fact or myth about top 5 students in every FX county HS

<p>An administrator and UVA alum told me that UVA accepted the top 5 students from every Fairfax County HS (Northern VA) automatically. Has anyone heard anything about this???</p>

<p>There's some truth to that statement, but the way it's phrased it comes off as a myth. There is no formal plan to admit the top five students from Fairfax county or any other county. That sounds typical of the bizarre myths cooked up by PTA moms. However, a student in the top five in his class at a Fairfax County school would have an outstanding shot at UVA, to the point where he'd be considered a near certain admit.</p>

<p>And for future reference: never pay any attention to what administrators say. They tend to only perpetuate PTA mom mythology.</p>

<p>out of the top 10 from my FFX high all went OOS except 3, and 2 went to georgetown and 1 to W&M...it was actually the 3.5-3.7 kids who are at UVA now</p>

<p>my nova hs didn't rank, but the top 5 kids from these schools will probably have 99.9% chance of getting into UVA.</p>

<p>I think it is a FCPS policy not to rank their students.</p>

<p>Langley doesn't rank either. =/ and I don't think top5 students from my school will go to UVa.</p>

<p>robinson in FX county doesn't rank and i think the top 3/5 in my class are prob headed for the ivies. </p>

<p>also FX county grades harder. you have to have 94% to get an A</p>

<p>FCPS does not rank (however, the top 5-15 magically "know" their rank)...instead, they report what percentage the student is in (top 5%, top 10%, top 15%, top 25%, top 50%, top 75%) so when i graduated i knew that i was in the top 15%, but i didnt know anything else. I think they unofficially report the ranks of the top 5-15 students to the colleges, but not on an actual form, but probably in a letter from the counseler.<br>
As a student from good ole FCPS, FFX schools are bittersweet: the grading sucks, its hard as hell to get straight As (very possible for all As and B+s), people around you are either in a million APs or are failing regular classes, and those who are getting into the top schools are doing a million ECs and taking insane class schedules (as a 2-sport varsity athlete, band, key club officer, outside job, 5 APs senior year, 2 junior/1 sophmore year, ect ect, trust me, i know). everyone's battling to be the best, and it sucks sometimes. at the same time, i got to college (VT) and feel wayyyy more prepared than others i see around me from other parts of VA, and i actually miss NoVa life.
Keep in mind, we don't consider ourselves "elite", but we do live a very different lifestyle than the rest of VA (just look at the job/housing market), and i think its our peers that label us as "elite". we're much more driven, as NoVa is very fast-paced, period, and thus i think colleges see that. but, i know VT has a quota for FFX kids, and i think UVA and W&M do too, so thats a killer.</p>

<p>whoa, quota? just for FCPSs or all schools in NoVa including privates?</p>

<p>maybe i should move to southern virginia...</p>

<p>i know FCPS, idunno about private schools. there are definently some private schools that are simply because kids screw off in public school, but most NoVa private schools (Nysmith, Madiera, Flint Hill, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, ect) are graduating kids who are going to schools that are above even UVA.
Oh and TJ, cant forget about TJ</p>

<p>kids from TJ don't go to UVa.</p>

<p>130freshmen took Calc BC in TJ and approximately 100got a 5. amazing.</p>

<p>I wouldn't worry too much about the quota. I'm sure all the Virginia schools have a much higher admit rate for FFX students than any other county.</p>

<p>You can check out the number of enrolled students from each county at UVa: <a href="http://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/data_catalog/institutional/data_digest/enrl_city.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.web.virginia.edu/iaas/data_catalog/institutional/data_digest/enrl_city.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>IhateCR,</p>

<p>what do you mean kids from TJ don't go to UVa? Around 100 kids a year from TJ go to UVa...</p>

<p>jags861 I'm just kidding. they are too smart to fit in UVa, imo</p>

<p>tb2588 that is awesome... 5 times more than the first runner up.</p>

<p>Fairfax County also has over 1 million people.</p>

<p>And it's one of the richest counties in the country. Wealthier counties send their kids to better schools. Not a surprise.</p>

<p>How old are you IHateCR, 15?</p>

<p>FFX county has more people than wyoming...and one of the dakotas...and some other state...like i said, NoVa life is different, and the numbers prove it. roughly a third of UVA students are FFX kids, which is insane. we're just pushed more to be better by everything: parents, peers, school grading system, the overall society of FFX, and the generally fast-paced life of NoVa.<br>
however, you'll hear that FFX spends more money per student that any other county in the country. while this is true, FFX also buses just about every other kid to some school other than their own school, whether its for a physical disability, a mental disability, GT (they have GT schools, which is what TJ is, for elem, middle, and high school), an academy (certain high schools have certain programs that you can take, such as cooking, auto mechanics, ect but you have to travel to those schools) so in reality, a normal kid gets about normal spending, whereas the special needs kids are gettin astounding amounts.</p>

<p>PS - on a side note, im applying to transfer in 07. Will being a FFX student help me?</p>

<p>i think it has to do with the wealth of the county. for example, in my senior class in FFX county, about 90% have their own cars. the median income is like 85k per year with FFX county being mainly suburban. kids in FFX county have the means to do tons of EC's. </p>

<p>FFX county offers tons of IB/AP. just my school, robinson, is the biggest IB school in north america in addition to offering several AP classes. 80 out of 800 students are IB diploma candidates (thus we take at least 6 IB classes/year), with 700+ students in at least 1 AP/IB class. its not surprising that many FFX county students go to top calibre schools like UVa.</p>

<p>I would guess that about 50 out of 80 diploma candidates, and many more non diploma candidates with several IB/AP classes have UVa as one of their choice schools, given that UVa is a top public school that offers in-state tuition. the competition is pretty intense</p>

<p>shoebox, I disagree with nearly every aspect of your analysis. Perhaps going to college will help you understand the situation better.</p>