Sky-High GPAs at Virginia State Schools? Time to Ground Expectations and Open Doors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

This seems to be as unrealistic as the post claiming their kid with a 4.3 was waitlisted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know the % of kids enrolled at the Va. public schools who are _Virginians_. I know it varies among the universities.

Because here's the thing: if the % of state residents is "high" and the bar to entry is also high (say, 4.3 and 1470 or something), then I don't see the problem. It just means that State School X is enrolling the generally best-performing Virginia residents.

If however the bar is high for entry but a lot of the kids come from New Jersey, that's a different matter.

re: OP's point about being mediocre at Spanish and thus not earning a lotto ticket to do CS at Va Tech ... why not just study harder in the don't-come-easily-to-me subjects? My own kid is a brilliant writer but also sucked at Spanish and really struggled with Calc+. Higher order math shouldn't matter for his future life as a corporate lawyer, but he spent 6x as long studying Calc / Chem / Physics to get that high grade because he needs that entry into Exclusive U. to be the lawyer he wants to be someday.

All the CS wannabes could probably do the same with English comp, no?

Personally, I'm glad UVA takes a large % of OOS kids. Not every state has good in-state options (e.g., DC), so I would hate for anyone to be shut out because of geography.

Wikipedia says "UVA is required by Virginia state law, to matriculate two-thirds of its undergraduate student body from its pool of in-state applicants". Their website says "we have pledged to maintain a 2/3 majority of Virginia residents in our student population, but 2/3 of our applicants tend to come from out-of-state. As a result, our offer rate for Virginia residents tends to be much higher than the rate for out-of-state students"

So is UVA mandated to be 2/3 Virginian by law or are they free to decide? It's not clear. Other top publics like UCLA and UMich have way fewer in-state.

[Anonymous]

UVa gets practically no funding from the state. Your tax money isn't going to the school. If anything, the amount of OOS students should be increased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you kid should go to a technical college--they would do great there--

Virginia Tech is Virginia Public Technical College!

???

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know the % of kids enrolled at the Va. public schools who are _Virginians_. I know it varies among the universities.

Because here's the thing: if the % of state residents is "high" and the bar to entry is also high (say, 4.3 and 1470 or something), then I don't see the problem. It just means that State School X is enrolling the generally best-performing Virginia residents.

If however the bar is high for entry but a lot of the kids come from New Jersey, that's a different matter.

re: OP's point about being mediocre at Spanish and thus not earning a lotto ticket to do CS at Va Tech ... why not just study harder in the don't-come-easily-to-me subjects? My own kid is a brilliant writer but also sucked at Spanish and really struggled with Calc+. Higher order math shouldn't matter for his future life as a corporate lawyer, but he spent 6x as long studying Calc / Chem / Physics to get that high grade because he needs that entry into Exclusive U. to be the lawyer he wants to be someday.

All the CS wannabes could probably do the same with English comp, no?

Personally, I'm glad UVA takes a large % of OOS kids. Not every state has good in-state options (e.g., DC), so I would hate for anyone to be shut out because of geography.

Wikipedia says "UVA is required by Virginia state law, to matriculate two-thirds of its undergraduate student body from its pool of in-state applicants". Their website says "we have pledged to maintain a 2/3 majority of Virginia residents in our student population, but 2/3 of our applicants tend to come from out-of-state. As a result, our offer rate for Virginia residents tends to be much higher than the rate for out-of-state students"

So is UVA mandated to be 2/3 Virginian by law or are they free to decide? It's not clear. Other top publics like UCLA and UMich have way fewer in-state.

They are mandated. This is just about the offer rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

The JMU CDS for 2023/24 says that only 26% of applicants submitted test scores with 1180 to 1310 as the 25% - 75%ile and the acceptance rate was 76%.

Seems like most people get accepted to JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

The JMU CDS for 2023/24 says that only 26% of applicants submitted test scores with 1180 to 1310 as the 25% - 75%ile and the acceptance rate was 76%.

Seems like most people get accepted to JMU.

So, if your's kid has an SAT that is 150-200 points higher than the 75%, should they go TO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

The JMU CDS for 2023/24 says that only 26% of applicants submitted test scores with 1180 to 1310 as the 25% - 75%ile and the acceptance rate was 76%.

Seems like most people get accepted to JMU.

So, if your's kid has an SAT that is 150-200 points higher than the 75%, should they go TO?

Are you worried they will yield protect you? In other words, they will think a kid with a 1500 is only applying to JMU as a safety, but will get accepted elsewhere and never attend?

I think you submit but make it clear someway/somehow that JMU is a top pick. I would assume your kid has a very high UW and weighted GPA...so they may make the same yield protect decision on GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admittedly, I haven't read all five pages of this conversation. But when the OP says UVA wants a 4.3, does that include the senior year grades?

My rising high school senior has raised her GPA from 3.88 to 4.05 this year, and she could conceivably go somewhere into the 4.2's if she excels senior year.

So would the 4.3 (and 4.0, and 3.5) benchmark be compared to the 4.05 she has at end of junior year, or the 4.2something she could conceivably end up with?

I've seen the GPA's listed on SCHEV for incoming freshman, and assumed those are the final numbers after senior year. Correct or incorrect?

Correct but weighted https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Correct, but there are limited to what senior grades can do. My kid took 4 AP blocks senior year (6 classes, with macro Econ, micro Econ, comp gov and US gov, each being one semester, plus Lit and Latin, which were a full year each) and got a 4.0 UW for senior year o. Her GPA bump from a 4.01 to 4.13 in FCPS. So, your kid can add about a .03 per additional for full senior year A in an AP ( or a .15 per semester ) in FCPS, assuming an UW 4.0 for that year— which is a big assuming for senior year. Most parents I know mentally add a .1 to the junior GPA, and that seems about right

BTW— mu W 4.01 to 4.13 is currently attending WM— admitted ED as an unhooked white girl from NOVA. There really is more to the package than grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

The JMU CDS for 2023/24 says that only 26% of applicants submitted test scores with 1180 to 1310 as the 25% - 75%ile and the acceptance rate was 76%.

Seems like most people get accepted to JMU.

So, if your's kid has an SAT that is 150-200 points higher than the 75%, should they go TO?

Are you worried they will yield protect you? In other words, they will think a kid with a 1500 is only applying to JMU as a safety, but will get accepted elsewhere and never attend?

I think you submit but make it clear someway/somehow that JMU is a top pick. I would assume your kid has a very high UW and weighted GPA...so they may make the same yield protect decision on GPA.

Yes. That is our concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should look into the Computational Modeling & Data Analytics major at VT. It's kind of under-the-radar, probably because it's in the College Science, not College of Engineering, and as a result has a much higher admission rate than CS despite being 1/2 CS and 1/2 applied math/statistics. Many students double major or minor in CS. It also has one of the highest average starting salaries at the university.

Latest VT data shows it has a 65% in-state acceptance rate.
https://data.science.vt.edu/programs/cmda.html

My son is a rising senior CMDA major, had great experiences so far and an excellent internship this summer.

Good info, thanks for sharing. At VT can one take double minor/major across colleges, e.g. a one minor/major from College of Engineering and one minor/major for College of Science? Or do both have to within one and same college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He should look into the Computational Modeling & Data Analytics major at VT. It's kind of under-the-radar, probably because it's in the College Science, not College of Engineering, and as a result has a much higher admission rate than CS despite being 1/2 CS and 1/2 applied math/statistics. Many students double major or minor in CS. It also has one of the highest average starting salaries at the university.

Latest VT data shows it has a 65% in-state acceptance rate.
https://data.science.vt.edu/programs/cmda.html

My son is a rising senior CMDA major, had great experiences so far and an excellent internship this summer.

Good info, thanks for sharing. At VT can one take double minor/major across colleges, e.g. a one minor/major from College of Engineering and one minor/major for College of Science? Or do both have to within one and same college?

I don't know the process but you can definitely double major/major-minor in different colleges. DS is a CMDA major in College of Science, minor in CS in College of Engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

This seems to be as unrealistic as the post claiming their kid with a 4.3 was waitlisted.

+1
Yep. The PP is trolling .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean I think the issue is that there is no place for above average but not really high GPA kids. It’s either you need 4.0+/high test scores to go to WM/V tech/UVA/now JMU or you go to school that accepts most kids. There is no middle of the road.

No you don't need high test scores and 4+ GPA to get to JMU. I know a girl who is now a rising sophomore who had barely a 3.0 and very average scores (1200) who got off the JMU waitlist. That being said, those that don't get in there can do GMU or CNU. There is TONS of middle ground. There is literally a state school for everyone in VA.

Ok name the schools in VA that are middle ground. It used to be VA Tech (non engineering) and JMU but that’s not the case anymore.

I guess it depends on what your definition of middle ground is. In my opinion, VT (non-engineering,) and JMU have always been for kids who were above middle ground although not at the very top.
Keep in mind, half of high school students don’t even go onto four year colleges, so the true middle ground of a HS class are probably going to schools like VCU/CNU

The JMU CDS for 2023/24 says that only 26% of applicants submitted test scores with 1180 to 1310 as the 25% - 75%ile and the acceptance rate was 76%.

Seems like most people get accepted to JMU.

So, if your's kid has an SAT that is 150-200 points higher than the 75%, should they go TO?

Are you worried they will yield protect you? In other words, they will think a kid with a 1500 is only applying to JMU as a safety, but will get accepted elsewhere and never attend?

I think you submit but make it clear someway/somehow that JMU is a top pick. I would assume your kid has a very high UW and weighted GPA...so they may make the same yield protect decision on GPA.

DP. This is why all schools need ED. It’s the best way to show the school is your first choice. JMU was my kid’s first choice but they had no way to express that. They were waitlisted and then accepted, thankfully.