Advice Needed: NOVA Credits vs Reaching for MIT / Ivies / Georgia Tech / Purdue / Vanderbilt / Top Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP 1595 is not a possible score.
3.8uw is below top20-30% for almost public high school in Virginia.
If the high school offered AP in the courses you listed and yours took DE instead that is a big red flag. There is no chance for T20/ivy and almost no chance for UVA/VT in state.

Typo, should be 1590.

Also, I think some of this is overstated.

A 3.8 UW by itself can be ordinary, but context matters. If that includes advanced Northern Virginia Community College math like Calc III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, plus strong CS rigor, that is not the same as a generic 3.8.

I ran it through a simulator and it came back more like:

T20 / Ivies are reaches, but not “no chance”
Georgia Institute of Technology possible depending essays / rigor / profile
University of Virginia competitive, not impossible
Virginia Tech strong chance with this profile

Saying “almost no chance for UVA/VT in state” with a 1590, advanced college math, and strong technical background seems off.

On the DE point, I am genuinely trying to understand it beyond Virginia publics. When I checked official transfer sites for UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Purdue University, they all showed NOVA courses mapping for credit in many cases. So the idea that DE is automatically a red flag does not seem accurate either.

It sounds more like some elite privates may prefer AP or evaluate DE differently, which is a narrower claim than saying DE hurts everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ignore people saying the gpa is low. It may or may not be based on this kid’s current HS.

Don't play good cop and talk OP into aiming too high. Kids like that end up very disappointed and stuck with only safeties. Even if OP's high school was Andover/Trinity/Harvard-Westlake, that GPA is still too low, and we know those are not the type of HS OP's DS is at b/c they are talking about transferring credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No top college will accept DE classes for credit.

Northwestern will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No top college will accept DE classes for credit.

Northwestern will.

Also Michigan, ND.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore people saying the gpa is low. It may or may not be based on this kid’s current HS.

Don't play good cop and talk OP into aiming too high. Kids like that end up very disappointed and stuck with only safeties. Even if OP's high school was Andover/Trinity/Harvard-Westlake, that GPA is still too low, and we know those are not the type of HS OP's DS is at b/c they are talking about transferring credits.

does weighted GPA matter? thats 4.5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for advice from parents/students with real experience.
My child is a Virginia student with:
1595 SAT
3.8 unweighted GPA
Very rigorous schedule
Strong coding background since childhood
Interested in advanced math, computer science, engineering, and eventually Wall Street algorithm / trading / math driven careers

NOVA direct and dual enrollment courses completed or in progress:
Calc I, II, III
Linear Algebra
Differential Equations
Discrete Structures
Computer Organization
English / History / Gov

We are considering:
MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
Texas A&M
UVA
Virginia Tech

Some are reaches, but I feel he should aim high.

His biggest concern is making sure NOVA credits transfer so he does not retake courses. Virginia schools seem safest for that, but I worry he is overvaluing guaranteed transfer credit.

He is also not very into the liberal reputation of UVA, though maybe that matters less in math / CS / engineering.

Questions:
Has anyone had NOVA credits transfer to these schools?
Do advanced math credits transfer as real credit or just placement?
Do CS courses transfer?
Is prioritizing transfer credit a mistake if stronger schools are options?
If this were your child, stay in Virginia or aim higher?

Go ahead and buy the lottery tickets in the RD round but do not use your SCEA/ED on MIT, Princeton and CMU. This profile will not get in for CS or engineering in those 3 schools and you will be wasting your ED. Reasonable high reaches (not targets) for this profile are Cornell, GA Tech, Purdue and Michigan. If applying as a math major instead and full pay, ED Chicago if higher ranked schools are a priority for you.

Chicago will not take a low GPA kid from a random public high school just because they’re full pay. They demand very high GPAs from public schools, and are more lenient at privates.

[Anonymous]

So here's the difference between DE and Nova Transfer credits.

When a HS student takes a DE course through NOVA and their high school, it has a different course number than if they took the equivalent course as a college student at NOVA. The universities all know the difference between the course numbers and which ones will carry equivalent credit and which ones won't.

Most of those schools will not take NOVA DE courses taken through your kid's high school. They may take college-level NOVA courses that are not high school DE.

Also, if speaking directly about NOVA DE math courses, if your student wants to study a STEM major, it is likely they will be required to take all of those courses again in college because the university will want them to take THEIR courses and not HS, AP or DE courses.

DS is a double major in mech engineering and applied statistics at UVA. As an example, he took the same Stats class 3x that covered the same principles/material. Once in AP Stats (5 on exam), once for the required stats class in his engineering major, and once for the required intro stats class for his applied stats major - requests for equivalent credits denied across the board.

[Anonymous]

I would scratch MIT off the list unless your kid has awards. Why waste time on essays? Cornell should be possible — focus on essays.

[Anonymous]

Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would scratch MIT off the list unless your kid has awards. Why waste time on essays? Cornell should be possible — focus on essays.

Princeton, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so you have reasonable expectations. All the following below on your list you should consider reaches especially for these Publics if you are OOS especially for CS or Engineering. The SAT score is common among many applications at these schools and the GPA is honestly a bit low for these schools. Just go into this with your eyes wide open and make sure you have some targets and safeties. None of the below are either. Trust me most of the below schools were on are list as well. Tough admits.

MIT
Princeton / Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Georgia Tech
Vanderbilt
Michigan
Texas Austin
UVA

UVA is in-state

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Further, for placement purposes, colleges will only take AP tests. They generally have a strong preference for AP classes over DE as DE is seen as less rigorous due to peer group differences between the two.

+2 Plus, they know kids take DE because they are easier As and kids can cheat more easily (at least in FCPS). Also, kids try to game the system by trying to get college credit without having to take an AP test. DE is a bad idea if your school offers AP and you are applying to highly selective colleges.

[Anonymous]

Op can your kid drop some of these de classes and replace ap classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op can your kid drop some of these de classes and replace ap classes.

Replace with ap classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the OP 1595 is not a possible score.
3.8uw is below top20-30% for almost public high school in Virginia.
If the high school offered AP in the courses you listed and yours took DE instead that is a big red flag. There is no chance for T20/ivy and almost no chance for UVA/VT in state.

Typo, should be 1590.

Also, I think some of this is overstated.

A 3.8 UW by itself can be ordinary, but context matters. If that includes advanced Northern Virginia Community College math like Calc III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, plus strong CS rigor, that is not the same as a generic 3.8.

I ran it through a simulator and it came back more like:

T20 / Ivies are reaches, but not “no chance”
Georgia Institute of Technology possible depending essays / rigor / profile
University of Virginia competitive, not impossible
Virginia Tech strong chance with this profile

Saying “almost no chance for UVA/VT in state” with a 1590, advanced college math, and strong technical background seems off.

On the DE point, I am genuinely trying to understand it beyond Virginia publics. When I checked official transfer sites for UVA, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Purdue University, they all showed NOVA courses mapping for credit in many cases. So the idea that DE is automatically a red flag does not seem accurate either.

It sounds more like some elite privates may prefer AP or evaluate DE differently, which is a narrower claim than saying DE hurts everywhere.

I thought the whole thread has been saying DE classes are low quality, but apparently you double down on insisting they’re so advanced?!