Sky-High GPAs at Virginia State Schools? Time to Ground Expectations and Open Doors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!

Ok. Let’s start by understanding that UVA, VT and W&M take 2/3 of their class each year from in state kids. The 1/3 they take from out of state helps to keep costs down for in state tuition. Would you want to change that, not really.

The 4.3 or higher GPAs. Your kid is compared to other kids in their school and the top VA schools are only going to take the top 3-5% from each school. Grade inflation is rampant and most kids will take close to 10 APs or more. So you kid is going to have to do the same and get As and A-s in those courses, with an occasional B or B+, to wind up in the top 3-5%.

You say your kid is gifted in math, it is all about the math as described here. Sit down with them and have them explain it.

Most VA schools have limited space to expand and to do so would be stupid since we are reaching the end of a bubble on college age kids. You will soon see a number of colleges closing because they can’t get the size of student body the school needs to continue financially.

So, look at the school’s common data set, not every school requires 3 or 4 years of a foreign language, and find a set of schools where your kid can get in and thrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!

You seem to be forgetting that there are several good Virginia universities besides UVA/VT/W&M/JMU. Why can't your kid study CS at GMU or VCU, for example? The fact is there IS a seat at a Virginia university for kids with less than stellar GPA, even if you believe some of those universities aren't good enough for your kid.

This +1000, I was trying to figure out how to say it and PP said it best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4.3 NOVA kid was waitlisted at JMU as were several at the high school. Much lower out of state required though. Many of those same students were admitted to Tech. Weird year.

How on earth did that happen?

JMU is a crapshoot some years. Took some AP and DE but maybe not enough for them? Straight A/A+ student, great extracurriculars. They seemed to want to capitalize on the success of the football team. It’s all good here since it wasn’t a top choice and she got in to much better schools but it is annoying as a taxpayer to see kids with a lot lower gpa and no honors/AP/DE get accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know the % of kids enrolled at the Va. public schools who are _Virginians_. I know it varies among the universities.

Because here's the thing: if the % of state residents is "high" and the bar to entry is also high (say, 4.3 and 1470 or something), then I don't see the problem. It just means that State School X is enrolling the generally best-performing Virginia residents.

If however the bar is high for entry but a lot of the kids come from New Jersey, that's a different matter.

re: OP's point about being mediocre at Spanish and thus not earning a lotto ticket to do CS at Va Tech ... why not just study harder in the don't-come-easily-to-me subjects? My own kid is a brilliant writer but also sucked at Spanish and really struggled with Calc+. Higher order math shouldn't matter for his future life as a corporate lawyer, but he spent 6x as long studying Calc / Chem / Physics to get that high grade because he needs that entry into Exclusive U. to be the lawyer he wants to be someday.

All the CS wannabes could probably do the same with English comp, no?

Personally, I'm glad UVA takes a large % of OOS kids. Not every state has good in-state options (e.g., DC), so I would hate for anyone to be shut out because of geography.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4.3 NOVA kid was waitlisted at JMU as were several at the high school. Much lower out of state required though. Many of those same students were admitted to Tech. Weird year.

How on earth did that happen?

JMU is a crapshoot some years. Took some AP and DE but maybe not enough for them? Straight A/A+ student, great extracurriculars. They seemed to want to capitalize on the success of the football team. It’s all good here since it wasn’t a top choice and she got in to much better schools but it is annoying as a taxpayer to see kids with a lot lower gpa and no honors/AP/DE get accepted.

Yield protection, perhaps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!

Do they have this on their website or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many students are in vs out of state? My understanding was that other states prioritize in state students more than Virginia.

UVa, W&M, and VPI each have (for decades now) agreed with the Commonwealth that they will try to reserve 2/3rds of 1st year admissions slots for Virginians. The exact percentage depends on actual matriculations, rather than college offers, so each school will have slight variation up or down from that 2/3rds ratio varying from year to year.

UVa Engineering has grown substantially in recent decades and is more than double the size it used to be, although still visibly smaller than VPI Engineering. VPI also has grown some. W&M has not grown very much. UVa is MUCH smaller than some other states so-called flagship public. W&M is even smaller.

That said, a range of Engineering degrees also are offered at CNU, GMU, ODU, & VCU, which all are VA publics.

[Anonymous]

He should look into the Computational Modeling & Data Analytics major at VT. It's kind of under-the-radar, probably because it's in the College Science, not College of Engineering, and as a result has a much higher admission rate than CS despite being 1/2 CS and 1/2 applied math/statistics. Many students double major or minor in CS. It also has one of the highest average starting salaries at the university.

Latest VT data shows it has a 65% in-state acceptance rate.
https://data.science.vt.edu/programs/cmda.html

My son is a rising senior CMDA major, had great experiences so far and an excellent internship this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many students are in vs out of state? My understanding was that other states prioritize in state students more than Virginia.

US states vary widely in how they handle In-state vs OOS college admissions. There really is not a nationwide “normal” percentage/split. Most publics (in virtually all states) depend on some OOS students paying higher tuition to make the budget balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5.

These schools don’t have specific GPA requirements. There’s more to an applicant than her/his grades.

[Anonymous]

The reality also is that a state public university needs to accept students from all over the state. When I was at UVA, a very very high percentage of students came from NoVA — and that is still the case. For many of them, it clearly was HS a 2nd time and they had the same friends from home at UVa.

In Craig County, if any HS student gets accepted to any college, their name and school is posted on the HS sign board out front (meaning only maybe 10-12 per year go off to any college).

In VA Beach, where the public schools are fine but the parents are less obsessive, getting in to UVa often will get a student’s name on the sign board (yes, it is a bit uncommon, so still notable).

In FCPS, UVa attendance in particular is not atball uncommon. Every FCPS HS sends bunches there every year, and the typical HS kid goes to college somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, in other words, you want your kid to do less work than the kids who are actually accepted? I really can’t roll my eyes hard enough.

Same. And btw, you CAN get accepted to VT with an occasional B/B+ in foreign language or English if you excel across the board otherwise. Like another poster, my DD is a humanities kid but works really hard to do the advanced coursework in math and sciences. So, stop with the excuses. Many kids are getting A’s across the board. It’s a competitive environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reality also is that a state public university needs to accept students from all over the state. When I was at UVA, a very very high percentage of students came from NoVA — and that is still the case. For many of them, it clearly was HS a 2nd time and they had the same friends from home at UVa.

In Craig County, if any HS student gets accepted to any college, their name and school is posted on the HS sign board out front (meaning only maybe 10-12 per year go off to any college).

In VA Beach, where the public schools are fine but the parents are less obsessive, getting in to UVa often will get a student’s name on the sign board (yes, it is a bit uncommon, so still notable).

In FCPS, UVa attendance in particular is not atball uncommon. Every FCPS HS sends bunches there every year, and the typical HS kid goes to college somewhere.

Oh my god, you have been saying this on this site for years. I live in the area and this does not happen! Enough with name on the sign claim. Lots and lots of kids from Va Beach (and even Norfolk) get in to UVA and no one’s name is on any sign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5.

Oh my goodness. Universities want GPAs that exceed 4 from Virginia schools? Everybody gets a 4 weighted in Virginia if you even show up to class.

[Anonymous]

My son had three B+ grades on his transcript and was still admitted to VA Tech for engineering this year- do not rule out your child if they don’t get all As! It doesn’t just depend on their grades!