UVA out Friday night

[Anonymous]

Must’ve been TJ, McLean, Langley, or Madison

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

Same here. New counselor at beginning of 11th grade. Couldn't get the course requests and STEM program requirements straight. In 11th signed kid up for a study hall, when she wanted magnet courses. In 12th the counselor signed her up for a magnet course she had in 9th grade!

Each time our kid had to do a lot of emailing and talking to the counselor to straighten out the mess.

Counselor also refused to give any advice in regards to what colleges to target. The School district does not have Naviance either. So all we got from the counselor were the general process information (CommonApp & FAFSA website, etc) and pointing to some websites.

[Anonymous]

UVA admissions has said that they don’t have to agree when the counselor checks top program. I think pp is wrong about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA admissions has said that they don’t have to agree when the counselor checks top program. I think pp is wrong about that.

Ok but they admit they they receive refs as to “most rigorous” - that’s significant. They received 51,000 applications thuu ohhh s year for 4,000 seats. It’s a relatively small admissions office since it is public compared to what privates dedicate to admissions and marketing

[Anonymous]

On other words, maybe yes, UBA admissions can reconfigure a school counselor’s “most rigorous” “ very rigorous” assessment but remember that paid by the hour readers do the first cut. I’ve heard some officers say the most an application gets is a six minutes review and that was long before COViD and the resultant surge in applications, so I sincerely doubt they do that. But then they are marketing people whose first job is to get as many applications submitted as possible so they can reject more and drive down the selectivity percentage. Most of them will tell you anything to get your kid to apply. That is the sad truth of what has happened to college admissions in America and it’s all due to the reporting categories colleges are trying to check on off with high stats kids, urms, first gen, Pell grant kids, Questbridge etc.

[Anonymous]

Sorry “ in other words, UVA admissions “ …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Must’ve been TJ, McLean, Langley, or Madison

We met with our counselor at Langley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The public school applicants in Virginia are pre-screened by their public high school counselors and directed to the best fit schools in the Commonwealth. The counselors write letters for these schools and check the "most rigorous" box (yes it still exists). A B student is not going to get the support of their counselor to apply to UVA. The counselor might say "fine" to the parents who want to apply to a private slac like Swarthmore but if the parents and child suggest a university that is not feasible for the student, the counselor is supposed to direct them to suitable places to apply. The counselor has the vast resources of Naviance and SCHEV to show the parents that their kid doesn't have a change. So the applicant pool to UVA is self-selecting. Those applying know they need a 4.47-4.52 and a 35 ACT. We were told by the counslor our child was not a candidate for UVA. She wasn't. So we applied to Virginia schools that made sense for her.

Thank you PP. Many of us have long suspected this. Thanks for putting it into words.

Don’t really understand this comment. What is so earth shattering that counselors tell kids that they may not have a shot at a certain school? That being said, they don’t prevent someone from applying. In our LCPS HS of 400 had 70 kids apply to UVA last year and about 12 got on. Obviously a lot of under qualified kids applied despite being told it was reach. Happens every year.

I believe they are talking about the 19% figure being artificially high as compared to private percentages. Public percentages can’t be compared to private percentages. The UVA applicants (and W&M and other VA schools are prescreened by very knowledgeable counselors who have Naviance and SCHEV statistics to help guide parents and students. Parents can also access SCHEV and see if their child’s stats fit the last incoming class. There shouldn’t be any surprises in VA when it comes to picking which colleges to aim for. Since the UVA applicants self-select before applying it makes sense as that the overall acceptance rate is higher than privates down in the single digits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Must’ve been TJ, McLean, Langley, or Madison

My daughter and I met with her college counselor at Justice.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations, all!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

Same here. New counselor at beginning of 11th grade. Couldn't get the course requests and STEM program requirements straight. In 11th signed kid up for a study hall, when she wanted magnet courses. In 12th the counselor signed her up for a magnet course she had in 9th grade!

Each time our kid had to do a lot of emailing and talking to the counselor to straighten out the mess.

Counselor also refused to give any advice in regards to what colleges to target. The School district does not have Naviance either. So all we got from the counselor were the general process information (CommonApp & FAFSA website, etc) and pointing to some websites.

If it's that bad at your public, then you need to hire a private counselor. Ours met with us and reviewed the options with Naviance and SCHEV.

[Anonymous]

First cut is being made by the student's high school counselor

I think that's a significant thing to know, to anticipate. Most likely, that is what's happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

Mine did at FCPS HS. MY DS was told Junior year by counselor in a sit down meeting DS would be a candidate UVA wanted. DS received letters of recommendations from two diff guidance counselors that worked with DS over the years. UVA Accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

Mine did at FCPS HS. MY DS was told Junior year by counselor in a sit down meeting DS would be a candidate UVA wanted. DS received letters of recommendations from two diff guidance counselors that worked with DS over the years. UVA Accepted.

This is true. And my DD was told she was not a candidate for UVA. And she wasn’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Must’ve been TJ, McLean, Langley, or Madison

We met with our counselor at Langley

Now? This is not happening for most students.