<p>Re: #26
The two Goldwater Scholars from UVa this year (from less than 300 in the country), were both instate students: Davis Blalock from Charlottesville and Ellen Zhong from Vienna. UVa attacts good students from both instate and out of state, which is a good thing. I do feel badly for the well qualified instate students who do not get admitted, but as has been pointed out, there is a high level of competition for admission to the most selective schools.</p>
<p>Wow, really puts brings some perspective to the selectivity of UVa -where I live, everyone seems to underestimate the difficulty of getting in EA (especially for someone OOS). I’m hoping a 2340 and 4.0 UW GPA are good enough stats to give me at least a bit of an edge, but perusing threads like these and last year’s decisions thread makes me quite uncomfortable with my chances.</p>
<p>Chances: Do the research so you can feel comfortable that you are applying to many colleges where you would be happy. Admissions decisions at all competitive colleges can be unpredictable, even with very high SAT scores and grades. Also, keep in mind that only the most driven students post their numbers on this website, and some may be exaggerating.</p>