Anyone know a smart student who transferred out of UVA? Why and to where?

[Anonymous]

An acquaintance of DD’s transferred out to a school in CA because she wanted to be on the West Coast long-term. I don’t think she cared much for the social scene as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all sound like a bunch of Trump conspiracy theory lunatics. Schools are required to report data like retention rates to the federal government for various programs under penalty of law. US News and other rating organizations audit what’s reported to them through these reports. You can’t just make the stuff up. Why do you think schools report making mistakes? They know they’re going to get caught.

Sometimes I wonder about the level of education and sophistication on DCUM.

+1. Lots of bitterness on these pages. UVA's retention rate IS 97% which is tremendous. As to those who say why isn't it 99% like Columbia and Chicago - those are PRIVATE institutions, not a public university. You cannot compare apples and oranges. https://news.virginia.edu/content/retention-superb-graduation-rate-keep-uva-among-us-news-elite

[Anonymous]

We know a very bright Big 3 alum who left UVA for UChicago. UVA was too large and impersonal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid who transferred from UVA to Brown after their first year. Their parents were both Ivy alums, though, so I assume that they didn't get in to an Ivy in the first go-around and were using UVA as a stepping stone to transfer into one.

This. I don't think the posters on this thread realize that transferring out often means transferring to a better school, not necessarily a lesser one.

We're talking about UVA's high retention rate. Retention rate and transfer rate are two different things. Graduation rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a four-year degree program, entering students who complete within six years are counted as graduates.

Retention rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. For example, a student who studies full-time in the fall semester and keeps on studying in the program in the next fall semester is counted in this rate.

Transfer rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who transfer to another college within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, a student who is in a four-year degree program is counted as a transfer if the student goes to another college within six years.

[Anonymous]

With a high retention rate, one would expect to see a low number of transfers accepted, because there are fewer departures to replace. But UVA actually enrolls more transfers as a percentage of undergraduate enrollment than Virginia Tech. Transfers to VT averaged 3.8% of undergraduate enrollment per year vs. 4.4% per year over the last 4 years. You can see transfer and enrollment data on the SCHEV site.

[Anonymous]

UVA ranked no. 1 for student satisfaction in the USA. I believe the retention figures. DC is blissfully happy there and knows of only one student from his class who left and that was due to grades and class failure. https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/high-student-satisfaction/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, troll, I'll bite.

First, a "smart" UVA student is redundant. They're all smart, or they wouldn't have gotten in.

Second, UVA has one of the highest first-year retention rates in the country: 97 percent, rivaling the Ivy League. So the overwhelming majority of UVA students do not transfer.

Having said that, I know of two students over the years who transferred to VCU for its superior fine arts program. There's a lot of pressure on top NOVA high school students to choose UVA or William and Mary simply because they can get it, when neither is necessarily the best school for their interests.

Well said. So many parents assume if your child gets into one of these schools, they *must* go there. It's ridiculous. There are so many great schools out there, many of which are a better fit.

So many NOVA parents are in the donut hole for financial aid. We can afford WM full pay. We can not afford a $75,000/ year LAC. And we will not qualify for merit. And many/ most higher ranked colleges don’t do merit. It would be great to be able to spend $600,000 over 6 years for kids educations. But as it is, WM will come out at close to $300,000. I’m glad we can afford that.

Cost is a reality for people in a high COL area who are looking at $34k a year for WM, or less for UVA vs $75k for an Ivy. And I do not want my kid to graduate with debt.

You live in a bubble. Yes. It’s because they can get in— and UMC parents can still afford them.

You completely misinterpreted what I was saying. I am one of those donut hole parents, and consequently, we looked only at in-state options. I'm saying that UVA and W&M aren't Virginia's only excellent instate schools. JMU, Tech, GMU, UMW, CNU - we are blessed with an abundance of great state schools. The point was maybe branch out and consider some of them instead of thinking UVA and W&M are your kids' only options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, troll, I'll bite.

First, a "smart" UVA student is redundant. They're all smart, or they wouldn't have gotten in.

Second, UVA has one of the highest first-year retention rates in the country: 97 percent, rivaling the Ivy League. So the overwhelming majority of UVA students do not transfer.

Having said that, I know of two students over the years who transferred to VCU for its superior fine arts program. There's a lot of pressure on top NOVA high school students to choose UVA or William and Mary simply because they can get it, when neither is necessarily the best school for their interests.

Well said. So many parents assume if your child gets into one of these schools, they *must* go there. It's ridiculous. There are so many great schools out there, many of which are a better fit.

So many NOVA parents are in the donut hole for financial aid. We can afford WM full pay. We can not afford a $75,000/ year LAC. And we will not qualify for merit. And many/ most higher ranked colleges don’t do merit. It would be great to be able to spend $600,000 over 6 years for kids educations. But as it is, WM will come out at close to $300,000. I’m glad we can afford that.

Cost is a reality for people in a high COL area who are looking at $34k a year for WM, or less for UVA vs $75k for an Ivy. And I do not want my kid to graduate with debt.

You live in a bubble. Yes. It’s because they can get in— and UMC parents can still afford them.

You're missing the point, completely, which is that there are other affordable in state schools that might be better fits even if their overall ranking isn't as high. Like forcing a kid to go to UVA instead of VCU even though the kid wants fine arts . . .

I'm the PPP, and this is exactly what I was trying to say. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA ranked no. 1 for student satisfaction in the USA. I believe the retention figures. DC is blissfully happy there and knows of only one student from his class who left and that was due to grades and class failure. https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/high-student-satisfaction/

Princeton was number 1 overall followed by Dartmouth. UVA was number 1 for publics and W&M #2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a kid who transferred from UVA to Brown after their first year. Their parents were both Ivy alums, though, so I assume that they didn't get in to an Ivy in the first go-around and were using UVA as a stepping stone to transfer into one.

This. I don't think the posters on this thread realize that transferring out often means transferring to a better school, not necessarily a lesser one.

We're talking about UVA's high retention rate. Retention rate and transfer rate are two different things. Graduation rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a four-year degree program, entering students who complete within six years are counted as graduates.

Retention rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. For example, a student who studies full-time in the fall semester and keeps on studying in the program in the next fall semester is counted in this rate.

Transfer rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who transfer to another college within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, a student who is in a four-year degree program is counted as a transfer if the student goes to another college within six years.

They are two related things. If the entire freshman class transfers, the retention rate equals zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With a high retention rate, one would expect to see a low number of transfers accepted, because there are fewer departures to replace. But UVA actually enrolls more transfers as a percentage of undergraduate enrollment than Virginia Tech. Transfers to VT averaged 3.8% of undergraduate enrollment per year vs. 4.4% per year over the last 4 years. You can see transfer and enrollment data on the SCHEV site.

No, both Virginia Tech and UVA admit @ the exact same number as compared to their overall undergraduate population. As you know, most of these transfers are students who met all the criteria for a transfer into UVA or Va Tech (not an easy feat). UVA has only 16,655 undergraduates and Virginia Tech has 27,100 students. 4.4 percent of UVA's undergraduate population is 432 students, while 3.8% of Virginia Tech's undergrad student body is 1,029, so actually many more in-state students are admitted to Virginia Tech than to UVA for the third year.

[Anonymous]

^^ It's also a lot more easy to find extra space for over 1,000 students in Blacksburg than it is to find room for 432 at UVA. Both institutions had a severe housing crunch this year from freshman over-enrollment. Many doubles had to be tripled-up.

[Anonymous]

I know one girl who transferred from UVA to tech. She did not like UVA's social atmosphere. She liked tech much better socially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:idk how many transfers per year Duke accepts, but I'd put money on most of them being from UVA and UNC.

Or, they come from schools that are very different from Duke. I know a student who transferred from Brown after first year. She found Brown unfriendly and was very happy at Duke.
I have two kids in college and one in HS. Kids transfer all the time; it's not such a big deal. A successful transfer application requires high grades, so it's not about being "overwhelmed" -- just wanting something different, either academically or socially or both. As far as transfers from UVA, a friend of one of my kids transferred from UVA to Georgetown because she preferred an urban setting and a stronger program in global politics and economics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know one girl who transferred from UVA to tech. She did not like UVA's social atmosphere. She liked tech much better socially.

I knew of a few transfers from UVA to VT as well when I was there in the mid 00s. But I’m sure VT kids transfer to UVA too.

Just anecdotally, the social scene there *can* be tough if you’re not into the southern fraternity/sorority, dress up for football games thing. I went to a FCPS hs, many of my friends went to UVA, and I spent a few weekends/year there so I am fairly familiar (well, I was years ago). It’s very different from VT, but not in a bad way.