Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

<p>Hey guys, I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a bit of feedback regarding my HS stats and chances of admission to UVA. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>My father attended UVA for both Undergraduate and Graduate school (he recieved his PhD in Physics, and now owns a Biotechnological firm, which he co-founded with his Physics professor from UVA)</p>

<p>I'll also be submitting an exceedingly strong rec. from a long-time member of the admissions board, who my father knows very well. </p>

<p>-GPA: 3.7001 UW (no boosts for AP/IB) at the #1 HS in Missouri (St. Louis)
-Honors Courses:
Honors English I, Honors English II, Honors American Literature
Honors Advanced Spanish
Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry
Honory Biology
(No Honors courses offered in History)
-AP Courses:
AP Psychology (11), AP World History (12), AP Human Geography (12)
AP English Language (11), AP English Literature (12)
AP Spanish Language (11)
AP Biology (12)
AP Statistics (12)
-ACT: First Composite Score: 30
Second Composite Score: 32, with 36s on English and Reading sections
-SAT IIs: Math I (shameful, I know): 750, Literature: 780
Class Rank: Top 20% at an extremely competitive school of only 900 students total.
-Fantastic teacher recs. and essays</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
-Extremely significant theatrical/musical involvement: Leading or supporting roles in "Les Miserables," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Seussical the Musical," "Smile," "Into the Woods," "Pippin," "The Man in the Well," and "Grease," as well as numerous student-run productions (one-acts, improv. activities, etc.)
-Participated in Honor Choir for three consecutive years, earning titles such as 'Section Leader' and 'Outstanding Soprano'
-Member of Tri-M Music Honor Society, Drama Guild, and Scholar Artists Association
-Private Vocal lessons (classical and musical theater) for one hour per week for three years
-Chair of the Public Relations and Advertising committee for my High School's annual Fine Arts Fair, which serves to bring over 300 students from local special-school-district (SSD) schools to our school for a day to learn, do academically and creatively enriching activities, and spend time with other students.
-Senior Section Editor and Staff Reporter of my school's award-winning newspaper, the Globe, for three years
-Vice-President of Spanish Club
-Member of Big Sister/Little Sister: an organization that allows underclassmen girls to find positive role models in upperclassmen girls by pairing one freshman girl with one junior or senior girl at the beginning of each school year (somewhat of a welcoming committee -- freshman girls are guided by upperclassmen, taken out to lunch, etc.)
-Active member of Community Service Club (I've also been a member of the United Way community service alliance with my mother for four consecutive years)
-Member of my HS's Mock Trial team (9, 10) and Model UN (9, 10, 11, 12)
-Member of NHS</p>

<p>Work Experience:
-I've worked as a camp counselor and kitchen assistant at an overnight camp for 6-10 year old girls for the past two years.<br>
-I've also been employed by a bakery/cafe near my school for the past 10 months. I work as a hostess and waitress, as well as a 'barista' (I make excellent espresso beverages) for an average of 8 hours per week.</p>

<p>Intended Major:
-I'd love to major in English, but with interests ranging as vastly as do mine, I could very well end up with a concentration in Political Science or Sociology. </p>

<p>I've basically decided upon applying ED to UVA, if that has any barring on the worth of the information provided above. Thank you again!</p>

2

<p>Wow.. it looks like you're set, even if you're OOS. But I don't know how good an ACT scre that. EC's and course load wise you look really good. =) + that legacy status might be pretty helpful.</p>

3

<p>As you probably know, legacy students are treated as in-state in terms of admissions. That said, I think you have an excellent shot.</p>

4

<p>Sorry to say, I was advised that an ED admission requirment for a legacy OOS required top 5% -no exceptions. I am not saying that is fair, just or anything else--simply what I was told by the legacy alumni office.</p>

5

<p>John Ross was lied to. Top 5% is typical of an OOS student, not In State. Even so, there is no such thing as 'no exceptions' and there are a fair number of non Top 5% OOSers who get in (which is irrelevant anyway b/c you are legacy).</p>

<p>Top 20% though does make it somewhat of a stretch, since even In State students are mostly within top 15% at least. Your ACT score looks really good though. You definitely have a shot and should take it.</p>

6

<p>You may be correct that I was lied to. However, the head of the alumni legacy office, who claimed she had a 14 year relationship with Dean Blackburn, was a heck of a convincing liar, is she indeed was prevaricating. Putting aside that I make my living assessing the veracity of witnesses, she was so categorical that it dissuaded my daughter from considering an ED application, despite meeting all of the other thresholds including the GPA and SAT requirements.</p>

7

<p>Oh well, you shouldn't have placed all of your trust in one person. The data tell a very different story.</p>

8

<p>john, I've read you on here saying that before, but the data doesn't seem to back up what you're saying. I've been told by several admissions folks that UVa has no cut off numbers for anything so the "no exceptions" doesn't seem right to me.</p>

9

<p>I sure hope you are right and what I was told is incorrect. For those still in the game, I wish you all the best and I sincerely hope that UVA takes a complete overview rather than a sniper shot view towards admissions. I had the sense, but only the sense, that the person who delivered the message to me (and to any other similarly situated S or D), may, and I underscore may, have been setting thresholds that high to make her job easier. Wouldn't it be nice if my job was to advocate on behalf of only those OOS legacy applicants who applied ED if, among other things, they were within the top 5%. That is a cynical view and a risk that my D appears not willing to take. The only thing that counterbalances that possibility is that I had the Law School foundation speak directly with the legacy alumni folks and they confirmed what I had been told to them as well. Who knows what the real story is.</p>

10

<p>My daughter was just finished her first year at UVa. She was an OOS legacy. She was not in the top 5% of her class. </p>

<p>She met with someone in the Alumni department after her junior year in high school and was told that she would be a competitive candidate. She was not told that she would be guaranteed admission. </p>

<p>My daughter applied early decision because it truly was her first choice. We were thrilled when she was admitted and she had a great first year!!</p>

<p>I think that the OP is a strong candidate. If it is her first choice she should apply ed.</p>