Would you take Tufts, Emory, Wash U over UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe for Northern VA, but it is pretty easy to get in UVA if you are outside the beltway/95 area. They don't take kids just from Fairfax and Richmond.

It is also easier OOS if you don't apply for FAFSA. They take those full paying families pretty darn quickly.

The admissions rate is higher in NOVA than for Virginia overall and UVA is need blind in admissions.

http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/b8_admissions_locality.asp

38% Virginia overall admissions rate
39.2% Fairfax
38.6% Loudoun
35.5% Arlington
40.4% Alexandria
40.7% Falls Church
40.0% Fairfax City


I don't know all the counties around Richmond, but here are some.

40.4% Henrico
37.5% Goochland
33.0% Hanover
41.4% Richmond
34.7% Chesterfield
32.0% Powhatan

No school is actually need blind, you know that, right? Even Ivy’s aren’t.

Also, I am talking stats. Look at NOVA stats vs the rest of the state stats of who is accepted/denied into UVA. That is where it is easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys so OP here. Thanks. Yes we have about 90K each for each of first two kids (180k for avoidance of doubt). 50k for third kid 2 years behind. So will have three in college for two years. HHI was like low 200s but last 3/4 years has been 300K. Another 170k total from two rental properties (net after taxes) we plan to sell. Could raise around 450K pretty quickly. Easily pay in state. Basically, I know for one kid she is IVY or UVA if she doesn't get in ED to an Ivy (barring merit aid). She will ED Ivy. Worth it in my view.

Issue is the second one. He is not strong enough to ED Ivy but real shot at the tier below. Going to be hard to tell him not to ED a top 20ish school. He is more than fine going to UVA or William and Mary. Will ED2 W&M if he doesn't get in to the ED choice (whichever it is--Emory, Wash U, or Tufts).

Honesty, I think Tufts and Wash U are probably low tier Ivyish. Jury out on Emory.

Loans are an option right? Pay 2 years each for each of three kids and loans for the other two. We can pay them off later for them.

I would place W&M as a better option than these--you get the reputation and the personalized relationship with faculty--unless the appeal is to go out of state. I wouldn't be SO tied to rankings like this. Tufts/Wash U is not going to give a measurable "outcome" difference than W&M/UVA--and W&M will have a similar academic style. Maybe sell your DS on an exchange program, supported internship etc. that could offset not applying ED to a school that costs so much more but doesn't offer measurably more? Or maybe encourage him to ED to a skyrocket reach (Ivy) and ED2 and EA to the reasonable (W&M/UVA)?

Very good points. I don't see appreciable differences here between Tufts/WashU/Emory (and I view WashU and Tufts a bit above Emory) and UVA/W&M. Iyf you are in-state, ou can put the money toward something else that may enhance their experience or opportunities. W&M will be more similar size and feel to those schools. UVA is a larger option.

There is a category of school that will turn heads/get more attention that UVA/W&M (and more global recognition), but I would say that is more of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke etc. category. I don't really see much distinction here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys so OP here. Thanks. Yes we have about 90K each for each of first two kids (180k for avoidance of doubt). 50k for third kid 2 years behind. So will have three in college for two years. HHI was like low 200s but last 3/4 years has been 300K. Another 170k total from two rental properties (net after taxes) we plan to sell. Could raise around 450K pretty quickly. Easily pay in state. Basically, I know for one kid she is IVY or UVA if she doesn't get in ED to an Ivy (barring merit aid). She will ED Ivy. Worth it in my view.

Issue is the second one. He is not strong enough to ED Ivy but real shot at the tier below. Going to be hard to tell him not to ED a top 20ish school. He is more than fine going to UVA or William and Mary. Will ED2 W&M if he doesn't get in to the ED choice (whichever it is--Emory, Wash U, or Tufts).

Honesty, I think Tufts and Wash U are probably low tier Ivyish. Jury out on Emory.

Loans are an option right? Pay 2 years each for each of three kids and loans for the other two. We can pay them off later for them.

I would place W&M as a better option than these--you get the reputation and the personalized relationship with faculty--unless the appeal is to go out of state. I wouldn't be SO tied to rankings like this. Tufts/Wash U is not going to give a measurable "outcome" difference than W&M/UVA--and W&M will have a similar academic style. Maybe sell your DS on an exchange program, supported internship etc. that could offset not applying ED to a school that costs so much more but doesn't offer measurably more? Or maybe encourage him to ED to a skyrocket reach (Ivy) and ED2 and EA to the reasonable (W&M/UVA)?

Very good points. I don't see appreciable differences here between Tufts/WashU/Emory (and I view WashU and Tufts a bit above Emory) and UVA/W&M. Iyf you are in-state, ou can put the money toward something else that may enhance their experience or opportunities. W&M will be more similar size and feel to those schools. UVA is a larger option.

There is a category of school that will turn heads/get more attention that UVA/W&M (and more global recognition), but I would say that is more of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke etc. category. I don't really see much distinction here.

OP here. I get it; but what about other schools. I would think any Ivy would be better. Even Dartmouth or Cornell. Both my older kids want to go to law school, so would law school's care between Ivy Undergrad and UVA/W&M. As an attorney, that went to a top 50ish undergrad and a top 60ish law school, I would say yes. I did okay but I tend to think had I gone to a higher ranked undergrad, I would have gotten into a higher ranked law school and therefore more likely to be a partner at a law firm and make more money (as opposed to being in-house and making decent money).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys so OP here. Thanks. Yes we have about 90K each for each of first two kids (180k for avoidance of doubt). 50k for third kid 2 years behind. So will have three in college for two years. HHI was like low 200s but last 3/4 years has been 300K. Another 170k total from two rental properties (net after taxes) we plan to sell. Could raise around 450K pretty quickly. Easily pay in state. Basically, I know for one kid she is IVY or UVA if she doesn't get in ED to an Ivy (barring merit aid). She will ED Ivy. Worth it in my view.

Issue is the second one. He is not strong enough to ED Ivy but real shot at the tier below. Going to be hard to tell him not to ED a top 20ish school. He is more than fine going to UVA or William and Mary. Will ED2 W&M if he doesn't get in to the ED choice (whichever it is--Emory, Wash U, or Tufts).

Honesty, I think Tufts and Wash U are probably low tier Ivyish. Jury out on Emory.

Loans are an option right? Pay 2 years each for each of three kids and loans for the other two. We can pay them off later for them.

I would place W&M as a better option than these--you get the reputation and the personalized relationship with faculty--unless the appeal is to go out of state. I wouldn't be SO tied to rankings like this. Tufts/Wash U is not going to give a measurable "outcome" difference than W&M/UVA--and W&M will have a similar academic style. Maybe sell your DS on an exchange program, supported internship etc. that could offset not applying ED to a school that costs so much more but doesn't offer measurably more? Or maybe encourage him to ED to a skyrocket reach (Ivy) and ED2 and EA to the reasonable (W&M/UVA)?

Very good points. I don't see appreciable differences here between Tufts/WashU/Emory (and I view WashU and Tufts a bit above Emory) and UVA/W&M. Iyf you are in-state, ou can put the money toward something else that may enhance their experience or opportunities. W&M will be more similar size and feel to those schools. UVA is a larger option.

There is a category of school that will turn heads/get more attention that UVA/W&M (and more global recognition), but I would say that is more of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke etc. category. I don't really see much distinction here.

OP here. I get it; but what about other schools. I would think any Ivy would be better. Even Dartmouth or Cornell. Both my older kids want to go to law school, so would law school's care between Ivy Undergrad and UVA/W&M. As an attorney, that went to a top 50ish undergrad and a top 60ish law school, I would say yes. I did okay but I tend to think had I gone to a higher ranked undergrad, I would have gotten into a higher ranked law school and therefore more likely to be a partner at a law firm and make more money (as opposed to being in-house and making decent money).

Top law schools are looking for high LSATs and high GPAs from a reputable school. If your kid does well on the SATs, they are probably good on standardized tests and will do well on the LSAT. This is the case for most Ivy kids. The Ivy league schools actually have among the highest average GPAs as well, which helps. So if they can get in, yes, it could be an advantage, but it won't change LSAT and if they could get in your kid could probably do pretty well GPA wise at other schools.

Even the Ivy League has tiers. I would say it is HYP, then Columbia, Penn, Brown, with Cornell viewed at the bottom (other than engineering). Dartmouth has become less desirable over the last couple of decades as kids seem to want more urban colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys so OP here. Thanks. Yes we have about 90K each for each of first two kids (180k for avoidance of doubt). 50k for third kid 2 years behind. So will have three in college for two years. HHI was like low 200s but last 3/4 years has been 300K. Another 170k total from two rental properties (net after taxes) we plan to sell. Could raise around 450K pretty quickly. Easily pay in state. Basically, I know for one kid she is IVY or UVA if she doesn't get in ED to an Ivy (barring merit aid). She will ED Ivy. Worth it in my view.

Issue is the second one. He is not strong enough to ED Ivy but real shot at the tier below. Going to be hard to tell him not to ED a top 20ish school. He is more than fine going to UVA or William and Mary. Will ED2 W&M if he doesn't get in to the ED choice (whichever it is--Emory, Wash U, or Tufts).

Honesty, I think Tufts and Wash U are probably low tier Ivyish. Jury out on Emory.

Loans are an option right? Pay 2 years each for each of three kids and loans for the other two. We can pay them off later for them.

I would place W&M as a better option than these--you get the reputation and the personalized relationship with faculty--unless the appeal is to go out of state. I wouldn't be SO tied to rankings like this. Tufts/Wash U is not going to give a measurable "outcome" difference than W&M/UVA--and W&M will have a similar academic style. Maybe sell your DS on an exchange program, supported internship etc. that could offset not applying ED to a school that costs so much more but doesn't offer measurably more? Or maybe encourage him to ED to a skyrocket reach (Ivy) and ED2 and EA to the reasonable (W&M/UVA)?

Very good points. I don't see appreciable differences here between Tufts/WashU/Emory (and I view WashU and Tufts a bit above Emory) and UVA/W&M. Iyf you are in-state, ou can put the money toward something else that may enhance their experience or opportunities. W&M will be more similar size and feel to those schools. UVA is a larger option.

There is a category of school that will turn heads/get more attention that UVA/W&M (and more global recognition), but I would say that is more of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke etc. category. I don't really see much distinction here.

OP here. I get it; but what about other schools. I would think any Ivy would be better. Even Dartmouth or Cornell. Both my older kids want to go to law school, so would law school's care between Ivy Undergrad and UVA/W&M. As an attorney, that went to a top 50ish undergrad and a top 60ish law school, I would say yes. I did okay but I tend to think had I gone to a higher ranked undergrad, I would have gotten into a higher ranked law school and therefore more likely to be a partner at a law firm and make more money (as opposed to being in-house and making decent money).

Top law schools are looking for high LSATs and high GPAs from a reputable school. If your kid does well on the SATs, they are probably good on standardized tests and will do well on the LSAT. This is the case for most Ivy kids. The Ivy league schools actually have among the highest average GPAs as well, which helps. So if they can get in, yes, it could be an advantage, but it won't change LSAT and if they could get in your kid could probably do pretty well GPA wise at other schools.

Even the Ivy League has tiers. I would say it is HYP, then Columbia, Penn, Brown, with Cornell viewed at the bottom (other than engineering). Dartmouth has become less desirable over the last couple of decades as kids seem to want more urban colleges.

I don't think Cornell is going to make too much difference compared to UVA and W&M. The others might to varying degrees. Yale University used to periodically publish the number of Yale Law students by undergraduate institution, and you could see a heavy bias to top schools. But there have also been studies that show that outcomes for top high school students aren't substantially different based on their college choice. Top high school students with the same stats going to a less prestigious school has similar outcomes to more prestigious schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey guys so OP here. Thanks. Yes we have about 90K each for each of first two kids (180k for avoidance of doubt). 50k for third kid 2 years behind. So will have three in college for two years. HHI was like low 200s but last 3/4 years has been 300K. Another 170k total from two rental properties (net after taxes) we plan to sell. Could raise around 450K pretty quickly. Easily pay in state. Basically, I know for one kid she is IVY or UVA if she doesn't get in ED to an Ivy (barring merit aid). She will ED Ivy. Worth it in my view.

Issue is the second one. He is not strong enough to ED Ivy but real shot at the tier below. Going to be hard to tell him not to ED a top 20ish school. He is more than fine going to UVA or William and Mary. Will ED2 W&M if he doesn't get in to the ED choice (whichever it is--Emory, Wash U, or Tufts).

Honesty, I think Tufts and Wash U are probably low tier Ivyish. Jury out on Emory.

Loans are an option right? Pay 2 years each for each of three kids and loans for the other two. We can pay them off later for them.

I would place W&M as a better option than these--you get the reputation and the personalized relationship with faculty--unless the appeal is to go out of state. I wouldn't be SO tied to rankings like this. Tufts/Wash U is not going to give a measurable "outcome" difference than W&M/UVA--and W&M will have a similar academic style. Maybe sell your DS on an exchange program, supported internship etc. that could offset not applying ED to a school that costs so much more but doesn't offer measurably more? Or maybe encourage him to ED to a skyrocket reach (Ivy) and ED2 and EA to the reasonable (W&M/UVA)?

Very good points. I don't see appreciable differences here between Tufts/WashU/Emory (and I view WashU and Tufts a bit above Emory) and UVA/W&M. Iyf you are in-state, ou can put the money toward something else that may enhance their experience or opportunities. W&M will be more similar size and feel to those schools. UVA is a larger option.

There is a category of school that will turn heads/get more attention that UVA/W&M (and more global recognition), but I would say that is more of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke etc. category. I don't really see much distinction here.

OP here. I get it; but what about other schools. I would think any Ivy would be better. Even Dartmouth or Cornell. Both my older kids want to go to law school, so would law school's care between Ivy Undergrad and UVA/W&M. As an attorney, that went to a top 50ish undergrad and a top 60ish law school, I would say yes. I did okay but I tend to think had I gone to a higher ranked undergrad, I would have gotten into a higher ranked law school and therefore more likely to be a partner at a law firm and make more money (as opposed to being in-house and making decent money).

Top law schools are looking for high LSATs and high GPAs from a reputable school. If your kid does well on the SATs, they are probably good on standardized tests and will do well on the LSAT. This is the case for most Ivy kids. The Ivy league schools actually have among the highest average GPAs as well, which helps. So if they can get in, yes, it could be an advantage, but it won't change LSAT and if they could get in your kid could probably do pretty well GPA wise at other schools.

Even the Ivy League has tiers. I would say it is HYP, then Columbia, Penn, Brown, with Cornell viewed at the bottom (other than engineering). Dartmouth has become less desirable over the last couple of decades as kids seem to want more urban colleges.

I also think law schools look more at LSAT and GPA than undergrad. I went to W&M undergrad, had 3.9 GPA and LSAT above 170, and got in every where I applied to law school including Harvard, Stanford, etc. I’m not an URM or unique in any other way. Perhaps though if your GPA and LSAT scores aren’t stellar, maybe it is easier to get in to a top law school if you went to an Ivy. I also think schools don’t want to ONLY be taking people from Ivies. That wouldn’t reflect well on their diversity of background.

[Anonymous]

I think private schools like Tufts and Emory have a networking advantage over the top state schools. I would think there’s probably more wealthy and well connected students at privates. I don’t think there’s much difference in academics, with the exception of a specialty one school or the other might have. Unless I could pay my kids private tuition just as easily as in-state tuition, I probably wouldn’t encourage my kid to go to the private school, but that’s because I don’t value getting ahead through connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think private schools like Tufts and Emory have a networking advantage over the top state schools. I would think there’s probably more wealthy and well connected students at privates. I don’t think there’s much difference in academics, with the exception of a specialty one school or the other might have. Unless I could pay my kids private tuition just as easily as in-state tuition, I probably wouldn’t encourage my kid to go to the private school, but that’s because I don’t value getting ahead through connections.

Not really - the wealthy kids tend to keep to themselves. And it is not at college but high school where the tight knit connections at privates are made

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having this debate in the household now. Basically, a border line top academic ranked in US News around 20-25 over 25 in US News. Worth double the money? The problem is DS will likely have to ED at one of those and will be committed (full pay) before we find out about UVA. Not sure worth double tuition though.

No one on this board can answer that for you. It's a question of fit. What best fits your kid? We don't know your kid.

The religious ferocity of people on this board about colleges is...misplaced.

[Anonymous]

I went to tufts and so wish I had gone to uva

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think private schools like Tufts and Emory have a networking advantage over the top state schools. I would think there’s probably more wealthy and well connected students at privates. I don’t think there’s much difference in academics, with the exception of a specialty one school or the other might have. Unless I could pay my kids private tuition just as easily as in-state tuition, I probably wouldn’t encourage my kid to go to the private school, but that’s because I don’t value getting ahead through connections.

Not really - the wealthy kids tend to keep to themselves. And it is not at college but high school where the tight knit connections at privates are made

Dumbest DCUM post of the day.

[Anonymous]

Former BigLaw partner and law school recruiter here. There is no question that UVA and William & Mary both are highly regarded by top law schools. Both send many graduates to Yale, Harvard, Stanford, etc., year in and year out. I know this personally because I have interviewed at each of these law schools many times over the years. While I personally would not encourage anyone to go to law school - at least not in pursuit of BigLaw, which is a nightmare - if anyone were insisting on going I’d strongly advise going to one of these two schools over the rest on OP’s list and save your money for law school tuition. The last thing you want to do is graduate from law school with a mountain of debt and be forced into a position that you hate simply because you need the money. If I saw that once in BigLaw, I saw it 1000 times.

I know it annoys posters to no end, but UVA does have an elite reputation in many circles, and top ranked law schools is unquestionably one of them.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm....go to some public state uni where 75% of the student bodies is from backwater VA or go to an actually diverse private with resources and an international alumni base? Not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm....go to some public state uni where 75% of the student bodies is from backwater VA or go to an actually diverse private with resources and an international alumni base? Not even close.

Once again, a slow pizza delivery night to the UMD dorms. Like clockwork, every Friday evening the ignorant comments pop up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm....go to some public state uni where 75% of the student bodies is from backwater VA or go to an actually diverse private with resources and an international alumni base? Not even close.

Once again, a slow pizza delivery night to the UMD dorms. Like clockwork, every Friday evening the ignorant comments pop up

and now they will post "crickets" and get no response because that's how lame they are.