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

[Anonymous]

Friend of a friend's daughter was apparently overwhelmed at UVA. She's the sort of very smart, affluent, and outgoing gal you'd assume would thrive there. Curious if this is a common issue and if yes, where do bright UVA kids typically transfer to.

[Anonymous]

UVA has a freshman retention rate of 97.0%, one of the highest in the nation. So no, not really common.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

PP here: simply because they can get IN, not it.

[Anonymous]

No, it’s not common. Especially when compared to most schools.

[Anonymous]

I knew a Maryland resident student who was waitlisted at UVA. She ended up at Tufts. Transferred to UVA her sophomore year. She spent one year there and went back to Tufts for her junior and senior year. She did not like the social scene at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew a Maryland resident student who was waitlisted at UVA. She ended up at Tufts. Transferred to UVA her sophomore year. She spent one year there and went back to Tufts for her junior and senior year. She did not like the social scene at UVA.

Well that’s just strange.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t like the social scene at UVA either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t like the social scene at UVA either.

Sorry your kid didn't get in. I had two who went and they loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew a Maryland resident student who was waitlisted at UVA. She ended up at Tufts. Transferred to UVA her sophomore year. She spent one year there and went back to Tufts for her junior and senior year. She did not like the social scene at UVA.

Well that’s just strange.

I know a kid who got into both, went to Tufts, transferred to UVA after a year -- and loved it. She did not like the social scene at Tufts.

To each her own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a freshman retention rate of 97.0%, one of the highest in the nation. So no, not really common.

Website says 96*, which based on UVA's class size, 4% is about 150 students. How exactly is that tabulated? I was a resident (dorm) advisor at a major flagship university so I'm deeply suspicious of such a high %, as it seemed freshman went home all the time. Can that % be fudged by adding incoming January transfers to even out kids who depart, or only counting kids who don't enroll in January term (not those who just don't show the next fall), or only counting kids who inform UVA they're leaving, or allowing failing kids to stay an extra semester so they fail out as sophomores not freshman?

For example, when I transferred colleges, I never told my university, I just didn't show up the next fall. Would I be counted against the retention rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a freshman retention rate of 97.0%, one of the highest in the nation. So no, not really common.

Website says 96*, which based on UVA's class size, 4% is about 150 students. How exactly is that tabulated? I was a resident (dorm) advisor at a major flagship university so I'm deeply suspicious of such a high %, as it seemed freshman went home all the time. Can that % be fudged by adding incoming January transfers to even out kids who depart, or only counting kids who don't enroll in January term (not those who just don't show the next fall), or only counting kids who inform UVA they're leaving, or allowing failing kids to stay an extra semester so they fail out as sophomores not freshman?

For example, when I transferred colleges, I never told my university, I just didn't show up the next fall. Would I be counted against the retention rate?

Huh? How exactly did you do that? You never asked the school to send your records anywhere and simply started from scratch?

The numbers aren't fudged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t like the social scene at UVA either.

Oh, so you took overwhelmed to mean by the social scene? Interesting. I assumed it was in ref to the campus size, large classes and/or bureaucracies of a big flagship university. Or it could be in ref to both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a freshman retention rate of 97.0%, one of the highest in the nation. So no, not really common.

Website says 96*, which based on UVA's class size, 4% is about 150 students. How exactly is that tabulated? I was a resident (dorm) advisor at a major flagship university so I'm deeply suspicious of such a high %, as it seemed freshman went home all the time. Can that % be fudged by adding incoming January transfers to even out kids who depart, or only counting kids who don't enroll in January term (not those who just don't show the next fall), or only counting kids who inform UVA they're leaving, or allowing failing kids to stay an extra semester so they fail out as sophomores not freshman?

For example, when I transferred colleges, I never told my university, I just didn't show up the next fall. Would I be counted against the retention rate?

You weren't a resident advisor at UVA, so your experience at a lesser flagship is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA has a freshman retention rate of 97.0%, one of the highest in the nation. So no, not really common.

Website says 96*, which based on UVA's class size, 4% is about 150 students. How exactly is that tabulated? I was a resident (dorm) advisor at a major flagship university so I'm deeply suspicious of such a high %, as it seemed freshman went home all the time. Can that % be fudged by adding incoming January transfers to even out kids who depart, or only counting kids who don't enroll in January term (not those who just don't show the next fall), or only counting kids who inform UVA they're leaving, or allowing failing kids to stay an extra semester so they fail out as sophomores not freshman?

For example, when I transferred colleges, I never told my university, I just didn't show up the next fall. Would I be counted against the retention rate?

Huh? How exactly did you do that? You never asked the school to send your records anywhere and simply started from scratch?

The numbers aren't fudged.

Literally nobody asked why I was sending my transcript to other colleges. I filled out a request form and paid $5. These days you click your mouse a few times to send transcripts anywhere. The records office had nothing to do with advising or registrar or admissions. So I'm a little curious exactly how that retention rate is calculated.