<p>As a Virginian, you can't help but notice that NoVa kids dominate every univeristy in the state. They make up 30% of our population, but over 60% of the university population. They have all the resources, so they get an amazing education.</p>
<p>Coming from Mecklenberg County, on the North Carolina border, I feel as if I'm at a disadvantage. My school doesn't offer AP classes, and there are virtually no clubs to join. My stats look weak compared to those from NoVa because the opportunities aren't there for me.</p>
<p>Does W&M or other VA colleges take this into account? Would they accept a rural Virginian with lower SAT scores compared to a NoVa kid that scored higher?</p>
<p>Even if your school does not offer AP classes, taking the most rigorous courses available will ensure that you have the best chances - they do take that into account. I’m not sure if there’s any explicit geographic bias though.</p>
<p>W&M definitely takes the resources of the high school that you attended into consideration. Long as you take the most rigorous classes your high school offers and perform well, even if they aren’t AP, you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Also, about the clubs, there must be something for you to do. Sports teams, yearbook club, student government, national honor society (or something similar), band/other music ensembles. There’s other stuff you can do for extra-curriculars as well: get a job, volunteer at the library, be active in church or other community organization. With ECs schools just want to see that you do valuable stuff with your time and don’t just go home and watch TV.</p>
<p>The SAT scores is something I’m unsure of. They might accept slightly lower SAT scores for rural VA kids, but not significantly lower. All of the kids on my freshman hall that were from rural areas in VA had SAT scores that were about the same as the rest of the in-state kids.</p>
<p>William and Mary could fill the entirety of their 2/3rds of in-state students with kids from Nova, so it follows that they’re going to take into account where you are from. They want geographical diversity.</p>
<p>Also, all the state schools are familiar with HSs across the state and take that into consideration. I know our GC from a city in southern VA go to conferences at the big schools to help facilitate the understanding of what their students need to do to get accepted.</p>
<p>Bottom line though, is do the best you can at everything open to you. If you are still concerned about it, call the admissions office at the schools you want to attend and ask them what you can do to increase your chances of attending. And visit, interview, write good essays and get the best SATs you can.</p>
<p>that is a lie. more than 60% of the school is not students from northern virginia. 1/3 are out of state, 2/3 are in-state (67%) from virginia. HALF of those in-staters are from northern virginia, aka 1/3 of the student body, not more than 60%. 1/3 are from the rest of the state. it’s regional quotas.
as for the bias, as long as you take the hardest courses offered by your school, it’ll be looked upon as if you took APs (they want to see you in relation to other students in your school and how hard you work compared to others). as for the lack of clubs, you could have/ should have started your own, as this would demonstrate leadership and then you’d be able to have a club. but it’s probably a little late for that.
overall you can’t blame your circumstances.</p>
<p>if you interview, don’t list World of Warcraft as an extra curricular, or try to discuss the dating scene… I will offer those tips after reading the spring issue of the alumni magazine.</p>
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<p>I agree, but… officially, there aren’t any quotas.</p>
<p>i dunno… up here in NoVA people complain a lot because even if you do REALLY well it’s not all that out of the ordinary. EVERYBODY has like 8 AP classes under their belt, everybody is in a million clubs, everybody is super rich… in my school alone around 30 people had a GPA that was above a 4.0. it takes a heck of a lot to stand out. </p>
<p>but i’m sure that they take each high school’s curriculum into account, and i know that when i applied to governor’s academy, my teacher told me that they had unofficial quotas if you will… they had to take a certain number of people from each area of the state. i assume it’s kinda like that for colleges too.</p>
<p>All the Virginia schools take geographic diversity and the type of high school that you attend into account. You’re not going to be at a big disadvantage. In fact, a lot of NoVa kids complain that it’s harder to get in from here than from other parts of the state.</p>