<p>I apologize if this has been posted here before, but today I ran across a blog run by one of the admissions deans at UVa. Check it out here if you're interested <a href="http://uvaadmission.blogspot.com/%5B/url%5D">http://uvaadmission.blogspot.com/</a></p>
<p>Lol, he's responding to posts made here. I guess admissions has to maintain some sort of front. I think he was referencing the Tufts thread about yield protection and probably several of mine where I told people they were "in." He can't dispute that some people have overwhelming chances of admission, though - as much as he'd like to. It looks like an interesting blog, though.</p>
<p>Well ur a star now wahoo as the operator of the blog mentioned this post today. :)</p>
<p>you might want to go back and edit your post again - "he" is in fact a she...</p>
<p>Oh really? I didn't know which gender the writer was. I was always taught to use "he" when gender was unknown. I hope she's not too insulted.</p>
<p>Since the link to my blog has been posted here, there have been a number of rude, inappropriate comments and all can be tracked back to this page (the referral site is always this one). I've had to turn on comment moderation, reject a number of inappropriate comments, prevent anonymous posting, and change my profile so that I'm not identified because, to be frank, the anger of some posts makes me nervous (I considered posted my entire name, thinking you might see me as a person, but I fear that would make things worse). </p>
<p>Sadly, more of these comments are from parents than from students. As I've posted on my blog, you are welcome to read and comment, but please don't use my blog as a forum or a place to post rants about the college search. I believe this forum is the proper place for those.</p>
<p>I do what I do because I LOVE students. I love talking to them about their next steps. I love helping them figure out if UVA is the right place for them. I love calling appicants "my kids" after I read their files. I love looking for reasons to admit them (not reasons to deny them). I love looking them up at the end of the application season to see that other readers agreed with me. I love thinking about "my kids" opening admit letters in late March (flip side: it breaks my heart that my favs don't always get that "thick envelope"). </p>
<p>I don't love the fact that some people think I am a fair target on which to unleash their anger with the entire college search. </p>
<p>Blogs are supposed to bring about conversation, but what I'm seeing are long, disjointed rants about the college admission process. If the negative comments continue, I'll reluctantly have to take the site down or turn of comments completely.</p>
<p>Dean J, it's good to finally have a voice here from Peabody Hall! You might have even read my application (though you probably don't remember it). It's a shame that people used your blog so negatively, but I hope you maintain it - - it would have been an amazing resource for me when I was applying, much like this site. Hopefully it will help others, too.</p>
<p>Dean J, all I have to say is I love your blog. You help to dispel many of the common assumptions and unfounded rumors that spread about UVA Admissions and college admissions in general.</p>
<p>Dean J - any chance you can comment on my post below--</p>
<p>UVA Early Decision - Why Bother
My D just had an interview with the UVA legacy folks down at the University. She was advised not to apply to UVA early decision unless she was in the top 5% of her class, had taken the most rigorous schedule in her school, had a minimum of 650 across the board on her SAT's and no C's (unweighted) on her transcript. She was also advised that legacy Early Decisions (perhaps those from OOS only) are evaualted EXCLUSIVELY on the numbers and Dean Blackburn will not let anyone in without the foregoing minimum cutoffs. Finally, she was advised that neither EC's, development issues, letters of recommendation nor any other facor is even considered in Early Decision. In the face of these MINIMUM thresholds and the likely deferral, I will advise my D not to waste her time on applying ED to my beloved alma mater (Law '81). I think the only person more disappointed than my D was the Law School Alumni Foundation folks who saw their development dollars flushed down the toilet by the foregoing minimum thresholds for ED admittance. If it sounds like sour grapes, so be it. However, if my D was in the top 5% of her class (as opposed to the top 10% which she is) with the foregoing minimums, I would advise her to apply elsewhere. My how the University has changed.</p>
<p>Dean J, your blog is fascinating. Thanks for taking the time to maintain it.</p>
<p>As a parent of a student who will probably apply to UVa in the fall, I can say that many of us out here would be willing to donate random body parts in exchange for the information that prestigious state universities never give us, namely, SEPARATE statistics (GPA and SAT ranges) for accepted students in each of the four classes of applicants (in-state ED, in-state RD, out-of-state ED, out-of-state RD). Every applicant to UVa falls into one of these categories. If you issued separate statistics for the four groups, applicants would be better able to judge their chances of admission.</p>
<p>Also, why the heck do you people at UVa always show the same view of the grounds (with that round-domed building on the Lawn in the center) in all of your publicity materials? After seeing that same view about a hundred times, I was convinced that you were hiding the fact that the rest of your campus was absolutely hideous. To my surprise, when my kid and I visited, we found that the whole place looks quite nice. :)</p>
<p>John Ross: Why stop supporting UVA because they won't lower their thresholds for oos legacy applicants? If anything, you should be supporting the school MORE for upholding their admission standards.</p>
<p>I was accepted to UVA as a non-legacy and I did see some of my peers who were legacy applicants get waitlisted. But they also had lower qualifications. Had I witnessed UVA accept my peers with lower qualifications over me (like I did with another Va public school) because they had legacy status I would have been very disappointed. </p>
<p>Applicants should be admitted based on their OWN acheivements, not those of their parents.</p>
<p>Rather than get into a mud slinging contest, for those who believe in true meritocracies and admissions, I inquire why the state you live in should determine what the admissions standards are. I won't even go after the URM issue. Suffice it to state that because of the way the University is choosing to run its admissions policies, the Law School chose to break away. That speaks volumes to me.</p>
<p>John Ross: So their oos legacy standards are top 5% of class and a minimum of 650 on their SATs across the board? Considering the applicant is coming from an educated, upper-middle class family with more opportunities (tutoring, SAT prep, overall upbringing), they already lowered their standards.</p>
<p>John Ross, I've reserved comment on a lot of your posts, but you really need to tone the rhetoric down. You wanna know why it matters which state you live in for admission to UVA? Because the taxpayers of Virginia - not California, New York, Mississippi, or anywhere else - support the University. That's why. And because it is Richmond that mandates that the proportion of instaters be 2/3. Look, I'm sorry that your D might not get in, but how dare you bring your "development" dollars into the question. No one - and I repeat no one - has an entitlement to get into any school fo any reason other than academics. I don't know how much you give - hell, I don't care - but I'm sure that the University can do without it. Your donation to the law school wouldn't even affect undergraduates, and the law grads will more than be able to pay off whatever marginally higher tuition would result from the loss of your generous donation. </p>
<p>worldshopper, you hit the nail on the head. Coming from an educated, upper middle class family, the child does not need any breaks. If he/she can't get in on his or her own, then that is how it is.</p>
<p>In state vs. development dollars. Which one relates to academics? Neither. Perhaps we can agree on that.</p>
<p>That is beside the point. UVA is a state institution serving the state of Virginia, not well-off attorneys from New York or wherever you're from. If you're so well-off, why'd didn't you put your D through SAT prep classes? Or make her work harder in school? Or why didn't she just get a higher SAT score and class rank on her own? Sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles.</p>
<p>Cavalier - this will be my last post on this subject. Your penultimate post stated as follows "No one - and I repeat no one - has an entitlement to get into any school fo any reason other than academics." Now, you consider state residency is "beside the point". I wish you the best in your undergraduate experience at UVA.</p>
<p>Will do. And I hope your D enjoys SUNY Stony Brook.</p>
<p>Your homepage says it alll</p>
<p>"-my HS is hardly an ivy league feeder</p>
<p>4/30: UVa it is. Best cost:benefit ratio."</p>
<p>Struggle on my young friend.</p>
<p>What does that say about me? Struggle on?</p>