UVA info session today said “most rigorous in ALL 5 core subjects.”

[Anonymous]

Setting aside official designations, as the most prestigious public institution in the state, it would colloquially be known as the flagship.

[Anonymous]

Wiki says it's a flagship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the folks that insist UVa is a flagship provide evidence that UVa considers itself to be Virginia’s flagship?

brand.virginia.edu

“As a proudly public institution and Virginia’s flagship university…”

Indeed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the folks that insist UVa is a flagship provide evidence that UVa considers itself to be Virginia’s flagship?

brand.virginia.edu

“As a proudly public institution and Virginia’s flagship university…”

Can you post the actual link? Where does it say that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the folks that insist UVa is a flagship provide evidence that UVa considers itself to be Virginia’s flagship?

brand.virginia.edu

“As a proudly public institution and Virginia’s flagship university…”

Can you post the actual link? Where does it say that?

https://brand.virginia.edu/brand-basics/about-the-uva-brand

It’s under the description of Pillar 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

UVA shouldn't lower the bar. But it should follow CA and Texas and UNC and lower the percentage of OSS

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

We’re not talking about lowering the bar, we’re talking about those kids with genuinely stellar profiles who still get rejected or waitlisted. There have been hundreds of posts and comments on this site of kids meeting that description over the years. One of my comments above was in response to a parent saying their kid and many others at the school are all top students but they all know they won’t all get in, and people in NOVA “know” it’s a crapshoot. Why? If you can get the grades and scores in hard enough classes it shouldn’t be so uncertain.

Who cares what T25 privates do? It’s a public school. With much lower in-state acceptance rates than places like UNC and Michigan.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

UVA shouldn't lower the bar. But it should follow CA and Texas and UNC and lower the percentage of OSS

+2 UVA is 65% in state. Compare this to the in state populations at popular flagships: UNC 82%; UCs 80%; UT Austin 90%; UGA 80%; U Florida 83%.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

UVA shouldn't lower the bar. But it should follow CA and Texas and UNC and lower the percentage of OSS

+2 UVA is 65% in state. Compare this to the in state populations at popular flagships: UNC 82%; UCs 80%; UT Austin 90%; UGA 80%; U Florida 83%.

Michigan 51% in state
Georgia Tech 60% in state
Wisconsin 47% in state
Ohio State 60% in state
Penn State 58% in state

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

UVA shouldn't lower the bar. But it should follow CA and Texas and UNC and lower the percentage of OSS

+2 UVA is 65% in state. Compare this to the in state populations at popular flagships: UNC 82%; UCs 80%; UT Austin 90%; UGA 80%; U Florida 83%.

Michigan 51% in state
Georgia Tech 60% in state
Wisconsin 47% in state
Ohio State 60% in state
Penn State 58% in state

Georgia Tech is not a flagship, that’s UGA. And the others are all in depopulating rust belt states; they are intentionally bringing in OOS students as a financing strategy. UVA is willfully abdicating its role as flagship of a thriving state.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing this thread pop up and every time I can't help but think who the hell does UVA think they are? You are a state school in a podunk town with a mediocre football team - basically a virgin who can't drive. AP's in all five or you're not good enough for us? Ok! I will make my way to all of the other amazing state schools in VA and not even apply to your boring, overrated school. Sit and spin, UVA.

You have to be a kid. Have a hard time imagining an adult taking their time to write this. Appreciate the amusement though.

Come on. No one has said "sit and spin" since the 80's. I'm obviously Gen-X. With a really smart kid, accomplished kid who couldn't care less about UVA. I'm just saying...there are some very twisted pairs of undies out there for a school that is not all that. Does Harvard deserve a wedgie? Probably. Yale? Likely. UVA? Absolutely not.

And one more thing...if you live in Virginia, your tax dollars are supporting UVA. Every kid should have a shot at being accepted at a state school their tax dollars support. Even the ones who don't take five AP's and get all A's at the risk of losing their sanity. What about the kid who made wise choices about their course load because they love their sport and they work part-time and value being a human being on the weekends instead of spending hours and hours on homework, test prep, tutoring? That kid is trash to UVA. Think about it.

If that kid is so desirous of attending UVA but unwilling to put in the necessary effort in HS, they can go to their community college for two years, get good grades and apply as a transfer student.

You're missing the point. Why is this crazy criteria the necessary effort for UVA? As previously noted, there are elite colleges (i.e., MIT) that have more reasonable admissions criteria. I'm not sure what UVA is trying to prove by being so sadistic. And I find it hard to believe that you can only be successful at UVA if you practically kill yourself with academics in high school.

No, you are missing the point. If a kid wants to attend a highly selective college such as UVA, the kid is competing for admission with the very top students in the state and others from across the country, and needs to plan and achieve accordingly. If the kid doesn’t want to do that, no problem, but then don’t expect to be admitted in the place of a kid who did. Many classes, students, activities at UVA are crazy competitive even after being admitted and attending so chances are a kid who didn’t want to work too hard in HS will be miserable and/or struggle there even if admitted.

I know a kid who is working his tail off in HS, is making good grades, has a few AP's, and is a great student with amazing work ethic and EC's. His counselor is saying UVA isn't an option so he shouldn't apply. In his home state. The parents went to UVA. That doesn't seem off to you? And before everyone turns around and says, "He should apply!" Go back to title of this thread and read what AO's are saying.

DP. That doesn’t seem off to me. My husband and I both went to UVA. So didn’t the parents of a handful of other top students at my junior’s high school. They’re all taking essentially the same AP-heavy course load. They won’t all get in. It’s fine. If ours doesn’t, she’ll go elsewhere.

It seems like UVA could solve this problem by admitting a few hundred more VA kids a year. Plan for a small increase in size, add the kids, the quality doesn’t decline (they are all top), in-state admission rate and number goes up, residents are happy (until others start complaining), and so on. Not unreasonable for a public university, and an expensive one at that.

UVA added 1000 first years in the last decade. They've built new dorms, but the first year areas are full.

Seems like they could figure out how to add another 100-200 then with some basic planning.

There will always be hundreds, probably thousands, of students and parents every year who think - occasionally justifiably - that they should have been admitted. No one will ever be satisfied and what’s UVA supposed to do - increase the undergrad student population by thousands (if this is even possible given space and financial constraints and the desires of Charlottesville) resulting in a UVA that is no longer the UVA these people want to attend???

Well if all of these kids are as good as people are claiming, then yeah. If there are VA kids with genuinely top stats, rigor, etc., that are getting rejected, then yeah. UVA is small for a “flagship” and its in-state acceptance rate is middling for a top public. Seems weird to take a stance that it’s the absolute perfect size as is.

17k undergraduates is small?? My top rigor and stats kid finds the size just right. Many good options in VA.

For a large public, yes. But we’re not talking about making it big, just adding enough in-state seats to accommodate really strong in-state kids that are otherwise getting rejected. So going from 17k to, say, 18k.

The strongest get in. The bar in state for uva is lower than it takes to get into Emory and all the other T25 privates. The bar is slightly higher than UNC requires of its students from in state but that decision makes the OOS kids there feel like they are very different from the instate: it is a wider intellectual gap. UVA has a narrow gap and they take a lot of OOS so the peer mix can rival the other T25s. Why on earth should UVA lower the bar ? There is zero need with so many other great schools that smart but not quite that level can go.

UVA shouldn't lower the bar. But it should follow CA and Texas and UNC and lower the percentage of OSS

+2 UVA is 65% in state. Compare this to the in state populations at popular flagships: UNC 82%; UCs 80%; UT Austin 90%; UGA 80%; U Florida 83%.

Michigan 51% in state
Georgia Tech 60% in state
Wisconsin 47% in state
Ohio State 60% in state
Penn State 58% in state

Michigan has almost 34,000 students so at 51% it is still providing space for over 17,000 in state kids. Michigan’s in state numbers are about the same as the entire population at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Our admissions process at UVa is a holistic one."

Translation: we'll do whatever the heck we want and change the rules whenever we see fit to do so."

OP here. Yeah this is how it felt. We asked if it would be looked down upon to forgo AP foreign language to instead take a second AP science (child’s interest) and were basically told yes but we were welcome to try to explain it. But the woman was about 25 and didn’t even go to UVA so I was wondering if she even actually knew. I’ve definitely heard/read of unhooked students going to UVA without AP foreign language.

If UVA looks down on that, then your kid should go to another school.

NP here, we were told basically the same thing. My STEMMY kid decided to forego more language in order to take AP science and math classes, even though that means UVA will likely snub him. I guess it's easy for someone else to just say oh just go to another school, but we live in UVA, it's our state flagship, it has great programs that he's interested in, and we would really like to take advantage of our state's flagship or at least have the chance to and not be shut out by some arbitrary criteria that seems unfair to kids with different interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Our admissions process at UVa is a holistic one."

Translation: we'll do whatever the heck we want and change the rules whenever we see fit to do so."

OP here. Yeah this is how it felt. We asked if it would be looked down upon to forgo AP foreign language to instead take a second AP science (child’s interest) and were basically told yes but we were welcome to try to explain it. But the woman was about 25 and didn’t even go to UVA so I was wondering if she even actually knew. I’ve definitely heard/read of unhooked students going to UVA without AP foreign language.

If UVA looks down on that, then your kid should go to another school.

NP here, we were told basically the same thing. My STEMMY kid decided to forego more language in order to take AP science and math classes, even though that means UVA will likely snub him. I guess it's easy for someone else to just say oh just go to another school, but we live in UVA, it's our state flagship, it has great programs that he's interested in, and we would really like to take advantage of our state's flagship or at least have the chance to and not be shut out by some arbitrary criteria that seems unfair to kids with different interests.

You know what you need to do to get into UVA. Your DC made a choice. There is a lot of time to take more math and science in college. High school is not for specializing, according to UVA. It isn’t unfair, you just don’t like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Our admissions process at UVa is a holistic one."

Translation: we'll do whatever the heck we want and change the rules whenever we see fit to do so."

OP here. Yeah this is how it felt. We asked if it would be looked down upon to forgo AP foreign language to instead take a second AP science (child’s interest) and were basically told yes but we were welcome to try to explain it. But the woman was about 25 and didn’t even go to UVA so I was wondering if she even actually knew. I’ve definitely heard/read of unhooked students going to UVA without AP foreign language.

If UVA looks down on that, then your kid should go to another school.

NP here, we were told basically the same thing. My STEMMY kid decided to forego more language in order to take AP science and math classes, even though that means UVA will likely snub him. I guess it's easy for someone else to just say oh just go to another school, but we live in UVA, it's our state flagship, it has great programs that he's interested in, and we would really like to take advantage of our state's flagship or at least have the chance to and not be shut out by some arbitrary criteria that seems unfair to kids with different interests.

You know what you need to do to get into UVA. Your DC made a choice. There is a lot of time to take more math and science in college. High school is not for specializing, according to UVA. It isn’t unfair, you just don’t like it.

I think it's strange to basically force kids to take a class in an area of non interest when it means foreging classes in areas of interest. I disagree that you should wait until college to take those classes. Of course you specialize further in college, but high school is for developing interests to decide what you want in college. A lot of colleges require you to apply to a specific major. So... what if a kid is interested in majoring in Chemistry or Biology? You really think they shouldn't take AP Chem or AP Bio so they can take French?