Accepted to UVA from NOVA Public — How many B+/Bs and in what classes

[Anonymous]

I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC accepted into CAS from McLean/Langley in 2024, EA. Asian male. No hooks. Average ECs, part time job. 1500 SAT

Weighted GPA was 4.3 after 11th grade, 4.35 after 1st semester of 12th grade. Eventually had 3 years of 1 FL (including middle school) and 2 years of another. So definitely not the same FL for 4 years and not AP.

Bs in Precal Honors, FL, and AP Lang after 11th grade. Everything else was As or A-s. Had Bs in AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Environ after 1st semester of 12th grade. 10 APs in total, but no other STEM APs other than those listed here, so not a STEM kid.

Definitely not top 10% of class, no idea where he was in the class. He was definitely on the border between green checks and red xs in Naviance. Were very happily surprised that the coinflip was in his favor. Hope your own DCs are as lucky because it is definitely arbitrary at that level. Our other DC with virtually same wGPA, SAT and ECs was rejected by UVA but admitted to T20 in 2021.

Thanks for sharing.
At least in 2024 max rigor was not necessary.

Seemed to be at our HS in FC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

Just wondering if most rigorous in math means taking multivariable calculus?

This is a bit more nuanced.

If not accelerated, what this means is you take math progressively higher level each year and especially if they end up with at least AP Calc AB.

If accelerated, you take math progressively higher level each year and wherever it ends up. If you do take multivariable calculus, at least for math not being most rigorous is not going to be an issue.

So max rigor is really not max rigor as far as UVA is concerned (maybe other colleges also), but it just means max rigor for each individual because not all will get to multivariable or even BC. There are certainly not many who took post AP neuro biology or organic chemistry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

2. To me it was never quite clear what most rigorous mean since a math and science student would be stronger in different subjects than an English student for example. I think the important thing is to look at rigor as the combination of all your classes.

3. 3 years of FL will not destroy your chance. Just make sure you make up with more rigor somewhere else.

Most rigorous ~ Max rigor in all core subjects in all 4 years (does not matter if they are math or English student)

3 years of FL will not destroy your chance but you are giving them an easy strike against you

+1. Both correct. Your college counselor determines if your kid is taking the “most rigorous” courses and indicates so. Ask your high school counselor is your kid is on target for “most rigorous” designation. They may hem and haw. You should push

Is this an official designation and why is it in the counselor's discretion to deem it most rigorous or not?

Who else better? That is their job. They write one letter of recommendation. They prepare the school profile that is mailed to the colleges to which your child applies. The colleges use that profile to assess your child’s rank within their class. The profile is also the key to
the most rigorous designation because it lists the AP courses offered by the high school and the percentage of students which took those AP courses. The counselor is aware of the top
courses offered and knows who is in those classrooms.

Given how little my kids interact with their counselor (who seems to think her job is just "scheduler") at their large FCPS, it is concerning that any personalized information is expected about the child from the counselor.

My child's counselor was the worst. Beginning of senior year, she didn't show up at the school, did not communicate with the kids, and never returned. They had to transfer all the files of her students to other counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

2. To me it was never quite clear what most rigorous mean since a math and science student would be stronger in different subjects than an English student for example. I think the important thing is to look at rigor as the combination of all your classes.

3. 3 years of FL will not destroy your chance. Just make sure you make up with more rigor somewhere else.

Most rigorous ~ Max rigor in all core subjects in all 4 years (does not matter if they are math or English student)

3 years of FL will not destroy your chance but you are giving them an easy strike against you

+1. Both correct. Your college counselor determines if your kid is taking the “most rigorous” courses and indicates so. Ask your high school counselor is your kid is on target for “most rigorous” designation. They may hem and haw. You should push

AOs decide for themselves if something is most demanding. Many counselors check off the top box for everyone.

[Anonymous]

1530+ SAT is the top quartile for 2025.

Because there’s so much grade inflation now in high schools, public universities have to use SAT and AP scores to separate out the noise.

Your son’s B will likely matter less than his SAT and AP scores. In our school, which has a ridiculously rigorous AP Chem class, most of the students who get Bs in the class get 5s on the AP.

The AP score contextualizes the rigor level of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

The College Board says that beyond 5 APs, further APs have no impact on college admissions. Of course those 5 APs better be 5s.

That said, if your daughter does not have a single science AP, that does make her AP portfolio somewhat lopsided. Ivies like to see achievement across all disciplines, even if the kid wants to be a humanities major. Don’t know if that’s true of UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

The College Board says that beyond 5 APs, further APs have no impact on college admissions. Of course those 5 APs better be 5s.

That said, if your daughter does not have a single science AP, that does make her AP portfolio somewhat lopsided. Ivies like to see achievement across all disciplines, even if the kid wants to be a humanities major. Don’t know if that’s true of UVA.

The college board is full of it. At our APS school you better have over a 4.2 to get into UVA. And the only way to get that GPA is to take more than 5 APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

Just wondering if most rigorous in math means taking multivariable calculus?

This is a bit more nuanced.

If not accelerated, what this means is you take math progressively higher level each year and especially if they end up with at least AP Calc AB.

If accelerated, you take math progressively higher level each year and wherever it ends up. If you do take multivariable calculus, at least for math not being most rigorous is not going to be an issue.

So max rigor is really not max rigor as far as UVA is concerned (maybe other colleges also), but it just means max rigor for each individual because not all will get to multivariable or even BC. There are certainly not many who took post AP neuro biology or organic chemistry.[/quote

UVA wants to see that your kid has availed themselves of every opportunity the high school offers = max rigor. If the school doesn’t offer AP neuro biology, UVA doesn’t expect to see it. That’s why the counselor sends in a school profile with the transcript which lists the AP courses offered by the high school and percentage of senior class taking those courses. The reader lines up your kids transcript against what was offered to see how they fair against the rest of the class. Are there gaps? This is also how UVA guesstimates rank, which allows the private and public high schools to claim “we don’t rank” but they hand over all the info to allow the colleges to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

2. To me it was never quite clear what most rigorous mean since a math and science student would be stronger in different subjects than an English student for example. I think the important thing is to look at rigor as the combination of all your classes.

3. 3 years of FL will not destroy your chance. Just make sure you make up with more rigor somewhere else.

Most rigorous ~ Max rigor in all core subjects in all 4 years (does not matter if they are math or English student)

3 years of FL will not destroy your chance but you are giving them an easy strike against you

+1. Both correct. Your college counselor determines if your kid is taking the “most rigorous” courses and indicates so. Ask your high school counselor is your kid is on target for “most rigorous” designation. They may hem and haw. You should push

Is this an official designation and why is it in the counselor's discretion to deem it most rigorous or not?

Who else better? That is their job. They write one letter of recommendation. They prepare the school profile that is mailed to the colleges to which your child applies. The colleges use that profile to assess your child’s rank within their class. The profile is also the key to
the most rigorous designation because it lists the AP courses offered by the high school and the percentage of students which took those AP courses. The counselor is aware of the top
courses offered and knows who is in those classrooms.

Given how little my kids interact with their counselor (who seems to think her job is just "scheduler") at their large FCPS, it is concerning that any personalized information is expected about the child from the counselor.

My child's counselor was the worst. Beginning of senior year, she didn't show up at the school, did not communicate with the kids, and never returned. They had to transfer all the files of her students to other counselors.

This is why we hired a private counselor - one parent can’t possibly figure this all out in the limited time available

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

The College Board says that beyond 5 APs, further APs have no impact on college admissions. Of course those 5 APs better be 5s.

That said, if your daughter does not have a single science AP, that does make her AP portfolio somewhat lopsided. Ivies like to see achievement across all disciplines, even if the kid wants to be a humanities major. Don’t know if that’s true of UVA.

The college board is full of it. At our APS school you better have over a 4.2 to get into UVA. And the only way to get that GPA is to take more than 5 APs.

This. SCHEV is clear: the 75th percentile at UVA last fall had a 4.5; the median had a 4.4 and bottom 25th percentile has a 4.2. You can ontain a 4.5 or 4.4 only by having multiple AP courses. Look at the stats of the Nova kids who got in: 10-12 AP courses offered= maximum rigor. That’s what UVA is looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:B's dont tell the story either. You need to be in the "most rigorous courses" that is common at your HS.

UVA is among the more predictable ones. Criteria is

1. Top 5% of class at most HS (top 20% at TJ) by GPA

2. You have taken the most rigorous courses that is reasonably possible at your HS

3. 4 years of FL

4. SAT/ACT above median at UVA

If you meet all 4 above, you can pretty much be sure of admission.

Just wondering if most rigorous in math means taking multivariable calculus?

This is a bit more nuanced.

If not accelerated, what this means is you take math progressively higher level each year and especially if they end up with at least AP Calc AB.

If accelerated, you take math progressively higher level each year and wherever it ends up. If you do take multivariable calculus, at least for math not being most rigorous is not going to be an issue.

So max rigor is really not max rigor as far as UVA is concerned (maybe other colleges also), but it just means max rigor for each individual because not all will get to multivariable or even BC. There are certainly not many who took post AP neuro biology or organic chemistry.[/quote

UVA wants to see that your kid has availed themselves of every opportunity the high school offers = max rigor. If the school doesn’t offer AP neuro biology, UVA doesn’t expect to see it. That’s why the counselor sends in a school profile with the transcript which lists the AP courses offered by the high school and percentage of senior class taking those courses. The reader lines up your kids transcript against what was offered to see how they fair against the rest of the class. Are there gaps? This is also how UVA guesstimates rank, which allows the private and public high schools to claim “we don’t rank” but they hand over all the info to allow the colleges to figure it out.

The point is the school does offer neuro biology, organic chemistry, statistics 3, multivariable calculus, et cetera and most students to not avail themselves of the "full opportunity". It would be almost impossible. So max rigor is really context based.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

My DC was just admitted EA. I was worried about the science AP choice and my DC insisted on taking APES. Like your child, my DC took the honors version of Bio, Chem and Physics (required as a prerequisite for the AP versions). It worked out, so I wouldn’t worry too much. Had 12 APs total, including world language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

The College Board says that beyond 5 APs, further APs have no impact on college admissions. Of course those 5 APs better be 5s.

That said, if your daughter does not have a single science AP, that does make her AP portfolio somewhat lopsided. Ivies like to see achievement across all disciplines, even if the kid wants to be a humanities major. Don’t know if that’s true of UVA.

The college board is full of it. At our APS school you better have over a 4.2 to get into UVA. And the only way to get that GPA is to take more than 5 APs.

This. SCHEV is clear: the 75th percentile at UVA last fall had a 4.5; the median had a 4.4 and bottom 25th percentile has a 4.2. You can ontain a 4.5 or 4.4 only by having multiple AP courses. Look at the stats of the Nova kids who got in: 10-12 AP courses offered= maximum rigor. That’s what UVA is looking for.

SCHEV and our UVA tour were consistent. Admission to UVA (unhooked) comes down to:

Three maximums, plus ECs.

- maximum rigor (meaning most challenging APs offered at your HS)

- maximum GPA (meaning top grades in the toughest APs; no “B”s), and

- maximum SAT or ACT score (+1450 or above), plus:

ECs or extra curriculars: Leadership, service, long-term dedication in multiple areas.

Check these boxes and admission is likely.

There are still pathways around these, however:

- be a first-generation to go to college, applicant, and/or FARMs status. Or be a recruited star athlete. These last two hooks can only make up for so much, however. Truly poor grades or a low SAT score mean your child will have to seek a degree elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am going to ask our counselor if one has to take AP Bio, Chem or physics for most rigorous. My DD will wind up with 11 or 12 APs. AP Eng Lang and Lit, Spanish Lang and Lit, AP Calc BC, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Seminar, AP Research and I can’t remember the others. But she will have taken honors in the three science and likely AP ES next year. She doesn’t want to give us two class periods to the others and doesn’t like science. If that means no max rigor, so be it. But I want to know. This is all so ridiculous. I’m guessing they won’t tell me.

The College Board says that beyond 5 APs, further APs have no impact on college admissions. Of course those 5 APs better be 5s.

That said, if your daughter does not have a single science AP, that does make her AP portfolio somewhat lopsided. Ivies like to see achievement across all disciplines, even if the kid wants to be a humanities major. Don’t know if that’s true of UVA.

The college board is full of it. At our APS school you better have over a 4.2 to get into UVA. And the only way to get that GPA is to take more than 5 APs.

This. SCHEV is clear: the 75th percentile at UVA last fall had a 4.5; the median had a 4.4 and bottom 25th percentile has a 4.2. You can ontain a 4.5 or 4.4 only by having multiple AP courses. Look at the stats of the Nova kids who got in: 10-12 AP courses offered= maximum rigor. That’s what UVA is looking for.

SCHEV and our UVA tour were consistent. Admission to UVA (unhooked) comes down to:

Three maximums, plus ECs.

- maximum rigor (meaning most challenging APs offered at your HS)

- maximum GPA (meaning top grades in the toughest APs; no “B”s), and

- maximum SAT or ACT score (+1450 or above), plus:

ECs or extra curriculars: Leadership, service, long-term dedication in multiple areas.

Check these boxes and admission is likely.

There are still pathways around these, however:

- be a first-generation to go to college, applicant, and/or FARMs status. Or be a recruited star athlete. These last two hooks can only make up for so much, however. Truly poor grades or a low SAT score mean your child will have to seek a degree elsewhere.

Not if you have everything else and apply test-optional, which many people do.