UVA just offered spots to 57 people on its wait-list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

My kid loves W&M, but honestly is somewhat bothered by the lower ranking. She is deciding between W&M (where she loves everything, but the ranking) v. UVA (where she mainly loves it for the ranking). She understands that the ranking methodology is based on things that don't affect her personally (i.e. Pell grant recipients) - but still seeing the ranking so far away from UVA is bothersome to her. Yet, W&M is one of those rare schools that seems to have maintained its prestige and reputation without the corresponding ranking. I wonder if its small size made it unable to cater to the metrics that are important in the rankings.

DD feels pressured to go to UVA (from her friends mainly b/c of the ranking), but she, too, genuinely feels like W&M is a better fit. She wants to like UVA b/c she is "supposed to," but keeps feeling drawn to W&M. We are going to the admitted students event this weekend and will most likely make a decision at the end of the day.

NP. Very good point. I can definitely see that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/something-different-waitlists-this-year?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_j3M-nranCg5ZNuBJdnLIuWTDKis_lclCcnSBVik8irH4Y_IKikCzbHaRyNCNuKbLZmMOwU1I3Kp1Fe_eABadhfUg02A&_hsmi=302227906

One "expert" who studies WL movement thinks something is up with the UVA WL movement already. And yes, 57 is a big number.

Ha ha this is really funny to read. First. she said 57 is a small number - not a big one. Second she made clear that this DOESN’T necessitate mean “something is up”: “Then again, it was only 57 students. Maybe these were students that UVA had planned to admit all along, but had to delay it for optics or other institutional priorities.”

Your post serves as a good reminder that it’s always best to go to the original source.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

Lol “we”

DP but yep, it’s a “we”. We talked about the financials together and decided. I’m not letting my kids make huge financial decisions (that I will mostly pay for!) without the bigger picture of what it means. Now, had he decided he didn’t care that he would have thousands in loans after, I guess I would not have stopped him. But for sure he didn’t just come down one day and tell me where he’s going.

100%! People here get triggered whenever a parent suggests that it wasn't just their non- independently wealthy 18 year old kid making the college decision. Granted, what the kid wants is important, but most kids would not be able to go to college without the parent's finances. Therefore, I don't see a problem with making the college decision somewhat collaborative with the parents.

Just stop. The “we’s” here were talking about UVA versus WM. There’s not such a dramatic difference between in state cost that the parents need to weigh in.

[Anonymous]

My DD also feels like she should want UVA based on its rank, but she really doesn’t. Also, she’s not a STEM kid, so VT doesn’t appeal either.

She’s leaning towards honors college at either VCU or UMW for an “artsy” major.

It’s hard to ignore school rank but I want her to be happy with her choice and go where she thinks she would thrive. The big fish/little pond concept has merit. Also, the biggest lesson in growing up is to listen to your own inner voice and tune out the naysayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD also feels like she should want UVA based on its rank, but she really doesn’t. Also, she’s not a STEM kid, so VT doesn’t appeal either.

She’s leaning towards honors college at either VCU or UMW for an “artsy” major.

It’s hard to ignore school rank but I want her to be happy with her choice and go where she thinks she would thrive. The big fish/little pond concept has merit. Also, the biggest lesson in growing up is to listen to your own inner voice and tune out the naysayers.

While VCU arts is excellent for art majors, I would mainly be concerned with campus safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

W&M might as well be an all female school at this point.

This might be the dumbest comment on DCUM today. Congrats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

This shows that you didn’t pay any attention to the methodology. I would refer you to one of the other threads that explains the drop. It’s not in free fall in terms of quality or reputation.

The methodology has always been flawed. Those that boosted the rankings in the past helped create the frenzy and now it’s too late even though in this case, the W&M ranking is inconvenient for your narrative.

+1
It’s funny how the same people who previously crowed about their kids’ college rankings are now disparaging those same rankings because their kid’s college has dropped. And they keep braying about how the “methodology” has changed, when 99% of parents and students don’t care and will continue to use the rankings to choose schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

My kid loves W&M, but honestly is somewhat bothered by the lower ranking. She is deciding between W&M (where she loves everything, but the ranking) v. UVA (where she mainly loves it for the ranking). She understands that the ranking methodology is based on things that don't affect her personally (i.e. Pell grant recipients) - but still seeing the ranking so far away from UVA is bothersome to her. Yet, W&M is one of those rare schools that seems to have maintained its prestige and reputation without the corresponding ranking. I wonder if its small size made it unable to cater to the metrics that are important in the rankings.

DD feels pressured to go to UVA (from her friends mainly b/c of the ranking), but she, too, genuinely feels like W&M is a better fit. She wants to like UVA b/c she is "supposed to," but keeps feeling drawn to W&M. We are going to the admitted students event this weekend and will most likely make a decision at the end of the day.

DP. My DC knew at the W&M admitted students day that it was *not* the school for her. Your DD will probably know either way right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/something-different-waitlists-this-year?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_j3M-nranCg5ZNuBJdnLIuWTDKis_lclCcnSBVik8irH4Y_IKikCzbHaRyNCNuKbLZmMOwU1I3Kp1Fe_eABadhfUg02A&_hsmi=302227906

One "expert" who studies WL movement thinks something is up with the UVA WL movement already. And yes, 57 is a big number.

Ha ha this is really funny to read. First. she said 57 is a small number - not a big one. Second she made clear that this DOESN’T necessitate mean “something is up”: “Then again, it was only 57 students. Maybe these were students that UVA had planned to admit all along, but had to delay it for optics or other institutional priorities.”

Your post serves as a good reminder that it’s always best to go to the original source.

DP. I went directly to the source too and found it interesting that she notes use of the waitlist this early means they’re probably nervous about yield. So this is a form of yield protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD also feels like she should want UVA based on its rank, but she really doesn’t. Also, she’s not a STEM kid, so VT doesn’t appeal either.

She’s leaning towards honors college at either VCU or UMW for an “artsy” major.

It’s hard to ignore school rank but I want her to be happy with her choice and go where she thinks she would thrive. The big fish/little pond concept has merit. Also, the biggest lesson in growing up is to listen to your own inner voice and tune out the naysayers.

My kid is a humanities major at VT. There’s a lot more to the school than just STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

W&M might as well be an all female school at this point.

W&M is 41%/59% M/F. UVA is 43%/57% M/F. National is about 40%/60 M/F.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/something-different-waitlists-this-year?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_j3M-nranCg5ZNuBJdnLIuWTDKis_lclCcnSBVik8irH4Y_IKikCzbHaRyNCNuKbLZmMOwU1I3Kp1Fe_eABadhfUg02A&_hsmi=302227906

One "expert" who studies WL movement thinks something is up with the UVA WL movement already. And yes, 57 is a big number.

Ha ha this is really funny to read. First. she said 57 is a small number - not a big one. Second she made clear that this DOESN’T necessitate mean “something is up”: “Then again, it was only 57 students. Maybe these were students that UVA had planned to admit all along, but had to delay it for optics or other institutional priorities.”

Your post serves as a good reminder that it’s always best to go to the original source.

DP. Here’s what else she said:

“If UVA continues to admit students from the waitlist leading up to and after the enrollment deadline, that means it is struggling to yield students. Waitlist activity does not typically begin until closer to the deadline for most colleges, which makes me think this year's waitlist season is different.

The use of the waitlist is a barometer for how desirable colleges are. When a college uses the waitlist, especially this early, it can show cracks in the foundation of the admissions plan or it can hint at a shift in what students are looking for in a college that year.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

W&M might as well be an all female school at this point.

W&M is 41%/59% M/F. UVA is 43%/57% M/F. National is about 40%/60 M/F.

Where the heck are the boys!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not our backup, but we did pick William and Mary over UVA.

smart decision, it's a private ivy-like education for a public school price.

The sad thing about William & Mary is its free fall in the rankings. It's not even a Top 50 school anymore.

W&M might as well be an all female school at this point.

W&M is 41%/59% M/F. UVA is 43%/57% M/F. National is about 40%/60 M/F.

Where the heck are the boys!?

At VT! It’s 50/50 there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/something-different-waitlists-this-year?_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_j3M-nranCg5ZNuBJdnLIuWTDKis_lclCcnSBVik8irH4Y_IKikCzbHaRyNCNuKbLZmMOwU1I3Kp1Fe_eABadhfUg02A&_hsmi=302227906

One "expert" who studies WL movement thinks something is up with the UVA WL movement already. And yes, 57 is a big number.

Ha ha this is really funny to read. First. she said 57 is a small number - not a big one. Second she made clear that this DOESN’T necessitate mean “something is up”: “Then again, it was only 57 students. Maybe these were students that UVA had planned to admit all along, but had to delay it for optics or other institutional priorities.”

Your post serves as a good reminder that it’s always best to go to the original source.

DP. I went directly to the source too and found it interesting that she notes use of the waitlist this early means they’re probably nervous about yield. So this is a form of yield protection.

They didn’t defer this year for the first time. Look at this waitlist movement as defer accepts.