Are you in nova?
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No–in another urban/suburban area; I realize Nova is a difficult beast, but there are Nova privates which have similar or better UVA results than our area privates, and some publics(magnets) that are similar too. It is tough to be in that top10% in these test-in types of HS though, not at all the same as being in the top10% of a “regular” school. In fact, our school’s “average” SAT/ACT for UVA admits is higher than the in-state average by over 50 points, so one could argue it is “harder” despite the large % admitted.
Back to topic–we are all digressing:
The UGA EA admits for our school were much tougher this year. UGA is typically used as a match by students for which UVA is a “match” or “reach”, and also as a “safety” for the top kids. It did not result in the same success this year compared to last year, so YES EA for some schools seems to be backfiring. December-release EA at other schools seems to have been the same predictability as other years, anecdotally.
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Thanks- that’s interesting. I didn’t know that UVA had any UGA but I can see how the policy could exist in non-NOVA regions.
Quote of the day!!!
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Another reason could be “their football team sucks” or “too many Jersey accents”?
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It’s a stretch to say others are inferior. What’s the basis of that comment.
I’m not saying they are superior. I don’t know. Inferior or superior in which facet ?
I would say it’s crazy to pay OOS tuition for reason other than all the hs dope heads go.
I wouldn’t label Rutgers any better or worse although I’m sure it’s got some strengths vs others but also some weaknesses.
I would not use a U.S. News Rank as a method of superiority.
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They aren’t inferior but cost is def inferior.
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- Go to community college for the transfer path to (usually) a state university.
- Apply to a less selective college that accepts late applications.
- Find something else (besides attend any college) to do for a year and reapply as a frosh to a different set of colleges that are more realistic to be admitted to.
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Depends on the OOS school.
But that wasn’t the comment made. Just saying. Rutgers is fine but so are many others.
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Looking at the Virginia publics, the schools that have the greatest # and/or % of math majors are James Madison, VCU, and U. of Mary Washington (Virginia Tech has the most majors, but because it’s the largest student population, the percentages at these schools are higher; William & Mary is the only school with a similarly high percentage of math majors as at these schools). (Source was College Navigator.)
Two schools from this list that have January 15 and don’t seem to have additional essays beyond the general Common App one and that might perhaps have more of the feel of the reach schools your D applied to are:
- Rensselaer Polytechnic (NY)
- College of the Holy Cross (MA)
U. of Minnesota has a “grace period” that all materials submitted by January 15 will be considered as submitted by its January 1 deadline (source) and produces some of the largest number of math PhDs (source).
U. of Wisconsin, as mentioned above, has its application due January 15, with all materials needing to be submitted by January 23 (source).
College of Wooster (OH) seems to have a strong math program and its application is due February 15
If she’s itching to go out-of-state, Appalachian State could be a fun school and its out-of-state tuition isn’t much more than Virginia’s in-state tuition and its deadline is February 1. If she prefers a smaller school, UNC-Asheville might work as well.
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Thank you, Blossom! We are happy with state schools, just to clarify. Virginia has excellent state universities. I like your motivating ideas. This weekend we will do one last safety and I’ll give it a try.
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Thank you for this list! I think we are going to look at 2/1 deadlines and get a safety this week-end. Will look at a few on your list.
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I just want to chime in about the Virginia Tech essays if your child has not already applied. Yes there are four of them, but they are all very short as I remember, like 250 words, are very direct and possibly things that she could adapt from other schools (I think one is about an extra curricular or volunteer work, one about leadership, etc for example).
Your UVA situation is similar to ours in state at Georgia Tech. Essentially the top 10 kids get in from our school, and the rest is a crapshoot. There may be one or two others. My senior cast a very wide net, including Virginia Tech, and honestly I think those essays were some of the easier ones to write so give it a shot!
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I don’t believe either I or the original poster meant for that comment to be taken as a knock on other OOS schools or a statement about the superiority of Rutgers. Rather it’s a broader comment about kids disregarding great options in their backyard because they are local. I have friends in Virginia who’s kids choose to go to other OOS public colleges over UVA too.
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I would also recommend she look at McGill in Montreal. By no means a safety, but they love high-stats kids, have a great international reputation, are stats-only (no ECs, no essays — thus an easy app), are in a fantastic city for college students and cost of attendance (tuition plus room and board) can be under 40k if the student enrolls for either a BA or what appears to be a hybrid BA / BS degree. A straight BS is a higher tuition but it looks like a math major can be either a BA, a BS or the BA / BS hybrid.
Their deadline is 1/15 and they have a sort of rolling admissions, based on the strength of the application. My son applied to two programs and heard back within a week of applying for one of them and within three weeks for the other.
Also note that all prices are in Canadian dollars so with the current exchange rate it’s very favorable to Americans.
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Did your daughter consider applying ED2 anywhere? My son was a product of the 2021 covid year and settled for ED2 after getting deferred from his SCEA school. He absolutely loves his college!
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Some selective – but not tippy-top selective – schools, like Tulane and Case Western, appear to be heavily into yield protection. Demonstrated interested is very important at such schools. The greatest way to show interest is to apply ED, but barring that, they want kids who click the emails, show their passion for the school in their application essay(s), and maybe even do an official visit.
Every year, kids with perfect stats are denied in the RD round at these yield-protecting schools, while 1300 SAT/3.6 GPA kids are admitted.
So if someone doesn’t apply ED at those schools, it’s smart to show passion for them in other ways.
You can verify if a school considers interest by checking the Common Data Set for the school. There is a section (scroll down some…) in the CDS that shows different aspects of an application, and how much the school values those things.
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@Oglebee Replying to my own post to provide some links.
Here is a link to McGill’s tuition structure.
Note that the tuition is different depending on the degree, and is in Canadian dollars (so check the exchange rate!). Room and board typically come in around 17k CAD (approx 12K US dollars, but it can vary) and can be a lot less if students move off campus after the first year.
| Student Accounts - McGill University
McGill’s BA in Math:
Major Concentration Mathematics (B. A.) | Mathematics and Statistics - McGill University
McGill’s BS in Math and Statistics:
Major Mathematics (B. Sc.) | Mathematics and Statistics - McGill University
McGill’s hybrid BA/BS in Math:
Mathematics (Bachelor of Arts and Science) | Undergraduate Admissions - McGill University
Note, however, that McGill is reputed to engage in grade deflation, so take that into account if your daughter is potentially pre-med.
McGill also gives generous AP credit, so if your daughter has a lot of AP credit she can accelerate her studies and graduate early if that is desirable.
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@Oglebee , I suspect that what you’ve done so far isn’t going to leave you empty-handed AND appreciate that you are trying to address that small, but real, risk that you may have miscalculated. No need to panic - you’re taking adequate steps now.
You’ve gotten a lot of good options here. If I can offer one bit of advice as regards these last apps. There are a number of schools that are popular back-ups for high stats kids, like the ones mentioned above by @prezbucky. Those schools need to fill their classes, so admissions is looking for kids who are genuinely going to consider attending if extended an offer.
Many of the high stats kids who apply, as you are now, to have a backup, recycle essays in a way that makes it quite clear that they have not done their research- interest in majors or programs the school doesn’t have, etc., Make sure your D doesn’t eliminate herself this way. No school wants to have tons of acceptances floating out there that are highly unlikely to turn into matriculations – it’s a management nightmare.
And every school has to manage its enrollment. It needs the target # of students. Too few and too many are both problems. So they will often WL the ones they doubt would come.
If your D ends up on a WL at a school where you suspect this may have been because they thought she wouldn’t come, and IF she would attend if admitted, your odds of coming off the WL may not be bad. This is part of how enrollment is managed. Many kids who were WL and believe it was because of “yield protection” do not choose to join the WL because they have options they prefer. In this case, the school got it “right”. (The school could accept this stuent off the WL if the student is still interested. No guarantees on WL movement, but it happens at these schools too.)
So… breathe. Be thoughtful on these apps. And good luck!
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As CA residents my kids definitely get this. All three kids-- not one single CA public university application. There are plenty of good reasons including wanting to get out of the CA bubble, travel, experience something different. Also CA schools are horribly crowded, housing concerns, huge class sizes, impacted majors, etc. I would never blame a kid for wanting to get out of their home state if they can afford it.
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