Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

We did - big Nova public

We didn't, but our kid did and we could have if we wanted. And we sent in the parent questionnaire. I think we are pretty typical. Also big NoVA public and kid probably in top 15% of school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best of luck to the applicants. Show grace. It’s hard to overstate how much this emotionally affects a lot of nova families.

It’s not just emotionally -it’s a huge financial problem for some Virginia families -that’s why so many families who have high stats kids get upset when their kids are passed over by TJ for social engineering goals of more first-generations. Many of these kids’ families (TJ) included really need access the the top Virginia schools. Many also are saving for other children and for grad schools do a thumbs down at top VA schools can be a huge financial problem problem.

The irony in the post. Do you not think, maybe just for a second, that it is more beneficial for those pesky “first generations” that you decry to access a UVa education? Why does your kid need one more than “those kids”?

Further, most first generation students don’t have a college fund at all, and most of them aren’t getting into need-blind schools that meet need either.

No one is doing this. Would you please stop pounding on parents who have had a rough year?

That’s exactly what you’re doing. I can guarantee your kid has more options for college than most first-Gen kids.

Anonymous wrote:Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

We did - big Nova public

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best of luck to the applicants. Show grace. It’s hard to overstate how much this emotionally affects a lot of nova families.

It’s not just emotionally -it’s a huge financial problem for some Virginia families -that’s why so many families who have high stats kids get upset when their kids are passed over by TJ for social engineering goals of more first-generations. Many of these kids’ families (TJ) included really need access the the top Virginia schools. Many also are saving for other children and for grad schools do a thumbs down at top VA schools can be a huge financial problem problem.

The irony in the post. Do you not think, maybe just for a second, that it is more beneficial for those pesky “first generations” that you decry to access a UVa education? Why does your kid need one more than “those kids”?

Further, most first generation students don’t have a college fund at all, and most of them aren’t getting into need-blind schools that meet need either.

No one is doing this. Would you please stop pounding on parents who have had a rough year?

Anonymous wrote:First PP, if you don't mind clarifying it would be much appreciated ... are you saying the counselor will check "most rigorous" for the agreed upon college, whatever level college it is. For example, if this was not a strong student and counselor and student had agreed Redford was a good choice, the counselor would check "most rigorous" on the Radford application, if the student's record/classes taken meant they were well qualified for Radford.

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Absolutely not. Sorry if I made it sound that way. I could be wrong, but I think "most rigorous" goes only to those kids taking the most rigorous courses in the school. So if you were applying to elite slacs, ivies and UVA, UCLA< etc. you would want to make sure that box was checked (the public counselor probably won't tell you). So I don't think they would check "most rigorous" for Radford - that would require too much of the public high school counselor who is attending to 400 kids plus the juniors coming up the next year. For example, our DS was a B+ public high school student so we applied only to JMU, GMU (then easier to get in), Radford, etc. I would not call her taking the "most rigorous" courses at all. I think she had one AP.

Bear in mind that the college counselor sends each college a class profile of the high school class prior to applications or with them. So, if your child is a 4.32 student and took 4 AP courses out of 30 offered,and the top GPA is a 4.47, it takes the school just seconds to figure out their class rank and how rigorous a schedule your student has taken. So it wouldn't make sense for them to check "most rigorous" for Radford when the class profile indicates that the student was a 3.5 student with no APs.

Colleges don’t universally even define first Gen (I say this as someone who supports first-Gen preferences). In Fierceton’s case, Penn defined first-Gen as someone who’s parents didn’t attend an Ivy, which is bizarre. None of my parents or grandparents finished a bachelor’s degree at any point, but both of my parents had associates degrees and attempted 4-year schools prior. Was I first Gen? Depends on who you ask.

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid give up their spot, then. Heck, give up your home and job to a deserving family.

I was first-gen in the mid 1990s and colleges didn’t care back then.

People are faking first-gen, too. See that Penn Fierceton person.

If you know anyone stupid enough to fake first gen, be sure to report them to their college. It can be done anon. Colleges want this information.

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid give up their spot, then. Heck, give up your home and job to a deserving family.

I was first-gen in the mid 1990s and colleges didn’t care back then.

People are faking first-gen, too. See that Penn Fierceton person.

Guess what, diversity in family status, race and economic status is the bulk of what makes these universities attractive to prospective applicants.

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid give up their spot, then. Heck, give up your home and job to a deserving family.

I was first-gen in the mid 1990s and colleges didn’t care back then.

People are faking first-gen, too. See that Penn Fierceton person.

Times change, thankfully.

Have your kid give up their spot, then. Heck, give up your home and job to a deserving family.

I was first-gen in the mid 1990s and colleges didn’t care back then.

People are faking first-gen, too. See that Penn Fierceton person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best of luck to the applicants. Show grace. It’s hard to overstate how much this emotionally affects a lot of nova families.

It’s not just emotionally -it’s a huge financial problem for some Virginia families -that’s why so many families who have high stats kids get upset when their kids are passed over by TJ for social engineering goals of more first-generations. Many of these kids’ families (TJ) included really need access the the top Virginia schools. Many also are saving for other children and for grad schools do a thumbs down at top VA schools can be a huge financial problem problem.

The irony in the post. Do you not think, maybe just for a second, that it is more beneficial for those pesky “first generations” that you decry to access a UVa education? Why does your kid need one more than “those kids”?

Further, most first generation students don’t have a college fund at all, and most of them aren’t getting into need-blind schools that meet need either.

Who the hell sits down with their kid’s counselor at a public high school around here? Ours left halfway through 11th and another counselor assumed her duties.

Very lucky, whoever you are.

-mom of current UVA first-year, in top five of HS graduating class, not top 5%

Anonymous wrote:

The public school applicants in Virginia are pre-screened by their public high school counselors and directed to the best fit schools in the Commonwealth. The counselors write letters for these schools and check the "most rigorous" box (yes it still exists). A B student is not going to get the support of their counselor to apply to UVA. The counselor might say "fine" to the parents who want to apply to a private slac like Swarthmore but if the parents and child suggest a university that is not feasible for the student, the counselor is supposed to direct them to suitable places to apply. The counselor has the vast resources of Naviance and SCHEV to show the parents that their kid doesn't have a change. So the applicant pool to UVA is self-selecting. Those applying know they need a 4.47-4.52 and a 35 ACT. We were told by the counslor our child was not a candidate for UVA. She wasn't. So we applied to Virginia schools that made sense for her.

Thank you PP. Many of us have long suspected this. Thanks for putting it into words.

Don’t really understand this comment. What is so earth shattering that counselors tell kids that they may not have a shot at a certain school? That being said, they don’t prevent someone from applying. In our LCPS HS of 400 had 70 kids apply to UVA last year and about 12 got on. Obviously a lot of under qualified kids applied despite being told it was reach. Happens every year.

First PP, if you don't mind clarifying it would be much appreciated ... are you saying the counselor will check "most rigorous" for the agreed upon college, whatever level college it is. For example, if this was not a strong student and counselor and student had agreed Redford was a good choice, the counselor would check "most rigorous" on the Radford application, if the student's record/classes taken meant they were well qualified for Radford.

The public school applicants in Virginia are pre-screened by their public high school counselors and directed to the best fit schools in the Commonwealth. The counselors write letters for these schools and check the "most rigorous" box (yes it still exists). A B student is not going to get the support of their counselor to apply to UVA. The counselor might say "fine" to the parents who want to apply to a private slac like Swarthmore but if the parents and child suggest a university that is not feasible for the student, the counselor is supposed to direct them to suitable places to apply. The counselor has the vast resources of Naviance and SCHEV to show the parents that their kid doesn't have a change. So the applicant pool to UVA is self-selecting. Those applying know they need a 4.47-4.52 and a 35 ACT. We were told by the counslor our child was not a candidate for UVA. She wasn't. So we applied to Virginia schools that made sense for her.

Thank you PP. Many of us have long suspected this. Thanks for putting it into words.