<p>Why it's not
1) I am a city girl (As in I want to have fun things to do all the time, not always have to do things on campus, party hard, not to be forced to see the same people constantly every day for 4 years)
2) I don't want to be an across the country from my siblings</p>
<p>Why it is
1) I am already accepted and binded to the school
2) It is UVa! A top school in the nation with great academics and is very beautiful
3) I have a full-scholarship at UVa.....</p>
<p>I think you have answered your own question uvaquestiegirl. Congratulations and welcome to the UVa family!!! Wahoowa!!! Everyone finds their own experience, their niche. If you asked a dozen people their favorite thing about UVa you’d get a dozen different answers. It sounds cliche, but it is what you make it, and there is an overabundance of things to do for every taste. From the outdoorsman, the art lover, those who want to go to concerts at JPJ and nearby Richmond and DC. UVa and Charlottesville is what many feel is just right, not too big, not too small, at about 15k undergrads. There is always someone new to meet, and new activity to attend, or sporting event to go show your school spirit. A quintessential college town.</p>
<p>Yes, you’ll miss your family, but this sounds like an opportunity to experience another part of the country. Many students never get more then a few hundred miles from their home town. It’s uncomfortable, a little nerve-wracking at first, but I think what you’ll gain will be so much in the end. Nothing can ever replace being with family, but Skype makes the distance shorter, and you will leave not only with a degree, but having met people from all over the world who have learned from knowing you and your experiences, and vice versa. I hope as you learn more about the university in the coming months you will come to feel it will be a great experience and really look forward to all UVa has to offer!! You are one of the very first official members of the class of 2018 which is pretty amazing!! Again, welcome and congratulations!! :)</p>
<p>I am a little confused…how can you be bound to UVA in December? Early action is not binding and even if it was, they have not released decisions yet…</p>
<p>And if you truly are “bound”, why even make this post? It seems a little silly to me.</p>
<p>The post was meant to reach out to other people that are in the same situation as me. Going to a college they are not sure is right for them. I just wanted to know if one can learn to love a college once they are there…</p>
<p>I mean this with all sincerity uvaquestiegirl. Maybe you could reach out through QuestBridge and see if they have any forums or ways to connect with others students who may not have been matched with their top choice. Your feelings are very valid to you, and ones you’ll want to progress through over the next few months. Unfortunately I don’t think you are going to find that type of support here. Students frequenting this forum over the next few months may not be familiar with QBridge, and after going through a deferral, deny, or wait list they might be trying to reconcile from a school they have dreamed of attending…or they are accepted and due to insufficient FinAid have to turn the offer down…these students are not going to be going through the same process you are and might not be very understanding as to why you could possibly be unhappy. Again, I am validating your feelings and know your need to find a forum to work through them. You may find as you learn more about the university you feel better about the match. I would look to QBridge and see if they have any type of forum, or student group where you can talk to other students who understand how you feel.</p>
<p>If it helps, even students that aren’t in binding decisions, my have two or three top choices and have a difficult time choosing. They choose only to feel a month later they made the wrong choice. In september the vow they are transferring and are miserable. By January/February they have almost always forgotten all about thoughts of transferring and are happy as clams where they are. I know it sounds cliche’ but things have a way of working out…if you let them.</p>
<p>Can one learn to love a college once they are there?
Absolutely- you’ve just achieved what is a dream come true for many students, yet it is understandable to be aprehensive about something entirely new and far away.
You have just been given the gift of one of the best educations available, and that is amazing. Change is scary- for you and your family. They are going to feel a combination of pride and aprehension too.
Much of how you adjust will be up to you. You’ve started to connect to people by posting to connect with others in your situation. Good. Also look for other ways to connect to people through common interests. Look at the list of student groups and find the ones you would like to connect with, including your religious group if you have one. E mail the contacts and introduce yourself, and you will know some people by the time you get there. Also see if there are any supports in place for first generation students if you are one, or any mentoring possibilities- older Questbridge students. Look at Student Health- it’s not just there for students who have medical needs. There is counseling available to help students adjust to changes, homesickness, family stresses- and sometimes these are in groups with other students. Then, work hard at your studies, and also be open to the new experiences ahead of you.</p>
<p>As often is the case, blueiguana has written a sensitive, nurturing and informative post and I would take his or her advice to heart.</p>
<p>So, let me take this from another side:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>These are the type of questions you should have been asking yourself before you applied to QuestBridge and listed binding U-Va * in your rankings list. Not after.</p>
<ul>
<li> About ten percent of the QuestBridge colleges are not binding.</li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, the binding is something to think about before hand, but it’s also possible to get cold feet at such a large change. The emotions from family members can range from pride, to fear, and even envy over the member who has been given this oportunity. Every one of the QB colleges are dream schools. </p>
<p>You will see certain people every day: your roommate, your hallmates, and your classmates. Remember that every semester, your classes will change. If you join three different student groups: Religious, academic, sports, volunteer, any of them, that is 3 groups of potentially different people to meet.
Can you be happy? Consider that many aspects of college are going to be almost the same. You will live in a dorm, eat in a cafeteria, go to class. You will like some of the people you meet, and some you probably won’t like. Even if you were closer to home, much of your time would be spent with these new people, and consider, even if you stayed home, your siblings may eventually go off to college somewhere too. </p>
<p>There’s a book called “Wherever you go, there you are”. Yes, you can be happy at UVA. It depends on you.</p>
<p>Can you be happy at UVA? Absolutely! The students I have known who are Questbridge scholars are not only intelligent but also resilient, energetic and determined. You earned this by being the type of student who takes full advantage of the opportunities offered to you, so I have no doubt you will do the same at UVA and find that you are very happy there. First year of college is an adjustment for everyone. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Congrats! There are over 27,000 students right now who wish they were holding your acceptance letter. </p>
<p>UVa is a large enough and diverse enough school that anyone can find a group where they are uncomfortable, but not so large that you get lost in a crowd.</p>
<p>The only major downside of UVa is that many of the intro level science classes are too large and the teaching quality of some of those large classes is uneven. UVa is working on this issue with an intent of putting more of the lectures online, so that class time can be used more productively for questions and discussions. The vast majority of profs and classes are great, from everything I am told.</p>
<p>To be honest, I was unaware of such a program. I thought such factors were taken into account with the “whole person” concept during the regular admission process?</p>
<p>ltjenkins - I’m not familiar with the ins and outs, but the student applies through the foundation, listing participating schools who then consider them for admission, usually in ED cycles. The big difference to your basic question is in your scenario AccessUVA funds the education of deserving, qualified, low income students, a program that is stretched right now. With Questbridge the students educations are funded through grants of private and public donors involved with the program.</p>
<p>Fellow Questie here! Are you in the facebook group? You should check that out if you’re looking for more UVA friends. There are at least four other people there that also got matched to UVA, and I’m sure more who ranked it but didn’t get picked and will probably get in RD. So check that out! </p>
<p>There are multiple groups–primarily you want the one called “QuestBridge 2013 Finalists”, not the senior support group or whatever (though of course you can do that one too, but more finalists are in the former than in the latter iirc). We also have a subreddit now apparently, but I don’t think anyone actually uses that. :P</p>
<p>I am still confused…why are Questbridge students admitted via a different process? I understand the Questbridge goals, which are great, but why is the admission process different.</p>
<p>As I understand it, UVa and many Ivy-level colleges have voluntarily agreed to participate in the Questbridge program. It affects a very limited number of students who enter UVa. </p>
<p>It is a nationwide program that is designed to make sure that the most talented and hard-working high school students do not fall between the cracks and miss out on a high quality college education. </p>
<p>For instance, there are many highly talented public school students in the Philadelphia public schools. However, they may end up not attending college at all, or be stuck in a poor quality college (there are many out there). Because of state budget cuts and resulting layoffs, at the start of this school year, there was only one guidance counselor for every 1,500 students. The guidance counselors end up being “crisis counselors” not guidance counselors. That doesn’t leave much time for college counseling, particularly for students whose parents did not attend college and may not be able to provide much help. </p>
<p>Sounds like a good program. I am from Philadelphia…and am familiar with the horrendous quality of the schools that serve the disadvantage parts of the city…truly unfortunate. The only thing I would throw out there is that the is a big difference between schools such as UVA and the Ivy Leagues and the “poor quality” colleges you refer to…most of the schools in the country fall in between those extremes. My grandparents and their kids had little money and went to mediocre parochial schools, then they went to very solid (but not stellar) schools such as Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, etc. etc. Some of their kids and grand kids with to Penn and other IvyLeague schools. My point is that if you need a special program to admit these students, then the match is probably not right. What is wrong with going to Radford, Mary Washington or Longwood if they are more appropriate in terms of entrance requirements?</p>