Anonymous
02/22/2022 21:25
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:PP here my son was top 2% in his school. UVA did not like his profile I guess. I'll be honest, it was like his 10th pick due to curriculum but I was still shocked he was not admitted. I only tell this story to share the news that forget naviance and all the data points you have heard, expect total brutality when it comes time for college admissions if you are an A player. My son's profile is like something I would read in "how to be a perfect stem kid" and he is hitting wall after wall. I have more kids after this and I can tell you, I wont waste time hounding them for perfect grades and ECs like I did the last 13 years with this one. He is better for it but good lord no payoff. The kids that are getting in are lower scored and have some sort of hook. I'm going to double down on sports, UVA will take anyone if they can catch a ball and I've got potential there with my kids. I used to brush it off- no one here is going Pro and college is about education but soon you learn getting in is not about academics. You have to have a certain threshold but the top grade/sat kids have not gotten in this year from our school.
I feel this completely. I learned a lot in this process. I have a relative at a D1 school playing soccer and their athletes get their work done for them. Its ridiculous how backwards things are 🙄
Anonymous
02/22/2022 21:15
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
PP here my son was top 2% in his school. UVA did not like his profile I guess. I'll be honest, it was like his 10th pick due to curriculum but I was still shocked he was not admitted. I only tell this story to share the news that forget naviance and all the data points you have heard, expect total brutality when it comes time for college admissions if you are an A player. My son's profile is like something I would read in "how to be a perfect stem kid" and he is hitting wall after wall. I have more kids after this and I can tell you, I wont waste time hounding them for perfect grades and ECs like I did the last 13 years with this one. He is better for it but good lord no payoff. The kids that are getting in are lower scored and have some sort of hook. I'm going to double down on sports, UVA will take anyone if they can catch a ball and I've got potential there with my kids. I used to brush it off- no one here is going Pro and college is about education but soon you learn getting in is not about academics. You have to have a certain threshold but the top grade/sat kids have not gotten in this year from our school.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 21:07
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
My son was just rejected from UVA CS with a 1560 SAT 4.4 GPA and tons of EC. In-state. He has 11 APs and DEs including Calc 3 (has an "A"). He only did 3 years of language (1 in middle school) because hes a tech kid, it's not his thing.
The only person we know that got in had 6 years of language with a much lower SAT. I am told that you HAD to have a 4.4 GPA but I can not prove nor deny this. All I know is they can't have very many CS apps as their program is bare bone and I mean, bare bones. It is mostly "TBD/Special lectures" but they still get very good post grad results. My son is going to go to grad school so I thought it was still a viable path as it has an excellent rep but from what I have seen/heard, if you are serious about UVA you MUST take 4 years language.
The only person we know that got in had 6 years of language with a much lower SAT. I am told that you HAD to have a 4.4 GPA but I can not prove nor deny this. All I know is they can't have very many CS apps as their program is bare bone and I mean, bare bones. It is mostly "TBD/Special lectures" but they still get very good post grad results. My son is going to go to grad school so I thought it was still a viable path as it has an excellent rep but from what I have seen/heard, if you are serious about UVA you MUST take 4 years language.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 20:09
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Top five or ten, period. Forget the %, lol.
But aren't the top 5 or 10 students likely to attend even higher ranked schools? Not all them are going to want to go to UVA. They may have their sites set on Harvard, Duke, Amherst, etc.
And those schools are even more difficult to gain admission. Many parents aren’t willing to pay $75-80K a year even if they can theoretically afford it if their child can attend UVA for significantly less.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 20:08
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Top five or ten, period. Forget the %, lol.
But aren't the top 5 or 10 students likely to attend even higher ranked schools? Not all them are going to want to go to UVA. They may have their sites set on Harvard, Duke, Amherst, etc.
They may set their sights there but then end up at UVA when they see the price difference.
Of our LCPS top ten kids (out of 400), 4 of them are at UVA today.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 20:05
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Top five or ten, period. Forget the %, lol.
But aren't the top 5 or 10 students likely to attend even higher ranked schools? Not all them are going to want to go to UVA. They may have their sites set on Harvard, Duke, Amherst, etc.
They may set their sights there but then end up at UVA when they see the price difference.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 19:53
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Top five or ten, period. Forget the %, lol.
But aren't the top 5 or 10 students likely to attend even higher ranked schools? Not all them are going to want to go to UVA. They may have their sites set on Harvard, Duke, Amherst, etc.
Anonymous
02/22/2022 19:39
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:As long as he's top 10% of class it's fine, so just depends on what the peers are doing.
Top 10% meant an applicant was a contender for admission up until about 3-4 years ago. I'd estimate a student should be in top 5% now. I've had 3 (in-state) admitted in the past 7 years, including a senior this year. It has been shocking to me how many super smart kids were deferred in this year's early action round, though they may still be accepted during regular decision. And to those who say their kid's HS does not rank, don't be fooled. UVA (and other colleges) figure it out.
agreed top 10% is not gonna cut it, top 5% should but I do know kids who were WL in the top 5% of our HS.
Which high school is this?
LCPS
And Arlington
Anonymous
02/22/2022 19:37
Subject: UVA Admission and "other electives"
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Junior Year for DC - likely History or Anthropology major:
AP English
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Latin (skipping Latin 5)
Intensified Physics
2 theater electives
Varsity athlete in 2 sports, outside travel team, obv also very involved in theater; very part-time job
3.75 uw GPA right now.
Guesstimating 1350-1400 SAT score at this point.
Don't think he's UVA material. Anyone disagree? I don't care if he goes there or not, just looking to manage expectations.
What's his class rank? UVA cares more about that than test scores. Regardless, should go test optional with that SAT
My DS doesn’t have class rank at their school.
They may say that but UVA (and other schools) can figure out rank in seconds by comparing your kids’ weighted gpa and AP classes to those in the “ class profile” provided every year by your college counselor to colleges. That profile provides to the top possible weighted gpa and percentages of kids at various points. Also membership i. Honor societies provides info. You also want to make sure the college counselor checks off the “most rigorous “ box (yes it’s still there). Often your own child will have a sense of rank because they are usually in the same AP classes and compare notes with other students. The top two students in our private got into UVA
I would love some additional details here. Does this apply equally to all schools? That can't possibly be the case - can it? The top quarter of TJ (or maybe even top half), for example, are just academic rock stars. Wouldn't you expect UVA to take more students from TJ than others schools given that it is a magnet school? With respect to private schools, are you really telling me that the only chance of getting into UVA from Sidwell, GDS, St. Albans, Potomac, etc., is if you are one of the top 5-10 students in that grade? What if you are the 15th smartest kid in your grade at Sidwell. Are you just out of luck? That just seems crazy to me.
Can't speak to TJ but can speak to my DS who was in-state, attended one of the privates you listed and in the top 15% of his class. He graduated from UVA this past May, College of Arts and Sciences. He was initially deferred from UVA early action and then waitlisted during regular decision. Offered a spot the second week of May after reaching out affirming his continued interest. Almost perfect standardized test scores and excellent ECs. UVA has only grown more selective since then.
Wow - we are in state in Virginia and this is just so wildly depressing.
Sometimes it is totally random - just make sure your kid has other schools they would be happy to attend and that you can afford.