What is it about UVA that makes people so gaga

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few reasons why someone might think UVA is a desirable school:

UVA has the highest 6-year graduation rate of any public university in the nation. Among all colleges and universities (public and private) only the following have higher 6-year graduation rates: Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, Princeton, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Williams, Stanford, Wesleyan, Northwestern, Duke, Wash U, Holy Cross, Vassar, Chicago, MIT, Cornell.

UVA has the second highest median SAT score of any public university in the nation. Only William and Mary's is higher.

UVA ranks #20 among colleges/universities that produce the most science & engineering PhDs.

UVA regularly ranks as one of the most beautiful colleges in the US.

Charlottesville is often listed as one of the best college towns in the US.

signed,

W&M grad

TJ's average SAT score is the highest of all the high schools in the country and higher than any college's incoming freshmen class' average as well at 2220.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/schools-highest-sat-scores_n_4654077.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few reasons why someone might think UVA is a desirable school:

UVA has the highest 6-year graduation rate of any public university in the nation. Among all colleges and universities (public and private) only the following have higher 6-year graduation rates: Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, Princeton, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Williams, Stanford, Wesleyan, Northwestern, Duke, Wash U, Holy Cross, Vassar, Chicago, MIT, Cornell.

UVA has the second highest median SAT score of any public university in the nation. Only William and Mary's is higher.

UVA ranks #20 among colleges/universities that produce the most science & engineering PhDs.

UVA regularly ranks as one of the most beautiful colleges in the US.

Charlottesville is often listed as one of the best college towns in the US.

signed,

W&M grad

TJ's average SAT score is the highest of all the high schools in the country and higher than any college's incoming freshmen class' average as well at 2220.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/schools-highest-sat-scores_n_4654077.html

Thanks for sharing. I guess that tells you that no college wants to replicate TJ's student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Thomas Jefferson's University.

No, it's The University.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow - I didn't realize it had a 40% acceptance rate. Cool.

What's 40%? The admissions rate for in-state students? The overall admissions rate is closer to 30%.

I assume there's a fair amount of self-selection involved in applying, too, particularly among in-state students who can look at the profiles of admitted students from their schools.

Not sure - someone upthread said 40%. Even 30% isn't that bad. I assumed it was much lower based on what I've heard about it.

Admission rates don't exist in a vacuum. It depends on the applicant pool. Some less-selective schools have low admission rates because they are located in metro areas where everyone applies, including mediocre students. Some highly-selective schools have high admit rates because only smart kids bother to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's Thomas Jefferson's University.

No, it's The University.

No, it's TJ of the South.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the number of Rhodes Scholarship winners by institution. UVA has 50. The only institutions with more winners are Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, West Point & Yale. That is some elite company.

You aren't going to produce Rhodes Scholars with mediocre academic programs. The scholars are an exceptional subset of an already impressive student body.

http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/Rhodes%20Scholarships_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution_10_15_14.pdf

The Jefferson Scholar program is UVa gives full rides to a small, very elite group of students that would be accepted at any college in the country. These students are very academically successful (e.g., receiving Rhodes/Fullbright scholarships) but I don't believe that their success reflects the quality of the faculty and the school as much as these kids are academic "ringers."

[Anonymous]

It's pretty low ranked in the world university rankings. It's an American thing with residual love of the plantation lifestyle... The world looks at the academic results ( not very impressed ) and doesn't get the plantation thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow - I didn't realize it had a 40% acceptance rate. Cool.

What's 40%? The admissions rate for in-state students? The overall admissions rate is closer to 30%.

I assume there's a fair amount of self-selection involved in applying, too, particularly among in-state students who can look at the profiles of admitted students from their schools.

Not sure - someone upthread said 40%. Even 30% isn't that bad. I assumed it was much lower based on what I've heard about it.

Admission rates don't exist in a vacuum. It depends on the applicant pool. Some less-selective schools have low admission rates because they are located in metro areas where everyone applies, including mediocre students. Some highly-selective schools have high admit rates because only smart kids bother to apply.

So what's the case for UVA? I thought everyone in VA applies since it's such a great value. Or maybe there is some self-selection. People who like the preppy/frat/douchey culture definitely apply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty low ranked in the world university rankings. It's an American thing with residual love of the plantation lifestyle... The world looks at the academic results ( not very impressed ) and doesn't get the plantation thing.

I love insane statements like this. UVa is actually pretty middling on world rankings (usually between 100-135 in the world on things like QS and ARWU/Shanghai). Even these rankings are actually pretty extraordinary with all of the great schools around the world, but definitely not on par with a domestic ranking of in the top 25. I am sure there are methodology reasons and even substantive reasons why this is, but I am certain that it has nothing to do with the "world" not getting "the plantation thing." For the love of god, Vanderbilt is well-ranked (around 50) in the ARWU world rankings, as is Chapel Hillll (36), both of which have at least a little "plantation thing" going on.

It is totally acceptable not to like UVa or find it to be "meh", but please stop with asinine assertions about plantations or suggestions that it is somehow a bad school (being "worse than Cal and Michigan", two extraordinary schools, does not make a school bad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the number of Rhodes Scholarship winners by institution. UVA has 50. The only institutions with more winners are Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, West Point & Yale. That is some elite company.

You aren't going to produce Rhodes Scholars with mediocre academic programs. The scholars are an exceptional subset of an already impressive student body.

http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/Rhodes%20Scholarships_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution_10_15_14.pdf

The Jefferson Scholar program is UVa gives full rides to a small, very elite group of students that would be accepted at any college in the country. These students are very academically successful (e.g., receiving Rhodes/Fullbright scholarships) but I don't believe that their success reflects the quality of the faculty and the school as much as these kids are academic "ringers."

So now it is somehow cheating to accept good students? Does anyone claim that Harvard is stacking the deck by only accepting good students? You're actually making an interesting point, but totally misapplying it to somehow suggest that we should question the results of any good school, UVA or otherwise. Jeezus people, you don't like Virginia, we get it.

[Anonymous]

below the mason-dixon line white people love uva because it makes them feel like the antebellum period which they romanticize and dream of.

[Anonymous]

It's not about the numbers and scores. It's about how the grads think the world revolves around UVa. Seriously, UVa grads think it's equal to Harvard. It's not. It just one of many state universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:below the mason-dixon line white people love uva because it makes them feel like the antebellum period which they romanticize and dream of.

You got that right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not about the numbers and scores. It's about how the grads think the world revolves around UVa. Seriously, UVa grads think it's equal to Harvard. It's not. It just one of many state universities.

No, UVA grads think it's equal to Berkeley or Michigan. It's not. They are delusional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thomas Jefferson, William Faulkner, Dr. Seuss, and countless others whose legacies and history still grace this University.

Dr. Seuss?