Anonymous wrote:The reality also is that a state public university needs to accept students from all over the state. When I was at UVA, a very very high percentage of students came from NoVA — and that is still the case. For many of them, it clearly was HS a 2nd time and they had the same friends from home at UVa.

In Craig County, if any HS student gets accepted to any college, their name and school is posted on the HS sign board out front (meaning only maybe 10-12 per year go off to any college).

In VA Beach, where the public schools are fine but the parents are less obsessive, getting in to UVa often will get a student’s name on the sign board (yes, it is a bit uncommon, so still notable).

In FCPS, UVa attendance in particular is not atball uncommon. Every FCPS HS sends bunches there every year, and the typical HS kid goes to college somewhere.

Anonymous wrote:So, in other words, you want your kid to do less work than the kids who are actually accepted? I really can’t roll my eyes hard enough.

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5.

Anonymous wrote:How many students are in vs out of state? My understanding was that other states prioritize in state students more than Virginia.

Anonymous wrote:How many students are in vs out of state? My understanding was that other states prioritize in state students more than Virginia.

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4.3 NOVA kid was waitlisted at JMU as were several at the high school. Much lower out of state required though. Many of those same students were admitted to Tech. Weird year.

How on earth did that happen?

JMU is a crapshoot some years. Took some AP and DE but maybe not enough for them? Straight A/A+ student, great extracurriculars. They seemed to want to capitalize on the success of the football team. It’s all good here since it wasn’t a top choice and she got in to much better schools but it is annoying as a taxpayer to see kids with a lot lower gpa and no honors/AP/DE get accepted.

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know the % of kids enrolled at the Va. public schools who are _Virginians_. I know it varies among the universities.

Because here's the thing: if the % of state residents is "high" and the bar to entry is also high (say, 4.3 and 1470 or something), then I don't see the problem. It just means that State School X is enrolling the generally best-performing Virginia residents.

If however the bar is high for entry but a lot of the kids come from New Jersey, that's a different matter.

re: OP's point about being mediocre at Spanish and thus not earning a lotto ticket to do CS at Va Tech ... why not just study harder in the don't-come-easily-to-me subjects? My own kid is a brilliant writer but also sucked at Spanish and really struggled with Calc+. Higher order math shouldn't matter for his future life as a corporate lawyer, but he spent 6x as long studying Calc / Chem / Physics to get that high grade because he needs that entry into Exclusive U. to be the lawyer he wants to be someday.

All the CS wannabes could probably do the same with English comp, no?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4.3 NOVA kid was waitlisted at JMU as were several at the high school. Much lower out of state required though. Many of those same students were admitted to Tech. Weird year.

How on earth did that happen?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!

You seem to be forgetting that there are several good Virginia universities besides UVA/VT/W&M/JMU. Why can't your kid study CS at GMU or VCU, for example? The fact is there IS a seat at a Virginia university for kids with less than stellar GPA, even if you believe some of those universities aren't good enough for your kid.

Anonymous wrote:I can't wrap my head around why Virginia state schools like UVA, Virginia Tech, and JMU are setting their GPA requirements so high. For instance, UVA wants a 4.3, Virginia Tech a 4.0, and JMU a 3.5. It feels like they're trying to compete with Ivy Leagues, which might make sense for private schools that thrive on exclusivity, but for public universities funded by taxpayer dollars? That just doesn’t sit right with me.

My own kid, who is gifted in math and computers and two grade levels ahead in these subjects, is looking at Virginia Tech because of its strong emphasis on tech and computer programs. Yet, he might have to reconsider his top choice because he faces challenges in foreign languages and English, and those could drag his GPA down. It's absurd that a student who excels in the exact fields a school specializes in might miss out because of a few lower grades in unrelated areas. I also have to tell him that getting a B or B+ isn't good enough, which to me seems absurd.

Also, why not increase their capacity? More seats would mean more students getting a good education without the crazy pressure of scoring more than a perfect GPA. Another idea could be to limit the number of out-of-state or international students to free up more spots for in-state students, ensuring that Virginia's own have better access to these educational resources.

Isn’t it time we reassess these academic expectations to make higher education more accessible and relevant to what students are actually studying and excelling in? Shouldn't state schools focus on educating more students rather than acting like they're something they’re not? Let's hear some opinions on this!