<p>The counselor-o-matic is a nice tool, but [url=<a href="http://uvaadmission.blogspot.com/2007/07/is-prs-counselor-o-matic-another.html%5Dbe">http://uvaadmission.blogspot.com/2007/07/is-prs-counselor-o-matic-another.html]be</a> careful about taking its word as gospel<a href="link%20goes%20to%20my%20write%20up%20of%20a%20little%20experiment%20some%20of%20our%20tour%20guides%20did%20with%20it%20this%20summer">/url</a>.</p>
<p>Hi, Dean, thanks for that link. Yes, me and my D played with it and surprisingly, the #1 match for her is an LAC locates some where in PA. So, I would agree with you that the tool may have been weighted by some schools that pay for their share of "good match". </p>
<p>About UVa, I have also an interesting story. One of people we know has a D who is attending UVa with a 100% full ride. We were told that she is very smart and earned one of the only two full rides at local private HS. They applied at sveral other schools beside UVa and get turned down every where. This list include a local U. Every year this local U awards 10 full rides and, last year, only one of the 10 is NM commended (none were NMSF nor NMF). How does UVa pick whom to give full ride package?</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Dean J, what about sibling legacy?
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I think you're talking about The Jefferson Scholarship, which is handled by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, not the Office of Admission.</p>
<p>Alumni fund this scholarship and solicit nominations from high schools in each area where an alumni club has sponsored a scholarship. Schools where UVa is popular usually have a committee of faculty/administration that picks the nominee from that school. In other areas the GC may pick the student. </p>
<p>Once nominations are submitted to the local alumni club, the students are asked to fill out applications and they have a local interview with a few alumni. The alumni clubs send their finalists to the Jeff. Scholar Foundation. Finalists are then brought to Charlottesville for a weekend of interviews and activities. At the end of the weekend, the winners are notified.</p>
<p>Obviously, the academics are important, but the interviews are very important in the process. </p>
<p>By the way, there</a> are plenty of schools that aren't going to give any sort of scholarship or even recognition for NMSF or NMF status.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Dean J, what about sibling legacy?
[/QUOTE]
I think you're talking about The Jefferson Scholarship, which is handled by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, not the Office of Admission (though</a> we do get "at large" bids). Academics are important, but the interviews that are part of the</a> selection process are extremely important factors as well.</p>
<p>By the way, there</a> are plenty of schools that aren't going to give any sort of scholarship or even recognition for NMSF or NMF status.</p>
<p>The blog entry referenced in the post above this one was full of misinformation about the NM program. The only time the score counts is when it is taken in the 11th grade--not 9th, not 10th. My son, and just about every other kid in this college town, took it exactly once, in the 11th grade. Students with a high test score do NOT automatically advance to finalist stage; poor grades, or poor evaluations from guidance counselors can and DO result in not advancing to finalist stage.</p>
<p>There can be no question that the NM program does not identify all top students; I know many fine students who did not score particularly well on the PSAT. On the other hand, I know a lot of students who did score well enough to be finalists, and almost without exception they are top students in every regard. As a crude measure, it is not worthless.</p>
<p>I agree with Midmo - the NMSF designation is not at all worthless. It does not allow for multiple test sittings and super scoring. It's a one shot deal and sometimes really heartbreaking but on the other hand it provides a very controlled and even playing field for practically every single junior in the nation. It is also free for the student. So in those regards I think it does a good job at identifying talented students. It also help identify candidates for some very prestigious (and free) summer academic programs that are feeders to top schools and scholarships.</p>
<p>I'm curious how many kids get 240 or 239 on PSATs. I'll see if I can find the leak.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
The only time the score counts is when it is taken in the 11th grade--not 9th, not 10th.
[/QUOTe]
As you could see in the comments, there was discussion about the timing and I said that it had changed over the years.</p>
<p>The gist of the entry was a) National Merit is not considered in our admission process, b) I'm not a fan of the National Merit "program" and c) UVa doesn't give money to National Merit Finalists.</p>
<p>Don't know how I managed to double post above. Oops.</p>
<p>Dean J - If you're a UVA admissions officer involved in the Jefferson Scholarship selection process, I'd like to let you know that you're missing some very strong applicants simply because of the requirement that high schools have to be participants in the program. My D is applying for many merit scholarships and would have very much like to have included UVA but her school could not nominate her. Can you enlighten us a bit on what's involved with a school being allowed to nominate? Emory, Duke, Vanderbilt and Wash U, in contrast, allow any high school to nominate candidates for their scholarships. U Michigan selects merit scholarship winners from the entire pool of submitted applications. Just curious what is the reasoning in UVA's approach. That along with the apparent refusal to award merit money for NMSF was enough to keep UVA completely off my D's list. I wonder how many others like her. UVA is a great school she would have liked to consider.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Dean J - If you're a UVA admissions officer involved in the Jefferson Scholarship selection process,
[/QUOTE]
The only part we play is that we are able to nominate students from areas not covered by the local alumni clubs for "at large" spots. The Jefferson Scholars Foundation designed the nomination process and would be the best group to explain how that works.</p>
<p>There is non-need based scholarship money at UVa, but doesn't come from the Office of Admission. The alumni association controls a lot of it, but some departments have it as well (the engineering school, for example, awards a number of full and half scholarships each year). At some point, a decision must have been made to keep admission and aid separate here. There are times when I'm thankful for that and others when I'm not.</p>
<p>Dean J - Thanks for that information. I'll pass it on to my D and if she can manage another she may very well try and apply. She liked UVA very much when we visited and we thought the student tour guides were the most impressive well-spoken young people that we encountered on any of our college visits.</p>