NOVA Stats for spring '17 UVA, W & M & Tech acceptances (or not)
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Really? Are things really that dire these days? |
Anonymous
At Yorktown, there's tons of grade inflation. Approx ~120 kids had GPA above 4.0....that's about a quarter of the class. Being above a 4.0 is no big deal...some are not prepared to face that reality. |
Anonymous
For your kids? Probably. |
Anonymous
Top 10% with great SAT scores are really going to Mason these days? I've heard it's tough, but this tough?! |
Anonymous
Agree. In my experience in both Arlington and top DC private, being in top 10% involves taking minimum 8 AP/IB classes and getting straight As. And somehow while achieving this, also have to find the time for superlative ECs. Have had three DC fit this criteria, each of whom applied to both W&M and uva. 2 offers from W&M and 2 from uva. |
Anonymous
|
My son didn't apply to UVA, but did apply to W&M. He was WL with a 34 ACT and strong application overall, but sub-4.0 GPA. He applied knowing it would be a reach, and I do think W&M's holistic approach kept his application from going straight to the reject pile. This means at least one adcom felt strongly enough to keep him in the mix, but -- justifiably, IMO -- he didn't get a spot and did not get off the waitlist.
His school doesn't rank, but at graduation the valedictory scholars were all asked to stand and it was clear that even with him graduating with honors, he was probably nowhere closer than the top 25-30%. Ultimately, that is going to make a difference for W&M and UVA. This is why our NoVa kids really need to keep an open mind about the other options and not see the rest of the VA state schools as consolation prizes. We are in that doughnut hole of not being able to be full pay but not qualifying for aid at privates. His stats got him nice merit at a lot of great schools but not nearly enough to make it palatable for our finances. Parents need to be the first step in showing our kids that there are great in-state options out there for the huge majority of kids who are not in that magic 10%. We visited most of the state schools and it became very clear which he liked and which he wasn't as crazy about. And he had excellent options to choose from when it came down to deciding. |
Anonymous
That is really high for a state school. It's great that UVA is so well regarded, but what does it matter if your kid can't get in? I come from a state where a good student can get in to both major state universities without much thought. I've already accepted that my kids aren't going to either UVA or WM. It will be a challenge for VT. I'm planning on GMU and JMU.... or sending them back to the midwest where they can get guaranteed admission and instate tuition as a legacy. Or seriously considering the Nova route to UVA/WM. Does anyone hear about kids doing that in real life or is it just an idea that no one wants to do? |
Anonymous
Yes. I know more than one who did this. Smart kids who slacked just a little in high school. |
Anonymous
The NVCC route? You need a pretty motivated student to stick with it. Achieving a 3.5 isn't a piece of cake if you're a slacker sort or working p/t or f/t. Not impossible but I'd be wary of thinking it's a sure thing. |
Anonymous
|
In recent years, McLean has routinely sent 30-35 kids to UVA every year, and more were admitted and ended up at other schools. I don't have access to the Naviance data any longer, but the assertion that it might only send 12-15 kids per year is flat-out wrong.
Not in my DCs class at Langley. 30-35 may have been accepted out of 2000+ but only a dozen actually went. She was not one of the lucky few to get any support to apply. The college counselor "directed" her to other more "suitable" schools. B+/A- average. |
Anonymous
Where was your child directed? |
Anonymous
Some very bad an expensive choices like High Point, Gettysburg, Dickensen, Drexel, Swarthmore. She went to GMU Point of story: hire a professional Do not re ly n FCPS public high school counselor. They are not your friend unless your kid is 4.0++. |
Anonymous
| GMU is still a good school. Save those dollars for grad school. |
Anonymous
Maybe, the counselor got the impression that the less competitive state schools were not acceptable to you. I found our high school counselors and, especially, the career counselor to be quite helpful. One child was in the top group and was accepted to the most selective state schools. One was far from the top and went to what is possibly the third tier. Not sure the third tier did not do a better job. We did speak with the career counselor prior to the application process. Maybe early in the junior year. It is not the job of the counselors to choose the school. |
Anonymous
Maybe you need to have a sit-down with the UVA President Teresa sullivan and the Dean of Admissions to get your facts straight. I sat I thru President's Sullivans convocation last year (DC is in class of 2020) and heard the stats. 600+ accepted with perfect SATs, 265 accepted. 93.4% top 10 percent of class. all 50 states and 80 countries. Here are the stats as known now for incoming class of 2021. https://admissionsintel.com/uva-admits-9957-for-class-of-2021. Note average ACT of 31-34. Note SAT scores. Note Perfect SAT scores. I am told this class is 94.6% top ten percent of class. DCs stats were no 1 in class, 4.23 GPA (average of incoming class will be a 4.26), ACT with writing combined first take 34 and perfect 36 on retry. His friends who also got in had similar records and perfect SATT II subject matter test scores in Math I, II and chemistry. By the way, the Virginia acceptance rate is now only 29.1%and nos of applications are up. People who cite to the acceptance rate as a indicator that it is easy to get in to UVA and to W&M do not understand that you cannot compare selection rates of a top state flagship to a top private, say, Duke at 7%. Those that apply to UVA and W&M self-select or their public high schools do it for them. For example, the TJ students by virtue of attending TJ have have already gone through the toughest selection process in most of the U.S. Then the public high school will support the candidacies to UVA and W&M of only their top students because their reputation is on the line. IT's the high school college counselor who controls the gateway. She or he is not going to support a B+ candidate when there are 300 others in the class who have better records. She or he won't push the application, pull together the letters of recommendation (or read them to make sure they are good and fit), help w/ essays and talk to the university (which they do ) and indicate "these are our top ten - they are also applying to HYP; these are our top 20; these are our top 30 . . out of 2000". UVA can take only a few from each public school. or a dozen in the case of a school of 2400. You have a distinct advantage if you are applying from anywhere outside of Fairfax County or the TJ area - but not as great as many say. Some counties send zero or one student. OP asked for help in making assessments about where to apply. To do a good job of that she needs to understsand the statistics and the game that is played. If they in a FCPS they need a 4.0+ in order to get the blessing of the college counselor. That's just the way it is. DCs stats were good enough to get him into Ivies and the top tech schools in the USA with 6.0% acceptance rates that year but we knew how tough the UVA process was. He got in and turned down some $72K a year elites but at then $26K a year for in-state (now jumping to $30K) you can't beat UVA for undergrad especially if you child thimks they want to go to grad school and/or you have otherr children in college or coming up the pipeline. So lets help OP make reasonable choices instead of calling names. |