<p>Yeah, I just read this on WTOP (DC/Virginia/MD news).</p>
<p>Very, very interesting, and I feel it's a good move. It allows those who may have messed up in high school a second chance.</p>
<p>BTW, to the OP, you may want to change the title of the thread to make it more attention grabbing - I think that this is something that warrents attention.</p>
<p>This isn't particularly special. The admissions office probably recognized that they were admitting a large number of people with those credentials anyway, so this just formalizes the process. It's nice that they give people something specific to work towards and, as the article says, it will probably increase enrollment of low income students.</p>
<p>I wonder. Will this be an avenue for some students who clearly would not have qualified for UVA to begin with - out of high school? I don't know myself, but wish someone who does to inform us. How difficult is it to get a 3.4 average at one of these community colleges? Is that kind of grade at that level of institution comparable to the kninds of grades VA high school students must have to get in from high school? Is there any chance that this program is going to result in a flood of less qualified students into UVA? I don't know the answer, but this possibility concerns me. If this program instead is simply an avenue for some kids to have a second chance and will only result in some community college kids with equal smarts and high quality academic records to get in, maybe its OK even commendable. It does seem odd to make it an automatic admit, however. They don't do that for high school students with grades above a certain level.</p>
<p>Getting that kind of GPA at a Virginia community college is not hard at all, but I would guess that the admissions office is assuming that those who stick it out in the system for two years will be mature and hardworking enough to enter UVA and do well, despite lacking jaw dropping academic credentials. I don't think this new initiative will cause any kind of flood of less qualified students into UVA - the admissions office wouldn't just shoot itself in the foot like that.</p>
<p>Suppose they guess wrong about how many would take advantage of it? And there is no kind of requirement for any kind of non-academic qualities such as those that are looked at so closely for high school applicants. Strikes me as a situation where University - for perhaps good reasons - wants to promote idea that the community college system is a viable avenue into UVA and decided that automatic entry would be a good way to go. Question will be whether they drew a tight enough standard to keep the numbers of such entrants reasonable and their quality - academic and otherwise (and I'm NOT talking about their economic situation) - on a par with other UVA students.</p>
<p>They're probably basing the program on others around the country and even within the state. The UC system has guaranteed transfer options for its flagships, and within the state of virginia, there are guaranteed transfer programs for CC applicants applying to some of the lower state schools like JMU and ODU. I'm sure that the decision to do this was based on some amount of sound reasoning and research - not just some flaky administrator saying "gee, wouldn't that be nice..."</p>
<p>it's incredibly easy to get a 3.4+ at a virginia community college. But from my experience (i spent 3 semesters at NVCC), over 90% of the students either drop out after a few semesters with a **** poor GPA or shoot for a 2.5 GPA to transfer to GMU.</p>
<p>i feel like this is going to make it harder for out of state transfers to get in. i.e. myself.
is this system in effect for fall 2006 admissions?
in any case, it certainly does sound like a good oppurtunity for virginian community colleges. i wish i had a state school like uva!</p>
<p>It is easy to get a 3.4 at a community college. A lot of classes are taught on-line with unproctored exams. In addition, a lot of classes are taught in the high schools as dual enrollment. In some cases, they are simply high school classes that carry college credit. Some community colleges monitor the quality, but not all do.</p>
<p>It sounds like these students can get in without essays, SAT scores, or proof that their writing skills meet UVA requirements. How can you guarantee admission to anyone who simply meets a GPA requirement? What if they get a huge number of students under this program? How will they find space in classes for all of them?</p>
<p>Those are legitimate concerns, but I doubt such a program would have been approved unless it had been investigated by a number of different people and groups in UVA's administration at in the state government.</p>
<p>This is a portion of an article from the Charlottesville Daily Progress. </p>
<p>The agreement, which takes effect immediately, promises admission to the universitys College of Arts & Sciences, its largest school. There is no cap on the number of eligible students who can be admitted.
The partnership between UVa and the VCCS is a product of the Higher Education Restructuring Act, UVa spokeswoman Carol Wood said. Colleges taking advantage of restructuring are required to come up with agreements with local community colleges, agreements that are intended to make education available and affordable to state residents, Wood said.
The deal could double the number of community college students UVa has accepted, Wood said. UVa will expand its overall enrollment by about 1,500 students during the next 10 years.</p>
<p>This policy is appalling, given the number of highly qualified seniors turned away during the high school admissions process.</p>
<p>Note that if you read the policy in detail, there are other requirements besides the 3.4 gpa. For example, nothing lower than a C in any course taken, and B or higher in introductory english courses.</p>
<p>Besides the grade stipulations, you have satisfactorily complete the all area requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences, including English composition, foreign language, social sciences, humanities, historical studies, non-Western perspective, and natural science and mathematics before you could be considered eligible.</p>
<p>There are many CC students who complete these requirements and who would be excellent candidates for admission to UVA. But that does not mean that ALL CC graduates who complete these requirements are excellent candidates for admission to UVA. All other elements of evaluation have been removed. Keep in mind that many of these courses can be completed in the student's high school. I can tell you from experience that some of these courses are high school level courses and that students receive both high grades and college credit for them.</p>
<p>This is such a terrible policy. Getting a 3.4 in CC is not hard at all. This is a great way to dilute the value of a UVA degree for the other students. I'm not really sure why the administration is creating a backdoor for kids who don't deserve to go to UVA when they keep talking about how think they can get UVA in the Top 15 of USNEWS. Can you imagine Cornell or Duke offering guaranteed transfer to Community College students. I know we are a public school, but at this point we are essentially being forced by the state to operate as a private school (less than 8% of our budget comes from the state). What a crock.</p>
<p>i think there needs to be more requirements than a gpa. there's no rigor in the classload needed to transfer; so many excellent students out of high school are denied while these people are allowed to go to uva with honestly minimal effort. there are comm college students who DO deserve to transfer; however, these are students who were already bright and maybe messed up a bit in high school. these are the best and brightest of comm college and will most likely take difficult classes and maintain a 3.67 at least gpa. i think 3.67 is fair; getting all A-'s at least in comm college is a good testament to one's focus and ability and i think that merits a transfer.</p>
<p>here in florida, we have a program here like that i believe where if you get a 3.4 or so gpa you can transfer to uf. and honestly, i have friends doing this option and they were pretty terrible students in high school and they know it's really easy to get that 3.4. often times kids will not work that hard knowing that they can go to comm college and jack around during high school and comm college and go to uf. the standards need to be higher, especially at uva. uf is a good school, but uva is one of the top premier universities in the nation and it definitely needs higher standards than a 3.4 at comm college.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Can you imagine Cornell or Duke offering guaranteed transfer to Community College students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Several schools within Cornell University have guaranteed articulation agreements with nearby community colleges.</p>
<p>I stand corrected, however, I still think it is a stupid policy.</p>