Too early to start thinking W&M/UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. The only full academic scholarship at UVA is the Jefferson.

2. All of the other full scholarships take need into account.

3. Foreign citizens aren't eligible for government money. If an international student get a scholarship, it's most likely through Jefferson or they hold US citizenship.

Since you can't name the scholarship, I feel you are misleading yourself on the nature of the funding. You'd think that someone whose kid was part of something so big would remember what it was called. They ALL have names.

I never said I don't remember the name. And I don't know what is the nature of the funding, I just know it is not a financial aid. Financial aid decision was maid at the time of the admission and they told us we are not eligible for any financial aid. These scholarship came out much later.

Here is the top line of the email from UVA:

"Congratulations on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia! You have been selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. "

And here is the text from the actual letter that was attached:

"Congratulations once again on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia. You have been
selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. This
scholarship covers the cost of tuition and fees ".

The above would not cover the cost of living.

Why are you not believing? Why would I make this up? My kid chose not to go to UVA, so we are not using that scholarship anyway.

Here are the criteria for that UVA scholarship (and all the others). http://sfs.virginia.edu/sfsidentify

University Achievement Award: Awarded to exceptional students from Virginia who will add to the diversity of the student population. The award covers full tuition and required fees. Awards are based primarily on Virginia residency, academic merit, leadership, and outstanding citizenship. A student must also satisfy at least two of the following conditions: (1) have a history of overcoming adversity; (2) be a first generation college student; (3) be a member of an underrepresented minority or ethnic group; (4) be a member of a low income family; (5) reside in a rural or inner-city location; (6) have been raised in a single parent household. A committee reviews all applicants from Virginia for possible awards, and notifications are sent in early April.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. The only full academic scholarship at UVA is the Jefferson.

2. All of the other full scholarships take need into account.

3. Foreign citizens aren't eligible for government money. If an international student get a scholarship, it's most likely through Jefferson or they hold US citizenship.

Since you can't name the scholarship, I feel you are misleading yourself on the nature of the funding. You'd think that someone whose kid was part of something so big would remember what it was called. They ALL have names.

I never said I don't remember the name. And I don't know what is the nature of the funding, I just know it is not a financial aid. Financial aid decision was maid at the time of the admission and they told us we are not eligible for any financial aid. These scholarship came out much later.

Here is the top line of the email from UVA:

"Congratulations on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia! You have been selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. "

And here is the text from the actual letter that was attached:

"Congratulations once again on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia. You have been
selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. This
scholarship covers the cost of tuition and fees ".

The above would not cover the cost of living.

Why are you not believing? Why would I make this up? My kid chose not to go to UVA, so we are not using that scholarship anyway.

Here are the criteria for that UVA scholarship (and all the others). http://sfs.virginia.edu/sfsidentify

University Achievement Award: Awarded to exceptional students from Virginia who will add to the diversity of the student population. The award covers full tuition and required fees. Awards are based primarily on Virginia residency, academic merit, leadership, and outstanding citizenship. A student must also satisfy at least two of the following conditions: (1) have a history of overcoming adversity; (2) be a first generation college student; (3) be a member of an underrepresented minority or ethnic group; (4) be a member of a low income family; (5) reside in a rural or inner-city location; (6) have been raised in a single parent household. A committee reviews all applicants from Virginia for possible awards, and notifications are sent in early April.

So we now learn:
-It's listed on the Financial Aid website.
-It's not purely academic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two of the most liberal and level-headed young women you’d ever meet.

It's usually either one or the other. To be fair, conservatives, while young, are pretty rabid too.

[Anonymous]

UPenn mom, you don’t seem to understand the concept of financial aid, the grant your DD received is financial aid.

https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-announces-2017-18-financial-aid-budget-tuition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. The only full academic scholarship at UVA is the Jefferson.

2. All of the other full scholarships take need into account.

3. Foreign citizens aren't eligible for government money. If an international student get a scholarship, it's most likely through Jefferson or they hold US citizenship.

Since you can't name the scholarship, I feel you are misleading yourself on the nature of the funding. You'd think that someone whose kid was part of something so big would remember what it was called. They ALL have names.

I never said I don't remember the name. And I don't know what is the nature of the funding, I just know it is not a financial aid. Financial aid decision was maid at the time of the admission and they told us we are not eligible for any financial aid. These scholarship came out much later.

Here is the top line of the email from UVA:

"Congratulations on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia! You have been selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. "

And here is the text from the actual letter that was attached:

"Congratulations once again on your offer of admission to the University of Virginia. You have been
selected as one of this year’s recipients of the University Achievement Award (UAA) Scholarship. This
scholarship covers the cost of tuition and fees ".

The above would not cover the cost of living.

Why are you not believing? Why would I make this up? My kid chose not to go to UVA, so we are not using that scholarship anyway.

Here are the criteria for that UVA scholarship (and all the others). http://sfs.virginia.edu/sfsidentify

University Achievement Award: Awarded to exceptional students from Virginia who will add to the diversity of the student population. The award covers full tuition and required fees. Awards are based primarily on Virginia residency, academic merit, leadership, and outstanding citizenship. A student must also satisfy at least two of the following conditions: (1) have a history of overcoming adversity; (2) be a first generation college student; (3) be a member of an underrepresented minority or ethnic group; (4) be a member of a low income family; (5) reside in a rural or inner-city location; (6) have been raised in a single parent household. A committee reviews all applicants from Virginia for possible awards, and notifications are sent in early April.

So we now learn:
-It's listed on the Financial Aid website.
-It's not purely academic.

and PP lied about it being purely merit. Kid is a URM and one of the other categories. That's exactly what I said earlier - UVA reserves financial aid for low-income, questbridge, first generation, etc. students. Her kid did NOT get a merit scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Believe it or not (and in this area, I realize not) not every kid’s first choice is UVA. I have a TJ kid who has the stats to get in. Not even applying. Wants a nerdier cohort, and a much smaller school, so WM is the in state first choice. Male (which really does matter at WM), middle of the class, 1540 SATs. Should be in easily. Second choice is Followed by VT with some grumbling, because they have a spec8alized program he is interested in. But also looking at SLACs with strong physical science programs.

Point is, different kids want different things out of college. But, I would not start counting UVA/WM chickens freshman year— especially if you do not have a kid at TJ, where most of the UVA applicants, and nearly all WM applicants will get in. My DC2 is at a strong base school. Strong freshman year. No way I would make college predictions before at least another year of grades are on the books and we have SAT scores.

You sound a bit defensive. For plentry of kids, William and Mary is their first choice. I did my undergrad there and UVA for grad school. I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything.

[Anonymous]

My son was a solid 2.0 GPA student in both 9th and 10th grade. I thought NVCC was his destination after high school. In his junior and first half of senior year, he decided to take school seriously and got straight As and a 1580 SAT score. He was accepted to both UVa and WM but ended up at University of Penn.

College admission is very much like the NBA draft. They don't care what you did in 9th and 10th grade. They are looking for your "upside" potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe it or not (and in this area, I realize not) not every kid’s first choice is UVA. I have a TJ kid who has the stats to get in. Not even applying. Wants a nerdier cohort, and a much smaller school, so WM is the in state first choice. Male (which really does matter at WM), middle of the class, 1540 SATs. Should be in easily. Second choice is Followed by VT with some grumbling, because they have a spec8alized program he is interested in. But also looking at SLACs with strong physical science programs.

Point is, different kids want different things out of college. But, I would not start counting UVA/WM chickens freshman year— especially if you do not have a kid at TJ, where most of the UVA applicants, and nearly all WM applicants will get in. My DC2 is at a strong base school. Strong freshman year. No way I would make college predictions before at least another year of grades are on the books and we have SAT scores.

You sound a bit defensive. For plentry of kids, William and Mary is their first choice. I did my undergrad there and UVA for grad school. I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything.

PP here d nice catch. I feel a bit defensive. I wish we could afford to send DC to any $70k/ college they wanted, but we can’t. Not with two kids and possible grad school down the line. And we are in the donut hole and top SLACs have no merit aid. I am a bit defensive about not being able to afford Williams, Amherst, etc.

And I feel defensive about the fact DC wants WM, not UVA. At TJ, WM is viewed by many kids as far inferior to UVA, and a safety school. You apply to UVA and WM, and if you don’t get into UVA, you are stuck at WM. I think this is ridiculous, and love the more LAC vibe, smaller classes, high percent who go on to get a PhD, etc. But if I tell a group of TJ parents my kid wants WM, they automatically assume it’s because my kid cannot get into UVA, rather than because DC likes it better. It’s ridiculous. But there you have it.

[Anonymous]

There is no meaningful difference in the quality of the undergraduates between William and Mary and the University of Virginia. If one school has an edge on any factor, be it ACT, SAT, or GPA, I would say it is not statistically significant. I have worked and lived with graduates of these schools for over twenty years. To say that there is a difference is like saying that McDonalds is different from Burger King.

[Anonymous]

Biggest eyeroll ever at the UAA "full merit" mom.

My question about UVA being fratty-- in NOVA you aren't going to have frat type behavior and also have a 4.48 GPA. I'm assuming these party types are coming from rural areas of the state? The only kids I know with UVA stats are nerdy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was a solid 2.0 GPA student in both 9th and 10th grade. I thought NVCC was his destination after high school. In his junior and first half of senior year, he decided to take school seriously and got straight As and a 1580 SAT score. He was accepted to both UVa and WM but ended up at University of Penn.

College admission is very much like the NBA draft. They don't care what you did in 9th and 10th grade. They are looking for your "upside" potential.

What year? Public school? Hooked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Biggest eyeroll ever at the UAA "full merit" mom.

My question about UVA being fratty-- in NOVA you aren't going to have frat type behavior and also have a 4.48 GPA. I'm assuming these party types are coming from rural areas of the state? The only kids I know with UVA stats are nerdy.

The OOS kids? Not everyone at UVA is from Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe it or not (and in this area, I realize not) not every kid’s first choice is UVA. I have a TJ kid who has the stats to get in. Not even applying. Wants a nerdier cohort, and a much smaller school, so WM is the in state first choice. Male (which really does matter at WM), middle of the class, 1540 SATs. Should be in easily. Second choice is Followed by VT with some grumbling, because they have a spec8alized program he is interested in. But also looking at SLACs with strong physical science programs.

Point is, different kids want different things out of college. But, I would not start counting UVA/WM chickens freshman year— especially if you do not have a kid at TJ, where most of the UVA applicants, and nearly all WM applicants will get in. My DC2 is at a strong base school. Strong freshman year. No way I would make college predictions before at least another year of grades are on the books and we have SAT scores.

You sound a bit defensive. For plentry of kids, William and Mary is their first choice. I did my undergrad there and UVA for grad school. I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything.

PP here d nice catch. I feel a bit defensive. I wish we could afford to send DC to any $70k/ college they wanted, but we can’t. Not with two kids and possible grad school down the line. And we are in the donut hole and top SLACs have no merit aid. I am a bit defensive about not being able to afford Williams, Amherst, etc.

And I feel defensive about the fact DC wants WM, not UVA. At TJ, WM is viewed by many kids as far inferior to UVA, and a safety school. You apply to UVA and WM, and if you don’t get into UVA, you are stuck at WM. I think this is ridiculous, and love the more LAC vibe, smaller classes, high percent who go on to get a PhD, etc. But if I tell a group of TJ parents my kid wants WM, they automatically assume it’s because my kid cannot get into UVA, rather than because DC likes it better. It’s ridiculous. But there you have it.

My TJ grad chose WM over UVA and hasn't regretted it for one minute. It's a great school. And I say that from the perspective of someone who has another child a very top private college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Biggest eyeroll ever at the UAA "full merit" mom.

My question about UVA being fratty-- in NOVA you aren't going to have frat type behavior and also have a 4.48 GPA. I'm assuming these party types are coming from rural areas of the state? The only kids I know with UVA stats are nerdy.

I disagree completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe it or not (and in this area, I realize not) not every kid’s first choice is UVA. I have a TJ kid who has the stats to get in. Not even applying. Wants a nerdier cohort, and a much smaller school, so WM is the in state first choice. Male (which really does matter at WM), middle of the class, 1540 SATs. Should be in easily. Second choice is Followed by VT with some grumbling, because they have a spec8alized program he is interested in. But also looking at SLACs with strong physical science programs.

Point is, different kids want different things out of college. But, I would not start counting UVA/WM chickens freshman year— especially if you do not have a kid at TJ, where most of the UVA applicants, and nearly all WM applicants will get in. My DC2 is at a strong base school. Strong freshman year. No way I would make college predictions before at least another year of grades are on the books and we have SAT scores.

You sound a bit defensive. For plentry of kids, William and Mary is their first choice. I did my undergrad there and UVA for grad school. I wouldn’t trade that decision for anything.

PP here d nice catch. I feel a bit defensive. I wish we could afford to send DC to any $70k/ college they wanted, but we can’t. Not with two kids and possible grad school down the line. And we are in the donut hole and top SLACs have no merit aid. I am a bit defensive about not being able to afford Williams, Amherst, etc.

And I feel defensive about the fact DC wants WM, not UVA. At TJ, WM is viewed by many kids as far inferior to UVA, and a safety school. You apply to UVA and WM, and if you don’t get into UVA, you are stuck at WM. I think this is ridiculous, and love the more LAC vibe, smaller classes, high percent who go on to get a PhD, etc. But if I tell a group of TJ parents my kid wants WM, they automatically assume it’s because my kid cannot get into UVA, rather than because DC likes it better. It’s ridiculous. But there you have it.

I understand—I really do. It was something like that at my big box nova hs years ago, even when, at that time, William and Mary’s average SAT scores were higher than UVA’s (and any other public college’s for that matter). We were a group of seniors who just wanted to be at William and Mary. One common response we heard was, why do you want to go there with its grade deflation and lack of bars? That was some time ago. Just know that those kids are wrong. But perceptions do matter and UVA is undeniably one of the hottest schools in the Nation.. Honestly, though, I would also view UVA as something close to a safety school for TJ students. That is, if you can’t get into UVA from TJ, what was the point? My kids are little, but years from now I’d love to have this problem.