For Reasonably Bright HS students that would like a 'Second Chance'

College Search & Selection
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For a reasonably bright HS student, or parents of a bright kid: If you or your teenager, maybe figured out how to study a bit late, there is a really good ‘second chance’ available. Of course, a HS senior can enroll in the college(s) that admitted them, but if the student, the parent, or both aren’t convinced by forum members to enroll in the college(s) that did/will admit them and still desire a higher ranked college there is an excellent option available. Richard Bland College of William and Mary is a relatively unknown gem. Richard Bland College has rolling admissions, so best to apply right away.

If for health, family issues, wrong priorities, laziness, immaturity, hanging with the wrong crowd, or a myriad of other reasons, your bright kid eliminated herself/himself from the high academic colleges, with a less than perfect 9th and/or 10th grade, there is a great ‘second chance’ option to graduate from a Top 30 National University.

Richard Bland College of William and Mary is the only junior college in Virginia. The Virginia Legislature REQUIRES the public universities in Virginia GUARANTEE ADMISSION to Richard Bland College graduates (2 year junior college) as transfers if the RBC graduate meets very straight-forward and reasonable criteria. Meeting some obvious course/credit guidelines, the Guaranteed Admissions are far from onerous for a reasonably bright kid who applies her/him-self for a couple of years:

3.40GPA Guaranteed University of Virginia #26 USNWR National, #4 Public

3.25GPA Guaranteed William and Mary #39 USNWR National, #11 Public

3.40GPA Guaranteed Virginia Tech

and various other VA public and private colleges for other GPAs.

Attached is the RBC guarantee list (click on a college for transfer guarantees)
https://www.rbc.edu/why-rbc/four-year-transfer-partners/

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I would feel really, really good, if one parent of the HS Class of '22 tells me sometime in the next 10 months that their kid really desired to graduate from a University of Virginia or W&M or other Top 40 university, but the HS resume wasn’t a match, so their kid enrolled at Richard Bland College. My son missed out on that excellent opportunity, so I hope someone in these 50 states sees this thread and seizes that unique opportunity.

As background:
When they were in elementary school, my three children had almost identical test scores. My son, the youngest, tested a bit better in math. They all played sports, but my daughters read and took school seriously too. I tried various strategies to inspire, cajole, warn, and punish him over the years, but he just seemed lazy. Fast-forward to freshman year and my son was falling behind his older sisters. The middle kid is only one year older. I have memories of the two sitting at the kitchen table. My boy was helping her with her math assignment. Her math class is about three levels above his. He is leading her through the math problems, yet I know she is going to get an A in her math class and he is going to get a B in his lower level class. The girls’ high school resumes just kept building and left his in the dust.

Finally, in the second semester of his junior year, things started to click for my son. He finished strong through his senior year. His two sisters attend Vanderbilt University. However, Top 50 schools were not an option for him to pursue even if he wanted to, let alone Top 15 like his sisters or Top 30. I suggested Richard Bland, but I was a bit late finding out about it and he was already set on his applications. He said he wanted to pursue giant state schools out-of-state between the Top 75-100 range and he did.

He earned a 3.5 GPA as he is about to enter his junior year of college. I think he probably would have achieved the same or better at Richard Bland College and be on his way to be a junior at the University of Virginia or at least William & Mary this August. He is fine, but I kind of wish I had convinced him to apply to RBC of W&M.

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Given the choice between spending 4 years at a 75-100 school versus 2 years at a Juco and 2 at W&M or UVA, I would pick the full 4 year experience every time.

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While I totally respect your opinion, you aren’t the audience then. Many others would prefer 2 years, the relationships, the academics, the professors in their major, and a degree from UVA.

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Very interesting! Thank you for sharing. I will share that with folks who might take advantage.

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What is different about Richard Bland College compared to other Virginia Community College System (VCCS) colleges?

UVA has the guaranteed transfer admission offer to any VCCS student who meets the requirements (course work, GPA, etc.): Guaranteed Transfer Admission | The Office of Undergraduate Admission

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  1. VCCS to William & Mary is 3.6 GPA and UVA 3.4 GPA
    Richard Bland to William & Mary is 3.25 GPA and UVA 3.4 GPA
  2. Richard Bland is run by William & Mary, which gives me more comfort than a regular state community college.

As an out-of-state parent, I:
3. Prefer Richard Bland dorm living, walking to class, on-campus food vs finding an apartment, transportation, off-campus food for my freshman trying to live near a community college.
4. Prefer a more conventional college campus life at Richard Bland juco, than a community college, where so many are part-time students on the 3, 4, 5 year-plan living at home and commuting for a class now and then.

Those are the four main differences to me. While the VCCS system might be an option, I think Richard Bland College is generally a better one.

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It sounds like your son is happy where he ended up which is a great accomplishment.

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I was looking for RBC threads,lol

DD CO 22 is committed to RBC and will be attending this fall. She is also a recruited athlete and not from the state of VA. PM me and let’s chat. I don’t want to “doxx” her as the kids say often on these forums, lol