Help to all UVA student/parents! (lots of questions)

<p>•Is it true that the Writing score on the SAT is counted the same as the other two sections?
•I have received B's in Spanish and Pre-AP English in the 9th grade but I have gotten A's ever since in harder classes... will UVA and other colleges count my improvement over the fact that I got B's? In addition, those two B's have caused me to drop to 20th in my class (4.0 GPA).
•I have been competitively playing a varsity sport (track and field) the last 3 years and plan to do it next year (senior year), however many students simply become a part of a sports team simply for college. How can I tell UVA that track and field is very important to me and I train in the summer and weekends?
•I am a student at Central Virginia's Governor School... does UVA show strong interest for those who attend this school and succeed?
•This year I am not taking AP US history because there has never been a Governor's School student from my high school who took both AP classes at our home school and gotten all A's (English, History). I chose English over History because writing will be important throughout my life. Will UVA look down upon for this decision?
•Being Indian is not considered an URM by some people because it is Asian. Is that true? I was born in India and lived there until I was 6 years old…. does that help?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this haha</p>

<p>forgot one: Does UVA automatically superscore the SAT scores or do they look at all THEN superscore.. or not superscore at all... thanks</p>

<p>The Writing Score is pretty important to UVa. The cool thing is you can get credit for you writing requirement by getting above like a 700. Check this on the UVa website.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure they won't say anything about a few Bs. Maybe you should send like an extra essay saying how you like Track and Field a lot. Or if you are a junior use that in your essay next year.</p>

<p>CVGS yes it's really good that you go there. It's like TJ. Btw do you go to Maggie Walker?</p>

<p>They won't look down on it. Everyone has to sacrifice some things for their HS schedule. </p>

<p>Indian hmm idk really. There are LOTS of Indians applying from NoVa so just be aware of it. </p>

<p>BTW I'm Indian too, but basically if you're smart and have good ECs you'll get in.</p>

<p>and... In my high school the guidance counselors don't really communicate with the students at all, so there really is no way for them to answer all the questions in the reccomondation... Would that hurt my chances?</p>

<p>ok thanks.. No i go to central virginia governor's school lol thats the NAME... i'm a junior btw. thanks for the advice</p>

<p>
[QUOTE]
•Is it true that the Writing score on the SAT is counted the same as the other two sections?

[/QUOTE]
We look at the not-so-new-anymore writing score, but have just started validity tests to determine how this new version of the test correlates to success at UVa.

[QUOTE]
•I have received B's in Spanish and Pre-AP English in the 9th grade but I have gotten A's ever since in harder classes... will UVA and other colleges count my improvement over the fact that I got B's? In addition, those two B's have caused me to drop to 20th in my class (4.0 GPA).

[/QUOTE]
Academic improvement is always considered.

[QUOTE]
•I have been competitively playing a varsity sport (track and field) the last 3 years and plan to do it next year (senior year), however many students simply become a part of a sports team simply for college. How can I tell UVA that track and field is very important to me and I train in the summer and weekends?

[/QUOTE]
The fact that you are going to show four years of involvement is going to do this.

[QUOTE]
•I am a student at Central Virginia's Governor School... does UVA show strong interest for those who attend this school and succeed?

[/QUOTE]
I'm not sure what you're looking for here...we have plenty of students from CVGS.

[QUOTE]
•This year I am not taking AP US history because there has never been a Governor's School student from my high school who took both AP classes at our home school and gotten all A's (English, History). I chose English over History because writing will be important throughout my life. Will UVA look down upon for this decision?

[/QUOTE]
It's hard to answer this without seeing the bigger picture (the entire transcript).
•Being Indian is not considered an URM by some people because it is Asian. Is that true? I was born in India and lived there until I was 6 years old…. does that help?</p>

<p>ok thanks ALOT Dean J. What I meant about the CVGS question is that is it a strong advantage of coming from CVGS especially if the rank isn't really high.</p>

<p>Also from my high school the top students only take 3 or 4 AP tests total.. I plan on taking 5 or 6 but my rank is still low because of the 2 B's in my freshman year, so will those AP classes balance out the lack of a high rank?</p>

<p>Does UVA recalculate GPA and school rank by looking at grades according to their system?? For example my school's grade semester is 93-100 A and 85-92 B.... The two B's were 91 or 92's so would have convert them to A's and my school rank accordingly? (I would be valedictorian I think). Also our school ranks by looking at final year grades while others do every semester.. what's UVA's policy?</p>

<p>I think I've heard about an "optional interview" with UVA... is there a link somewhere specifically discussing for this or has anyone already done this? The interview would be very helpful b/c i can get across my personality and passion of learning.</p>

<p>We do not recalc GPAs. We use your high school profile to interpret them. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, our staff isn't large enough to offer interviews.</p>

<p>sciencenerd -- I went to MLWGS years ago.....</p>

<p>Citybirds -- As a junior, I'd say you should be taking AP US and AP English. That doesn't seem like a tough courseload. I took AP Euro and AP US as a Sophomore, and then 5 other APs my Junior year, and "slacked" off senior year with only 3 APs. </p>

<p>As for the writing score: Dean J addressed this, but in past years before the new SAT, the SATII writing portion was required and was also used for placement when attending the university. I figured they would just use the SAT1 new writing section the same way they used to use the SATII writing section. </p>

<p>As for the other questions, I think Dean J took care of them :)</p>

<p>no I don't think you understand it's not the actual test but the amount of work we got.. if it was easy there would be atleast ONE person taking it (i asked my guidance counselor and NO ONE has done it in the last 5 years) because AP English is the hardest class offered at our home school and physics and reserach is lots of work at cvgs (reserach we have a year-long research project)</p>

<p>city -- </p>

<p>yes, i understand they are AP classes, not just the tests. I took a total 10 AP classes and 12 total AP tests when I was in highschool. And yes, they are supposed to be work. I didn't say it was easy. But in my opinion, AP English and AP US together isn't undoable. Maybe things are different at your school. </p>

<p>You just asked about your decision and I was giving my opinion. You've already made your decision, so why are you questioning it now?</p>

<p>My son goes to the same school as citybirds ............ the AP English course he refers to is legendary for its workload.</p>

<p>There's no way anyone can attend Governor's School and also take 10 AP classes anymore. The schedule calls for three classes at Gov School (which are not AP) and three at the home school. Sophs can take one AP class. If every class taken at the home school is AP, that's a maximum of seven.</p>

<p>With the birth of Virtual Virginia, students can take many more AP classes and tests than what would be offered at their home school. My son took three as a sophomore and four this year. He will have five next year. (We only offer six total in our school) Yes, the workload is intense -- to say the least. He has APUSH and English Language this year, but our school offers something different. They are full year classes that are co-taught.</p>

<p>Colleges want to see rigor in one's schedule. We all define rigor in different ways. Some schools do not have AP/IB, yet their students take the most difficult schedules offered. You take a strong schedule. One AP class, I cannot believe, will keep you from admission to a college. </p>

<p>As for your love of track and field, talk about that in an essay. My son has some extracurriculars that he is particularly proud of doing. He will write at least one essay on one of them.</p>