<p>Hi - So, i love everything about UVA! I really want to go here but I am afraid I'll get rejected. </p>
<p>Freshman year, i had a 3.7 UW GPA both semesters, Sophomore year, 4.0 one semester UW and 3.8 the other UW. However, I REALLY messed up everything Junior year, and I got a 2.8 UW GPA first semester, and 3.5 UW second semester. I am going to apply EARLY ACTION. I haven't received my SAT scores back but I'm expecting 700 + in each category based on practice SATs/tests. I have a lot of extra curricular's - Journalism (editor for two years), ASB student leadership, started a mentoring club, did club swimming three seasons, in other clubs, volunteer time around community, camp counselor, and hoping to get an internship this summer for journalism, if not - i will work. </p>
<p>I was wondering if A) you guys think i have any chance whatsoever! B) if i apply early it will increase my chances or i should wait until regular decision C) if i select a more uncommon major in addition to applying early, it will increase my chances even more! even though I would have no interest in continuing that major if i got accepted! </p>
<p>I do not think that anyone could give you an accurate answer as to whether early action would help. This is the first year it is returning, and you never know what trends will appear. They say some schools, for example Boston College, are actually more difficult to get into early action than regular decision. </p>
<p>As for your chances, you are going to have to give more information than that. I would say your chances are hurt by your junior year, UVa likes to see an increase in rigor of curriculum, as well as you rising to the occasion and doing well in those classes. They like to see an upward trend. That being said, it is worth a shot because you never know.</p>
<p>I would apply to the major YOU wish to pursue. There is no sense in trying to play the numbers games like that. For instance, engineering may have the highest acceptance rate, but it also has the highest SATs and highest percentage in top 10% of their class. You may also lose a semester or two in the trying to transfer.</p>
<p>You don’t apply to a major; you apply to a school (College of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, Architecture). Within those schools, you don’t generally pick a major concentration until you’ve been around for awhile. In the College of Arts and Sciences, most kids “declare” at some point during their second year and must declare before the beginning of third year. So it isn’t likely to matter what you say you are going to major in. Lots of people change their minds anyhow.</p>
<p>Possibly it could count in your favor if you have serious, well-developed intellectual interests in unusual areas (not something made up on the spot to look impressive on an application). That’s not because of what your major is likely to be, but because Admissions Committees like to put together a diverse class of interesting people.</p>
<p>A) you guys think i have any chance whatsoever! </p>
<p>Answer: 94.5 percent of this year’s admitted class ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class. Without question your class rank is nowhere near this high; more than that, it’s on the decline. In my view, you stand virtually no chance for admission to U-Va unless you are a recruited athlete for a major sport or can offer a truly compelling reason for the decline in your academic record. A 2.8/3.5 might be overlooked in the freshman or sophomore year – but not the junior year. </p>
<p>B) if i apply early it will increase my chances or i should wait until regular decision </p>
<p>Answer: You have zero chance of being admitted to U-Va early action. At a minimum they will want to see your first semester senior year grades before making any kind of decision. Early action admissions are NOT designed for students with a poor junior year. </p>
<p>C) if i select a more uncommon major in addition to applying early, it will increase my chances even more! even though I would have no interest in continuing that major if i got accepted! </p>
<p>Answer. As previously stated, you apply to an undergraduate college at U-Va, not a major, and your academic record is such that you are a long shot for every one of them.</p>
<p>HONEST ADVICE PLEASE!</p>
<p>This is my honest advice based on having had two children and many, many of their friends apply to U-Va. I am not aware of a single student admitted to the school with your record, and we are in state. At a minimum, I would not recommend applying early action.</p>
<p>I think you have a chance, applying early action to any school increases your chances, and honestly you never know if you are the kind of student the University is looking for, your mix of extra curricular an volunteer work may be nice. Try to do somehting big within you community this summer, like something really big that helps people, brainstorm and execute your idea.</p>
<p>You will not be admitted early but in addition it is vital you get straight A’s 1st semester of senior year.</p>
<p>Your dilemma is whether or not apply early. While applying early you can be deffered to normal admissions to see your 1st semester grades, however if outright denied early then you are screwed.</p>
<p>There may be a misconception out there regarding EA at any school. Most EA programs look for the strongest candidates. Usually, not always, students that have mid-line or below applications are deferred to RD or denied. Students need to realize that EA does not mean a better chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Yes, but if you look at statistics of EA vs RD acceptance rate, most if not all schools accept a greater amount from the EA pool than the RD pool</p>
<p>ehhh true to a certain extent but if he wants to play the numbers game then I am telling him a greater percentage are accepted EA than in RD. If you are deffered EA you have 2 rounds of getting your application reviewed</p>
<p>EA applicant pool is self-selected. The University of Chicago used to have a 45-50% acceptance rate, it didn’t mean that it was easy to get in, but rather that the quality of the students applying was extremely high.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, UVA puts a lot of emphasis on GPA. I know of many more people with 3.8UW+ GPA and 1800ish SATs get in over 3.5-3.6UW 2000+ SAT. Top 10% helps a lot, from what I’ve seen. I averaged your GPA and it’s somewhere around a 3.58 (could be wrong as it was just an average) and that’s pretty low for UVA’s standard. Maybe if you are an instate/URM/male/1850+.</p>
<p>Bigshot, I’m sorry but you are flat wrong. Applying ED may help with admissions, but applying EA will not. There’s absolutely no incentive for a school to offer EA admissions to a marginal applicant.</p>
<p>You are also wrong in suggesting that this applicant can improve his or her chances by “doing something big in the community.” Extracurriculars mean nothing if the grades aren’t there.</p>
<p>I think plue00 is spot on: while there are no “cut-offs” per se, my impression is that once you hit a certain point on the SAT (the point being the 600s and not the 700s), U-Va really doesn’t care too much about the SAT and cares much more about GPAs and difficulty of course load. Neither 700s on the SATs nor an outstanding record of community involvement will save a student from a 2.8 GPA in the junior year. </p>
<p>Why sugar coat the issue when the OP is asking for honesty?</p>
<p>The honest answer is there is not a single person here who can tell you if you will be admitted to UVa. That’s a fact. You may have an aspect on your application that absolutely wow’s the admissions reader at UVa and here you’ve gotten advise from people that you have zero chance of being admitted. That’s crazy!</p>
<p>The most honest advise you will get is apply if you are interested. Novaparent is correct, EA will not help, RD would probably be a better bet. Don’t mistake EA with ED. Early Action isn’t binding so they can pick the best students. Early Decision can sometimes have an advantage because the yield is nearly 100% (ie it’s binding). It will take a few years to see which types of students will benefit from UVa’s EA policy. You will benefit from showing a strong Sr. year so my advise would be RD.</p>
<p>The other honest advise you need right now is to view UVa as a wonderful goal and a reach. Build a realistic list of schools with match and safeties. Put as much thought into these schools as your dream schools. Too many students end up at their safety and say “I would never have chosen this school if I thought I was actually going to GO here!”. Now is also the time to have an honest talk with your parents about a budget. Include financial safeties on your list as well.</p>
<p>For the record, no one here has said the OP has “zero chance of being admitted.” I said zero chance of being admitted EA, and I stand by that. It’s not a crazy view.</p>