chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

<p>Hey guys, I loved UVA when I made a visit there. It's really an all-around awesome school that has everything you'd want in a program (academics, extracurriculars-*sports, a nice college town in Charlottesville, pride, and a solid number of students-not too big, not too small). </p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone could evaluate my chances of admission. While this is probably a reach school for me, I'd be curious to see what you think. </p>

<p>Ethnicity: White male (out-of-state-NJ)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.1 W, ?UW (no class rank, but at least top 15% if not 10%/270 in a very competitive HS in the state-->rated in top 3 best publics in NJ)</p>

<p>SAT I: V-640 M-640 W-760 (12 essay) = 2040 total
SAT II: US History-660 French-760</p>

<p>AP Scores (did badly): English III-2, Chem-2, US History-4</p>

<p>Classes Taken-hardest courseload in my school:
-Honors Geometry (Freshman year)
-Honors English I (Freshman year)
-Honors English II (Sophomore year)
-Honors Biology (Sophomore year)
-AP US History I (Sophomore year)
-AP US History II (Junior year)
-AP English III (Junior year)
-AP Chemistry (Junior year)</p>

<p>Senior year:
-Pre-calculus: B+
-Spanish 6: A
-Physics: A
-AP French 6: A
-AP English IV: A-
-AP European: B+</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Varsity Soccer (12); JV/Freshman (9-11)
-Baseball (Freshman, Sophomore years)
-Basketball (Freshman year)
-Active Key Club/Bridges Member (4 years) = 100 total hours of service
-Model UN Member (Junior, Senior year)
-Guitar player for fun (4 years)
Jobs:
-CIT (Counselor In Training) at Camp (boys athletic, sleep away camp in Maine)-Freshman year summer (Camper for 2 years prior)
-Walkwell’s Shoes Cashier-Sophomore year summer
-Camp Counselor 4 weeks at Extreme Sports Camp in Aspen, CO (a summer camp for autistic children)
Awards:
-Magna Cum Laude (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior years)
-Scholar Laureate (130 hours of writing/revising to create a body of works)- 8th grade
-Special Language Award - only one in my HS(also taking dual languages- AP French 6 and Spanish 6)</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-2 very strong letters, 1 very strong head of guidance dept.
-1 very strong from founder of the autistic camp
Essay:
-Solid </p>

<p>I know that out-of-state admission at UVA is rediculous but I'm still curious to see if my language skills (12 years worth by the time I graduate with French 6/Spanish 6) hold any weight since I'm the only person in my HS to complete 2. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>anyone care to respond?</p>

3

<p>Your biggest weakness is poor standardized test scores. Your EC's are a little weak, but your courseload and grades seem solid enough. I don't know how much I think that language thing will help.</p>

<p>Your chances seem pretty 50/50 to me. It's a reach, but it's a reach for everyone.</p>

4

<p>semiserious wrote:</p>

<p>Your EC's are a little weak</p>

<p>WHAT? Dude, your ECs are great. Grades are good too. SAT is obviously a weaker area, but its not going to kill you. 2000ish scores are still good scores. Pending on how many white northeastern kids apply, i think your admission is pretty good. Better than 50/50, more like 80/20. Besides, most ppl with REALLY good scores will apply to ivies instead of VA for ed. You will most likely be in the upper tier for Test/Grades anyway.</p>

5

<p>eh, tuba guy, i wouldn't say upper tier especially when you examine the oos kids. i have a 3.8uw and 2210 and i would not consider myself in the upper tier of uva applicants.</p>

6

<p>Yeah, I have a 3.9 W and a 2280 and I don't think I'm top tier. U.Va's average out-of-state SAT is a 1410 - he has a 1280. Also, I don't think he applied ED since the deadline passed a week ago, and this seems to be written in a catious, preemptive sort of way.</p>

<p>Look at the EC's - he has two sports that he quit after sophomore year, and only one he played his whole HS career. Model UN and Key Club are common and he's not an officer of either. Where's the leadership?</p>

<p>There's so way he's got an 80/20, unless the 80 is the chance for rejection. I think I'm being generous with 50/50. OOS admission is BRUTAL.</p>

7

<p>semiserious, you seem to be very realistic...mind giving me my ED chances (along with anyone else)?</p>

<p>UW GPA: approximately 3.8
SAT: (first try)
CR - 700
W - 800
M - 710
TOTAL = 1410/2210</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
Spanish - 770
Writing - 750 (not sure if this matters)
Math IC - 700
Bio - 560 (...freshman year.)</p>

<p>AP USH - 4</p>

<p>Senior year courses:
AP Bio
AP Spanish
AP English Lit.
AP Macro
AP Calc BC
Adv. Dance</p>

<p>ECs:
School newspaper (10th = writer, 11th = entertainment copy editor, 12th = managing/copy editor)
Nat'l Honor Society (President)
Tutoring club for students at the middle school (founder and co-president)
Camp counselor for 4 summers (volunteered one year)
Studying French independently
Tutor math weekly (paid)
Spent this summer as an exchange student in Spain (though I'm not playing it up much for fear of being cliche)</p>

<p>I'm a white female from New York. I moved from Houston, TX when I was 13 if it matters. I go to a high-ranking public HS. They don't rank students, but my counselor's guess is that I'm in the top 7%.</p>

<p>I've pretty much taken the most rigorous courses offered (a lot of honors, 6 APs total). Thus far, I've gotten one B in high school (88 in Physics). I'm expecting great recommendations, and I've gotten very good feedback on my essays.</p>

<p>I want to major in either linguistics, Spanish, int'l economics, or int'l relations.</p>

8

<p>Bethlikesun, I would give you a fairly good shot. If you get rejected, it isn't anything you did wrong; it was probably just an issue of space. You're clearly qualified.</p>

<p>You have strong leadership, solid scores, good schedule, and an acceptable GPA. As a private school student, I have some difficulty understand public schools; for example, the top 10% of my class is only 9 people (although we don't rank, for obvious reasons). Since we offer APs and Honors in nearly everything, I've taken 11 and feel like it's not enough (I was never on an honors math track and lost a lot of points there, but I suck at and I hate math). But, it seems you've done well in the context of your school. Physics blows and I don't blame you for getting a B.</p>

<p>If your essays were strong, unique, and well-written, I'd bump your chances to maybe 75 or 80%.</p>

<p>In any case, I'd accept you, but at a school this selective at a certain point it just becomes an issue of luck. See you in the ED applicant pool :)</p>

9

<p>Thanks so much for the input. I guess it's kind of a joke freaking out about odds when they've probably already made a decision on me, but I guess it is a thing of hope. Best of luck. :)</p>

10

<p>Ok. We are kinda battle crazy on how "brutal" ED really is. The most recent UVa stats say 924 out of 2359 that applied get in. Its about 40%, give or take. The most "brutal" schools (ie: ivies, military academies, performing arts conservatories, other top 20 schools) have acceptance rates below 20 (and some, below 10). These same schools also attract thousands more students that have the elite grades in the first place. </p>

<p>So lets think about this for a second....assuming only the really good students apply to the top 20 schools (they have great test scores, SAT, rankings, the works) and every top 20 school has 2k entries....that is 40,000 students with top notch grades/scores seeking early admissions. It puts less weight on the SAT. Reason being is SAT is a national placement.....the scores dont matter, per se, but its the national percentile that the scores dictate. So if everyone is making +2200, it degrades the value of a good score. That is why many with the "works" dont get in to good schools, bc its like basic economics:supply and demand. Schools have a demand for elite students, but the supply is virtually the same with every elite applicant.</p>

<p>Second, consider 40K students applying to top 20 schools. Sure, some may consider VA, but if i had the grades to go anywhere, i would pick an ivy or a really top school over VA, all things considered. Any rational person would do this from the standpoint of opportunity. So, the best and brightest use their single ED opportunity (since all top 20s require they are the sole ED application) for better schools, thereby leaving some room for lesser students in other great-but-less applied schools.
So the applicant pool for UVA isnt AS tough, because at least 40K supre elites are going ED for top schools. In the end, many lesser students will get into UVA by ED. So, Zelnik and Beth, its not a cakewalk, but dont think that bc you might have a weak app in an area that you are DOOMED.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
The most recent UVa stats say 924 out of 2359 that applied get in. Its about 40%, give or take.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is true, but it is VERY important to remember: the breakdown of that is 52% of in-state applicants and only 21% of out-of-state applicants.</p>

12

<p>Where did you get those stats? is it 21% oos that apply or get accepted? But that really doesnt matter. The competitive virginia students will apply to other big colleges for ed, and use UVA as a regular admission safety.....kinda like how texas students do with UT.
The oos pool will have some good applicants, but they arent going to be powerhouse grades (thats where the 40k students to more elite schools are going). If someone had the grades to get into UVA, they would certainly consider better schools (harvard, yale, etc) and not waste their ED. ITS NOT BRUTAL</p>

13

<p>I agree with tuba guy's assessment.</p>

14

<p>21% of the out of state students that apply ED are accepted--those are the stats that I was given when I called the admissions office. Now, another admissions guy once told me that it 30% OOS students who were accepted, but we'll go with the lower one for the sake of my argument. I know overall, the admit rate is 30%.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/stats&facts/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.virginia.edu/stats&facts/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Here is an example of the volume and quality of out-of-state applicants versus how many are accepted. Perhaps we define "brutal" differently, but even the most qualified out-of-state applicants can't consider Virginia anywhere close to a safety, and rarely a match.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the responses. I don't find percentages very helpful in terms of my chances getting in. However, when I see a spreadsheet on which range of scores, class rankings, and GPAs were admitted by percentages, I find that useful.</p>

<p>I would say chances for Out-of-State admission at UVA does qualify as very near IVY league admission. I've heard that statistic that UVA only admits 20%. I even heard it sometimes widdles down the process by throwing out students with beneath a 1350 or 1400 SAT score on Math and Verbal if they're applying from OOS. </p>

<p>In terms of my specific chances, I realize they're not solid. I mean we're talking about 1/3-1/5 (average being 1/4) admits getting to go. This is possibly the hardest incoming admission class ever (from the NYTimes). And no, I didn't apply ED not because I missed the deadline but because I decided to apply ED to Bucknell. However, if I'm deferred from there, I'll consider applying ED II to UVA or RD UVA (just for fun). I figured that since I'm not the "typical applicant" with 1500-2250 SATs with miscellaneous ECs, I'd have a slim chance. My ECs are decent only because I've been able to do CIT work, cashier, and Counseling at an Austic Camp during my summers (unique). Secondly, my languages are pretty unique. Otherwise, my GPA isn't as competitive as I'd like it to be, and only played 1 Varsity sport unfortunately. My clubs aren't exactly stellar but I have logged in a fair amount of hours for community service. </p>

<p>It's too bad the admissions has to cater to Virginians so much (something I do understand because its the same thing with Rutgers in my state) because its such a great school. Maybe I'll apply in January just for the fun of it.</p>