Duke vs. UVA (In-State)?

[Anonymous]

Ok so I guess we can agree that a student could make UVA 13th grade if they had friends who went there, roomed with them, and they hung out with their other friends from high school. Or, a child could choose an assigned roommate, and hang out with people not from their high school.

There is the potential of UVA being 13th grade, but the student could take steps to make sure that doesn't happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I'm glad that kids are branching out at UVA. It may be a plus that they like their high school friends and want to keep hanging out with them. No need to get so defensive there Hoos.

No one is being defensive. Just pointing out that, with the possible exception of TJ, Virginia public high schools aren't sending whole hordes of friends off to UVA together. Admissions are too competitive. In my case, two daughters went to UVA but none of their close friends got in.

TJ is about 2% or less of UVA and W&M undergraduate enrollment. That isn't that big of a concentration from one school. And some of the high schools are so large that the students that attend may not have even known each other other than in passing.

That's why I said [b]possible exception. But c'mon, if 100+ kids from the same high school go to the same college chances are there are good friends among them.

[/b]


Name one single high school that sends (actually sends) 100 students to UVA. You can't do it. Even Langley and McLean send only a few - they might have a larger aount accepted but that's not the same and entering. The very top students in VA use UVA as a backup in case they don't get into Ivy (case in point my DD). Even in her mega public high school only six actually showed up at UVA. The myth of 13th year of high school is totally a myth by those who couldn't get iin. In my DS's school, only two got into UVA and both went. They never have seen each other since the first year.

McLean consistently has over 50 kids admitted to UVA are ends up sending about 35. I’ve heard that’s also the case at South Lakes. So that’s more than a “few.” PP was probably referring to TJ sending over 100 kids to UVA. Maybe Robinson also did at the peak of its enrollment when it had graduating classes well over 700.

It would be more typical for two kids per year to go to Duke.

PP is correct -- most of the big public high schools in NOVA, especially the higher ranked ones (Langley, McLean, Yorktown, etc.) send a couple dozen kids or more to UVA each year. Still, other than TJ no single school comes close to being even one percent of the entering class.

I had two kids go to UVA from one of these high schools. One actually accepted a high school classmate's offer to be first-year roommates and came to regret it. They were friendly enough in high school that my kid felt obligated to agree, but they weren't super close, and once they got to UVA they had virtually nothing to do with each other and parted ways completely after the first year. (My kid ended up going Greek and the roommate didn't.)

My other kid was friendly enough with a couple of classmates from high school who also ended up at UVA but, again, other than say hello on Grounds they lead completely different social lives.

When 20 or 30 of your high school classmates join an entering class of nearly 4000 at UVA your experience is not going to be a fifth year of high school, especially if you don't room with one of them.

TJ doesn't send over 100 a year to UVA. It was 37 in 2019 according to the Bull Elephant: http://thebullelephant.com/college-destinations-for-tjhsst-class-of-2019/

[Anonymous]

The Bull Elephant. Sounds reputable. Link to TJ Today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok so I guess we can agree that a student could make UVA 13th grade if they had friends who went there, roomed with them, and they hung out with their other friends from high school. Or, a child could choose an assigned roommate, and hang out with people not from their high school.

There is the potential of UVA being 13th grade, but the student could take steps to make sure that doesn't happen.

Hardly unique to UVA. Big 3 kids could room with high school classmates at a fancy private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Bull Elephant. Sounds reputable. Link to TJ Today.

Same numbers. 37 to UVA.

https://issuu.com/tjtoday/docs/tjtoday_senior_issue_2019_for_web

[Anonymous]

Slightly different question - is it worth paying full price for an ivy if your kid also gets admitted to UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Slightly different question - is it worth paying full price for an ivy if your kid also gets admitted to UVA

Isn’t Duke better than some ivy schools such as Cornell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly different question - is it worth paying full price for an ivy if your kid also gets admitted to UVA

Isn’t Duke better than some ivy schools such as Cornell?

Duke is behind Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Same general tier as Columbia and Penn (probably a bit behind Columbia and ahead of Penn other than Wharton). Slightly ahead of Brown and Dartmouth, and ahead of Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Duke is behind Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Same general tier as Columbia and Penn (probably a bit behind Columbia and ahead of Penn other than Wharton). Slightly ahead of Brown and Dartmouth, and ahead of Cornell.

Don't feed the moronic trolls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Duke has a greater "prestige" factor and agree with other posts that your child will rub elbows with many more rich kids there. IS it worth the extra money- not sure.
Also Duke has a 6% acceptance rate so this is really not something to fret over unless your child gets in. He or she is statistically much more likely to get into UVA -even in-state from NoVa.

I disagree: It now takes a higher GPA and higher test scores to get into UVA over Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you run the NPC or the myintuition calculator? I don’t mean to be rude or snarky at all but admissions these days can be a lottery! I have heard a few admissions horror stories from the class of 2023.

Do tell, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student bodies are quite different. For example UVA is a prime destination of TJ families who want to save money. Duke is a prime destination of private high school families. You go to Duke you learn about that crew. You go to UVA and you spend your life in polite discussions about "the best state universities." Both are great.

So much anti-TJ venom on DCUM. The majority of undergraduate students at both schools went to public schools. The difference is not that dramatic. And while many TJ students do go to UVA, they still account for only a tiny fraction of the class. I had two kids who went to UVA and neither knew anyone from TJ.

You got anti-TJ venom from that? UVA being a prime destination for TJ families wanting to save money? Wow, you have a big chip on your shoulder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke, I absolutely loved it, and the opportunities it provided pulled me out of lower middle class to UMC. Yes, it paved my way for the crucial entry years of my career. After that no one cares. No one. If my kid got into both with no financial aid I would push UVA and help him buy a starter home with the difference.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Duke has a greater "prestige" factor and agree with other posts that your child will rub elbows with many more rich kids there. IS it worth the extra money- not sure.
Also Duke has a 6% acceptance rate so this is really not something to fret over unless your child gets in. He or she is statistically much more likely to get into UVA -even in-state from NoVa.

I disagree: It now takes a higher GPA and higher test scores to get into UVA over Duke

Ha ha no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is definitely more prestigious, and its alumni connections would likely reflect that. That is a consideration IMO for throughout one’s career. Also, facilities at a private university are going to be superior to a state school, even one as good as UVA. If you can swing it financially, I’d go with Duke.

Ehh....

Growing up in the fancy private school world in Baltimore, Duke and UVA were close enough in prestige. UVA was, and I'm sure it is, very popular even as an OOS option for affluent preppy southern-leaning families and all their UVA bound kids go into finance or law or investment management and do extremely well in life. Duke had some preppies, but also an equal amount of dorkies.

There's quite a few UVA alums working on Wall Street. UVA is very respected and has a long history. Duke alum circles aren't particularly more impressive especially outside the mid-Atlantic. I wouldn't pay to go to Duke if UVA was the in-state option unless money was absolutely no issue whatsoever.

FYI I went to an Ivy. The notion of prestige really greatly drops after your first post-Ivy job. Only HYP, and even then I'd argue only Harvard, can carry you further simply based on the school name.

But it matter a lot for landing that first job, prestige that is.