It is so hard this year, McLean HS boy 4.6 GPA got rejected from UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:same exact story as OP for my kid. who is not going to an Ivy. UVA plays yield protection games and misses out on great kids. And then goes and accepts more OOS students than in-state students.

VA needs the OOS tuition.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s not “news” and isn’t a troll. It’s ok for a parent to enter an anonymous forum to express frustration. I do want to know if this is a white male. I worry about increasing racism as a result of this shift in the game. You assume you are too ranked based on measurements that, some argue, put some at a disadvantage. Schools try to create a student population that more adequately represents the world on a global scale, not just a historically white male dominated educational institution.

Meh my nephew is a white male who got in to VT with good but lower stats than OP. VT def rejects high stat kids who they think won’t go to VT.

+1

So does UVA.

Disagree. I'm a college counselor who has never seen UVA yield protect. But please post back if you have truth.

Good to know.

[Anonymous]

It’s strange when people are extremely fixated on attending UVA or VT yet refuse to do the nova cc transfer option.

[Anonymous]

The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

[Anonymous]

How many classes do NOVA schools have in high school? If the kid takes targeted 8/9 rigorous core APs (including 12th grade classes not yet in GPA) gets 5s, and skips some of the elective APs for none AP classes and then has a home run SAT and great ECs and essays then not surprising to have a 4.2 and get in. Test optional has changed the game for everyone, it has expanded what A/O’s are considering.

I would also note that OP has not provided the rest of the package for their son. It takes more than great grades.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It’s not “news” and isn’t a troll. It’s ok for a parent to enter an anonymous forum to express frustration. I do want to know if this is a white male. I worry about increasing racism as a result of this shift in the game. You assume you are too ranked based on measurements that, some argue, put some at a disadvantage. Schools try to create a student population that more adequately represents the world on a global scale, not just a historically white male dominated educational institution.

They said the majority admitted identified as more than one race when we attended the info session. It's pretty disheartening for Caucasian kids to basically be told 'need not apply' at every.single.info session-college tour. And every college flier we receive makes it look like all of these schools are 95% URM with the students they put on the cover. I mean if someone was up there in a room full of URMs saying 'the majority of our incoming are white (with a huge smile-isn't that great!!) there would be outrage and lawsuits...oh wait...dope!

You sound ridiculous. UVA is 56% white.

No, class of 2026 is only 47.2% white. Class of 2027, when settled, will be even lower"

Tpie chart shows that 47.3 percent of incoming students are White; 20.0 percent Asian-American; 8.1 percent Black; 7.6 percent Hispanic; 5.4 percent multi-race; 5.4 percent nonresident alient; and 5.9 percent unknown or other, which includes 0.1 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native and 0.1 percent Native ...Oct 21, 2022

The class of 2026, by the numbers - VIRGINIA Magazine

VIRGINIA Magazine
https://uvamagazine.org › articles › the_class_of_2026_b...

So in a state that is 20% African American, UVA is 8% black but the problem here is white enrollment. Ok.

I can barely visit DCUM anymore. The racism in almost every single thread is getting insane.

Same.

New poster: it’s not racism to state facts. There are Sup Ct cases on this topic: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/10/10/supreme-court-race-unc-admission/

There are stats on this topic: https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/577722-more-than-a-third-of-white-students-lie-about-their/amp/

URMs (among others) do get a thumb on the scale when evaluating their applications. Yes, they have to be qualified but an URM, 1st Gen, applicant from a rural area, etc DO get a leg up if they have the stats. Meanwhile, Asians rank lower in personality traits because they are Asian (a point in the Harvard case admitted by Harvard during oral arguments).

These are facts. It is easier for some to get in to schools, TJ, college certain programs, etc., if you have a hook, and a hook can absolutely be your race. Race can also be an anchor for some.

the scapegoating of blacks and Hispanics who make up a small percentage of admits and students at both schools is racist. There are a host of factors underpinning your FCPS snowflake’s rejection and to single that one out smacks of racism.

Wrong. It’s the process getting blamed.

I don’t know what thread you’re reading. How many diversity comments are on this thread alone? You won’t be happy til the “process” reduces the already low numbers to zero. That’s how you will decide whether the process is fair.

Incorrect. You think it’s about reducing the admitted kids from only certain groups. I’m looking at making it race blind. You can’t have it both ways.

You can’t say: Jim is an URM but had great stats and is as qualified as anyone else to be admitted and if you think he was admitted bc he’s an URM, you’re racist. If you think he shouldn’t be considered bc he’s an URM, you’re racist.


And then equally not be able to say: Jim is an URM. He’s qualified to be admitted. He was admitted or denied notwithstanding his race bc it was a race blind process.

The current process results in a class at Tech that is not even 15% URM. At what point will you believe that it’s race blind?

Tech is 40.4% URM and underserved students. It’s been a big goal of principal Sands to hit 40% URM and first-generation, which he did two years ago. Google it

Actually, isn’t it more accurate to say it’s 40.4% of setudent who self identify as URM and underserved students?

You would have ask Virginia Tech. They are very big on getting in more URMs and first generation, military, the poor, etc, Since the headmaster has been pushing this publicly since 2016, I would guess they track everything very closely and admit only the ones that fit their boxes

Seriously? There is no tracking or accountability. You think if someone checks off mixed race or African American they verify it. Absurd. It’s self identified only and we know what that means.

Yeah we know. It’s such an advantage that [b]tech has something like 8% black enrollment. Wow so many people must be checking the box. Before you throw out ridiculous accusations just check to see if the facts even begin to support it.

Is only relevant in comparison to the # of qualified Black applicants.

No. If you’re claiming that students who aren’t black are checking the box because it gives them an advantage then it has no relevance.

No, I’m claiming that it’s not relevant to cite the % of Black students at VT in isolation. If only a very tiny # of Black students applied to VT, then that 8% is not out-of-line & doesn’t suggest it is easier or harder for a Black student to get into VT than a student of another race.

Are you purposefully ignoring facts? It’s not just VT. It’s not just black. It’s Hispanic. It’s mixed race. It’s Pacific Islanders. It’s a fact it’s all based on self reporting and if it meant nothing - then, exactly as the Plaintiff said at the Supreme Court- why are they fighting against it so much? And quotes from the justices:

Justice Samuel Alito likened affirmative action to a race in which a minority applicant gets to “start five yards closer to the finish line”.

Brett Kavanaugh: “these racial classifications are potentially dangerous and must have a logical end point”

Alito again: “ If you give a ‘plus’ to a person who falls within the category of under-represented minority, but not to somebody else, you’re disadvantaging the latter student.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

Agreed, I don’t feel there is grade inflation in the honors and AP classes at Mclean, at least not in terms of getting As. It may be fairly easy to pull at least Bs but my bright and very diligent student is working his butt off trying to pull As instead of A minuses or B pluses in these classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

There are many families stretching their housing budgets to live wherever they live.

You chose to live in McLean. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. You could’ve chosen to live in a variety of other places. The inverse is not true.

[Anonymous]

In the U.S. race & SES are intertwined. Colleges can achieve the same goals as they currently try to reach by using affirmative action if they instead look at geographic diversity, zip code, parental occupations, title 1 high school or not etc. No big deal for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the U.S. race & SES are intertwined. Colleges can achieve the same goals as they currently try to reach by using affirmative action if they instead look at geographic diversity, zip code, parental occupations, title 1 high school or not etc. No big deal for them.

Eh https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/09/04/affirmative-action-should-be-based-on-class-not-race

Really?

[Anonymous]

^^ at Harvard, 71% of blacks are from wealthy backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

There are many families stretching their housing budgets to live wherever they live.

You chose to live in McLean. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. You could’ve chosen to live in a variety of other places. The inverse is not true.

I’m the pp. I will admit we are rich. I’m just saying not everyone is like us. My kids don’t want to go to UVA so I have no horse in this race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

Anonymous wrote: Agreed, I don’t feel there is grade inflation in the honors and AP classes at Mclean, at least not in terms of getting As. It may be fairly easy to pull at least Bs but my bright and very diligent student is working his butt off trying to pull As instead of A minuses or B pluses in these classes.

We also have a kid in McLean. FCPS does not let most kids take APs in 9th grade and only AP World History in 10th grade. If DC takes all possible honors and APs (including for foreign language), the max weighted GPA is about 4.5. It could be theoretically higher if DC does dual enrollment or is on a very advanced math track but the former doesn't get much traction if it's a NVCC course and the kids on the latter track are/should be at TJ anyway.

Also, there may be grade inflation in the courses but it is really dependent on the teacher. For example, one MHS English teacher is notorious for having an extremely tough curve, regardless of whether the class is regular, honors or AP. YMMV, in other words.

My older DC graduated from MHS in 2021; about 20% of the class had academic honors, e.g., a weighted GPA of at least 4.0. Perhaps that is grade inflation relative to 30-40 years ago, but it's not really grade inflation when compared with other counties that let kids start APs in 9th grade, or have a different weighting system.

Finally, the wailing and lamentations of McLean/Langley parents regarding UVA/VT/W&M is because many are financially constrained. They couldn't swing the costs of a Potomac, Landon or a Big 3, but wanted good opportunities from a higher income public high school district so they moved to McLean and Great Falls. They got those opportunities, but not the access to UVA/VT/W&M that they were counting on, so they have to move on to JMU/GMU/VCU, etc., because they can't afford OOS public or private costs. Not saying that we should feel pity for them, but just wanted to put this into context.

[Anonymous]

UVA does not yield protect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kid must have had one bad essay, bad extracurriculars and also is white or Asian.

We live in McLean. There are many families who stretch their housing budgets to live here. Not everyone is rich, especially in the public schools. Most of the rich kids attend private schools.

It is also very annoying to hear that kids have a 4.5+ because of grade inflation. It is difficult to get all As in all honors/AP classes.

Anonymous wrote: Agreed, I don’t feel there is grade inflation in the honors and AP classes at Mclean, at least not in terms of getting As. It may be fairly easy to pull at least Bs but my bright and very diligent student is working his butt off trying to pull As instead of A minuses or B pluses in these classes.

We also have a kid in McLean. FCPS does not let most kids take APs in 9th grade and only AP World History in 10th grade. If DC takes all possible honors and APs (including for foreign language), the max weighted GPA is about 4.5. It could be theoretically higher if DC does dual enrollment or is on a very advanced math track but the former doesn't get much traction if it's a NVCC course and the kids on the latter track are/should be at TJ anyway.

Also, there may be grade inflation in the courses but it is really dependent on the teacher. For example, one MHS English teacher is notorious for having an extremely tough curve, regardless of whether the class is regular, honors or AP. YMMV, in other words.

My older DC graduated from MHS in 2021; about 20% of the class had academic honors, e.g., a weighted GPA of at least 4.0. Perhaps that is grade inflation relative to 30-40 years ago, but it's not really grade inflation when compared with other counties that let kids start APs in 9th grade, or have a different weighting system.

Finally, the wailing and lamentations of McLean/Langley parents regarding UVA/VT/W&M is because many are financially constrained. They couldn't swing the costs of a Potomac, Landon or a Big 3, but wanted good opportunities from a higher income public high school district so they moved to McLean and Great Falls. They got those opportunities, but not the access to UVA/VT/W&M that they were counting on, so they have to move on to JMU/GMU/VCU, etc., because they can't afford OOS public or private costs. Not saying that we should feel pity for them, but just wanted to put this into context.

I’m not sure if I agree with your assessment about moving to McLean because they can’t afford privates. We moved to McLean for their strong public schools and close proximity to DC. While there are kids who want to go to UVA, most kids we know are considering private colleges.