Rejected from Virginia publics—am I out of line?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My white-Asian kid with an Asian last name, who wrote of his ethnic background in his personal statement, was accepted from Maryland to W&M, dual degree programme with St Andrews, International Relations major. He had a 4.6 wGPA and a 35 out of 36 on his ACT.

I think it's the stats, not the last name, OP.

Look, I think the OP is overreacting, but you can't compare boy and girl stats. It is much easier for boys to get into college. There are significantly more girl applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:4.1 Weighted - the reject from UVA and W&M isn't out of line -- waitlist at VTech probably not surprising either these days.
Scores? Leadership in activities? Theme of common app essay something special or unique?

Like PP said, there are lots of other universities in VA - where else did she apply?

Also - why didn't you look at NPC for some out of state? There are a lot of schools that could come close to the instate cost of those three and/or may offer $$ to get it pretty close.

OP here.
We are in a tricky financial situation for determining aid for at least a little while so out of state was not an option. After finding out what was making the net cost estimators so high, we essentially gave up on the idea of out of state.

Smart decision to stay in state. She could always do a year of community college and apply as a transfer in late winter 2027. If she gets her AA and has good grades, Virginia offers a fabulous transition from CC to in-state university including flagships. I know kids who have done/are going this route. Less stress, saves a ton of money, ease into the college experience.

[Anonymous]

^^And still graduate with a diploma from a state flagship!!!^^

[Anonymous]

In fairness to OP, a few years ago one of my kids was waitlisted at UVA and W&M and got into Tech and JMU and insisted on going OOS to one of the better Big 10 flagships because "I didn't take all those AP classes and graduate with over a 4.0 just to go to JMU with classmates who did half the work that I did." Having their heart set on UVA and not being a STEM major, no interest whatsoever in Tech . . .

Honestly, we agreed with them and were prepared to pay the OOS tuition, but it worked out: admitted UVA off the wait-list.

[Anonymous]

Kindly, OP, I don’t think she was quite the candidate in this cycle that you all anticipated. Although your school doesn’t do UW, the colleges see the transcript and so know the number of B’s. Assuming this is on a 5.0 scale, 4.1 is fine but likely not in the top 10-20%. What does your school profile say? You didn’t mention test scores. And “involved in activities” isn’t the same as showing leadership or a compelling story for them to argue for a holistic case.

She is I’m sure a lovely girl, but not at the level that those schools were looking for. I totally get it, but please be thrilled and show her your pride in the successes she does have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My white-Asian kid with an Asian last name, who wrote of his ethnic background in his personal statement, was accepted from Maryland to W&M, dual degree programme with St Andrews, International Relations major. He had a 4.6 wGPA and a 35 out of 36 on his ACT.

I think it's the stats, not the last name, OP.

Look, I think the OP is overreacting, but you can't compare boy and girl stats. It is much easier for boys to get into college. There are significantly more girl applicants.

Oh, please. This really needs to be debunked. It is a violation of federal law for state colleges to take gender into account in undergraduate admissions. Full stop. Private colleges can do it, but state schools can't and the ones around here don't.

The admit rate to UVA by gender is virtually identical and long has been. The admit rate for boys at both Tech and Maryland is actually LOWER than for girls. The only one of the four where the admit rate for boys is higher is W&M (40 versus 35), but there are so many more girls applying there than boys that you have to wonder how similar the applicant pools really are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DID SHE GET IN ANYWHERE???

OP here.

Yes, she did. She is thinking (if no gap year) JMU then possible transfer. She was accepted at JMU.

Then why are you here? Just send her to JMU!!! You messed up by signaling that a JMU acceptance is not fantastic with the name change nonsense.

Furthermore, your child’s peers will be at JMU. I knew someone who got off the waitlist at UVA in the early aughts. Her family knew a big donor. That girl struggled. She would have been much happier at a place she fit into honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4.1 weighted (school does not do UW), maxed out rigor, and involved in activities. Applied as an IR/gov/polisci major to UVA, William and Mary, and Virginia tech and was outright denied by UVA and W&M. VT waitlisted but as far as I know they have no ‘spring waitlist’ program or separate campus like UVA wise you can go to for a year instead.

The only thing I can think of that could be the cause of this is my daughter’s name, which sounds Asian American despite her being Caucasian. Her first name is a name that some people have said is a stereotypical Asian name (think Alice or Christina), and our last name is Lee, which could be either white or Asian Korean.

In our case, it’s white, but people have said in the past when they have seen my daughter’s name but not my daughter (at first meetings, summer camp, etc) that they were expecting an Asian girl based on her name.

My husband thinks I sound like I need to be medicated, but I floated the idea of taking a gap year and changing either my daughter’s first or last name to be more explicitly Caucasian. She was open to it and is very young for her cohort anyway so it wouldn’t make her feel out of place later.

Am I out of line here? I’m not saying that it’s right that there may be a disadvantage for Asian Americans, but I don’t want my daughter to be harmed by any sort of biases.

Listen to your husband.

[Anonymous]

This is your 3rd post about this!

[Anonymous]

What a bizarre conclusion based on those rejections! I would like the OP to articulate why they thought their child would get into these colleges with that GPA and SAT score, other than this kid's siblings getting in with similar score at some point in the past that is likely irrelevant.

OP, UVA rejected DD's friend with a 4.58 GPA and 1550 SAT score. He's currently attending VTech.

[Anonymous]

I think OP is a troll.

[Anonymous]

VA resident here. I enjoyed reading this as parent of a son with similar stats. He and many of his classmates are waitlisted at VT. There will be a lot of 4.1 students at JMU. And they have proud parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My white-Asian kid with an Asian last name, who wrote of his ethnic background in his personal statement, was accepted from Maryland to W&M, dual degree programme with St Andrews, International Relations major. He had a 4.6 wGPA and a 35 out of 36 on his ACT.

I think it's the stats, not the last name, OP.

Look, I think the OP is overreacting, but you can't compare boy and girl stats. It is much easier for boys to get into college. There are significantly more girl applicants.

This is wrong as a general statement. At UVA for example, in 2024 the admit rate for boys and girls was about the same, ie it was about as difficult for a boy to get admitted as a girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:😆😆😆😆 You do realize being white or Asian is both a disadvantage?

OP here.

My husband said exactly this (are you him, ha!) and I’ll tell you what I told him.

If you look at all the data that has been released, it’s clear that Asians are at more of a disadvantage than whites. The magnitude varies, but it’s always greater than whites.

Nice trolling

[Anonymous]

Can’t believe so many of you are indulging this obvious troll. I think there are some nervous Ivy Day moms out there who just need to engage on the boards today.