Virginia Tech very much accepts by major. It is much much harder to get accepted into the engineering and business programs. This is not accurately reflected in Navience and that’s why it’s confusing. Plus, they’ve had a hard time accurately predicting their yield, especially after they switched away from ED as an option.

Anonymous wrote:VT is just protecting their yield. They lose all the top kids to T20 and UVA/U Mich who use VT as a backup to a backup.

VT was a backup to one of the schools mentioned above. They didn't take it for granted, though. DC is a very good writer and didn't blow off the VT essays. They were accepted and offered HC.

In other years, the highest GPA were 4.663 and 4.661. OP: where are you seeing your info?

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/2022-23%20TJHSST%20Profile_0.pdf

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/TJ%20Profile%202020-21.pdf

Anonymous wrote:What you can't see in Naviance is their VT essays. That school doesn't use the common app essay and is very into their motto. Perhaps those high stat kids used VT as a safety and didn't really put a lot into the essays. I remember that VT also has a lot of information about admission by school and major.

+1 It's sad but our HS hosted a zoom call with college counseling on VA schools and she stated that VT is in the reach category for most in general because it is more unpredictable, especially using GPA and test scores. Here is the VT admissions data - use it to filter by school, major, in-state vs OOS etc to get a better read of acceptance rates vs actual # of applicants. My kid is 4.67 w and 1470 test score at public VA school bio major. Viewing VT as a reach but hopeful that the lack of ECs/projects related to intended major won't count against and the essays IMO were meh (not earth shattering but tried to answer the VT prompts).
https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#university

VT is just protecting their yield. They lose all the top kids to T20 and UVA/U Mich who use VT as a backup to a backup.

Anonymous wrote:What you can't see in Naviance is their VT essays. That school doesn't use the common app essay and is very into their motto. Perhaps those high stat kids used VT as a safety and didn't really put a lot into the essays. I remember that VT also has a lot of information about admission by school and major.

+1. It must be this. Looking at Naviance from my DC hs, and kids above 4.0 and 1420 are pretty regularly getting in.

What you can't see in Naviance is their VT essays. That school doesn't use the common app essay and is very into their motto. Perhaps those high stat kids used VT as a safety and didn't really put a lot into the essays. I remember that VT also has a lot of information about admission by school and major.

This is exactly what holistic admissions means. The highest stats are not always the ones admitted and the lower stats are not always the ones denied.

Naviance from our small private school is similar. There are a lot of red X's even when you get to 1570-1600 and admissions is very unpredictable based on stats alone. I think it is also eye opening just how many 1570-1600 and high GPA kids there are, which explains why they all can't be accepted. I think the moral of the story is to try your best, but realize it may not work out to focus only on reaches, and that if you do not get into a reach this is not the end of the world!

Make sure you have safety schools that you are happy with and can afford. Don’t be snobby or judgmental.

Anonymous wrote:There is no "safe" zone.

Some schools aren’t safety schools for anyone. Put it in the list as a target or teach, then find other schools that are safe for your student’s stats.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at TJ. Looking at Virginia Tech and a few others is depressing...rejections for all kinds of stats from 3.5 and 1200 to 4.9 GPA and 1600. There is no "safe" zone.

Any way to process the data to not feel so depressing?

4.9 GPA not possible at TJ!

Focus on the specific major.

Try to identify specific, differentiating points of fit with the school.

Do a nice job of making your case by doing a good job on the essays.

Apply as early as possible.

I feel like the VA schools are so unpredictable in that manner !

My kid is at TJ. Looking at Virginia Tech and a few others is depressing...rejections for all kinds of stats from 3.5 and 1200 to 4.9 GPA and 1600. There is no "safe" zone.

Any way to process the data to not feel so depressing?