<p>I go Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Northern Virginia</p>
<p>I have been accepted at William and Mary, Virginia Tech, UCSanDiego, and UCLA. </p>
<p>GPA: 4.2
SAT: 2300
Math II: 800
Chemistry II: 760
APs (Chem and AB): 4,4</p>
<p>Senior Schedule:, semester grades listed next to them
AP Gov (A)
AP Lit (A)
AP Stat (A-)
Astronomy Research Lab (a primary research project class) (A)
AP BC Calculus (B+)
Honors Geosystems (its required for seniors at my school) (B+)
Post-AP Organic Chemistry (A)</p>
<p>My high school has been ranked top public school in the country for the past four or five years.</p>
<p>ECs:
-acted in 5 plays, been head of hair and makeup department for 7, directed one play
-volunteered about 50 hours at an animal shelter
-tutor in chemistry
-worked summers at tuberculosis clinics in west virginia, and did a research project with that
-presented the tuberculosis research at a medical conference in December
-NHS
-medical society officer
-officer for teenage republicans</p>
<p>Did you receive a likely letter? I got one, and I go to a magnet school in VA (not as hardcore as yours) and your SAT is much better than mine. Then again you are in NoVa.</p>
<p>If you went to any other public HS in Virginia, I’d put your chances at 100%. As you know, you go to not only the best public high school in Virginia, but probably the best public high school in the whole country.</p>
<p>I feel like UVA probably has some kind of unofficial cap on the number of students they accept from that school. I think they probably have a mandate, either official or unofficial, to spread the love around the state a little bit.</p>
<p>So…good luck. I think the college admission process is probably the only time that being a student of TJ High can hurt you.</p>
<p>VADAD1 is right. I have heard how TJHSST has serious grade inflation issues. The school itself is beyond amazing, but this can really mess up in-state college admissions. I assume almost every senior at TJHSST sends in an application to UVA, which may reflect poorly on you.TJHSST might have twenty seniors above you academically, so they may accept those students and deny you, even though you are more qualified than students they accept from another district. I can’t see UVA not having a cap or nearly every TJHSST student would be admitted. Then again, roughy 45% of my magnet school ATTENDS UVA, and probably something like 65-70% are accepted. Best of luck; I hope you get in. Again though, did you receive a likely? If so, you’re in.</p>
<p>You guys are wrong about TJ students being at a disadvantage when it comes to UVA admissions because of a cap. I don’t have the exact numbers in front of me and am going by memory from when I looked at TJs stats from last year but there were either 233 kids that were accepted, or 233 that went there. Either way, that is a TON of kids.</p>
<p>Well I didn’t say the cap was a low number.</p>
<p>The truth is that virtually every single student at Thomas Jefferson High School has the credentials for UVA, but I know there are some that get turned away, even with nearly perfect SAT scores and really high GPAs.</p>
<p>“The truth is that virtually every single student at Thomas Jefferson High School has the credentials for UVA,”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t argue with that since probably 90% of the applicants have the credentials (if by creds you mean the ability to do reasonably well at UVA). </p>
<p>However, I would also point out that having the credentials to attend school is different than saying someone should have been accepted.</p>
<p>There are 106 students from TJHSST at UVa in the Class of 2015. I know because my girlfriend and my best friend both went there.</p>
<p>Anyway, I wouldn’t be too concerned about admission if I were you. The SAT score is indicative of Echols status. The GPA from what I know about TJHSST is probably borderline of the Echols Scholars I know, but if I’m talking about Echols Scholars then you should have an idea of what I think your chances are.</p>
<p>Normally there are around 150 to 160 TJ HS students that attend Virgina each year, so that 106 number is interestingly low.</p>
<p>Is SAT how they determine Echols? That’s awesome. My daughter got a 2330, and she is still sweating getting in because she got wait listed at Wellesley, but I keep telling her she needs to stop worrying about it because she is going to get into UVA.</p>
<p>I didn’t think the SAT really had anything to do with the scholarships. I know UVA turns rejects a lot of out of state folks with near perfect or even perfect SAT scores.</p>
<p>UVA’s primary scholarship (the Jefferson Scholarship) demonstrates their subjective view. Both my friend and I were nominated and applied for it, and trust me, scores don’t matter all too much. Being eliminated in the first round with over a 2300+ on the SAT is not uncommon, although the average Jefferson Scholar SAT is lower than that. To be an Echols scholar is a less competitive but similar process; you definitely need to be strong in every aspect. They won’t throw it to you because you did well on one test, although that is obviously something considered in the process.</p>
<p>The Jefferson Scholarship is maintained by the Jefferson Foundation not UVa. All Jefferson Scholars are exceptionally bright and many of them have done some amazing things. It is also apparent that the Foundation is looking for a certain type of personality. I live in a building with a lot of them and it’s very clear that they all have a similar personality.</p>
<p>It’s true that Echols is not based solely on SAT score, but it is a rough indicator. It is much harder to get Echols <2200 regardless of your other accomplishments from what I have gathered from talking to other Echols Scholars. Almost all of us have 2200+ if not 2300+. I think that it certainly helps if you show passion in your activities or your essays though. Again, I’m not saying it’s always numbers, but the numbers tend to do a good job of indicating the turn out especially for in state students. Then again, this is all from my observation.</p>
<p>If your daughter is instate and has a 2330 I wouldn’t think she has much to worry about!</p>
<p>Dean J, I had no doubt that was the official answer to the question, but I’d be stunned if you guys are not tracking the number of students you are letting in from Thomas Jefferson. </p>
<p>And let me be clear that I think it is the right thing to do. Those kids are operating from an extreme advantage over all the other public school children in the state.</p>
<p>Thanks for that info. Are applicants automatically considered for these scholarships or are they something that has to be applied for seperately? I don’t even know.</p>
<p>I agree with you that my daughter doesn’t have much to worry about with UVA, but I can’t convince her of that right now. Getting wait listed at Wellesley has shaken her badly, and she is a bit of a fatalist right now.</p>
<p>If she gets positive news from Smith College today, I know she’ll feel a lot better.</p>