Is UVA's reputation declining?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. UVA is now, and has always been, a top 25 school, and one of the top 5 public schools in the country.

It used to be a t15 school and as of late is falling out of the t25.

If you are referring to the US news rankings, then you had simply have no idea what you’re talking about. Yes when the rankings first came out UVA was firmly inside the top 20, but at that time the rankings were strictly reputational rankings. Since then the formula has changed several times and taking many things into account, but if you look at UVA’s reputation ranking alone in US News - which is still one that a point among many in its formula - it’s still well within the top 20, and its overall US News ranking has been consistently in the mid 20s for years. There’s no evidence at all that it’s dropping.

These statistics are easily verifiable with a little bit of research. In other words, one of us knows what they’re talking about and the other one is talking out of their ass.

Seriously. It’s been ranked between 20 and 25 every year since 1997, with the exception of two years. Some of you should just fire up that old Google machine before commenting.

So...it hasn't been ranked between 20 and 25 every year. And it used to be ranked higher (t15 school).

It was only ranked 15 in 1985 when they ranked far fewer schools. It was only in the top 20 in the early-mid 90s when they ranked far fewer schools, and some years it was above 20 even then (88-89 and 91-93). Since the rankings expanded, it has been between 20 and 25. Again, Google is your friend.

In recent years it has fallen out of the top 25. Google is your friend.

And that’s why I mentioned in the previous comment that there were two years (2020-21, and actually a third in 2016) where it wasn’t between 20-25. Since then it has been back between 20-25.

Reading is your friend in addition to Google.

What I'm hearing, and what the data says, is that UVA used to be ranked 15th, then was ranked between 20-25, and in recent years has started to fall out of the t25 all together.

Logic and reason are clearly not your friends.

It was ranked 15 once 40 years ago when they only ranked 25 or so schools. When they expanded the rankings in the late 90s, it went into the 20s and has been between 20-25 almost every year since.

A person with logic and reason could understand this because it is all quite simple.

So what I'm hearing is that it used to be ranked #15, then fell to #25 because of increased competition, and then in the late 2010s, early 2020s, has started to fall out of the t25 altogether?

No. A school that has spent the last 3 years, and 6 of the last 8, ranked 25 or better is not “starting to fall” outside of the t25.

It was only ranked 15 in 1985 because they didn’t include schools like Georgetown and Notre Dame. When those schools were included in the next ranking in 1988, it fell back (was #20 that year). It was never really t15. And as I said, it was already above 20 in several years before the large rankings expansion, where it then ended up firmly in the 20s. The “increased competition” part of your comment is maybe the only accurate part.

It was ranked 24 in 2002. It was 24 last fall. That’s not some sign of declining reputation if we are using USNWR rankings as a proxy (which we shouldn’t, but that’s a different conversation).

So once there was any sort of competition, UVA's ranking fell, and it has only dipped below 25 in the late 2010s and early 2020s?

[Anonymous]

Midwest mom here. My (junior) kid over the past year has consistently mentioned applying to UVA. It was not on my radar at all when suggesting colleges for him to visit. Don't know who or what led him in this direction. Doesn't matter though; haven't done the NPC yet but it's probably too much $$ for us OOS.

[Anonymous]

If you look at the matriculation results from the top NYC privates, top NE boarding schools, etc. they all have matriculants to UVA this year.

So clearly it's reputation has not decilned, as much as the OP is hoping.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

I'm not a UVA parent, but good lord, what a dumb question. That USNWR would rank UVA … [checks notes] #24 … out of all the schools in the US, and people would complain that it's declining.

Sometimes I think the primary benefit to the US News rankings is that it acts as a filter for the hundreds of excellent schools outside the top 20, so prestige junkies self-select out of the pool of applicants.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I honestly don’t know if its reputation is declining, because my DC has stopped even considering it as a possibility. We live in NOVA and my DC has 4 A-s on their transcript. If your grades are not all As (no A-) it is almost impossible to get it. UVA is completely GPA driven, despite their claim of holistic admissions.

Have you read the threads here and on reddit? This idea that A- isn’t allowed just isn’t true.

If you get an A- it is worth a 3.7 in the GPA calculations. If you get 3 or 4 A-s your GPA will not meet the 4.4 GPA threshold needed for UVA. So 3 or 4 A-s will absolutely keep you out of UVA. It is pretty clear in NOVA they have a school by school GPA cut off.

I did not want to join in what is obviously a bunfight initiated by a troll regarding the relative merits of UVA (again!), but I did want to reply to this blanket statement that A-s or B+s are fatal to successfully getting into UVA.

DC applied last year from McLean/Langley with 1500 SAT, 3 years (middle school) of one language and 2 of another (no AP for either), with 4 A-s and 7 B+s for a wGPA of 4.3, but 11 AP courses (including AP World History and AP Lang). Admitted to CAS in EA, so neither the multiple hits of A-s and B+s, nor the lack of 4 years of a single foreign language sank the application.

I do agree that there is a combo of test and wGPA that shows up as the boundary line between admit and deny in Naviance, which differs by school, and DC was on that line.

Oh yeah, we are Asian, so we had that additional burden to bear.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:UVA serves the whole state and can’t accept all of the qualified applicants that FCPS produces. It’s just not large enough.

Students realize that a UVA acceptance isn’t guaranteed even for the best students, so UVA is losing its buzz as they get excited about other schools that are more likely to accept them. UVA has become a victim of its own success.

They’re hardly victims. They’ll be fine.

I know.

Other VA schools are rising in popularity, though.

STOP. JUST STOP!!!! You probably went to VaTech, you probably think your school can relate in any way to that university whose illustrious history and repute remains unmatched on the national stage. IT CANNOT. SORRY! JUST STOP SPREADING THE LIES. It's embarrassing for you and it's disgusting for the rest of us.

Wow, UVA students enter with the same stats as those at W&M, the older, illustrious co-state flagship. They are both fine schools as is VT. VA kids are fortunate to have many great options and graduates of UVA, W&M and VT will all have opportunities to succeed in life.

Unfortunately, UVA and W&M are constrained by the size of their campuses and can’t take in more students. As we enter a population cliff for college age students overall competition will subside and acceptance rates will increase across the board.

Rankings will ebb and flow based on changing criteria. Sure some parents and students will chase a ranking number and not all colleges are the same. But to believe UVA stands head and shoulders above other VA universities is patently absurd.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. What has increased is the frustration with getting in, and thus, it just isn’t a discussed option for many. Many frustrated parents on DCUM talk about the state not supporting instate students because they don’t expand UVA and lower their standards.

It will fall to top 50 in 10 years,,

Lack of decent STEM programs including in AI and biotechnology will hurt them and the declining interest in humanities/social Sciences.

Further hurt by lack of interest in MBA as well as AI 's impact on lower demand for lawyers in general doesn't help either their only strong programs.

If only UVA had a magnet school in Virginia that it admitted students from with these kinds of skills...

Issue is they mostly admit DEI students in the bottom half and top 30% wouldn't be caught dead attending uva.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a UVA parent, but good lord, what a dumb question. That USNWR would rank UVA … [checks notes] #24 … out of all the schools in the US, and people would complain that it's declining.

Sometimes I think the primary benefit to the US News rankings is that it acts as a filter for the hundreds of excellent schools outside the top 20, so prestige junkies self-select out of the pool of applicants.

Yes, but you see, that ranking is close to where it has been ranked throughout most of the history of the rankings, particularly the last 30 years, which is clear evidence for its steep decline in reputa—oh wait, never mind, no. That makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a UVA parent, but good lord, what a dumb question. That USNWR would rank UVA … [checks notes] #24 … out of all the schools in the US, and people would complain that it's declining.

Sometimes I think the primary benefit to the US News rankings is that it acts as a filter for the hundreds of excellent schools outside the top 20, so prestige junkies self-select out of the pool of applicants.

Yes, but you see, that ranking is close to where it has been ranked throughout most of the history of the rankings, particularly the last 30 years, which is clear evidence for its steep decline in reputa—oh wait, never mind, no. That makes no sense.

15--->more competition--->20-25---->25-30

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile, schools like USC, Michigan, NYU, UC Irvine, UCSD continue to climb in the rankings year after year and are reaching new rankings peaks every single year.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. What has increased is the frustration with getting in, and thus, it just isn’t a discussed option for many. Many frustrated parents on DCUM talk about the state not supporting instate students because they don’t expand UVA and lower their standards.

It will fall to top 50 in 10 years,,

Lack of decent STEM programs including in AI and biotechnology will hurt them and the declining interest in humanities/social Sciences.

Further hurt by lack of interest in MBA as well as AI 's impact on lower demand for lawyers in general doesn't help either their only strong programs.

If only UVA had a magnet school in Virginia that it admitted students from with these kinds of skills...

Issue is they mostly admit DEI students in the bottom half and top 30% wouldn't be caught dead attending uva.

What is wrong with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. What has increased is the frustration with getting in, and thus, it just isn’t a discussed option for many. Many frustrated parents on DCUM talk about the state not supporting instate students because they don’t expand UVA and lower their standards.

It will fall to top 50 in 10 years,,

Lack of decent STEM programs including in AI and biotechnology will hurt them and the declining interest in humanities/social Sciences.

Further hurt by lack of interest in MBA as well as AI 's impact on lower demand for lawyers in general doesn't help either their only strong programs.

If only UVA had a magnet school in Virginia that it admitted students from with these kinds of skills...

Issue is they mostly admit DEI students in the bottom half and top 30% wouldn't be caught dead attending uva.

Too true.

[Anonymous]

God forbid a state flagship serves the WHOLE state rather than have a student population that’s 90% from a suburb with the top 10% income earners. Strong academic kids in Norfolk and Farmville have just as much of a right to UVA than just McLean and Langley kids. Same goes for the MoCo UMD posters. You’ve all lost the plot.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think UVA’s reputation is declining, per se, but I think many highly qualified students are viewing it as an unlikely admit, so other schools are rising to meet the need that UVA can’t fill because it’s simply too small.