Is there a "NOVA penalty" for UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, because 667 seemed impossibly small, given that TJ alone sends over 80 kids to UVA a year. 677 memebers of the class of 2020 from Fairfax. Not total undergrades or total students. Kicking out TJ, that's 24 kids on average per FCPS HS. Of course, some as from private, etc. Given that not every top kid chooses UVA, that seems reasonable.

True, and there are 23 excellent large high schools in FCPS alone. Most parents there would love to see their kid go to UVA. And don't forget all the NOVA kids who are also going to private high schools and boarding schools. They are also competing for the same Nova slots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like the student enrollment is in line with the population density. Wonder if admissions is the same?

Best represented counties
1. Fairfax 667 students
2. Loudon 220
3. Henrico 132

UVA feasts off of nova. It's where most of the top in state students are.

Of course, but 667 from Fairfax County isn't fair considering the number of public high schools and all the kids going to the great privates in the DMV area. A few years back a legislator tried to introduce a bill that would give FCPS 100 more seats at UVA and I pointed out that meant that Langley might get four of those and that wasn't going to help the situation. Langley will not help an A- get into UVA, not when they have 70 kids with GPAs over 4.0. Those are the kids the publics will support, write letters for and talk to admissions about.

Could you clarify what you mean by a school "not supporting" someone who wants to apply to UVA (or any other school)? I thought kids just decide where they want to apply - including reach schools - and counselors have to write a recommendation regardless.

[Anonymous]

Could you clarify what you mean by a school "not supporting" someone who wants to apply to UVA (or any other school)? I thought kids just decide where they want to apply - including reach schools - and counselors have to write a recommendation regardless.

Some counselors might try to steer students towards "sure thing" applications. At the end of the year, they want all of their students matched up with options, not sitting on waiting lists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Could you clarify what you mean by a school "not supporting" someone who wants to apply to UVA (or any other school)? I thought kids just decide where they want to apply - including reach schools - and counselors have to write a recommendation regardless.

Some counselors might try to steer students towards "sure thing" applications. At the end of the year, they want all of their students matched up with options, not sitting on waiting lists.

But couldn't a student feasibly accept a college's offer while still planning to stay on the wait list at another college?