There are entire counties that send one and none to UVA. How can I say that 1 kid beat my kid out? I'm sorry it's so competitive and limits everyone's opportunities. But I really can't blame the one kid from a county who fought their way up from stealing my kids' place. And on the "up side" one of my kids hates history...looking toward Tech.

Bottom line: UVA and W&M affirmatively do not want NOVA applicants or students. They want NOVA tax revenue, but those of us that live here are poison and are to be avoided. A GPA barely above a B+ from a school in seven central Virginia counties, together with standardized test scores in roughly the 75+ percentile, is enough for UVA, from that locality. The NOVA requirements are dramatically higher. UVA and W&M demand, receive, hold, and expend public funds. But they do NOT equally accommodate VA resident applicants by any measure.

FYI: W&M's admission rate for boys is surprisingly high. For the 2016-2017 school year:

5371 applications from males, 2334 admitted (43%) (630 enrolled)
9011 applications from females, 2919 admitted (32%) (874 enrolled)

By comparison, UVA:

15329 males applied, 4400 admitted (29%) (1697 enrolled(
17048 females applied, 5268 admitted (31%) (1985 enrolled)

There have been some good threads on all of the VA state schools that have mostly good information along with a few of the usual DCUM nonsense comments from some who hyper focus only on the best known schools. Bottom line, visit the campus, talk to people there. See how your kid feels about them. They are all VERY different in environment, setting, flavor. CNU and ODU, for example, are great places for marine studies with nice campuses. Radford has an honors business program. Longwood has a very pretty rural setting and an enthusiastic student population. If you have a kid interested in the arts, VCU is fabulous -- the obvious choice over the "elite" names.

If You arent top 10 percent of your class chances are slim to none

What does trying to determine reasonable targets mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Junior who is suddenly interested in VA schools. Anecdotal/ individual reports welcome.

Don't discount all of the other great VA schools. UVA and W&M, and VT to a degree, can't possibly admit everyone that's qualified, and there are great alternatives at in-state prices that are all about the individual fit. Happy to address what we've learned about various VA schools if you are looking for something specific.

+1.

Happy to read anything you'd like to share as application season is looming.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Junior who is suddenly interested in VA schools. Anecdotal/ individual reports welcome.

Don't discount all of the other great VA schools. UVA and W&M, and VT to a degree, can't possibly admit everyone that's qualified, and there are great alternatives at in-state prices that are all about the individual fit. Happy to address what we've learned about various VA schools if you are looking for something specific.

You might get more traction if you move the thread to the College forum.

OP here. Junior who is suddenly interested in VA schools. Anecdotal/ individual reports welcome.

OP, I assume you are waiting for RD for entering fall 2017? Or have a junior who has not yet applied? I went thru this last year and was astonished at the incredibly talented students posting their rejections on college confidential for UVA, Va Tech and other schools DC was interested in. Truly astonished. Especially at the stats of the international students trying to get into UVA and Va Tech. This may be of help for UVA - Class of 2020 - 93% were in the top percent of their class; 255 with perfect SAT scores, etc. http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/03/university-releases-admission-decisions-for-class-of-2020

My kid with 33 ACT was waitlisted by VT Business, regular decision. Saw lots of applicants with lower scores get in the February round. Odd but it wasn't close to top choice anyway.

You won't get the stats on these for your HS on Naviance until fall.

Trying to determine reasonable targets. Understand it varies from HS to HS. Surprised by (non-engineering)Tech rejections complaining on College Confidential...
Thanks in advance.