Chances to University of Virginia/College of William & Mary/Virginia Tech/etc?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Chance me

SAT: haven’t taken it yet, but expecting around 600 on English and 700 on Math based off of my two psat scores (1300 combined)
Subject Tests: Planning to take Biology and Math II

AP:
Sophomore Year: Computer Science A
Junior Year: Biology, Calculus AB, Physics A, English Lit, APUSH
Senior Year: Planning to take Calculus BC, Chemistry, Spanish Language and Culture, Statistics (Maybe Psychology and US Gov/Politics)

GPA: 4.15 Weighted, 3.6 Unweighted (School does not rank)

EC:
Math Honor Society
Beta Club
Ultimate Frisbee
Spanish Club
JV Volleyball (Sophomore year)
Varsity Track (Freshmen and Sophomore Year)

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): VA (In-State)
School Type: Competitive public school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Hooks (Athlete; first generation college, etc.): First Generation
I can speak 3 languages fluently.

Concerns: I am not really at the top of my class in terms of GPA or SAT scores.

Planning to apply to:
University of Virginia
College of William and Mary
Virginia Tech
Virginia Commonwealth University

2

SAT: haven’t taken it yet, but expecting around 600 on English and 700 on Math based off of my two psat scores (1300 combined)
// Don’t forget that PSAT and SAT are two different tests and SAT is harder than PSAT. Also, try to get higher Math score as possible after studying. 1300 is far below average at UVA, W&M and VTech Engineering.

Subject Tests: Planning to take Biology and Math II
// I believe UVA and William and Mary take subject tests, but Virginia Tech and VCU don’t. Also, if you are taking them, make sure to hit at least 700 (especially 750 if Math II) since they are competitive schools. Otherwise, your scores won’t help you.

AP:
Sophomore Year: Computer Science A
Junior Year: Biology, Calculus AB, Physics A, English Lit, APUSH
Senior Year: Planning to take Calculus BC, Chemistry, Spanish Language and Culture, Statistics (Maybe Psychology and US Gov/Politics)
// I am not sure which one is AP and which one is not because, for example, there Regular Statistics and AP Statistics. Next time, specify what are APs and what are not, as rigor of courses are VERY important.

GPA: 4.15 Weighted, 3.6 Unweighted (School does not rank)
// You are below average at UVA, at average at W&M, slightly above average at VT, and far above average at VCU.

EC:
Math Honor Society
Beta Club
Ultimate Frisbee
Spanish Club
JV Volleyball (Sophomore year)
Varsity Track (Freshmen and Sophomore Year)
// If you are not holding any president/vice president/officer positions or not have had any awards from those clubs, then it will be a significant issue as UVA and UWM look at ECs much and VT looks at it too.

Other:
State (if domestic applicant): VA (In-State)
// Living in-state may or may not be a good sign for you. First of all, good news is that those colleges give out about 70% of offers of admission to in state applicants (percentage varies by colleges). However, because NOVA (northern virginia, such as Fairfax County, Loudoun County, etc.) students are very competitive, there are high chances that other NOVA students may take your offer of admission if you are living right now in NOVA; in other words, you will not necessarily have higher chance of getting in if living in NOVA due to competitiveness. However, if not living in NOVA inside Virginia, then you will stand higher chance of getting in than average applicants.

School Type: Competitive public school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Hooks (Athlete; first generation college, etc.): First Generation
// This hook will certainly raise your chances, but only by like 3-5% depending on college.
I can speak 3 languages fluently.

Concerns: I am not really at the top of my class in terms of GPA or SAT scores.

Planning to apply to:
University of Virginia
// Reach school
College of William and Mary
// Low reach school (you might have been able to get in if you applied ED to WM)
Virginia Tech
// Depending on your major. If engineering or architecture, low reach school. Otherwise, match school.
Virginia Commonwealth University
// Safety unless VCUArts, which will be low reach.

3

Update: I only have one leadership role in which I am a committee member for an anti-bullying organization. I also do not live in NOVA which seems to be a positive thing.

Do I have good chances of getting into UVA or William and Mary? Right now, I’m planning to do pre med.

Also, is William and Mary harder to get into than UVA?

4

I agree with the assessment of reach, etc. above.

UVA and W&M accept maybe 40% instate. And a 3.6 UW and possible 1300 SAT might make you below that in likelihood of acceptance.

But both schools will appreciate the rigor of your classes. Getting very good year-end grades this year and getting above a 1300 could help a lot in improving from “could be” to something closer to a 50/50 chance. In any case, you should definitely apply if you like both schools.

5

Thank you for your suggestions. I would really like to get into UVA. Are there any other things that I can do to improve my chances?

6

HardOReasy made a very inaccurate comment about VCU in respect to VCUARTS being low reach. VCUARTS acceptance is about the quality of a prospective students portfolio. So while I do not believe the OP intended anything to do with VCUARTS , it is one of the top fine arts programs in the country ( which includes both private and public schools) and is by no means anyones “low reach”. That might be true of VCU it is not true for VCUARTS at all.

7

Yes, stones3 you are correct. VCUArts’ acceptance is based on the applicants’ art portfolio. I gave an estimate based on the fact that VCUArts is “one of the top fine arts programs in the country,” which reflects its difficulty and selectivity, and on the fact that the OP hasn’t taken any art courses, which suggests that the OP’s portfolio won’t be as good. Don’t forget, Chance Me comments are always estimates based on the information OP provided, and no one can predict accurate results as they are subject to errors.

As for comparison between UVA and UW&M, UVA is harder to get in and it ranks higher (meaning closer to top 1) than the other.

8

Other than my SAT score and this year’s grade, is there anything else that I can improve on?

9

Developing your EC will help you immensely.

10

HardOREasy I certainly agree with your comments just wanted to make it clear for most student VCUARTS
is a high reach (especially without a portfolio, experience, ap studio, etc) .

11

AP:
Sophomore Year: Computer Science A
Junior Year: Biology, Calculus AB, Physics A, English Lit, APUSH
Senior Year: Planning to take Calculus BC, Chemistry, Spanish Language and Culture, Statistics (Maybe Psychology and US Gov/Politics)
// I am not sure which one is AP and which one is not because, for example, there Regular Statistics and AP Statistics. Next time, specify what are APs and what are not, as rigor of courses are VERY important.

By the way, all of these courses are AP. Other than these, I have taken 3 regular courses and the rest were all honors.

Also, for the SAT, would 1350-1400 be a good range to aim for? or is that still below average?

12

Ah, sorry, I didn’t know that those were all APs. If that’s the case, taking 10 APs seems like an average/bit above average at UVA and UWM.

As for SAT, try to hit over 1450, if possible. Honestly, there is never a cut-off test score, and I know that you cannot easily hit the score of your goal at will. If 1450 seems too high, then just try to get as high a score as you can because 1350-1400 is still a bit under average for UVA and maybe UWM as well.

13

Alright, I will do my best. Thank you for your suggestions.

14

@HardOREasy, from our extensive experience in researching, applying and now attending a dedicated art school, there seem to be roughly 3 categories of schools when it comes to admissions - First, there are the standalone dedicated art schools, meaning they are not part of a larger university. Assessing difficulty of acceptance and just about everything else for these schools is relatively easier because you are just focusing on the school and its resources. Second, are schools that are part of much larger universities. This includes schools such as VCUArts and Tyler at Temple University in Philadelphia. These are trickier to assess because the application still goes into the larger university and standards for those colleges are substantially lower than for their art schools. It is not so much the academic standards. Neither VCU Arts nor Tyler were particularly concerned with our daughter’s high school transcript. It is almost exclusively focused on the portfolio. This leads to the final category which are the “academic” art schools. These include schools such as Pratt and RISD where there is a greater focus on standardized test scores and high school transcripts. While generally below the academic requirements for elite, liberal arts colleges, they are substantially higher than is typical for non-academically oriented art schools.

15

given the op’s grades as stated , if he were to choose an “art school” his grades wouldn’t hold him back . What is more important is the quality of the portfolio . Also taken into consideration is dedication to art (experience and references).
Our D was accepted to all the top schools (other than Cooper which is a whole other story) with similar grades in fact slightly lower. That includes Pratt among others. If the portfolio is very strong it carriers the most weight in all situations.

16

Its alright. I am not applying for art related majors. I would most likely apply for a science related major.

17

DO NOT underestimate the importance of a good academic transcript even if applying solely to dedicated art schools.

First, mainstream universities with top undergraduate art programs such as Carnegie Mellon and Yale, will indeed value your academic transcript as least as much if not more than your portfolio.

Second, so-called “academic art schools” such as RISD and Pratt, certainly take your academic record into strong consideration. Yes, I would agree, the portfolio takes precedence. However, with schools as competitive as these, I would argue that having the strong academic record may very well tip an admissions decision in your favor. The Foundation Year liberal arts courses at RISD are no joke and, in fact, are every bit as challenging as the AP/IB courses our daughter took in high school.

Third, but by no means least, $$$ MONEY $$$! Our daughter received many of the very generous talent-based scholarships described above. However, she also received separate academic awards that literally cut tuition by upwards of 75% in some cases.

18

Chance me William and Mary please

3.75 GPA (Trending upward, poor freshman year, 3.83 last 2 years, currently 3.9 during 7th semester).
31 ACT (33 English and reading, 29 Math and science)
6 AP Courses Taken (Macroeconomics, comparative politics, U.S. government, Physics, Statistics, Environmental Science).

Most likely political science and or Business major

White male from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

National Honors Society
DECA
Senior Advisory Board (similar to stud gov group)
Basketball for 2 years
Many hours volunteered with Kids food basket, Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, local soup kitchen, cancer hospital of Grand Rapids.

Letter of recommendation from teachers are both outstanding and give very in depth personal description.

Letter of recommendation from a state level senator

Nominated to United States Naval Academy by my district’s house of reps member. (Notified admission counselor about receiving it and had it added to application).

Honest answers greatly appreciated, rather have a realistic idea than be overconfident from kind but not true responses.

Any input would be tremendous, also if chances could be given for university of Richmond as well

Thank you

19

@brady12345 Don’t post it on someone else’s thread. Make a separate thread of your own.

20

Chance me for VCU’s Guaranteed Admission Program

Their requirements are to have a high school GPA of 3.5-4.0 and an SAT score of at least 1330.

My unweighted GPA will be between 3.5-3.6 when I apply assuming everything goes as I have planned. I think I can hit that minimum SAT score.

The reason I am thinking about this is because I am planning on doing pre-med. Just trying to figure out all of my options.