It would behoove you to realize that the step by step item lists produced by others in this thread are just noise, no better than stock whispering. In reality, UVA matriculation requires good physical fitness as well as adeptness in handling multiple nocturnal events. Additionally, according to U.S News, doing a pole hug while maintaining good form is definitely prized highly: https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/09/26/playboy-uva-is-nations-top-party-school-playboy-uva-is-nations-top-party-school |
I feel a little sad that you're taking my tongue in cheek response so seriously... You should pick a house primarily based on a balance of what you can afford and what you would enjoy living in. Obviously pick a location that has a decent school, but it certainly doesn't have to be Langley/McLean, as there are many many other choices in FCPS or other counties. But please FORGET tying your home buying decision to college outcomes, as it is a suboptimal strategy. If you want your kids to flourish, encourage them to learn a lot and find things they love to do. At the same time, teach them to set their own goals and work hard at them so that they have their own motivation to succeed in high school, and they will be in the top 10% or higher without you having to push. |
No, it isn't. It's around 30% of the student body and exists off campus. My kid went all four years without setting foot in a Greek house or engaging in shenanigans. If you want real Greek, Look at Wash. and Lee where 86 percent of the student body participates, to such a degree, that the costs of pledging a sorority or fraternity is set out in its formal costs of attendance. |
Yes, if you really want UVA and if your child is a super-star and will make top 10%, and will have the GPA, test-scores and ECs, you would be better off applying from a Virginia county that sends only one or zero students a year to UVA. Many parents joke that they want to move to Nellysford, VA (one of the poorest regions) late in junior year to apply from there. Approx. 600 students from FCPS get into UVA every year but when you divide that amongst the 22 high schools, maybe 30 offers go to Langley, 28 to Mclean, etc., but some of those students don't attend because they use UVA as a safety, as my child did, while applying to Ivys. There's also the fierce competition from the TJ students which sends 60-80 students a year to UVA (it fluctuates). It is true that some counties send no students so if you were to apply from there (and your residence didn't look contrived), it would be easier than from Langley, but you have to consider the quality of teaching and of the guidance counselor in that region. You can find that map - county by county acceptance - on Dean J.'s blog. The worst competition, by far, is in NOVA/FCPS/TJ, which is why there is so much bitterness when parents pay taxes for 20 years to support the Virginia school system and their high-stats. kid can't get in. If your child isn't a superstar academically, then getting into the best public (Mclean, Langley, etc.) would be the best bet. Get them the very best education you can and then see where you are junior year about options. (Higher Ed is about to go through big change - who knows what we will be facing by the time your child graduates?). Don't discount the other VA institutions. I know of many students who were very happy at GMU, JMU, CNU, Virginia Tech, etc. Back to moving to 22101, I know of families that rent apartments in the area to get the right zip code and use that as their base (to be honest, sometimes, the apartment is just the kid living alone or empty, but that's hard for FCPS to monitor). There are also smaller townhouses in the King's Manor subdivision. Another area to consider is the Ashburn/Loudoun County part of NOVA. Dean J says that she finds herself spending more time there than ever before because the area is booming and the public high schools are churning out high stats kids. There's less pressure on the students there, as well. Langley and Mclean can be a pressure cooker because they offer all the top AP courses. Go to the Langley website and look at the advanced math and science courses offered - it's very impressive - but can make average students feel inferior. Also, with traffic getting so bad in NOVA (well, pre-covid), moving further out from D.C. makes a lot of sense. Is that helpful? |
That's one magazine article from 2012. No, you can happily live at UVA all four years and never deal with a frat. or a sorority or drink. On the other hand, if your kid is inclined to go in that direction, they will do so at any school. Mine didn't. |
I'm the PP who said earlier she would hire a private counselor if we were to do it all over. I didn't mean to be critical of the single counselor at Langley. What I want to say is that one college guidance counselor cannot possible give your child the attention you might want given that she has 500 other seniors to worry about; 500 juniors that need prepping and initial meeting with parents; and the meetings with the parents of sophomores and freshman who want to make sure their kids are on the appropriate AP track so that when they do apply senior year they have 10 to 15 APs under their belt (I'm talking the real super-stars). One person just can't do it all. While she gave us some good suggestions, she also didn't listen to us about cost issues and came back with suggestions that were in the $80K a year range. Also, one of my children was to receive assistance in coming up with an idea for his essays and receive at least a once-over review by a teacher. When we saw it, we were really very disappointed and had to start over from scratch so we found ourselves looking for a private essay coach far too late in the game. So, yes, if I were doing it today I would research the counselors in the area and try to hire the best one that I could afford. There is just so much to learn. Unless you are willing to read the top 10 books out there on college admissions, you are better off trying to find an expert who can spend some time with your child ferreting out his interests, ECs, skills, special qualities and possible interesting essay topics. Just my opinion. |
Re: number 6 - in-state admissions rate is 39%, 46-47% for legacies. Legacy only means a parent or guardian who attended UVA, not grandparents, siblings, etc.
This is not correct. Overall offer rate is 23.88 percent. OOS is 18.8 percent. In-state has dropped to 35.9 percent. I think you are using figures before 2020. |
Re percentage from the top 10% of the class. In fall of 2016, Teresa Sullivan said it was 94% for the entering class. In 2018, it was 93.8%: "Accepted students had a mean SAT score of 1,431, with 93 percent ranking in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school class. The Class of 2022 speaks to the University's commitment to making an affordable, world-class education available to high-achieving students from all walks of life.Mar 22, 2018. Of course this is the accepted figure, not entering, but it was 94% in 2016. In 2019 Dean Roberts put the figure for accepted students at 94% in the top ten percent of the class. https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2019/03/u-va-offers-admission-to-23-8-percent-of-applicants. Since the hurdle one must first jump over is getting accepted, I think it's pretty fair to say that a NOVA student should be in the top 5% of the class in order to get accepted. |
I wouldn't say there's less pressure on Loudoun students. What evidence supports that statement? |
I know a kid (not from Langley) that had nearly all A's with 12 APs (4.45 GPA), 1550 SATs, good extra curricular activities (showed leadership and state champions) who was waitlisted at UVA, and rejected at 10 other schools (including her yield-protecting safety). She did end up getting into Northwestern and W & M. |
Thank you this is helpful. The PP or you are not the first one who have told me about this. I have heard the same from other parents too. However, we were still persistent on these schools and as we personally liked them on our tour. Also our kids will be surrounded by kids who have similar goals. We are moving from a N.J. district which is in top 10 if I remove magnets. In the past we have been in a district which was at 150. There is a big difference in quality of education and parents who value education. I have kids who are high honor and honor roll in MS. So yes they are doing well. They also do sports and Boy Scouts. My husband thinks it’s stupid to take so much debt and still live in a fixer upper. When you can buy a beautiful home for under 900 K. Hmm no wonder some of the families I know of whose kids went to Loudon HSs are in UVA, whilst those who went to Langley ended up in JMU. They are all good schools. They are all doing similar jobs. Honestly, I am confused, lol. |
Your husband is correct. It really and truly isn’t necessary to buy into the Langley district to get a great education in northern Virginia. There are many, many great schools in far more affordable areas. |
I understand being confused. I'm now in McLean and was considering moving out to Cascades, Sterling or somewhere else in Loudoun just to get out from under the oppressive property taxes we have been paying for decades. Now, with COVID I don't know what we are going to do but I am glad we didn't downsize because our entire family would be trying to function in a small townhouse or small house if we had. At some point we will sell to cash out and curtail all the house-related expenses but we are at a different stage of life. Have you considered renting for a year in the McLean area? There are a lot of rental properties coming on the market. You could move and try out both the area and the school district to see if it's to your liking and lay out a much smaller amount of money while experimenting. Then go out and look at Loudoun areas and schools. Here's Dean J.'s comment about Loudon county and the changes: http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2016/10/uva-admission-quotas-for-northern.html. There is one apartment building in the center of McLean with three bedroom units. It's older but perfectly doable for a family and has a pool and gym. I believe you said your child is 8? You will hear a lot about "pyramids". We are in the Churchill (elementary school); Cooper (middle); Langley pyramid. We wanted to avoid Cooper for middle school and did either via private schools, then went back into Langley for the four years. It worked out well but Langley can be a pressure cooker. Your child may not like it. Ours did just fine -don't listen to the "designer bag" and "fancy cars" story - no one carries purses anymore - they wear backpacks and my kids wore basically sweats all four years. Yes, there are drugs, but there are drugs everywhere. Yes, some kids have wealthy background and ski in St. Moritz but we didn't and probably never will. I do know Asian American families who have leased a one bedroom apartment for their child just to get into the Langley district because they value the education, above all. These figures are from 2012-13 (from wiki) so basically worthless but I would guess the Asian American population to be at about 30% now: The student body was 69.50% White, 20.87% Asian, 4.59% Hispanic, 1.18% Black, and 3.86%. Those are tough kids to compete against and to my kids' frustration, they always won the talent show. On the other hand, we have TJ, which is the best high school in Virginia and Langley as no. 2 and all the colleges know it. McLean is also an xlnt high school, as you probably know. I found the teachers at Langley to be better than most of the private teachers my children had. Also, the advanced AP courses in mathematics and science are way beyond what most private schools can afford to offer, but those courses are taken only by the supernova kids. One of my children didn't take any AP courses. Another factor to consider is whether or not your child might get into TJ. Another thing to avoid in purchasing a home in this area is going too far west in the Langley district. Some of those kids spend hours on a bus every day because the buses pick up out near route 7 and then make their way SE to Langley. They are already sleep-deprived and taxed by homework - adding on two hours a day of bus rides isn't great. Any other questions I can answer? |
True. But if you factor in resale value, the McLean properties - even if shacks - are valuable for tear-down potential. |
This is true in many areas beyond McLean. Vienna, for example. |