UVA drops legacy admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So interesting. My son has been inclined not to apply because a classmate is a family member of a very high-ranking person (not faculty) at UVA. I wonder if that kid will still get a thumb on the scale.

Of course. The kid whose mom was class of '95 and works at a regional law firm in Minnesota is the one they are targeting not the kid who has a dean willing to put in a good word

It's really aggravating. The kid is such an inferior candidate. I would love to give more details but it would make everyone so easily doxxable.

Anyway, to speak more generally: in a situation with a smallish school at which only 1-2 students (sometimes 0) are accepted every year, is it a waste of time to apply when you know one seat is a lock for someone already? Or does taking an inferior "connected" student shame the admissions committee into accepting another student or two from the same school, so their favoritism isn't so transparent?

I forget where I read this (this board? A book? An article?) but I heard at one of the local privates (St Albany’s?), a dimwit with great connections was accepted into a top school (Chicago or Princeton?). Not wanting to make it look so obvious that this dimwit was admitted solely because of connections and taking a space from a more qualified candidate, that school accepted everyone who applied from his school that year. Granted, it was only 5 kids but still.

I may have gotten some details wrong but that was gist of story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA puts OOS legacy applicants in the instate pool of applicant where their odds of gaining an offer of admission are better. This is NO secret. It’s been this way for decades.

This is not true. UVA admissions has been quite clear about this. They have information for legacy families where they clarify that this is not how they consider legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA puts OOS legacy applicants in the instate pool of applicant where their odds of gaining an offer of admission are better. This is NO secret. It’s been this way for decades.

I’ve heard them say this isn’t the case at the alumni meeting. You have a better chance, but you aren’t counted as in state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA puts OOS legacy applicants in the instate pool of applicant where their odds of gaining an offer of admission are better. This is NO secret. It’s been this way for decades.

I’ve heard them say this isn’t the case at the alumni meeting. You have a better chance, but you aren’t counted as in state.

Exactly. I think part of the purpose of those meetings is to make it clear that it’s really hard to get in and to get alums to accept that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s weird is that I know UVA considers legacy but in the past I thought that they didn’t have a check box for it. I remember looking at their questions when my older child was applying to college (didn’t apply to UVA) and I thought they just relied on the common app information about where the parents went to school.

My DD is applying ED as an OOS legacy and I figure it’s up to UVA whether they consider that. We can’t control it. It’s her first choice regardless and even if they consider legacy it’s still a very hard OOS admit. We never considered it a sure thing and UVA has always made that clear.

Until the affirmatively state that they will not look at that information, I see no reason to view this as anything other than PR

They would never make such a statement when they can quietly do away with the practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how they are getting rid of legacy preference which is HUGE at UVA for OOS applicants. If you're OOS and a leg, you get put into the instate pool.

This is absolutely false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA puts OOS legacy applicants in the instate pool of applicant where their odds of gaining an offer of admission are better. This is NO secret. It’s been this way for decades.

I’ve heard them say this isn’t the case at the alumni meeting. You have a better chance, but you aren’t counted as in state.

UVA has admitted they give extra consideration for OOS legacies (not a break on tuition). They also have been caught admitting they give HUGE advantages to big donors, but what else is new. Being an instate legacy isn't much of an advantage if at all.

[Anonymous]

UVA has its own office dedicated to legacy admissions. OMG. https://s3.amazonaws.com/uva-alumni-association/alp/ALP-Booklet-2019.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA has its own office dedicated to legacy admissions. OMG. https://s3.amazonaws.com/uva-alumni-association/alp/ALP-Booklet-2019.pdf

That program was part of the Alumni Association, not the Admissions office. It’s been rebranded as College Compass and clearly states that it has no bearing on admissions outcomes:

https://alumni.virginia.edu/college-compass/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As predicted, schools are laser focused on Chief Justice Roberts's comments in the recent AA case and making more use of the essay tool to get the diverse classes they covet.

UVA just announced it will create a new essay to allow students to self-identify as minority, etc. It's also scaling back/eliminating legacy admissions.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/01/uva-legacy-admissions-college-application/

https://news.virginia.edu/content/after-supreme-court-ruling-uva-adjusts-admissions-practices

While this may be more labor-intensive than checking the box on race-based admissions, I imagine not much is going to change in the commitment to creating more diverse classes and ensuring better representation from historically oppressed groups. Which is a good thing.

UVA isn't diverse to begin with so this is funny!

+1

If you claim to be a minority, you will get in to UVA these days - they are that desperate.

That isn't ... how ... it ... works. I mean, you can't agree that UVA lacks diversity and then make that statement. It doesn't make sense.

haha so true +1. Have any of the PP's even been on grounds recently? I have, and every time, I feel that I'M in the minority (in a good way) as a white woman. They have really emphasized this over the past 10 years and it does show.

+1 and I’m there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA puts OOS legacy applicants in the instate pool of applicant where their odds of gaining an offer of admission are better. This is NO secret. It’s been this way for decades.

I’ve heard them say this isn’t the case at the alumni meeting. You have a better chance, but you aren’t counted as in state.

UVA has admitted they give extra consideration for OOS legacies (not a break on tuition). They also have been caught admitting they give HUGE advantages to big donors, but what else is new. Being an instate legacy isn't much of an advantage if at all.

Very very very old stories. IMHE with parents, UVA dropped the emphasis in legacy about 6 years ago. Many legacies have not been getting in. And, yes, the applicants are top stats students

[Anonymous]

UVA definitely considers legacy and it matters A LOT, especially for OOS. Dean J has confirmed this. Anecdotally, admissions this year at my kid's school (referred to on here as a Big 3) absolutely, conclusively confirmed this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA has its own office dedicated to legacy admissions. OMG. https://s3.amazonaws.com/uva-alumni-association/alp/ALP-Booklet-2019.pdf

That program was part of the Alumni Association, not the Admissions office. It’s been rebranded as College Compass and clearly states that it has no bearing on admissions outcomes:

https://alumni.virginia.edu/college-compass/

I'm an alum (undergrad and grad) and my husband is an alum too. We has our kid participate in this program and they made it VERY clear that it was part of the Alumni Association and NOT Admissions. We did the Sophomore review of transcripts and school profile. It was fine - got our kid thinking about class selections etc but it wasn't like we got some secret to the application process. They did stress to take the most challenging courses your school allows for but I think everyone knows that. Perhaps it will count as "demonstrated interest?" But otherwise, a fairly underwhelming 30 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA definitely considers legacy and it matters A LOT, especially for OOS. Dean J has confirmed this. Anecdotally, admissions this year at my kid's school (referred to on here as a Big 3) absolutely, conclusively confirmed this.

But no more ….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA definitely considers legacy and it matters A LOT, especially for OOS. Dean J has confirmed this. Anecdotally, admissions this year at my kid's school (referred to on here as a Big 3) absolutely, conclusively confirmed this.

Yes, there are quite a few OOS legacy admit kids from my kids' Big3 this past year who were no where near the top of the class (had never made it to calculus in high school, had quite a few C's etc) but their parents are very wealthy.
There were also quite a few top 10% OOS non-legacy kids attending and some OOS middle-of-the-pack non-legacies attending as well.

It was a wide distribution.