Early Action or Regular Decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

<p>My stats are </p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.72</p>

<p>ACT test 1:
29 composite
33 english
26 math
31 reading
25 science
11 writing</p>

<p>ACT test 2:
28 composite
34 english
20 math (oops)
34 reading
25 science
writing scores not out yet</p>

<p>SAT superscore:
1930 total
670 reading
670 writing
590 math</p>

<p>Out-of-state, IB Full Diploma Candidate, took two Honors classes freshman year, estimating top 5 (rank not percent) in class because my class is 35 students total but not positive on my exact rank, solid application essays in my opinion because I get my principal and English teacher to both critique them</p>

<p>Tennis awards: Varsity all four years, MVP two years, Most Improved, Scholar Athlete (highest GPA on team), named SCISA-AA All Region Player, won Region Championship freshman year, four letters, captain two years, </p>

<p>National Honor Society two years, National Spanish Honor Society three years, JSA club member one year, Global Connections club member two years, student council member one year (hoping to do more with this before I send in my application so I can write more on my resume), prom committee one year, yearbook staff one year, took three minimesters (two week classes) freshman year: zoology, photography, bioethics, Converse College Scholar, Furman U. Scholar </p>

<p>6 on IB Econ SL exam
taking the SAT and ACT at least once more, taking probably 2 subject tests in November</p>

<p>many community service and volunteer activities (CAS hour requirement of 120 community/action/service by end of senior year to fulfill IB Diploma requirements), babysitting constantly both summer and school year, soon to be VolunTeen at local hospital which requires 32 hrs service/yr with lots of responsibility</p>

<p>but I don't know whether to apply Early Action or Regular Decision. Is EA more early notification or is that when the cream of the crop are applying? I definitely don't want to be rejected EA but I want two chances to apply so maybe I'd be deferred then accepted! Please give me advice because I'm out of state and reallllly love the school. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>The way another big name university explained it was to only send in your app Early Action if you felt it was the absolute best is was going to be…if you think you can do better on your ACT or SAT or anything then wait. If it’s as good as it’s going to get than go ahead and do EA</p>

3

<p>There is no down side to submitting early action, unless you expect a spectacular increase in your next test score or you need more time to write high quality essays. </p>

<p>With Early Action, many students are deferred until the regular admissions round. That provides the U. with the chance to review more recent school grades. Therefore, don’t think your school work is over once you submit early action applications.</p>

4

<p>Are you opposed to retaking either the SAT or ACT again? I don’t ‘chance’ students and I fully believe that every student interested should apply, however your math subscores on each test you listed is on the low end. Your ACT English and Reading scores are quite good, so if you are more comfortable with that format is it possible to really prepare for the Math and Science and give it another go? OOS admissions are exceptionally competitive and if you feel you might be able to bring up your score in one of the formats I think it would be worth considering, even if it meant applying RD. The students applying EA are going to be very highly qualified across the board, both instate and OOS. Competition will be very stiff. Charlie is correct that many students do get deferred to RD, however you also risk a denial.</p>

5

<p>Sorry to say you have very little chance. Your SAT is well below the avg. admit and you are OOS. 70% os admits are instate. OOS need to be at top of range or recruited athletes.</p>

6

<p>With those stats, you will almost certainly be deferred. You might as well try to raise the standardized test scores and just apply RD. I know a lot of people will say it doesn’t matter, but I think there’s something to be said about sending your best possible application in all at once rather than trying to send new scores, etc., during the deferment period.</p>

7

<p>Do yall think I will be rejected if I apply EA though? I’m taking the SAT this weekend and the ACT Oct. 26 so it’s before the deadline.</p>

8

<p>I think you will be rejected with current scores. As an OOS applicant you probably need > 2100 minimum to have a shot. I would wait to see if you can improve your score. Remember that only 30% OOS are admitted & they’re 70% of the applicants. Good Luck next weekend.</p>

9

<p>Thanks! So what ACT should I have to have better chances?</p>

10

<p>I think you need at least a 32</p>

11

<p>The composite is not nearly as important as the individual components. UVa looks at each individual section on it’s own. You can have a great composite, however if it is comprised of several perfect sub scores and one or two mediocre scores this isn’t going to be nearly as advantageous as high marks in all sections. Worry about your section scores.</p>

12

<p>Of course, if someone is applying to engineering, admissions staffs pay more attention to math test scores than if you are applying for liberal arts.</p>

13

<p>I’m applying to arts, specifically for economics and pre-law!</p>

14

<p>The Common Data Set does break out Math and Critical Reading scores by school for the SAT. They do not offer this for the ACT. The first listed is the average, then scroll down, or tab at the top, for the school you’re applying to. They also do not list the writing score. I would NOT read anything into this (i.e. UVa does not consider the writing score or considers it less important). Some schools have said they aren’t sure how they are using it yet, or that they only use it for placement. UVa has been clear they are using this score for admission.</p>

<p>SAT Math:
<a href=“https://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_math.htm[/url]”>https://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_math.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>SAT CR:
<a href=“https://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_verbal.htm[/url]”>https://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/dd/adm_verbal.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>FWIW, if you’re an OOS student or from an exceptionally competitive part of Va and are an ‘unhooked’ applicant, the general thought (unscientific as it may be) is to be aiming for the 75th%tile+. No guarantees that even a perfect score will get the admit stamp, however it probably wouldn’t be your SAT that was in question.</p>

15

<p>I don’t think it makes too much difference if you go EA or RD. Last year (which was only the first year of EA), UVA accepted 3k, deferred 3k and rejected 6k. If you’re in the ballpark at the EA stage, you would get deferred and get a second chance in the RD pool (when your newer grades and test scores would be reviewed). It seems unlikely that anything you could do in the way of new scores/grades would jump you all the way from EA reject to RD accept. So the choice is more whether (i) you’d rather hear from UVA sooner or later and (ii) you are ready to go early with your best essays and rec letters.</p>

<p>Good news is that UVA cares more about the transcript than the test scores. Bad news is that OOS admissions are pretty tough for non-legacies and non-athletes. Friend’s kid last year accepted at Michigan OOS, Emory, Tufts and WL at Vandy. Rejected EA at UVA.</p>

16

<p>In other words, if you are rejected in Early action, you would have been rejected if you applied in the regular decision too. That is different at some other colleges with binding early decision, where there is a major admissions advantage to applying early, although there are also many many downsides.</p>