Hi, I’ll chance back. Interested in business. Please note most of my clubs and achievements have been for each year of HS.
White female in Ohio
-ACT-31 (taking again)
-GPA: 4.3, 5/230 ranking,
-AP Lang (3) APUSH (5)…waiting for AP Gov, AP Micro, AP Stats, and AP Psych
-Will have taken 8 AP, and 3 post secondary classes
-Class President since freshman year
-National Honor Society Secretary
-Student Council Vice P
-Key Club, French Club, National Honor Society, Student Council, Quakers Helping Quakers (community service), retirement center volunteer, Salvation Army volunteer, volunteered w multiple marathons, 2012 Party Campaigning volunteer, helped w Special Olympics, waitressed many fundraiser dinners
-Mock Trial (won Most Outstanding Attorney at regionals and led team to districts)
-Student of the Month (2x)
-Science Olympiad (6th in competition)
-Asked to be on 5 student committee to vote on new Superintendent
-Sunday school teacher to 5yo
-School Plays
-Varsity competition cheer (Cheer Leadership Award (2x) and ECOL champs)
-Homecoming Court
-Prom Committee Chairman
-Americanism Award from American Legion
-Buckeye Girls State (Governors assistant)
-Pottery Class
-Poetry Class
-School Plays
-Varsity and Academic letterer for 4y
-Job as secretary at real estate office
You have a high chance at getting admitted to UVA. If you were in state you would pretty much be guaranteed, but since youre OOS, it’s hard to say. Definitely a high chance though. Keep in mind that you still have to apply to the McIntire business school once you get into UVA, you’re not automatically in it. Good luck!
No one can really guarantee anything. And to be honest, and I say this without trying to be mean at all, there is no one who has a high chance of getting in anywhere. This is the problem with chance threads that I certainly had fallen victim to: they are only a bunch of inexperienced high schoolers bumping around from chance thread to chance thread hoping for someone to tell them that there is a possibility and looking for an answer to the unknown. These answers are then based off of the full experience gained from looking up the median range of SAT scores and the results threads found on collegeconfidential. By the way, the results thread on University of Virginia is not an accurate representation of the kids who get accepted to the university. Of the kids who responded and posted their result, only about two or three were rejected, however, when looking at the statistics, 80% of those who applied out of state were rejected, and 70% overall were rejected. This was when I realized something very important about “Chance me” and “Results” threads: they are all crap. No one can tell you your chance. I never thought I would be accepted to this university when there were kids who had a 35 on the ACT get rejected and waitlisted. My friend had a 1900 on her ACT and was accepted to Princeton and Columbia. I came from the academically inferior state of Arizona, brought up in a public school and was still able to get here while there was a student who came from the academically superior state of Massachusetts, brought up in a private school and was rejected from UVa. However, you are a great student. I don’t want to waste time on this post telling you your chances of getting into a university and somehow let that imply that the university you get into has any say on your worth as a student. No, I would hate to do that. I know that when I did these threads each reply that told me I had a “high chance” made me feel good about myself. And when I saw replies that said I had a “low chance” I began to feel terrible when there was no real reason to. Your ACT is great. I know, I know. A 31 on the ACT is not “Ivy League” material, but guess what? You received a score that is higher than 97% of children who took that test. Also, your extracurriculars are phenomenal! You have tons of great clubs you are a part of and you have shown a great amount of leadership. I am not going to let someone tell you “constructive criticism” crap that “you really need more leadership”, “you need to become the president of two more clubs”, “your interests are too spread out”. You be you. You do you. I just want you to know that NO ONE can tell you accurately what your chances are of getting into a certain university, unless it has a 80% acceptance rate, and even then! You never know! However, I would like to give the advice that you shouldn’t worry about it. You will end up at a university that is right for you. If a school rejects you then say to yourself, “Thank god!”, because if they can’t see the potential in you then they are not worth your disappointment or sorrow. Whatever university you go to there is a 100% chance that you will succeed and be an exceptional student. The dedication you show in your high school career reflects the dedication you will show at college. So relax. Don’t take any constructive criticism from people, because really what right do they have to critique? What are they critiquing? Your hard work isn’t good enough? You are so much more than a summary of your achievements and a bunch of numbers. You are so much more than a “Chance Me” post.
Wow, fcallicotte, I am at a loss for words. Thank you for your time and your sincerity. It truly means a lot. I have been stressing for UVa since freshman year, and your post made me realize there’s a greater world out there if things don’t turn out. The website gives me anxiety often, but now I understand it’s not worth it. Thank you a million times for helping me see the brighter side of things and to never lose my self confidence within the admission process. I won’t take these chance posts as seriously, since you’ve shed light on the statistical side. Again, thank you for taking your time to comment back to a stressed senior. I wish you the best of luck on your future endeavors!
And yes, the OOS applications (or at the least, those offered admission) tend to have better grades and test scores than the average Virginia resident application.
What this means to you: OOS admissions at UVA are really, Really competitive. Your class ranking is promising; your ACT score and weighted GPA don’t distinguish you among these applicants. Excepting maybe recruited athletes, you can consider UVA a reach for OOS applicants across the board. You can presume that most of them have good solid applications and good reason to believe that they have a reasonable shot at admission, and most of them are in fact denied admission.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. It just means that anyone trying to predict your chances as an OOS applicant is purely guessing.
Fellow Class of 2019 member here! I don’t know if you forgot about this but I’d highly recommend taking the SAT Math and Science tests as many OOS students will have already taken these when applying (strive for a 780+ atleast on Math II and 700+ on any science one). I was an in-state applicant so I can’t judge your probability based on personal experience but I’d say being instate was a huge part for me being accepted since I was barely top 10% and my GPA was considered average (4.2W and 31/306) but I know for a fact that my essays helped a TON because I didn’t have many extracirriculars either (marching band, various academic/honor clubs, and volunteering was all). I think you should focus heavily on whatever essay topics you choose. Make them stand out and be from your heart. It’s fine to let others review your essays but don’t let them mingle too much. Overall, as @fcallicotte said, no one can judge your probability of being accepted so don’t take anyone’s predictions seriously even if they think you have a 100% chance of getting admitted. All I can say is that you have a very outstanding range of extracirriculars, excellent academic standing, and nice test scores as an OOS. For now uptil the deadline, make sure you do well the first semester of HS, get good SAT II scores, brainstorm and work on those essays, and hope for the best!
Thank you, @elyvine! I have considered taking the SAT subject tests, however, I come from a school where those are primarily unheard of. I will have completed 8 AP classes by the end of senior year, and are those test scores not sufficient enough for my application? I was told that AP scores can basically fill in for the SAT subject tests. Do you happen to know if that’s correct?
“I was told that AP scores can basically fill in for the SAT subject tests.”
Who told you that and in terms of what? Per the UVA Admissions webpages, it is stated that 2 SAT subject tests are “strongly recommended” in one spot, and “strongly urged” on another page. Whenever we saw wording like that, we always interpreted that to mean it could hurt the application if we didn’t do whatever was “strongly recommended”. Not necessarily that it was mandatory, but doing whatever was recommended would serve to help our chances. IMO, since you are OOS, and sound like you don’t have any special “hooks”, I’d make sure you are doing everything you can to make your application as strong as possible. UVA does not require you to submit all test scores for all standardized tests taken. (They do actually encourage you to, since they will superscore). So, if you end up doing poorly on the SAT2’s, and think it will hurt your application, you do not have to send them those scores. You have nothing to lose by taking them. Plus, some other schools you may be considering may actually require them or “strongly recommend” them too.
@justlookingnow , a cousin of mine attends UVa and stated that I should not worry about the SAT2s, as she got in OOS without them. I live in Appalachian Ohio, and as I previously said, my teachers are very unknowledgable about the SAT and SAT2s. They told me that my AP scores should be sufficient enough, as some admissions counselors are aware that the SAT is highly unstressed in some regions. A fellow student of mine attends Cornell without SAT2 tests in his application. As for my “hook”, I have had an extremely rough life (as one can associate with the Appalachia Ohio), that is moderately private and I will discuss in essays. I’m not using my past as my “hook”, persay, I am simply using my current life standing as a display of my personaility traits that could be convincing of my dedication as a student.
I’m going to be completely honest and also constructive here.
You have a good chance of getting in, not a great one (there really isn’t such a thing as a great chance for any OOS student, save for sports commitments.) The thing with college applications and decisions, as you’ll soon find out, is that there are many confounding variables that change the outcome of a college decision that you, as a student, do not control.
So the advice I would give you is this: continue to focus on building your resume as a strong student both GPA wise and test score wise. Focus as much as you can on test scores because as much as we as students don’t want them to matter, for one reason or another they definitely do and can actually be used for consideration even after initial admissions are over. Take the SAT II’s and do your best on them (if it turns out you don’t want to submit them-- you don’t have to.) But why not potentially strengthen your application for a minimal marginal cost? Try and stand out as much as you can, whether that means increasing your involvement with a certain club, getting a new job, etc. And remember this: even if your dreams of getting into UVA do not work out, there are going to be plenty of great, feasible options for you. Who knows, it might even work out better for you at another college academically, financially, or otherwise. The picture won’t be clear for you until all of your decisions are in.
Just as a side note: I cannot confirm statistically that this is true, but I have heard through the grapevine that acceptance odds change based on when you submit your application. Even if as a whole, the odds seem to be about even nationally for early and regular submission of apps, that does not account for potential quotas/limits colleges have on accepting a certain number of applicants per school, or state, or region, etc. Sometimes, it seems as though a student’s greatest competition for admission can sometimes be a fellow classmate of theirs. In conclusion: apply early if you can. Get all of your application materials ready and be extremely aware of deadlines. Even if it turns out that there aren’t technically “quotas” based on High School, the additional exposure from early submission literally can only help.
I can say with absolute confidence that it is possible as you stand right now. I am from the state, and my ACT score was only a 29, but I have friends with a 30-32 that made it in from all over the country. If you retook it and got as high as 33, you’d make it, and possibly could be a decent candidate for the Jefferson Scholarship. If not, Echols could still be a possibility.
I’m not sure that you’d definitely get in EA, as it seemed that at least instate that was more competitive than RD last year, but you’d definitely at the very least be deferred and you’d probably make it RD.
Jefferson scholars are not selected from the general application pool, they are nominated by their HS. The Jefferson Scholars Foundation is run by alumni, not by the university. http://www.jeffersonscholars.org/
Over 4200 schools are eligible to nominate one student each, but they don’t all nominate someone every year. In the 2013-2014 cycle, 34 Jefferson Scholars were selected from among 1750 nominees. That means that even if you’re good enough to get your school’s nomination, you still have only about a 2% chance of actually winning a J. scholarship. It’s much harder than getting in to Harvard or Stanford, for example.
As a rule, I don’t read chance threads, but this one keeps getting topped, so I took a look. I have so many comments.
First of all, chance threads are pointless because they are missing context. I think people make huge conclusions based on numbers when we are looking at a much bigger picture. We look at your progress across your disciplines. The number of APs a student takes doesn’t tell you about that. What if five of those were in Social Studies and the rest were in electives? Context is key!
Decisions aren’t made and lost in the testing section. SAT Subject Tests are optional. No one has every come into my office and said they had a fabulous applicant that wasn’t admissible because of testing or the lack of subject tests. It just doesn’t happen. Testing is interesting, but it is a four hour component of the application. Four years of classroom work gets a lot more of our time when we’re reading files.
And while I adore my students, none of them are familiar with the overall pool and the process, so they can’t make a definitive statement about why they were admitted. The fact is that they were probably excellent students, with wonderful recs, and nice essays.
May I suggest reading my blog? I have gone over the different components of the application and those posts might help you understand what we are looking for when we read.
Good luck!
P.S. [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2015/07/consistency-in-extracurricular.html%5DStop%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2015/07/consistency-in-extracurricular.html]Stop[/url] worrying [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-saw-tweet-today-that-said-choose.html%5Dabout%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-saw-tweet-today-that-said-choose.html]about[/url] the [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2013/10/will-this-help.html%5Dactivity%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2013/10/will-this-help.html]activity[/url] stuff.
