VT this Friday?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It’s ridiculous if colleges don’t look at senior year grades. So, 25% of a kid’s high school transcript is just ignored? DS’ had all A’s freshman year, grades dropped somewhat during the screwed up distance learning fiasco, but recovered after schools reopened and he has straight A’s senior year. Rejected from VT, accepted elsewhere with merit, and still waiting on a few. Not a CS or engineering major.

If you are new to the college admissions process this is a tough lesson to learn. Colleges base their decisions on Freshman-Junior year grades and GPA and class rankings for schools who have them. If you start off as number one in your class in fall of senior year then in their eyes you are the valedictorian and they admit you based on whether you fall from that position or not. Most virginia schools need applications prior to your first semester GPA's being updated. They don't ask for transcripts from quarter one so those grades are not looked at. It's a very tough lesson to learn for kids who had a rough first few years. [b]

+1. This is the new reality. Both of my kids were admitted based upon 3 years' GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT is playing the social engineering game with the state kids and it is tiring and frustrating. A state school should represent the make-up of the state and any school that has the outright goal of 40% URM/1st Gen is not representing the population of the state that it is supposed to serve. Also, why accept lower stat OOS kids over high stat in-state?? That makes no sense at all to me. The majority of state schools do the opposite.
The theory of high stat kids using it as a safety shouldn't matter; look at Pitt - they accept high stat kids and are fully aware that many of them consider it a safety but a lot of those kids end up attending, loving the school and increasing the caliber of the school.

VA is 60% white. So 40% URM tracks.

VA is 6% Asian. So are you mad VaTeach is not aiming for 34% URM???

Wrong. Almost 70% white and 7% Asian. 20% Black. Negligible hispanics. What were you saying again?

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/virginia-population

Virginia Demographics

According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Virginia was:

White: 66.32%
Black or African American: 19.05%
Asian: 6.7%
Two or more races: 4.77%
Other race: 2.83%
Native American: 0.27%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.07%

Well, since vt is only 4% AA and over 10% Asian, they don't match Va demographics and need to recruit more URMs! Also, since hispanic/Latin is not listed, those numbers are likely included with white, as that is ethnicity, not race. So, percentage of white people is likely under 60%, and Tech is probably overenrolled with white (non hispanic) kids.

Just give this nonsense a rest. Schools are not diverse enough. Kids admitted are qualified. Stop blaming everyone else.[/quote


VT recently announced that the class of 2022 was 40.4% URm, first generation and veterans. Right here: According to 2022-23 enrollment data from the university’s census on Sept. 19, 40.4 percent of the incoming class are underrepresented minorities or underserved students (URM/USS), which includes Pell-eligible students, first-generation students, and veterans. https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2022/09/admissions-fall-census-2022.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT is playing the social engineering game with the state kids and it is tiring and frustrating. A state school should represent the make-up of the state and any school that has the outright goal of 40% URM/1st Gen is not representing the population of the state that it is supposed to serve. Also, why accept lower stat OOS kids over high stat in-state?? That makes no sense at all to me. The majority of state schools do the opposite.
The theory of high stat kids using it as a safety shouldn't matter; look at Pitt - they accept high stat kids and are fully aware that many of them consider it a safety but a lot of those kids end up attending, loving the school and increasing the caliber of the school.

VA is 60% white. So 40% URM tracks.

VA is 6% Asian. So are you mad VaTeach is not aiming for 34% URM???

Wrong. Almost 70% white and 7% Asian. 20% Black. Negligible hispanics. What were you saying again?

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/virginia-population

Virginia Demographics

According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Virginia was:

White: 66.32%
Black or African American: 19.05%
Asian: 6.7%
Two or more races: 4.77%
Other race: 2.83%
Native American: 0.27%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.07%

Not PP you're responding to, but negligible Hispanics does not seem right.

Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race. Someone posted the race data. You would need to find the ethnicity data separately, which would be Hispanic/Non-Hispanic. You can be white and Hispanic, Black and Hispanic, etc.

In the CDS stats posted above everything that's not "Hispanic" is actually listed as "non-Hispanic" in the data set. So basically, if you say you are Hispanic, regardless of other race info, you are put in the Hispanic bucket. Everything else is those who did not check Hispanic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It’s ridiculous if colleges don’t look at senior year grades. So, 25% of a kid’s high school transcript is just ignored? DS’ had all A’s freshman year, grades dropped somewhat during the screwed up distance learning fiasco, but recovered after schools reopened and he has straight A’s senior year. Rejected from VT, accepted elsewhere with merit, and still waiting on a few. Not a CS or engineering major.

If you are new to the college admissions process this is a tough lesson to learn. Colleges base their decisions on Freshman-Junior year grades and GPA and class rankings for schools who have them. If you start off as number one in your class in fall of senior year then in their eyes you are the valedictorian and they admit you based on whether you fall from that position or not. Most virginia schools need applications prior to your first semester GPA's being updated. They don't ask for transcripts from quarter one so those grades are not looked at. It's a very tough lesson to learn for kids who had a rough first few years.

[b]

+1. This is the new reality. Both of my kids were admitted based upon 3 years' GPA.
Just encouraged my Junior to take “study hall” and a fun elective next year (in addition to 4 core classes, 3 of which are APs)

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to point out that while it’s true admissions GPA is based through junior year, they do still look at your senior year schedule to see what classes you’re taking. It’s not going to look great to have study hall, etc. in place of actual classes.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to point out that while it’s true admissions GPA is based through junior year, they do still look at your senior year schedule to see what classes you’re taking. It’s not going to look great to have study hall, etc. in place of actual classes.

This is correct. They will ask for your senior class schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

PP here and I agree. The point being that singling out one school for doing what all the rest are also doing is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

That debate has been had and the answer has already been established: Yes, it should be. All of you who think scoring high on SATs and having high GPAs should be an automatic admission don't have a clue. My guess is kids that fit into this category didn't spend any time on the supplementals or demonstrate a history of service (maybe since they were locked in their rooms studying so much), which are the two biggest thing VT clearly says it cares about. These are really the only two places where one can differentiate one's self against the tens of thousands of qualified applicants (assuming you aren't an athlete).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

That debate has been had and the answer has already been established: Yes, it should be. All of you who think scoring high on SATs and having high GPAs should be an automatic admission don't have a clue. My guess is kids that fit into this category didn't spend any time on the supplementals or demonstrate a history of service (maybe since they were locked in their rooms studying so much), which are the two biggest thing VT clearly says it cares about. These are really the only two places where one can differentiate one's self against the tens of thousands of qualified applicants (assuming you aren't an athlete).

According to VT's Common Data Set, volunteer/service work is merely "considered," along with a number of other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

That debate has been had and the answer has already been established: Yes, it should be. All of you who think scoring high on SATs and having high GPAs should be an automatic admission don't have a clue. My guess is kids that fit into this category didn't spend any time on the supplementals or demonstrate a history of service (maybe since they were locked in their rooms studying so much), which are the two biggest thing VT clearly says it cares about. These are really the only two places where one can differentiate one's self against the tens of thousands of qualified applicants (assuming you aren't an athlete).

According to VT's Common Data Set, volunteer/service work is merely "considered," along with a number of other things.

But their own essays are "very important" and they ask about things like service and leadership. These essays are the ONLY place you can make your case for why you belong at, and want to go to VT. I assume most of the high-stats kids who got denied did so because they weren't as effective as they needed to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT is playing the social engineering game with the state kids and it is tiring and frustrating. A state school should represent the make-up of the state and any school that has the outright goal of 40% URM/1st Gen is not representing the population of the state that it is supposed to serve. Also, why accept lower stat OOS kids over high stat in-state?? That makes no sense at all to me. The majority of state schools do the opposite.
The theory of high stat kids using it as a safety shouldn't matter; look at Pitt - they accept high stat kids and are fully aware that many of them consider it a safety but a lot of those kids end up attending, loving the school and increasing the caliber of the school.

VA is 60% white. So 40% URM tracks.

VA is 6% Asian. So are you mad VaTeach is not aiming for 34% URM???

Wrong. Almost 70% white and 7% Asian. 20% Black. Negligible hispanics. What were you saying again?

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/virginia-population

Virginia Demographics

According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Virginia was:

White: 66.32%
Black or African American: 19.05%
Asian: 6.7%
Two or more races: 4.77%
Other race: 2.83%
Native American: 0.27%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.07%

No, 40.4% URM, underrepresented population and first-generation. Here's the cite from VT's own statement for the class of 2022: https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2022/09/admissions-fall-census-2022.html. "According to 2022-23 enrollment data from the university’s census on Sept. 19, 40.4 percent of the incoming class are underrepresented minorities or underserved students (URM/USS), which includes Pell-eligible students, first-generation students, and veterans"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son got in!

The admission letter states "With more than 47,000 applications for 7,085 seats in our first-year class.." Does this mean the admission rate is only 15.07%

No--because only about 1/3 of kids who are accepted will likely enroll, so they accept 3x as many students typically. So more like a 45% acceptance rate is my guess. Which is a lot lower than VT used to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many high stats kids do want VT because of the in state cost savings. It’s not okay to yield protect in state kids.

Then apply ED and stop complaining.

Agree. Apply ED instate to either UVA or VT whichever is your first choice and stop complaining and saying oh that was my first choice after decisions come out.

That is a dumb argument. High stats kids have to burn their one ED shot or get shut out of their state university because the school will yield protect against over qualified kids potentially rejecting them? [i] Many states like UT Austin also guarantee admission to in state high stats kids.

I don’t think Tech is doing this. My daughter with a 4.6, 1530 got in and she applied EA.

Of course Tech is engaging in yield protection. It has been for the last four years. Go back here on DCUM and read the ED, EA, and RD threads and look at the stats of kids deferred or waitlisted. They are astounding. Do the same at College Confidential and Reddit. Just because your kid got in doesn’t mean similarly situated kids did not

DP. You seem to believe all qualified kids should be accepted, but that’s not reality. Name a school that is able to do that - none. They pick the students they want, as at any university. What’s astounding is that some of you parents can’t seem to accept this.

This is the reality. There are more well qualified students than they can accommodate and they don't admit just on some formula of GPA+Rigor+Testing. I assume they are making very fine distinctions between students based on responses to the essays, since that's the only other thing they really look at (other than demographics) + mathematical models of who is likely to yield.

It sucks to be the highly qualified student who is shut out but that is what can happen with "holistic admissions." My only real gripe about it is I don't think VT is completely honest about their yield management since their CDS says they don't consider interest, but obviously they do. Any school that offers ED considers interest since that is the ultimate expression of interest. And it seems obvious from past years in how they deny some super high stats kids that they reject students they think won't come. If you aren't applying ED, I'd encourage my student to express a lot of interest and be specific in the question about goals to tie that to how VT specifically will help you achieve that goal. That's what DS did 2 years ago when he was admitted, although who knows what ultimately tips it one way or the other.

And I guess many of us don't think this should be happening.

It’s happening at 99% of schools. This is nothing new.
DP

I didn't say it was new or that it wasn't happening. So your point?
But it IS happening more and it's up for a legitimate debate as to whether it should be.

That debate has been had and the answer has already been established: Yes, it should be. All of you who think scoring high on SATs and having high GPAs should be an automatic admission don't have a clue. My guess is kids that fit into this category didn't spend any time on the supplementals or demonstrate a history of service (maybe since they were locked in their rooms studying so much), which are the two biggest thing VT clearly says it cares about. These are really the only two places where one can differentiate one's self against the tens of thousands of qualified applicants (assuming you aren't an athlete).

According to VT's Common Data Set, volunteer/service work is merely "considered," along with a number of other things.

But their own essays are "very important" and they ask about things like service and leadership. These essays are the ONLY place you can make your case for why you belong at, and want to go to VT. I assume most of the high-stats kids who got denied did so because they weren't as effective as they needed to be there.

+1
VT’s motto is “ut prosim” - that I may serve. Service is huge at VT. They want highly qualified applicants who are ALSO committed in some way to volunteering. And not just one-off gigs, but a true commitment to some cause over the course of high school. I have no doubt that some of those not accepted have no idea what this even means.