VA Tech EA

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Copied from Reddit below:

Seems like a lot of yield protection boys, lemme list me and my friends stats (we're all in-state, and we all got waitlisted)

Me - 1540 SAT, 3.94/4.49 gpa. Decent ECs, few board positions and founded a club

Friend 1: 1570 SAT, 3.93/4.48 gpa. Better ECs than mine, a few awards and a paid internship.

Friend 2: 1530 SAT, 4.0/4.5 gpa, way better ECs than mine, ISEF alternate, national level debater, president of a couple clubs and internships.

Friend 3: 1530 SAT, 3.93/4.48 gpa, on par with me for ECs, a couple board positions and Tennis varsity captain.

What a joke.

VT knows these kids won't attend as their first choice.

<div id="divenrollment.B10_FreshmanProfile" data-applicationUrl="https://research.schev.edu/" data-report="enrollment.B10_FreshmanProfile" data-autoSizing="height" data-linkParams="{'lbUNITID':'233921', 'lbREPYEAR':'2021'}" ></DIV>

But they likely would be happy to attend as their best value once they get all their acceptances.

And if they knew that upfront, they should have applied ED. Part of what is coming home to roost is the arrogance of high-stat kids (and their parents?) to collect acceptances from colleges they know they won’t attend. This is not a game. If a smart student can’t realistically identify a college that will accept them and their family can afford, they may lack common sense. Perhaps, parents need to be more involved in the application selection and strategy process.

Really? I doubt you have better common sense. So there is no point for having the concept of safety, match and reach schools?

There is, but when your reach is MIT, your match is Cornell, and your safety is VA Tech, there may be a problem, particularly if money is an issue (the previous poster mentioned value). If money is an issue, why not ED to UVA or VATech and target other state schools like Purdue or Illinois (for engineering).

Because for kids who money really is an issue, they need to compare financial aid packages and can't ED,

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:So one of the few useful things I’ve learned about on DCUM is the Common Data Set. After trying to follow this discussion (and also interested because my DC is a junior interested in Virginia Tech) I looked at it today. For the academic year 2020-2021 (kids who started as freshmen last fall) it says the following are “Very Important” for freshman admission decisions: Rigor of secondary record, academic GPA, Application Essay, First Generation, Geographical Residence, State Residency, and Racial/ethnic status. So instead of arguing or speculating, the CDC tells us what’s most important. Interestingly, nothing listed as “Important”, the second highest category. The following are “Considered”: standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, character/personal qualities, alumni relation, volunteer work, work experience. NOT considered: class rank, recommendations, interview, religious affiliation, level of applicant interest. It also says test scores will be considered if submitted for those applying for entrance in Fall 2022, which includes my junior.

It's important to note that the application essay is only their 4 specific questions. They do not look at the common app essay at all. They put a LOT of emphasis on the essays. The questions allow a pretty short answer (120 words) and cover:

1) A community you have been involved in and how you serve that community (very important to VT, reflected in their school motto)
2) A time you experienced or were involved in an act of discrimination (a chance for URMs in particular to show their resilience, harder Q for your typical White student to answer)
3) Example of leadership
4) Long term goal. It doesn't say it in the Q but Admissions told DS they are really looking here for a career goal. This is your chance to say how VT/particular major fits into your goals and how you have been working toward that. I wonder if this was a big miss for some of the high-stats kids that got waitlisted. Seems unfair to me that they aren't clear about that in the question.

Yes thank you for clarifying that by essay they mean their own Qs and not the Common App essay. I attended a virtual session the Va Tech admissions guy was on and he said point blank they do not even look at Common App essay. Fwiw, I don’t see the problem with the discrimination question. If you can’t think of a first hand experience I should think everyone could come up with an example being witness to a friend or classmate or relative or neighbor etc. experiencing discrimination. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

[Anonymous]

To reiterate... Many kids answering VT’s question on discrimination are being actively discriminated against based on race. By VT. But I pity the naive kids that pointed it out.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What is pathetic is that being a minority/experiencing discrimination is important for admission to an educational institution. Social engineering at its finest.

This! (I'm a minority).

Totally agree. DS wrote about an issue in his school that he actually had no involvement in but as if he knew the kids involved and regretted not standing up to them when the talk started around the lunch table (he did get accepted). He also considered writing about the time in middle school when he had to do an "about me" presentation, included something about being a Christian and was laughed at for that. But we didn't think that was the kind of discrimination VT was interested in from an UMC White boy so opted not to do that.

I did some looking for any explanation VT gave when they revamped their admissions a few years ago and found this article: https://roanoke.com/news/education/virginia-tech-to-revamp-application-process-for-potential-new-students/article_9b4e5a35-c3c1-546c-81d1-5690a85f4c3c.html

Sounds like at that point they hadn't finalized the four questions but did say:

According to Virginia Tech interim director for admissions Juan Espinoza, the school will ask students questions that will show skills in the following areas:

Positive Self-concept
Recognizes and accepts any strengths and deficiencies, especially academic, and works hard at self-development.
Exhibits a realistic view of the system based upon personal experience. Committed to improving the existing system. Takes an assertive approach to dealing with existing wrongs, but is not hostile to society, nor is a "cop-out."
Plans ahead and sets goals.
Seeks and takes advantage of a strong support network or has someone to turn to in a crisis or for encouragement.
Demonstrates strong leadership in any area of his/her background (e.g. church, sports, non-educational groups, etc.).
Participates and is involved in his/her community.
Acquires knowledge in a sustained and/or culturally related ways in any field.

Not all of these made it specifically into the final question but the "discrimination" Q clearly addresses the "realistic view of the system."

The Christian discrimination one would have been a great opportunity to write about empathizing with others who face religious discrimination. If he in a predominantly Christian country faces discrimination, religious minorities must have it hard. He could have said how it made him appreciate that he lives in a country with a constitution that allows for religious freedom....

[Anonymous]

They aren’t looking for religious discrimination (other than Muslim) they want racial/LGBTQ examples (not Asian) Those are the “good” ones.

[Anonymous]

Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The Christian discrimination one would have been a great opportunity to write about empathizing with others who face religious discrimination. If he in a predominantly Christian country faces discrimination, religious minorities must have it hard. He could have said how it made him appreciate that he lives in a country with a constitution that allows for religious freedom....

It might have but with only 120 words to work with that's not much space to describe the ncident and then draw those parallels and reflections in a meaningful way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Son’s classmate got into Cornell and UVA. Waitlisted at Tech.

Son got into UVA and waitlisted Tech, oh well, still a few RD decisions forthcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To reiterate... Many kids answering VT’s question on discrimination are being actively discriminated against based on race. By VT. But I pity the naive kids that pointed it out.

Bingo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They aren’t looking for religious discrimination (other than Muslim) they want racial/LGBTQ examples (not Asian) Those are the “good” ones.

So true. There are very specific answers they’re looking for. Woe to the student who doesn’t have a good discrimination/victim story to tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They aren’t looking for religious discrimination (other than Muslim) they want racial/LGBTQ examples (not Asian) Those are the “good” ones.

So true. There are very specific answers they’re looking for. Woe to the student who doesn’t have a good discrimination/victim story to tell.

Pro tip to next year's parents.. Make up a story for the next year. They have no way of checking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They aren’t looking for religious discrimination (other than Muslim) they want racial/LGBTQ examples (not Asian) Those are the “good” ones.

So true. There are very specific answers they’re looking for. Woe to the student who doesn’t have a good discrimination/victim story to tell.

Pro tip to next year's parents.. Make up a story for the next year. They have no way of checking.

Meh, my kid wrote about being a young conservative in today's society...accepted. It was a safety and they spent a total of 30 minutes on the essays, they will be attending another school but I do believe they are looking beyond race for what it's worth.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Guessing here, without direct knowledge, that a high stats ED kid stands a far better chance of admission than EA. They are really trying to shift to becoming a school of opportunities for those who haven’t had opportunities. If you are high stats and committed, that’s one thing. If you’re using it as one of 5 safety schools, they’d rather skip over you and offer the opportunity to someone who needs it. There are some casualties here: high stats kids for whom VT is first choice but they didn’t apply ED. Chances are good those kids will be accepted through the waitlist; sadly many move in.

Keep in mind also, they will be reabsorbing those who deferred this year. Likely many more than usual.

+1 They've made it clear that increasing enrollment of first-gen and underrepresented groups is a huge priority. If you aren't that and VT is your first choice you really should apply ED. My son didn't want to commit to ED because he wanted to give UVA a shot (rejected there). I was really nervous about that decision but it worked out OK as he did get in to VT.

Don't know if that is really true but if it is - those who came with pitchforks at magnet high schools need to understand that the equity movement cannot be just contained to one high school. It will spread to VT and UVA and all of higher education slowly but surely.

It's true. It's on their website to have 40% of their incoming freshman class in 2022 be first gen or URM.

At least 40%.

How do you explain to a teen, with above those stats, that she isn't "good enough" for the school she wanted because her skin is the wrong color?? Now the teen thinks that no matter what she does, she won't be "good enough" for anyone. This topic isn't discussed in our house, and maybe that is the problem, but I certainly wasn't going to be the one to bring this harsh reality up. She is a passionate young lady, who loves to study, and has always initiated her interests on her own - we never pushed for anything, and maybe we should have, but we didn't (know any better), because we (the parents) are first generation. But second generation? Eff them, they get nothing. How on earth do I explain this to her?? She thinks her hard work and passion means nothing and has no place, and that none of it matters. Her stats are well outside and exceed the scattergram. She never thought hey would say no to her, because she showed interest and has everything they should want - any school really, but she wants this one, and we are having her make her own decisions. This school was her decision. She is really lost right now.

I’m so sorry for your DD. I don’t know how you explain it. And I was a poor first generation white lid but am proud to say I did it all with hard work and grit. No e rewarded people for having uneducated parents when I went to college. I don’t understand why 40 per cent of VT should be for first generation students except that the President is using it as an end run to bring in more students that wouldn’t be able to get there otherwise. And that does not seem fair. Just to clarify, Vt is only 69.5% white as it now stands. It is TJ all over again

Don't think you know sh*t about TJ. TJ admission has been purely based on merit, which is what non-Asian people are complaining about. VT is not.

Aren’t you lovely. Yes, it’s the same -the movement is called “equity” and it will dumb down our great institutions of higher education

The institutions won't be dumbed down. First generation kids who've never had a tutor, enrichment classes or parents who can help them academically and still have good grades will be just as successful as kids who've had those things and may have slightly higher grades or more extracurricular activities. Maybe colleges are realizing that after a certain threshold, better grades don't translate into better all around students. Studies show that going to a top tier school has no real impact on career success except for URMs. Your kids and my kids will do well regardless of where they end up. There are thousands of colleges, no one is being denied college admissions. Let's hope this brings us back to a place where people aren't so obsessed about where their kids get in and maybe that will help bring college costs back in line with the value of a college education these days.

[Anonymous]

Who are you kidding? Of course the courses will be dumbed down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Copied from Reddit below:

Seems like a lot of yield protection boys, lemme list me and my friends stats (we're all in-state, and we all got waitlisted)

Me - 1540 SAT, 3.94/4.49 gpa. Decent ECs, few board positions and founded a club

Friend 1: 1570 SAT, 3.93/4.48 gpa. Better ECs than mine, a few awards and a paid internship.

Friend 2: 1530 SAT, 4.0/4.5 gpa, way better ECs than mine, ISEF alternate, national level debater, president of a couple clubs and internships.

Friend 3: 1530 SAT, 3.93/4.48 gpa, on par with me for ECs, a couple board positions and Tennis varsity captain.

What a joke.

VT knows these kids won't attend as their first choice.

<div id="divenrollment.B10_FreshmanProfile" data-applicationUrl="https://research.schev.edu/" data-report="enrollment.B10_FreshmanProfile" data-autoSizing="height" data-linkParams="{'lbUNITID':'233921', 'lbREPYEAR':'2021'}" ></DIV>

But they likely would be happy to attend as their best value once they get all their acceptances.

And if they knew that upfront, they should have applied ED. Part of what is coming home to roost is the arrogance of high-stat kids (and their parents?) to collect acceptances from colleges they know they won’t attend. This is not a game. If a smart student can’t realistically identify a college that will accept them and their family can afford, they may lack common sense. Perhaps, parents need to be more involved in the application selection and strategy process.

Really? I doubt you have better common sense. So there is no point for having the concept of safety, match and reach schools?

There is, but when your reach is MIT, your match is Cornell, and your safety is VA Tech, there may be a problem, particularly if money is an issue (the previous poster mentioned value). If money is an issue, why not ED to UVA or VATech and target other state schools like Purdue or Illinois (for engineering).

Because for kids who money really is an issue, they need to compare financial aid packages and can't ED,

Cornell is not a match for anyone. Unless you are a high stat URM or legacy or athlete. Its a reach for everyone else