My son was admitted to VT and Penn State Engineering with a 4.2 GPA (heavy on the math/science APs) and a 35 ACT (only the grammar was below a 36), and was waitlisted by other engineering programs (USC, UIUC, UVA) last year. Had he gone for a different major for some of the schools he may have had a better shot of admittance. Getting into places is really competitive from NoVa.

Anonymous wrote:2.9 at big3 with a 33 ACT. Class of 2023. Accepted at Penn State and WL at VT.

Thats a great ACT score!

2.9 at big3 with a 33 ACT. Class of 2023. Accepted at Penn State and WL at VT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT looks around a 3.75+ weighted GPA on our SCOIR. At our school, the vast majority of top stats applicants do get in, however a few don't--maybe they were applying to more competitive majors?

VT had 4 essays this year and was one of the lengthier apps. They also admitted in chunks. If VT is your goal--i think start the app on the early side and get it in well before the deadline.

Any idea how much rigor is required? Our school is really tight on that so kid isn't able to incorporate much (yet).

Sorry there’s no way to see rigor in the scattergrams. Most schools say to take the hardest class you can do reasonably well in…if your school doesn’t have rigor, just take the hardest class you can and colleges won’t fault you for this. If the school has rigorous classes and doesn’t let your student take those classes, they need to make sure to get the highest grade they can in the regular class. Your student could consider a dual enrollment class at a CC, but only if they think the grade would be decent as it has to be reported on the transcript. I would pay close attention to the major you select—if you’re school is discouraging the rigorous classes, engineering or CS at VT might be too hard anyway.

Anonymous wrote:VT looks around a 3.75+ weighted GPA on our SCOIR. At our school, the vast majority of top stats applicants do get in, however a few don't--maybe they were applying to more competitive majors?

VT had 4 essays this year and was one of the lengthier apps. They also admitted in chunks. If VT is your goal--i think start the app on the early side and get it in well before the deadline.

Any idea how much rigor is required? Our school is really tight on that so kid isn't able to incorporate much (yet).

VT looks around a 3.75+ weighted GPA on our SCOIR. At our school, the vast majority of top stats applicants do get in, however a few don't--maybe they were applying to more competitive majors?

VT had 4 essays this year and was one of the lengthier apps. They also admitted in chunks. If VT is your goal--i think start the app on the early side and get it in well before the deadline.

With VT there may have been a question of yield protection. This is not a fact, just a question. It’s been quite difficult to predict who gets in. It’s not a lock for the bottom half of the class and it’s not a lock for a 1500+ SAT. Can’t speak to Penn State.

The above is not meant to imply that these aren’t very good schools. Also there are definitely kids higher in the class that choose these schools. But students in the bottom half of the class are getting in. People need to stop equating hard to get into with good or somewhat easier to get into with bad.

No dog in this fight but not true. It depends on major. The business school at Penn State is very competitive and clearly Tech is known for engineering. I know several private school kids who are considering Tech over UVA and WM because their parents had the Va savings program and didn’t want to go for private unless the merit or the financial aid made sense.

In general, yes this is the type of school to which kids in the middle or bottom half of the class are getting in. You can’t really directly compare the raw GPAs

Because I feel like most kids I know with 4+ GPAs struggle to get into those schools, esp Va Tech. That is at public which is why I am curious if private school gpa would need to be similar.

Anonymous wrote:Thats surprising. Is it just because so many kids go to more selective schools.

What is surprising?

Thats surprising. Is it just because so many kids go to more selective schools.

Yes, lower half of the class, whatever GPA that is at your school.

I know these are quite high coming from public but do GPA's average lower coming from private schools?