn’t even a contender (went to GMU with success), DS went to uva and we were thrilled but looking at SCHEV statistics, he would’ve never get in today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school that is the most similar is UNC. It is not easier to get into if you are OOS for both or in state for UVA and OOS for UNC. Beyond that, it would be a Power 5 conference public school that is large but not huge (e.g. Ohio State), is in the Southeast, and has an active Greek Life (which would be almost all of the above).

In state, I guess I'd say VT, JMU, and CNU going from largest to smallest.

Isn't Ohio State something like 60,000 students?? That is indeed, huge.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech

+100
Though not any easier to get into these days.

yes it is, it has double the acceptance rate and lower 25-75th percentile range for both grades and SAT.

Is that why so many 4.0+ 1450+ kids (including my own) were rejected? They have become very selective.

They accepted 56.5% of their applicants in 2022. It's more competitive than it used to be but much less so than UVA so it fits the bill for OP.

WM is seriously heavy on early action. I think it’s more complicated than it seems to compare the two. But in any case, outside of a high achieving student body, it has nothing in common with UVA.

Again - the comparison in this particular discussion (above) is between VT and UVA. Not WM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M wants people who want it. They will let in someone with somewhat lower stats if they can see a lot of demonstrated interest and knowledge of what kind of school it is.

W&M is great for kids who would like a more artsy, less rah-rah, hype squad scene. So many of the people who choose W&M are not interested in UVA so it isn’t some kind of back up choice.

And vice-versa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M wants people who want it. They will let in someone with somewhat lower stats if they can see a lot of demonstrated interest and knowledge of what kind of school it is.

W&M is great for kids who would like a more artsy, less rah-rah, hype squad scene. So many of the people who choose W&M are not interested in UVA so it isn’t some kind of back up choice.

And vice-versa.

Exactly! UVA & WM are both great but for different tastes — like comparing apples to oranges.

[Anonymous]

JMU

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:U of Miami much more similar to UVA than Miami U

University of Miami is a great choice. A little smaller, maybe 12,000? not sure about that.

Much easier to get into but not the name prestige as many other schools

I think you're confusing the Miamis

Yes U of Miami private in FL pretty tough to get into
Miami of Ohio public not so much

U of Miami is not hard at all. It's along the lines of Tech.

[Anonymous]

Uh, no

[Anonymous]

18% acceptance rate this year.

[Anonymous]

Weak florist

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech

+100
Though not any easier to get into these days.

yes it is, it has double the acceptance rate and lower 25-75th percentile range for both grades and SAT.

Is that why so many 4.0+ 1450+ kids (including my own) were rejected? They have become very selective.

They accepted 56.5% of their applicants in 2022. It's more competitive than it used to be but much less so than UVA so it fits the bill for OP.

WM is seriously heavy on early action. I think it’s more complicated than it seems to compare the two. But in any case, outside of a high achieving student body, it has nothing in common with UVA.

This was in reference to Virginia Tech, not W&M. W&M has a 37% admission rate and equal academic student profile as UVA so not that much easier to get into that UVA. Virginia Tech, despite not admitting some high scoring students, has a higher acceptance rate (56.5% or higher once you figure in their use of the waitlist) and lower academic profile. W&M is similar to UVA in a bit more focus on a liberal arts core, but VT is more similar in being a bigger sports-oriented, strong academic school. VT is a lot bigger and W&M is a lot smaller. So if a kid was drawn to UVA, but not academically quite able to meet their profile, VT is a reasonable back-up if the reason they were drawn to it was that it was pretty big, school spirit around sports etc. If they were drawn to the liberal arts core of UVA but didn't have the academic profile, it would be better to aim for CNU or UMW in Virginia than W&M.