Great article on the direction UVA is heading......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of people that get accepted into Virginia but turn it down for somewhere else. It’s not the end all be all that the Hoos think it is. It’s a very good school, but it isn’t unique. It does have a certain culture that has existed for a while, partially due to its heavy Greek scene (a surprisingly high percentage of undergrads are Greek and there are tons of choices). Denying it and getting defensive just makes it worse.

And I did get in and would be happy if my kids ended up there. But I turned UVA down to go OOS somewhere else.

I read 35% go Greek. That's not a lot compared to other major state U type places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"freshman, sophomore, junior & senior" was not in collective use at the time Jefferson started UVA.

UVA really needs to get an identity outside of Jefferson, it’s not as glamorous as you think.

UVA people know more about Jefferson than anyone. Died in debt, hypocritical about slavery, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia needs some auto admit schools.
3.5 unweighted and 1250+ on the SAT and you’re in. Any spots leftover are available for out of state applications.

That’s JMU. Or has been. After the Tech adventure this spring, who knows.

What was the Tech adventure?

I think they are referring to the weird numbers game Tech is playing - denying and waitlisting a ton to look more selective.

Anonymous wrote:I think the author’s point that a state university should should primarily aspire to educate students from that state is valid. With its endowment UVA doesn’t need the full pay OOS students.

I don't think a teenager understands how endowment works. You only operate off the interest and UVA's endowment isn't so great that they can stop taking tuition from huge numbers of families like Harvard does.

There are people out there who are aghast at the idea that they have to share a dorm room and that the cafeterias isn't all organic, farm-to-table. And they think colleges can swing that in the current climate where everyone wants a scholarship and to negotiate financial aid?

[Anonymous]

If you hang your "UVA is a bad school" argument on lingo, that comes off as ignorant to me. Every school has slang, acronyms, and lingo. My school had it. Your school had it, whether you remember it or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of people that get accepted into Virginia but turn it down for somewhere else. It’s not the end all be all that the Hoos think it is. It’s a very good school, but it isn’t unique. It does have a certain culture that has existed for a while, partially due to its heavy Greek scene (a surprisingly high percentage of undergrads are Greek and there are tons of choices). Denying it and getting defensive just makes it worse.

And I did get in and would be happy if my kids ended up there. But I turned UVA down to go OOS somewhere else.

I read 35% go Greek. That's not a lot compared to other major state U type places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"freshman, sophomore, junior & senior" was not in collective use at the time Jefferson started UVA.

UVA really needs to get an identity outside of Jefferson, it’s not as glamorous as you think.

UVA people know more about Jefferson than anyone. Died in debt, hypocritical about slavery, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia needs some auto admit schools.
3.5 unweighted and 1250+ on the SAT and you’re in. Any spots leftover are available for out of state applications.

That’s JMU. Or has been. After the Tech adventure this spring, who knows.

What was the Tech adventure?

I think they are referring to the weird numbers game Tech is playing - denying and waitlisting a ton to look more selective.

Anonymous wrote:I think the author’s point that a state university should should primarily aspire to educate students from that state is valid. With its endowment UVA doesn’t need the full pay OOS students.

I don't think a teenager understands how endowment works. You only operate off the interest and UVA's endowment isn't so great that they can stop taking tuition from huge numbers of families like Harvard does.

There are people out there who are aghast at the idea that they have to share a dorm room and that the cafeterias isn't all organic, farm-to-table. And they think colleges can swing that in the current climate where everyone wants a scholarship and to negotiate financial aid?

True. and UVA's endowment is a fraction of Yale's and Harvard. UVA should get credit for building that endowment when the VA General Assembly spun it off. I think UVA is using it wisely, building the new arena, new dorms, upgrading science labs and refurbishing the Rotunda. I think the Board of Trustees that you see in the photo of the student article just might have a bit more knowledge and wisdom than some 20 year old college student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of people that get accepted into Virginia but turn it down for somewhere else. It’s not the end all be all that the Hoos think it is. It’s a very good school, but it isn’t unique. It does have a certain culture that has existed for a while, partially due to its heavy Greek scene (a surprisingly high percentage of undergrads are Greek and there are tons of choices). Denying it and getting defensive just makes it worse.

And I did get in and would be happy if my kids ended up there. But I turned UVA down to go OOS somewhere else.

I read 35% go Greek. That's not a lot compared to other major state U type places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"freshman, sophomore, junior & senior" was not in collective use at the time Jefferson started UVA.

UVA really needs to get an identity outside of Jefferson, it’s not as glamorous as you think.

UVA people know more about Jefferson than anyone. Died in debt, hypocritical about slavery, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia needs some auto admit schools.
3.5 unweighted and 1250+ on the SAT and you’re in. Any spots leftover are available for out of state applications.

That’s JMU. Or has been. After the Tech adventure this spring, who knows.

What was the Tech adventure?

I think they are referring to the weird numbers game Tech is playing - denying and waitlisting a ton to look more selective.

Anonymous wrote:I think the author’s point that a state university should should primarily aspire to educate students from that state is valid. With its endowment UVA doesn’t need the full pay OOS students.

I don't think a teenager understands how endowment works. You only operate off the interest and UVA's endowment isn't so great that they can stop taking tuition from huge numbers of families like Harvard does.

There are people out there who are aghast at the idea that they have to share a dorm room and that the cafeterias isn't all organic, farm-to-table. And they think colleges can swing that in the current climate where everyone wants a scholarship and to negotiate financial aid?

Good heavens, that's not true! DS has never even stepped into a fraternity, nor has his gaggle of friends. If you want a Greek scene, go to Washington & Lee. Most students at UVA can't afford to participate in a fraternity or sorority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you hang your "UVA is a bad school" argument on lingo, that comes off as ignorant to me. Every school has slang, acronyms, and lingo. My school had it. Your school had it, whether you remember it or not.

I rather like the lingo. What's wrong with "first year" "second year". How much more simple can you get than that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of people that get accepted into Virginia but turn it down for somewhere else. It’s not the end all be all that the Hoos think it is. It’s a very good school, but it isn’t unique. It does have a certain culture that has existed for a while, partially due to its heavy Greek scene (a surprisingly high percentage of undergrads are Greek and there are tons of choices). Denying it and getting defensive just makes it worse.

And I did get in and would be happy if my kids ended up there. But I turned UVA down to go OOS somewhere else.

[b]I read 35% go Greek[/b]. That's not a lot compared to other major state U type places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"freshman, sophomore, junior & senior" was not in collective use at the time Jefferson started UVA.

UVA really needs to get an identity outside of Jefferson, it’s not as glamorous as you think.

UVA people know more about Jefferson than anyone. Died in debt, hypocritical about slavery, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia needs some auto admit schools.
3.5 unweighted and 1250+ on the SAT and you’re in. Any spots leftover are available for out of state applications.

That’s JMU. Or has been. After the Tech adventure this spring, who knows.

What was the Tech adventure?

I think they are referring to the weird numbers game Tech is playing - denying and waitlisting a ton to look more selective.

Anonymous wrote:I think the author’s point that a state university should should primarily aspire to educate students from that state is valid. With its endowment UVA doesn’t need the full pay OOS students.

I don't think a teenager understands how endowment works. You only operate off the interest and UVA's endowment isn't so great that they can stop taking tuition from huge numbers of families like Harvard does.

There are people out there who are aghast at the idea that they have to share a dorm room and that the cafeterias isn't all organic, farm-to-table. And they think colleges can swing that in the current climate where everyone wants a scholarship and to negotiate financial aid?

Good heavens, that's not true! DS has never even stepped into a fraternity, nor has his gaggle of friends. If you want a Greek scene, go to Washington & Lee. Most students at UVA can't afford to participate in a fraternity or sorority.

I think PP is referencing this 30% figure from wikipedia (not 35%) and it includes all of the honor fraternities, debating societies and other social organizations on campus. The figure does not mean Greek only. UVA has a long history of fraternal clubs like the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. "Roughly 30% of the student body belongs to a social fraternity or sorority, with additional students involved in professional, service, and honor fraternities." The secret societies are devoted to doing good deeds on and off campus with no acknowledgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I took trips from my Ivy to visit some of the 30-plus kids from high school going to UVA years ago it didn’t seem all that preppy to me. I mean lots of kids lived off campus in fairly basic apartments and the fraternity scene seemed very State U.

I can only surmise some of these comments are a reaction to its having become more selective over the years.

I was visiting the school about two years ago and couldn't believe the number of guys I saw wearing pastel polo shirts. That's really not the type of thing you see on other college campuses.

Not true. I wish bitter parents and students who did not get in would take their angst elsewhere. It's not fair to UVA's volunteer Board of Trustees, faculty or students to make such broad assertions. UVA can't be preppy because 2/3 of the students come from Virginia.

[Anonymous]

The student author of the article, Brendan Novak, is 19 years old and is the same student who argued that the Alt.Right group SHOULD be allowed to protest on UVA's campus and in Charlottesville. That was before a woman was killed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:....thought people would be interested.

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2018/03/novak-uva-must-abandon-the-private-school-model

OP, what was your point in putting this insipid student article from the school's paper here on DCUM? I know it has been a very tough year for admissions to the Virginia schools but citing a 19 year-old's piece as authoritative? That's a little over the top even for DCUM. If you are angry about not getting in, go to College Confidential and post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to wonder where all of the money goes when college class sizes can be 40-60 students. They should have majority instate if they get state funds.

'

There are 22,500 students on campus. UVA is not a SLAC. If you want a 7 to 1 ratio of students to professors, you go to a SLAC. My DC has never once complained about class size at UVA. Not once. And UVA is majority in-state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you hang your "UVA is a bad school" argument on lingo, that comes off as ignorant to me. Every school has slang, acronyms, and lingo. My school had it. Your school had it, whether you remember it or not.

+1. That's the charm of college and university life = traditions. OP has a bitter grapes problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They (and pretty much all universities) have no incentive to change. Most of them are inefficient bureaucracies that have almost 2 employees to one student, pay really well above a certain level. Why would they given up that comfortable existence to, what, "change the face of education" in VA?

The VA general assembly needs to step in to collectively manage money earned by all the universities and spend that money wisely to expand into areas that are underserved.

Lord, you are ignorant. You have no idea of the history behind the school or the history of the endowment. UVA was spun off by the VA Assembly in 2005 to manage itself.. It receives less than 6% from the State of Virginia for operations. Through brilliant investment, it created its own endowment of $8B. Now the general assembly wants it back because it's clear UVA is better at managing money than the Virginia General Assembly Here's the history of the endowment from wikipedia:

Though UVA is the flagship university of Virginia, state funding has decreased for several consecutive decades.[45] Financial support from the state dropped by half from 12 percent of total revenue in 2001-02 to six percent in 2013-14.[45] The portion of academic revenue coming from the state fell by even more in the same period, from 22 percent to just nine percent.[45] This nominal support from the state, contributing just $154 million of UVA's $2.6 billion budget in 2012-13, has led President Sullivan and others to contemplate the partial privatization of the University of Virginia.[5] UVA's Darden School and Law School are already self-sufficient.

Hunter R. Rawlings III, President of the prominent Association of American Universities research group of universities to which UVA is an elected member, came to Charlottesville to make a speech to university faculty which included a statement about the proposal: "there's no possibility, as far as I can see, that any state will ever relinquish its ownership and governance of its public universities, much less of its flagship research university".[5] He encouraged university leaders to stop talking about privatization and instead push their state lawmakers to increase funding for higher education and research as a public good.[5]

The University of Virginia is one of only two public universities in the United States that has a Triple-A credit rating from all three major credit rating agencies, along with the University of Texas at Austin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of schools in Virginia to serve the unwashed masses. UVA doesn’t need to be one of them.

Bitch.

Wahhh! My low stats kid was rejected from UVA in favor of a higher stats OOS kid. Pity me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of people that get accepted into Virginia but turn it down for somewhere else. It’s not the end all be all that the Hoos think it is. It’s a very good school, but it isn’t unique. It does have a certain culture that has existed for a while, partially due to its heavy Greek scene (a surprisingly high percentage of undergrads are Greek and there are tons of choices). Denying it and getting defensive just makes it worse.

And I did get in and would be happy if my kids ended up there. But I turned UVA down to go OOS somewhere else.

I read 35% go Greek. That's not a lot compared to other major state U type places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"freshman, sophomore, junior & senior" was not in collective use at the time Jefferson started UVA.

UVA really needs to get an identity outside of Jefferson, it’s not as glamorous as you think.

UVA people know more about Jefferson than anyone. Died in debt, hypocritical about slavery, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia needs some auto admit schools.
3.5 unweighted and 1250+ on the SAT and you’re in. Any spots leftover are available for out of state applications.

That’s JMU. Or has been. After the Tech adventure this spring, who knows.

What was the Tech adventure?

I think they are referring to the weird numbers game Tech is playing - denying and waitlisting a ton to look more selective.

Anonymous wrote:I think the author’s point that a state university should should primarily aspire to educate students from that state is valid. With its endowment UVA doesn’t need the full pay OOS students.

I don't think a teenager understands how endowment works. You only operate off the interest and UVA's endowment isn't so great that they can stop taking tuition from huge numbers of families like Harvard does.

There are people out there who are aghast at the idea that they have to share a dorm room and that the cafeterias isn't all organic, farm-to-table. And they think colleges can swing that in the current climate where everyone wants a scholarship and to negotiate financial aid?

Agree. Endowments are for perpetual financial security. Usually only the interest is spent. They are not used for operating expenses. The idea is that the corpus builds up over time and the trustees spent the interest, which is why the older schools have larger endowments, like Harvard's at 36 billion. Using the Rule of 7, the corpus should double itself every seven years. UVA should be applauded for spinning off from the VA General Assembly and doing a brilliant job at establishing an endowment. The other Virginia colleges and universities are dependent upon the taxpayers of Virginia and the VA General Assembly for handouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t help that UVA (and that article) constantly refer to the school as THE University. It’s all over that article. They already have a huge chip on their shoulder.

because it is written by a student for the student newspaper. That's all you are getting: one student's viewpoint in the student newspaper, so OF COURSE it is THE University because it's in the Cavalier Daily.

Wrong. That’s how students and alum from UVA refer to the school. It’s not UVA, or Virginia, or school, or college, it’s “the University”. And it’s not campus, it’s “the grounds”. They don’t have freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors, it’s first years, second years, third years, fourth years. sounds like you don’t know much about the school if you don’t even know one of the basic reasons people find UVA to be pretentious and fratty.

I find it highly comical that a school newspaper article is making the argument that UVA is becoming more like a private school but uses that vocabulary, which was already doing that job.

I actually don't find the terms " the grounds" or " 1st years, etc" to be pretentious. Referring to it at "the University" is obnoxious.

Guys, please realize this opinion piece was written by UVA students for other UVA students and the UVA community. Within UVA, it is referred to as the University. They have the Grounds and the Lawn. All colleges have similar traditions, nicknames, etc. I don't think this is obnoxious.