<p>my d, now a proud UVA graduate is one of those OOS PUBLIC school kids! (altho a "Newsweek" rated public.) most of her friends WERE NOT from private schools. and compared to a lot of others, UVA definitely does not have a rich-kid tone. it's all relative, i guess, but she went to UVA BECAUSE it wasn't snobby and pretentious!</p>
<p>wow, it's interesting the amount of conflicting opinions we get here. the majority say it is very well-off and preppy, but then there is the occasional poster who states that all of that is incorrect. this is why it's so hard for me to get a good feel for the school, i guess. i don't know who to believe.</p>
<p>Wealth doesn't instantly equal preppiness, but having so many $100,000+ (58%) and $200,000+ (20%) student family salaries is a lot of money in one school, particularly a public one.</p>
<p>The</a> Cavalier Daily</p>
<p>I don't know any specifics about OOSers and their attendance of of private/public high schools, but I can say that I've spoken to one of the Board of Visitors members and she said that the vast majority of OOSers are from private schools.</p>
<p>"the facts is facts" and the average income of majority of UVA students being high especially for a public college is not disputed. The issue is whether or not YOU could embrace a college with a very eclectic culture as described above. Dressing up for certain traditions, a big Rugby Road Greek life that is robust and perhaps rather southern, and a relaxing small city not that far away from DC and Richmond, a state university that also serves the more rural part of the state, a college that has a pretty impressive financial aide package for students with low EFCs, a college with a pretty impressive endowment campaign underway that will alter UVa and some day make it have definite private and public aspects. I know it is hard to figure out colleges from far away, but I have to say I cringed when you called USC kids stuck up brats (?? bit harsh, even if it is the stereotype), and I would suggest that you also try a bit harder to believe those of us who are telling you that UVa kids are also not easy to stereotype. I lived in 14 states, including LA in CA, and am a military kid, and can tell you that UVa feels great to me re variety. There is a southern thing re manners there but also a rather busy Middle Atlantic state vibe, too.<br>
I live in the Non-NOVA..northern VA part of the state. We have weaker schools with lesser performances but also send our top students to UVa. Our parents are in general less affluent and less educated than those residing in the DC burbs. Our students from the quieter and more isolated corners of the state also love UVa for its great college town feeling, physical beauty and for the opportunity to meet so many OOS people and to mix people from the transient part of the state in NOVA. I personally know a few kids in the more Birkenstock/arty crowd and some in Greek life.<br>
Re affluence in colleges. You are going to meet kids from affluent families with mega career path parents at any top public or private institution. UVa is a top public and so the students you meet there will resemble the students at many very expensive private colleges. Some handle their affluence with quiet grace and some can be brazen about it. In general, though, college is the last great level playground, and no matter where you end up you will be seeing your peers for who they are without the full impact of their advantages or disadvantages in play.</p>
<p>UVa is definitely preppy and well off, but like some people said before not more so than other peer institutions</p>
<p>A lot of the kids who are in-state come from public schools. However, many OOS students do graduate from private schools. Both my friends from SoCal went to top private schools like Francis Parker and Marymount. It should also be cautioned that students from out-of-state that attend private schools can opt to go to UVA because they are financially more well-off than those attending public schools.</p>
<p>Faline2 - What is the non-NOVA northern Virginia part of the state?</p>
<p>vc08~ i'm sorry for your conflicted feelings. sometimes TOO MANY opinions can be a problem, as this is all so subjective! ( my kids and i didn't even know CC existed before they went off to school!) i'll do my best to further comment...and this has to be a case-by-case discussion, which is why i think you feel confused. UVA is a "Public Ivy", in all the "elite" books. that automatically sets it apart from many other "state" schools, so the comparison to those is already weakened. SINCE it is an elite school, ESPECIALLY for OOS admissions, many applicants have also looked/applied to the ivies, and other high TierIs. that being said, UVA comes up as really diversified in terms of everything....geographical,cultural,economic,style of dress, etc. compared to the typical ivy, et al. but because it remains a state institution, it MUST take around 66% from the VARIOUS cities and towns throughout VA. that is where a lot of socioeconomical diversity comes in....kids literally come from off their tractors from VA farms(we knew such a kid), from across the nation, to tons of grad from Nova's Thomas Jefferson High.
again, it's ALL RELATIVE! financially speaking we were thrilled our d got in OOS for that reason, too! compared to the others she applied to in this high-end category, UVA IS and remains a steal! (just check out other tuitions, for COMPARABLE schools!) hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks happycollegemom, that really cleared some things up. I haven't even gotten around to checking tuition, all I know is that Michigan is 43k per year, and my parents will pay for 25k (cost of going to a UC school). So needless to say, I need to keep my options open.</p>
<p>tennis: I have some friends who go to Francis Parker, and I can pretty much tell right now that there is no way I'm getting in here lol. I have very good grades and very solid test scores, but I do not go to a competitive school, rather a mediocre (at best) public school in San Diego, where about 25% go to 4 year colleges (lower level state schools), 55% go to community college, and the rest either go to trade school or into the military. So I think I may have answered my own question on this thread lol.</p>
<p>Faline: Thanks for the input. I'd call USC kids that again, no regrets on that one (sorry :) ). I have a few friends who are huge legacies there, and they refuse to even apply bc of the overall arrogance of the school. There is a clear cut of elite students at our school: the modest, subdued ones go to Berkeley and UCLA, and the ones who think they know everything but actually don't go to SC. Truth hurts sometimes I guess, though it is a very good school academically.</p>
<p>Thanks again guys, I really appreciate all of the thought you put into your responses.</p>
<p>one question though: several of you mentioned that UVA is not as preppy/arrogant (or whatever you wish to call it) as some of its "peers." Which peers are you talking about. Because as much as I loved UVA's history and beauty, the other top public schools I've visited several times and not felt the "edginess" that was present at UVA.</p>
<p>ooh, those would be good ones. How would KU and Oklahoma end up in the same bowl though, don't they play each other in the Big 12 championship?</p>
<p>re my sleepy double negative..dudedad..meant to put Non-Nova (not Northern Virginia) in my post...so OOS kids would know what Nova stands for when abbreviated. My point being that many kids from more humble corners of Virginia get seats in the freshman class..with students from OOS top private and public high schools, and kids from Virginia's outstanding Nova high school counties schools. Our kids from my more rural, quieter corner of UVa survive the "elite" aspects of the college just fine, and don't seem to be at all affected by those who are much more affluent in a negative way. I personally am amazed by the alum loyalty aspect to UVa...so many of my peers are graduates, and there just has to be something in the water or the air...this week spent time with local HS grad who did UVa undergrad, Harvard School of Design (architect), yesterday a UVa grad did a doc apt for our son, and so on. Kid up the street in the engineering program.<br>
I went to a smaller LAC, so I always ask everyone I meet about their UVa experiences. I keep waiting for the complaints about class size for instance. I have collected a ton of praise from quite a variety of people. It is also quite small in size for a public.</p>
<p>sorry about my last post lol...that was supposed to go on the berkeley thread, no idea how it ended up here ^_^</p>
<p>Actually, there are parts of northern Virginia that aren't really "NoVa". When people think of NoVa they think of congestion and hordes of middle and upper middle class folk huddled closely together in overpriced housing. If you look at a map, you'll see that much of northern Virginia is not NoVa.</p>
<p>When moving to VA from MS I stated I was moving to "northern Virginia". I was quickly corrected as I was moving to Frederick county, not "Northern Virginia". Glad to see someone else can read a map and see that Frederick county is in the most northern part of the state, and therefore "northern Virginia". I guess it's not "NoVa" though. P.S.- I moved from east-central MS and I'll bet you can look at a map and figure out where that is!</p>
<p>vc08~ only my opinion, and based on our experience....peers= Georgetown,Duke,and the ivies,Tufts...does that help?</p>
<p>UVA is very much inferior to most of those schools. Georgetown is the one possibility out of that list, but I don't know much about Tufts, which I think is an LAC.</p>
<p>UVA's peers for an undergraduate education are Michigan and Berkeley, and possibly UNC and Wisconsin, as well as some of the second tier private schools, like Georgetown.</p>
<p>It's funny...I encounter many people who think UVa is the peer of the Ivies. While there are plenty of students who apply to the Ivies and UVa, they aren't true peers. In reality, we cross with schools like Duke, Emory, Tulane, Vandy, Wash U, Northwestern, and some other flagship, state universities (UNC, Berkeley, Michigan, etc.). Of the state schools, I'd say UNC and Maryland are at the top of the list.</p>
<p>Maryland???</p>
<p>Maryland due to proximity. We great the greatest number of applications from Virginia, but second place goes to Maryland. I think a lot of students in MD apply to their flagship to have one option close to home.</p>
<p>I think some people have a different definition of "peer institution" than the one used by admission officers. It is not about the reputation of the school, it's about the applicant pool.</p>
<p>I understand.</p>