UVA Admission and "other electives"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:

AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives

Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job

3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.

Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.

What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT

My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.

They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grade son is interested in attending UVA to major in computer science. He is on track to take 9 AP courses with Honors for his social studies classes (and Multivariable Calc). He will not pursue language other than his required 3 years. He currently makes all As. Any thoughts on whether he needs to take "hard" electives for his other classes, or if he can get away with an "easy" one or two. For instance, he is interested in taking Sports Psychology. Or maybe Oceanography. Or maybe Forensics, Debate, Film Studies, Sports Marketing, etc.

Just some sort of easy, interesting, random class (one in 11th and one in 12th) to balance out his other challenging courses.

What say you, DCUM?

He should take electives that make sense given what he thinks he wants to pursue in life (or the field that he is trying to explore, to decide on a major if he is unsure). That is what electives are for.

Please, please let your child's true identity emerge as he heads towards adulthood. DO NOT try to program him into some stepford kid, in order to gain access to a school a few rungs up the USNWR ladder.

+1 Also, electives tend to be useful for soft essay topics in applications with lots of essays. It can either be the thing you did that was outside of your comfort zone and what you learned from it (I took pottery and it nearly broke me but I discovered that I have been trying to fit a perfect mold my whole life, and learned that the beautiful mistakes bring the most joy in life, so I'll take more risks now), or you discovered how much the acting class you took helped improve your writing and debate presentations so intend to continue with theater in college as you pursue your political science degree. The point is -- make your electives interesting to you and use it as an opportunity to have fun and grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as he's top 10% of class it's fine, so just depends on what the peers are doing.

Top 10% meant an applicant was a contender for admission up until about 3-4 years ago. I'd estimate a student should be in top 5% now. I've had 3 (in-state) admitted in the past 7 years, including a senior this year. It has been shocking to me how many super smart kids were deferred in this year's early action round, though they may still be accepted during regular decision. And to those who say their kid's HS does not rank, don't be fooled. UVA (and other colleges) figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:

AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives

Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job

3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.

Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.

What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT

My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.

They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA

This isn’t true. My UVA first-year wasn’t in any honor societies!

[Anonymous]

My son took language (Chinese 1) in middle school. so does he need to take Chinese 2, 3 and 4 in high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:

AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives

Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job

3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.

Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.

What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT

My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.

They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA

I would love some additional details here. Does this apply equally to all schools? That can't possibly be the case - can it? The top quarter of TJ (or maybe even top half), for example, are just academic rock stars. Wouldn't you expect UVA to take more students from TJ than others schools given that it is a magnet school? With respect to private schools, are you really telling me that the only chance of getting into UVA from Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, Potomac, etc., is if you are one of the top 5-10 students in that grade? What if you are the 15th smartest kid in your grade at Sidwell. Are you just out of luck? That just seems crazy to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son took language (Chinese 1) in middle school. so does he need to take Chinese 2, 3 and 4 in high school?

Yes, and AP. Or, switch to another language for all four years of HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We do not think he will be a failure if he does not get into UVA. But that is currently his top pick. I want him to be realistic about which courses he is choosing for next year. As in, if he doesn't take Spanish 4, then he might not get into UVA. He needs to think about how strongly he wants UVA vs how strongly he would rather not continue in Spanish. Totally up to him.

If it were his senior year and he wasn't taking a foreign language, that would probably be fine. But it sounds like he doesn't want to take one in the junior year, either, and is looking for filling the void with a cheesy elective that's not a core class. It's not gonna look good. He really needs to have a very solid junior year schedule if he's eyeing UVA.

OP, this PP and the earlier one who wrote out a list for you have very good, specific advice for your DC along with the chorus of nearly everyone else who seem to have a good handle on UVA admissions. To be blunt, it is not a good look for your DS to ease up on the pedal at the start of junior year. This will be the year that colleges will most scrutinize. It will be glaringly obvious that a junior dropped their language. You put UVA on the table and the posters are responding to that. If you had said GMU or JMU, they may have had different responses.

OP here. This statement bothers me. Is it really how UVA admissions will view his junior year if it lacks Spanish 4?

Here is his proposed schedule for 11th grade:

- AP Calc BC
- AP Physics C
- AP Lang/Comp
- Honors US History
- AP Statistics
- Post-AP Computer Science AB
- Fun Elective -- either Debate or Game Design/Development

I just don't see how that is easing up on the pedal. Am I wrong?

I get ya...but I am not sitting on admissions. In 12th, DD was determined to drop language and add Stats to round out an already crazy schedule, not even taking into account ECs, varsity and travel sport, etc. Of course, part of the reason is that math just comes more easy and she wanted an "easy" elective. College counselor told her she may as well scratch the reach schools off the top of her list. So even though math-challenged mom was super impressed by all the STEM, the college counselor said, "no, not really."

Parent of a junior who got similar advice - it is mind blowing to me that a non-stem focused kid is expected to take multi variable calculus instead of (or in addition to) statistics in order to keep up “rigor.”

I agree with this and have two related questions -- One specifically to the poster(s) above -- was your daughter dropping calculus to take stats or did she already have AB or BC Calc?

And my more general question is when is a non-stem kid going to use multi-variable calculus? Wouldn't AP Statistics skills be more relevant? I actually understand having STEM kids take AP Literature or APUSH as reading great works and understanding history feel important to producing smart students -- I have certainly called upon that knowledge in daily life. I also think AP modern language makes sense as most other countries' citizens speak multiple languages. We should try to get American kids to be multilingual too. I also think taking AB Calculus is a good idea -- you shouldn't get to end at pre-calculus. But requiring kids to take multi-variable calculus seems absurd. A majority of high schools in the country don't even offer BC Calc, let alone multi-variable.

[Anonymous]

Bsgoudk day I think multi variable for a humanities major is absurd (I think that was implied but clarifying my post above).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:

AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives

Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job

3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.

Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.

What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT

My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.

They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA

I would love some additional details here. Does this apply equally to all schools? That can't possibly be the case - can it? The top quarter of TJ (or maybe even top half), for example, are just academic rock stars. Wouldn't you expect UVA to take more students from TJ than others schools given that it is a magnet school? With respect to private schools, are you really telling me that the only chance of getting into UVA from Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, Potomac, etc., is if you are one of the top 5-10 students in that grade? What if you are the 15th smartest kid in your grade at Sidwell. Are you just out of luck? That just seems crazy to me.

Can't speak to TJ but can speak to my DS who was in-state, attended one of the privates you listed and in the top 15% of his class. He graduated from UVA this past May, College of Arts and Sciences. He was initially deferred from UVA early action and then waitlisted during regular decision. Offered a spot the second week of May after reaching out affirming his continued interest. Almost perfect standardized test scores and excellent ECs. UVA has only grown more selective since then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:

AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives

Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job

3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.

Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.

What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT

My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.

They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA

I would love some additional details here. Does this apply equally to all schools? That can't possibly be the case - can it? The top quarter of TJ (or maybe even top half), for example, are just academic rock stars. Wouldn't you expect UVA to take more students from TJ than others schools given that it is a magnet school? With respect to private schools, are you really telling me that the only chance of getting into UVA from Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, Potomac, etc., is if you are one of the top 5-10 students in that grade? What if you are the 15th smartest kid in your grade at Sidwell. Are you just out of luck? That just seems crazy to me.

Can't speak to TJ but can speak to my DS who was in-state, attended one of the privates you listed and in the top 15% of his class. He graduated from UVA this past May, College of Arts and Sciences. He was initially deferred from UVA early action and then waitlisted during regular decision. Offered a spot the second week of May after reaching out affirming his continued interest. Almost perfect standardized test scores and excellent ECs. UVA has only grown more selective since then.

Wow - we are in state in Virginia and this is just so wildly depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as he's top 10% of class it's fine, so just depends on what the peers are doing.

Top 10% meant an applicant was a contender for admission up until about 3-4 years ago. I'd estimate a student should be in top 5% now. I've had 3 (in-state) admitted in the past 7 years, including a senior this year. It has been shocking to me how many super smart kids were deferred in this year's early action round, though they may still be accepted during regular decision. And to those who say their kid's HS does not rank, don't be fooled. UVA (and other colleges) figure it out.

agreed top 10% is not gonna cut it, top 5% should but I do know kids who were WL in the top 5% of our HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as he's top 10% of class it's fine, so just depends on what the peers are doing.

Top 10% meant an applicant was a contender for admission up until about 3-4 years ago. I'd estimate a student should be in top 5% now. I've had 3 (in-state) admitted in the past 7 years, including a senior this year. It has been shocking to me how many super smart kids were deferred in this year's early action round, though they may still be accepted during regular decision. And to those who say their kid's HS does not rank, don't be fooled. UVA (and other colleges) figure it out.

agreed top 10% is not gonna cut it, top 5% should but I do know kids who were WL in the top 5% of our HS.

Which high school is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as he's top 10% of class it's fine, so just depends on what the peers are doing.

Top 10% meant an applicant was a contender for admission up until about 3-4 years ago. I'd estimate a student should be in top 5% now. I've had 3 (in-state) admitted in the past 7 years, including a senior this year. It has been shocking to me how many super smart kids were deferred in this year's early action round, though they may still be accepted during regular decision. And to those who say their kid's HS does not rank, don't be fooled. UVA (and other colleges) figure it out.

agreed top 10% is not gonna cut it, top 5% should but I do know kids who were WL in the top 5% of our HS.

Which high school is this?

LCPS

[Anonymous]

Top five or ten, period. Forget the %, lol.