UVA info session today said “most rigorous in ALL 5 core subjects.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

For a science, APES works too as long as you have taken bio, chem and physics already and you are not STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

For a science, APES works too as long as you have taken bio, chem and physics already and you are not STEM.

So much wrong.

At least AP Lang junior year ahd AP Lit senior year. Not just one of the two, and that goes no matter the intended major. At least AP Bio/AP Chem and AP Physics. Certainly not jut one of them. The participation rates in these AP classes are published by most nova high schools. The top 10% of these schools will see their top 10% take on average 8-12 AP's by senior year.

We are talking about gaining admission to UVa.

For social sciences at least 3 of AP world/euro/apush/gov

This isn't hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

That 5% seriously stresses us out. DD is in band and since it's unweighted, it will bring her weighted GPA down and might take her out of the top 5%. She's otherwise a straight A student with APs in all core subject including foreign language. 1500+ SAT. Does she still stand a chance if not top 5%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

How exactly does UVA calculate rank? Do you have any proof or are you guessing like everyone else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m so over people saying highest rigor and all the things. It is getting so absurd.

I agree. My DS arrived home from school feeling hopeless and crying over 3 mid-term Bs in high rigor classes. They won’t even be on his transcript! He feels like he won’t get into any college unless he is perfect. At a private school where retakes are not allowed and one test will sink your grade from an A to a B. How did we do this to our kids?

So, my kid in public also has the same situation- retakes not allowed. One test will sink your grade from an A to a B. Etc.

Her GPA has taken a hit with a couple B’s. But she has a ton of resilience and knows she will enjoy college wherever she lands. I suspect something in your home or his environment may be adding unnecessary stress. No kid should be crying over grades. I’m sorry.

I’m not even this PP but telling someone that something is going on in their home or environment is ridiculous. The kid could just be a perfectionist and disappointed in their grades. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

How exactly does UVA calculate rank? Do you have any proof or are you guessing like everyone else?

They just ask the counselor who they think they should take

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

For a science, APES works too as long as you have taken bio, chem and physics already and you are not STEM.

So much wrong.

At least AP Lang junior year ahd AP Lit senior year. Not just one of the two, and that goes no matter the intended major. At least AP Bio/AP Chem and AP Physics. Certainly not jut one of them. The participation rates in these AP classes are published by most nova high schools. The top 10% of these schools will see their top 10% take on average 8-12 AP's by senior year.

We are talking about gaining admission to UVa.

For social sciences at least 3 of AP world/euro/apush/gov

This isn't hard.

You're a regular poster, aren't you? Recognize that condescending line from multiple posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

How exactly does UVA calculate rank? Do you have any proof or are you guessing like everyone else?

The PP is guessing. Admission is holistic. They admit whomever they feel like admitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

OP here. The same admissions officer I mentioned in my post claims that DE is viewed “equally” to AP. Take that how you will.

Maggie walker tells the top kids it is not considered equal unless it is post-AP. Admission results confirm the preference that not only UVA but ivies have strong AP preference. Maybe our DE just is not as good as other schools?

You are wrong. Yale explicitly says on their website that DE, IB and AP are considered equally.

Yale is just saying that generically. For some high schools it could be similar . For many it is not nearly as rigorous. DE is completely fine in schools that do not offer the AP or IB equivalent. Maggie Walker considers AP to be superior. They strongly steer the top kids that way. They know what they are doing. They are the ones writing the counselor letter to colleges: the high school determines relative rigor and makes it clear to colleges what is top. At MGLWS, you’d better have AP calc not DE, and AP chem not DE, etc

OP here. This was my clearest takeaway. That the HS guidance counselor making $75k year has a very outsize influence over the application. So cross your fingers that your kid's counselor thinks their courseload is "most rigorous"!

Yeah, how crazy, the guy who does this for a living, knows the colleges and their process, and knows all the kids (or at least the ones assigned to him) is the one whose opinion the colleges trust most! What idiots they all are!

As you point out, if he made more money then maybe his opinion would be more valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

For a science, APES works too as long as you have taken bio, chem and physics already and you are not STEM.

So much wrong.

At least AP Lang junior year ahd AP Lit senior year. Not just one of the two, and that goes no matter the intended major. At least AP Bio/AP Chem and AP Physics. Certainly not jut one of them. The participation rates in these AP classes are published by most nova high schools. The top 10% of these schools will see their top 10% take on average 8-12 AP's by senior year.

We are talking about gaining admission to UVa.

For social sciences at least 3 of AP world/euro/apush/gov

This isn't hard.

What if you have all that but your 4th year of Language (all in HS) is an honors though instead of the AP? School offers AP but it’s a difficult language. He wasn’t ready for AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

How exactly does UVA calculate rank? Do you have any proof or are you guessing like everyone else?

The PP is guessing. Admission is holistic. They admit whomever they feel like admitting.[/quot

DP. It's quite easy to calculate and bear in mind that the top students at the high school are being compared against one another for admission so if course they figure out the rank. This is how they do it:
1) The high school counselor sends a high school class profile with the transcript. These profiles are readily available online, usually under the high school's website. The profile covers everything from demographics of the senior class to the types of courses offered, AP and Honors, numbers of junior and senior students taking those courses and covers honor societies and numbers of student participants at every level By virtue of this profile, the college contract reader can determine the rank by comparing the top (most rigorous courses) to the student''s transcript (list of rigorous courses taken and grade) offered by the high school to the portion of the profile that shows how many students took or are taking to course to the student's GPA and viola! you have a rough estimation of the the rank of all the applicants in that particular traunche (EA/ED/RA, etc.). It takes the reader about two minutes to do this. They might also refer to the stats of the kids in preceding years from that high school.
2) the profile also has the class breakdown as to GPA and percentage of students receiving those grades. A student with a 4.60 in a school that taps out at 4.60 is the valedictorian. 4.59 is salutatorian; 4.52 is 3rd or 4th
3) In the Virginia college university package from the counselor, she or he provides a letter of recommendation (therein will be a lot of hints to rank: "Student A is one of the finest students our high has ever seen and has been a star in his class" (the counselors, of course, know the rank.) Some counselors just outright give the rank
4) similarly, the teacher letters of recommendation will give the rank especially in the most rigorous courses "Of the three in my multilinear calculus class, Peter easily beat the competition"
5) the student's own resume will indicate rank by mention of honor societies and date when achieved. Same the mention of Dean's list and other honors groups
6) Most Colleges and University AO offices divide the United States up into groups of contiguous states and assign field officers to them. It's the job of the field officer to know everything about the high school. The College Counselor aids in this and they pass stident information back and forth.

Rank is figured out after hiighlighting GPA, and test scores. The readers then move on to flush out the areas of importance to the college: legacy (if still permitted (recently outlawed in Virginia public school); URM, first generation, full-pay, extraordinary awards won, Notable ties to the school, unique musical talent that the college needs and so on. The essays are not read at this point. The file then goes on to a second reader or assistant in the office for further quick reviews and ultimately to the Regional Rep. And after all if that she still wants to know rank, she emails her friend, the high school counselor
This is why your high school can say "we don't rank" to you but with a wink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what we were told by our private college counselor. There are several “must” APs if your child is in FCPS and is applying to the UVA College of Arts and Sciences:

AP Lang
AP Calc - at least AB
APUSH (and avoid Online APUSH)
AP World Language

+ a science, like AP Bio, AP Chem or AP Physics.

Then add at least two or three more APs of your choice. Avoid DE classes in your core classes. Don’t try to take core classes from the online campus.

For a science, APES works too as long as you have taken bio, chem and physics already and you are not STEM.

So much wrong.

At least AP Lang junior year ahd AP Lit senior year. Not just one of the two, and that goes no matter the intended major. At least AP Bio/AP Chem and AP Physics. Certainly not jut one of them. The participation rates in these AP classes are published by most nova high schools. The top 10% of these schools will see their top 10% take on average 8-12 AP's by senior year.

We are talking about gaining admission to UVa.

For social sciences at least 3 of AP world/euro/apush/gov

This isn't hard.

This is just not as absolute as you like to make it, PP. Every school or school district is different. DC’s school requires students to take the honors version of Bio, Chem or Physics before you can even apply for approval to take the AP version. Taking two or three science APs by graduation would be reserved for a highly focused STEM applicant. Also, at my DC’s school, APES is fine for non-STEM UVA admission once you have taken honors Bio, Chem and Physics. PP, just pointing out that not all schools operate the same as your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is not the be all, end all. Hell my kid had the stats two years ago but was waitlisted. Loving his OOS flagship. Couldn't imagine attending anywhere else. Plus they whopped the Cavs butt in football on national TV this year.

But you're paying OOS tuition. For a public research institution. And seem ... proud ... of it?

No I'm not. Received enough merit to make comparable to UVA Engineering. I'm proud of my kid. Not going OOS.

Congrats on Maryland engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why this is so hard to grasp, or why this needs to be parsed nine ways to Sunday:

1) UVA is a competetive school for which to be admitted.

2) Given 1), the way to make yourself stand out is to have a stellar résumé.

3) The way to have a stellar résumé is to take the most challenging classes your school offers and do well in them.

4) And yes, that may include pursuing a foreign language as far as you can.

That's it, that's the formula.

+1

Only thing I would add is to be in top 5% of class, and yes, UVA figures it out even if your school doesn’t rank.

Signed,
Mom to 2 current Hoos and one who recently graduated

That 5% seriously stresses us out. DD is in band and since it's unweighted, it will bring her weighted GPA down and might take her out of the top 5%. She's otherwise a straight A student with APs in all core subject including foreign language. 1500+ SAT. Does she still stand a chance if not top 5%?

The 5% depends on high school. Top suburban publics often have admission to UVA from the top 10% or occasionally just outside. Top privates and the Governor’s schools have UVA admissions below the top25%, but the majority are within the top 25%. These are schools where 25% of thr high school has mid-1450s SATs and above, and the top 5-10% heavily target ivy/+ and Uva is a backup.
Talk to your CCO