UVA - Holistic Review

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Dean J keeps stressing that UVA does a holistic review.

But in reality all they look at is course selection ( did u take the hardest courses) and what grades did u get.

So is the “holistic” part just an act to be like a more “elite” school?

They are serious about rigor. Engineering applicant from NOVA with 4.5 and 1560 was waitlisted. Maxed out on math, history and science APs but did not bother to take Lang or lit. I warned him! Thats okay. 3rd year at UMD with a Google internship summer of 26.

This is where I get really annoyed with UVA admissions. I say that as an alum and as a parent of a kid who just applied. Your kid sounds great and it's UVA's loss. My kid also maxxed out on AP classes in most subjects, BUT he stopped taking a foreign language to do it. The classes he wanted to take wouldn't all fit if he took it so he made a choice. We supported him following his interests. We'll see what UVA does.

They say what they want and then you get mad when their decision reflects that? We all know they consider language a core subject.

No I don't know what their decision is yet. I disagree with their formulaic focus on a foreign language in admissions, no matter what the kid's interests. I think they should consider the transcript more broadly in light of its rigor and the student's interests, not one particular subject. It seems ludicrous to penalize a STEM kid for taking a two-period AP science course instead of continuing with a foreign language.

UVA is far from the only top school for which four years of a language is recommended. At any of these schools you will be competing for admission against students who took an equally rigorous curriculum as you AND also did four years of a language. That includes other “STEM kids”. You may disagree with this, but it’s a fact and it won’t change. Any student who wants to be competitive simply has to do that instead of “following their interests”. If you advised your kid otherwise you did your kid a disservice.

They are telling you very very clearly that if you are that interested in STEM and only in STEM, UVA is not the right school for you. V Tech is a better fit.

They did not tell that to the kids who applied to the UVA engineering school. Every kid I know who is there took four years of FL in high school.

Welp, you don’t know my daughter. Second year system engineering and stopped with Spanish 4 sophomore year of HS. Doing great! And before we hear the whole blah blah you’ll have to take in college, she’s going abroad in Spain and taking another class then. Yes, it’s a recommendation. But if you take FL all four years of high school, it’s neither a guarantee that you’ll get in nor a reason to assume you won’t (hello holistic admissions).

Again this idiotic sample size of 1 to make broad generalizations.

+100

[Anonymous]

You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dean J keeps stressing that UVA does a holistic review.

But in reality all they look at is course selection ( did u take the hardest courses) and what grades did u get.

So is the “holistic” part just an act to be like a more “elite” school?

They are serious about rigor. Engineering applicant from NOVA with 4.5 and 1560 was waitlisted. Maxed out on math, history and science APs but did not bother to take Lang or lit. I warned him! Thats okay. 3rd year at UMD with a Google internship summer of 26.

This is where I get really annoyed with UVA admissions. I say that as an alum and as a parent of a kid who just applied. Your kid sounds great and it's UVA's loss. My kid also maxxed out on AP classes in most subjects, BUT he stopped taking a foreign language to do it. The classes he wanted to take wouldn't all fit if he took it so he made a choice. We supported him following his interests. We'll see what UVA does.

They say what they want and then you get mad when their decision reflects that? We all know they consider language a core subject.

No I don't know what their decision is yet. I disagree with their formulaic focus on a foreign language in admissions, no matter what the kid's interests. I think they should consider the transcript more broadly in light of its rigor and the student's interests, not one particular subject. It seems ludicrous to penalize a STEM kid for taking a two-period AP science course instead of continuing with a foreign language.

UVA is far from the only top school for which four years of a language is recommended. At any of these schools you will be competing for admission against students who took an equally rigorous curriculum as you AND also did four years of a language. That includes other “STEM kids”. You may disagree with this, but it’s a fact and it won’t change. Any student who wants to be competitive simply has to do that instead of “following their interests”. If you advised your kid otherwise you did your kid a disservice.

They are telling you very very clearly that if you are that interested in STEM and only in STEM, UVA is not the right school for you. V Tech is a better fit.

They did not tell that to the kids who applied to the UVA engineering school. Every kid I know who is there took four years of FL in high school.

Welp, you don’t know my daughter. Second year system engineering and stopped with Spanish 4 sophomore year of HS. Doing great! And before we hear the whole blah blah you’ll have to take in college, she’s going abroad in Spain and taking another class then. Yes, it’s a recommendation. But if you take FL all four years of high school, it’s neither a guarantee that you’ll get in nor a reason to assume you won’t (hello holistic admissions).

I think you may be confused. UVA engineering students do not have a foreign language requirement. That’s why some high school students with less than four years of high school language (and sometimes women too, to bolster the female number) get in providing they demonstrate strong interest in STEM and have taken the coursework to prove it

+1 My DC got in UVA SEAS after stopping FL after sophmore year in FCPS high school (but took a year in Middle School). If you DC is applying to somemthing other than SEAS, I strongly recommend 4 years of FL based on the sum total of years of anecdotes and meeting other UVA non-SEAS parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

Exactly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This language requirement is a bit unclear.
My DS applied to CAS. He completed the highest level of his language in his sophomore year of high school and then did not take any additional language courses in his junior or senior year. Will this be an issue?
His other subjects are also at the highest level of rigor.

Last cycle, my DC got into UVA arts and sciences and only took 2 years of language in high school (3rd level and AP).

AND hooked, right?

No. DC is not hooked. We are from NoVA. Ultimately ended up at HYPSM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This language requirement is a bit unclear.
My DS applied to CAS. He completed the highest level of his language in his sophomore year of high school and then did not take any additional language courses in his junior or senior year. Will this be an issue?
His other subjects are also at the highest level of rigor.

Last cycle, my DC got into UVA arts and sciences and only took 2 years of language in high school (3rd level and AP).

AND hooked, right?

No. DC is not hooked. We are from NoVA. Ultimately ended up at HYPSM.

ROTC? That’s a HUGE hook. One of the best .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Yep. We move to Virginia middle of high school and the school didn’t offer DC’s language, so they switched to another. Thought 4 years total would do it but no. Need all four in the same language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Yep. We move to Virginia middle of high school and the school didn’t offer DC’s language, so they switched to another. Thought 4 years total would do it but no. Need all four in the same language.

DP. There’s no way of knowing that that’s the single reason your kid didn’t get in. I don’t think an otherwise strong candidate is penalized for something that isn’t even offered at their school.

That said, my kid taking year 4 of French online right now because it’s not offered at her high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Yes they say it. But not having it is not disqualifying. They are looking for lots of things. But I’m tired of arguing. I know what’s true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Yes they say it. But not having it is not disqualifying. They are looking for lots of things. But I’m tired of arguing. I know what’s true.

Everyone thinks they know what’s true. Do you work on the admissions office?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

If you were planning your kid’s high school curriculum, starting in 9th grade, would you go with “four years of a language because that’s what most kids who get in do” or would you go with “some random anons said it’s not a deal breaker, don’t worry about it”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Well, not only that, Dean J says it repeatedly in the literature, on College Confidential and on podcasts. Most T25s expect this. This isn't rocket science, folks. Sure, there are exceptions here and there, usually women applying to the sciences with serious science backgrounds, but this is the top schools' goals - they say they are educating the world citizens of tomorrow who will have to deal in multiple languages. Either pay attention or don't and apply below T25/26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You guys are the ones making broad generalizations of needing foreign language senior year. There are several people telling you it’s not true. I’m sure it helps an application but it is not a deal breaker, despite your insisting that it is.

A UVA official told us directly they want foreign language all the way through. It's not something I made up. I wish it was not the case.

Yes they say it. But not having it is not disqualifying. They are looking for lots of things. But I’m tired of arguing. I know what’s true.

Everyone thinks they know what’s true. Do you work on the admissions office?

I know that it's not disqualifying because if it were, my kid would not have gotten in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This language requirement is a bit unclear.
My DS applied to CAS. He completed the highest level of his language in his sophomore year of high school and then did not take any additional language courses in his junior or senior year. Will this be an issue?
His other subjects are also at the highest level of rigor.

Last cycle, my DC got into UVA arts and sciences and only took 2 years of language in high school (3rd level and AP).

AND hooked, right?

No. DC is not hooked. We are from NoVA. Ultimately ended up at HYPSM.

ROTC? That’s a HUGE hook. One of the best .

??? WTH. No ROTC either.