Does one or two Bs mean UVA is off the table?

[Anonymous]

Question: Are we talking Bs in any given semester, or a final B average?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought so and was told so last year but a friend of mine with a kid at UVA had 2 b's sophomore year (not sure if any later, we were talking about Soph. year) and she is there for sure right now. I was surprised to find that out. So I temper expectations for my DD, but we will see how her junior year goes.

But if those kids were hooked they are in a different league of competition. UVA's current GPA for incoming freshmen at the75th percentile is 4.53 and median is 4.40. The bottom 25th percentile is 4.24 Assuming the bottom percentile is hooked, that leaves a vanilla kid from nova aiming for 4.53 and above in order to consider UVA a reach (no one considers it a target or safety anymore). That GPA, while weighted, doesn't allow much room for Bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at a top private. I know many kids who are attending with Bs from a DC Big3 school.

You say this like “top privates” are more rigorous or something. They aren’t.

Sorry but yes they are. No retesting like in public. Work is harder than things I saw in college and zero room for error.

The "retesting" policy in our FCPS public is that some (not all) teachers will allow one retake on a test (not on quizzes which often comprise more of the grade) and the maximum grade you can get is a B- on the retake, even if you got 100%--so the chance of it resulting in an A in the class is very, very low. So it's more about preventing failing than getting into selective colleges. My kid who has had some B's in classes has never had a retake. Work level is very high in some courses,

My kids were in private in our prior state and in public now. In private, I thought there was quite a bit more "hand-holding" even though it was a top school. High standards and no official retakes, but lots of very helpful study guides etc. The sophistication is well-scaffolded.

[Anonymous]

I would say, for NOVA kids who are not hooked, 4.45 is the cutoff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought so and was told so last year but a friend of mine with a kid at UVA had 2 b's sophomore year (not sure if any later, we were talking about Soph. year) and she is there for sure right now. I was surprised to find that out. So I temper expectations for my DD, but we will see how her junior year goes.

But if those kids were hooked they are in a different league of competition. UVA's current GPA for incoming freshmen at the75th percentile is 4.53 and median is 4.40. The bottom 25th percentile is 4.24 Assuming the bottom percentile is hooked, that leaves a vanilla kid from nova aiming for 4.53 and above in order to consider UVA a reach (no one considers it a target or safety anymore). That GPA, while weighted, doesn't allow much room for Bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at a top private. I know many kids who are attending with Bs from a DC Big3 school.

You say this like “top privates” are more rigorous or something. They aren’t.

Sorry but yes they are. No retesting like in public. Work is harder than things I saw in college and zero room for error.

Our private allows test corrections.

[Anonymous]

But if those kids were hooked they are in a different league of competition. UVA's current GPA for incoming freshmen at the75th percentile is 4.53 and median is 4.40. The bottom 25th percentile is 4.24 Assuming the bottom percentile is hooked, that leaves a vanilla kid from nova aiming for 4.53 and above in order to consider UVA a reach (no one considers it a target or safety anymore). That GPA, while weighted, doesn't allow much room for Bs.

Do you have any evidence to support this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But if those kids were hooked they are in a different league of competition. UVA's current GPA for incoming freshmen at the75th percentile is 4.53 and median is 4.40. The bottom 25th percentile is 4.24 Assuming the bottom percentile is hooked, that leaves a vanilla kid from nova aiming for 4.53 and above in order to consider UVA a reach (no one considers it a target or safety anymore). That GPA, while weighted, doesn't allow much room for Bs.

Do you have any evidence to support this?

Here. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say, for NOVA kids who are not hooked, 4.45 is the cutoff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought so and was told so last year but a friend of mine with a kid at UVA had 2 b's sophomore year (not sure if any later, we were talking about Soph. year) and she is there for sure right now. I was surprised to find that out. So I temper expectations for my DD, but we will see how her junior year goes.

But if those kids were hooked they are in a different league of competition. UVA's current GPA for incoming freshmen at the75th percentile is 4.53 and median is 4.40. The bottom 25th percentile is 4.24 Assuming the bottom percentile is hooked, that leaves a vanilla kid from nova aiming for 4.53 and above in order to consider UVA a reach (no one considers it a target or safety anymore). That GPA, while weighted, doesn't allow much room for Bs.

I think that's probably just about right for unhooked, but still the student needs to be in the top 5-6% of their class. Some schools have very high GPAs across the class. And they need to take the most rigorous courses the school offers. Ask your high school college counselor

[Anonymous]

Full pay?

[Anonymous]

Yes! And so are potatoes.

[Anonymous]

No. If you take enough AP courses to keep your GPA in the 4.4 range and you stay in the top 5% of your HS class you will still have a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at a top private. I know many kids who are attending with Bs from a DC Big3 school.

You say this like “top privates” are more rigorous or something. They aren’t.

Sorry but yes they are. No retesting like in public. Work is harder than things I saw in college and zero room for error.

The "retesting" policy in our FCPS public is that some (not all) teachers will allow one retake on a test (not on quizzes which often comprise more of the grade) and the maximum grade you can get is a B- on the retake, even if you got 100%--so the chance of it resulting in an A in the class is very, very low. So it's more about preventing failing than getting into selective colleges. My kid who has had some B's in classes has never had a retake. Work level is very high in some courses,

My kids were in private in our prior state and in public now. In private, I thought there was quite a bit more "hand-holding" even though it was a top school. High standards and no official retakes, but lots of very helpful study guides etc. The sophistication is well-scaffolded.

I agree. Private schools provide an enormous amount of support to students…hand holding, scaffolding…call it what you want, but there are many adults ensuring that the kid’s succeed. Public school students have to be a little more scrappy and rely on their own wits and drive. They simply don’t get the same level of emotional and academic support. It’s sink or swim.

[Anonymous]

The recent past has been inflated by COVID grading policies that gave A’s to anyone who showed up. As recently as 2021, the FCPS cutoff for schools offering lots of APs was 4.35. That’s a graduating GPA.

[Anonymous]

Don’t bet on it. My kid had a GPA of 4.53 after 1st semester of senior year from TJ with a couple of B’s in AP courses, and got rejected by UVA. Kids with lower grades got in. It’s a myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t bet on it. My kid had a GPA of 4.53 after 1st semester of senior year from TJ with a couple of B’s in AP courses, and got rejected by UVA. Kids with lower grades got in. It’s a myth.

Admissions process is complex. In your case UVA assumes your kid won’t lower himself to attend UVA so this is a case of yield protection.