<p>I submitted my application on the last day.</p>
<p>Cherry17: the AO hasn't reviewed all the materials I believe, and I submitted mine at Jan.9 (or Jan. 8? can't remember). So I assume my application hasn't been reviewed...And Good luck to you too!</p>
<p>yea, i applied like a few days before the deadline as well.....
but good luck to everyone & congrats to who got one :)</p>
<p>I applied to L&S the day of the deadline and got one. Stop freaking out, only a minute % get one. The vast majority of people get in w/o receiving a letter.</p>
<p>Hey learnmestuff, of course only a minute % get the letter. But the AO has said that they haven't finished reading right~? And congratulation to you too~</p>
<p>But Dean J, I'm just curious about when will be the next wave?</p>
<p>so please tell me someone gets in with less than 2300 and 4.5 gpa. Are all of you just amazing or what? I read the posts for lots of top schools and i am amazed that there are so many people with 2300s and 4. and above uw and a million ecs. So can we sometimes talk about the 2100 sats and the 4.0 w or the kids that work and don't have time for every ec there is?</p>
<p>Cause i am starting to think that everyone i know is either really dumb or will never get into a great school? You guys are either smarter than everyone in my b's entire school or you are exaggerating.</p>
<p>Anyone out there that is more normal? Like maybe 2150 and 4.2 w or maybe 2050 and 4.0. Cause there are only two kids at the school i graduated from that have over 2200 and over 4.3 weighed.</p>
<p>Hey carnut. I think I know what you mean. I am an average UVa applicant. 3.8 UW gpa, 2020 sat, no leadership postions.</p>
<p>so can i put it to the authority and get a response that is not vague?</p>
<p>DeanJ, UVA has to be more balanced than the posts imply? Do you have to be amazing to get in oos or can you have a 3.9 or a 4.0 with a 2100 and get into uva oos?</p>
<p>oh, and not be the star quarterback or a minority or poor!</p>
<p>Dan: It has been stated numerous times on here, by students, LL recipients, and the Dean herself that they are not done with the letters. Even so, the odds of someone receiving one are somewhere between slim and none. I know someone last year with Harvard-level SATs who did not get a letter, but was admitted. Just chill, don't expect one to show up, and just be elated if it does.</p>
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DeanJ, UVA has to be more balanced than the posts imply? Do you have to be amazing to get in oos or can you have a 3.9 or a 4.0 with a 2100 and get into uva oos?
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<p>I think I'm your case study. 31 ACT, 3.93 uw, 4.24 W GPA at a very mediocre public school in CA. I'll admit I was a little suspicious of UVA admissions, I thought exactly what you're thinking, but they've made a believer out of me! I know they really do evaluate holistically.</p>
<p>As for the ECs thing, what you put into life is what you'll get out of it. It's your own fault if you don't run for leadership positions, not UVA's.</p>
<p>The mediocre public school aspect is interesting. I think that if you do very well at a mediocre school and therefore rank in the top 5% is better than if you do just as well in a competitive school and rank only in top 10% or 20%. Therefore it's better (for college admissions) for a good student to go to a mediocre public school than to a very competitive school where everybody is a super genius.</p>
<p>Can't answer that as I'm not an admissions officer! However, there is one PS in San Diego that sent 25 students to Michigan alone last year. Another PS sent 40 kids to UCLA. That doesn't even include the guys that were accepted but chose not to attend. So I think basically if you go to a mediocre public school, it's easier to stand out, but you have more expectations and less leway by admissions officers. If you go to a very competitive prep/public school, it's harder to stand out/rank in the top 5%, but admissions officers know this and thus allow for a lower rank, GPA, etc. </p>
<p>I think there are pros and cons to both, there are schools that send 60% of their student body to Harvard, and schools like mine where 55% go to JC, and ony 35% go on to 4 years (even though the top 10% at my school is very, very competitive). Someone will always think the other has an advantage, but I believe it all boils down to how you play the hand you're dealt.</p>
<p>Agreed but it seems that the mediocre school versus competitive school advantage is particularly true at UVA.</p>
<p>You have to realize they're also looking for a diverse student body, and by diversity I'm not just talking race. Some rich, some poor; competitive h.s., non-competitive; east coast, west coast, etc. etc. There are a lot of factors that play into these decisions. Some are altogether out of one's control.</p>
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Agreed but it seems that the mediocre school versus competitive school advantage is particularly true at UVA.
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<p>I think if you do your research, you will find this very untrue. ;)</p>
<p>And I def agree with chessie, like any great institution, they want a diverse student body, not just an ultra-elite Phillips Exeter type class.</p>
<p>Abslolutely. The goal is diversity. But these high performing students at mediocre schools are often your usual white well-off kids who happen to go to a mediocre school. So IMHO, I'm not sure the goal of diversity is achieved.</p>
<p>Well, that may or may not be true. Regardless, I still think there's something to be said for those who go to a mediocre h.s. and manage to have the ambition and know-how to make themselves competitive to a school like UVa. At private schools, as well as competitive publics, college prep is the name of the game. Not so much w/ poorer districts.</p>
<p>A student taking four top level classes at a school that has a full AP/IB program is very different from a student taking four top level classes at a school where only four AP/DE courses are offered. </p>
<p>Do you penalize the student at that smaller school for not having access to more top level classes? Or, should you look at the fact that the student exhausted the curriculum at their school and give them a chance?</p>
<p>UVa has many, many students from competitive schools. If you lined students up by GPA at those schools, you'd probably see that we go fairly deep into the class. That's why a good portion of the class is from Northern Virginia. Students there have access to fantastic programs. We also have top students from some schools that don't offer the same great programs.</p>