OOS is so darn hard - what's my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

<p>Female, Age 16, Buffalo, NY, White
Estimated Class Rank: 10-20/275ish
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 96/100
SAT: M: 640 V: 730 W: 730 (1370/2100)
SAT II: US History: 680 (OUCH! RETAKE!!)
Total APs by graduation: 6
So far, AP scores: AP European (4)</p>

<p>Classes:
Freshman year:
Biology Honors, 90. Regents Exam, 93
Design Drawing for Production, 100. Exam, 93
Global History I, 94. Exam, 96
English, 95. Exam, 98
Latin, 99. Exam, 99
Math, 90. Exam, 89
Advanced Spanish, 93. Exam, 96</p>

<p>Summer school to get ahead: Global II, 97. Regents Exam, 97</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
English, 100. Exam, 99
Math, 97. Exam, 88 Math A exam: 95
Advanced Spanish, 98. Exam, 99
AP European, 97 Exam, 98, AP: (4)
Advanced Latin, 99. Exam, 95
Earth Science Honors, 93. Exam, 94
Business and Personal Law, 99. Exam, 100</p>

<p>Junior year so far:
AP American, 99
English, 100
AP Government, 97
Advanced Spanish, 96
Advanced Latin, 97
Chemistry Honors, 96
Math, 95</p>

<p>Pretty steady incline in grades...</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Freshman year:
~ Class President
~ Principal's Advisory Council
~ Pep Club, Ambassadors' Circle, a couple others...can't remember...
~ JV Cheerleading (Most Improved award, lol)
~ Community service program (25ish hours over summer)
~ Latin award: Summa cumma laude - National Latin Exam</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
~ Student Congress representative
~ Principal's Advisory Council
~ Student Recognition Council (secretary)
~ Environmental Club (secretary)
~ SADD (Officer of Publicity)
~ Best Buddies (Officer of Publicity)
~ JV Cheerleading (MVP award)
~ Town of **** Supervisor's Youth Council
~ Community service program (50-ish hours)
~ Youth Consortium (promoting leadership and wise choices in younger teens)
~ Awards:
~ NY State winner of Essay Contest
~ Published in Parade Magazine: fresh voices
~ Featured: "Someone You Should Know": town newspaper
~ National Latin Exam: Silver Medal
~ Kodak Young Leaders Award
~ HOBY Youth Conference (summer)
~ National Young Leaders Conference (summer) (Assistant Majority Leader of Model Congress)</p>

<p>Junior year:
~ Co-President of Environmental Club
~ Vice-President of SADD Club
~ Student Congress Executive Board
~ Principal's Advisory Council
~ Student Recognition Council
~ Youth voting member of Town Board
~ Youth Consortium
~ Community service program: from summer 2004-present: 100+ hours
~ National Honor Society (maybe President -- running next week)
~ Varsity Cheerleading
~ Keynote Speaker: Junior National Young Leaders Conference
~ Girls State Nominee
~ 2006 NY State winner Lewis and Clark essay contest
Won: all expenses paid trip to North Dakota to learn about Indian heritage and walk the trails of Lewis and Clark.</p>

<p>~ WORK: Busser at restaraunt (May 2005-present, 12 hours a week)
Only member of family employed at moment due to father's cancer
Hostess at another restaraunt (Jan. 2006-present, 7-8 hours a week)
Intern at law office for summer 2006 (total 55 hours)
^ Will try and get an actual job there for senior year</p>

<p>Also, neither parent went to college...if that helps?</p>

<p>How do I look for out of state? It's too bad it's so hard to get in!! Do I have a hook, too? THANKS!!</p>

2

<p>how would you possibly not get in?</p>

3

<p>ok either your school is way too easy or your a genius with those grades haha..or perhaps an EXTREMELY devoted student XD </p>

<p>"how would you possibly not get in?"</p>

4

<p>What do you mean, nyyankees? It'll be tough for her.</p>

<p>getouttabuffalo, you have a solid shot. It'll be tough, though, as nothing about you particularly stands out. Rather than retaking your SAT2 history, you should retake the SAT - 1370 is low for an OOS'er.</p>

5

<p>You have an awesome shot! I got a 690 on my SAT II US hist, so that's definitely an okay score. you should retake the SAT Is if you have a chance, though - if not, it's not the end of the world - your grades are amazing and up to UVA caliber! another thing - do you want to go into politics? you seem to have a lot of government type experience on your hands - if so milk it and focus in on your activities to reflect that - better a few dedicated activities towards a good goal than 57024375054760596 pointless activities that change every year. or so they say.</p>

<p>chances threads are stupid, though. everyone is different! if you are meant to get into/go to a certain school, then you will get in. if uva is for you, you will be a good match and the admissions officers will see that, or you will go somewhere else where you will fit. best of luck, and just remember - high school is about high school, not giving up 4 years (or even 1) to get into a college. =)</p>

6

<p>I wouldn't go so far as to say that the OP has an awesome shot. She has a solid shot for an OOS'er. </p>

<p>I strongly doubt that the admissions office would look for a UVA-specific match - such a thing would be nearly impossible to determine. They, like any other admissions office, look for strong, interesting students. If the OP's app jumps out at them, she'll get in. To me, she appears to be fairly average.</p>

7

<p>:-( My ECs are just average? </p>

<p>Thanks guys for all your comments. I definitely will retake the SAT and write great essays. Give it my best shot. Any other ideas?</p>

8

<p>EC's are not and should not be a major part of the admissions equation. UVA is an academic institution, not some giant EC fun park. If you've got good numbers, good EC's can seal the deal, but you look like the typical overachieving applicant that any top college gets. Your chances would improve if you could raise your SAT 100+ points.</p>

9

<p>Friend of my D's who applied in 2003 had V800, M740, both parents alumni, rank 4/300+, 4 yrs. varsity sport, many ECs and didn't get in!. Sure thought she shoulda/woulda---so you never know. </p>

<p>Friend of son's 2006 class, rank 3/300+, SAT over 700 each section, parents alumni and did get in. Also eagle scout, 2 year varsity sport, community service.</p>

<p>You never know--think alot depend on that year's applicant pool.</p>

10

<p>The applicant pools haven't changed too much over the past few years. There are anomolies, but in general, people with good stats get in at higher rates than those with average or below average stats. There's no point in obsessing over outliers.</p>

11

<p>I would say you've a great chance, but try to get that math score higher. Much higher. And I'd agree with cav that while your EC's do look spectacular, most applicants have them. I had more than those. =P</p>

12

<p>thanks for your honesty. this is why it's a reach.</p>

13

<p>Cav302, I think you're being a little harsh. Maybe it's just me, but I think the OP has a strong personality and she really just jumps out at me in a good way. OP, I think you have a very good shot. Make sure your essays are strong and reflect who you are, make sure you let your personality shine through. No matter how many times Cav says that UVA is about the numbers, I will never believe it. One of the admissions deans, Parke Muth, made it very clear to me at the info session before I applied that the essays and the students' character was very important, and I think it must have been to explain my admittance and Echols standing. So good luck, don't get discouraged; nobody on CC, including myself, but with the possible exception of Dean J, really knows anything.</p>

14

<p>How many times have I said that UVA is all about the numbers? Look, UVA accepts fewer than 30% of applicants, and when you take out athletes and legacies, the rate is even lower. The accepted pool will have average scores in the high 1400's - well above what the OP has. The admissions process places heavy emphasis on BS soft factors AND on numbers. When you're accepting such a small number of people, you can afford to be that selective. The OP will have below average numbers for an OOS applicant, thus making things that much more difficult for her. Parke Muth and Dean J can lie through their teeth all they want about how "little" SATs and ranks "matter", but the numbers bear out that people with good stats get in at a higher rate than those with average or weak numbers.</p>

15

<p>Calling Dean J! Care to comment? Are you out there?</p>

<p>Honestly, thank you cavalier. You are being very honest and accurate but you could be a little nicer about it. lol</p>

16

<p>Well, I don't think I was being mean. As it is, CC has too many sugar coated responses and too few realistic responses. It's better that you go into this with a healthy bit of skepticism and cynicism than blind hope and positivity.</p>

17

<p>

:D That has to be the best post ever. this advice should be given to everyone who posts a "my chances" thread with a million ECs .</p>

18

<p>"CC has too many sugar coated responses and too few realistic responses"</p>

<p>well said.</p>

19

<p>Look, if you are the typical, white, fairly well off applicant, then yes, you will have some difficulty getting in. Since you're willing to go OOS out of NY and pay 30-40K a year at a public college I would assume this is the case.</p>

<p>However, looking at some of your other stuff (parents did not go to college, only employed person in family because of unfortunate events) you may not be the standard OOS applicant from what I can gather, though I don't know everything about your personal life. If, as I said, you aren't the typical white applicant than you can elicit these kinds of things in your essays, which will correlate to your success in school. It's not going to be an instant admit, but it does give good insight into your life (and not the standard BS insight that people write about in their essays all the time). </p>

<p>From what I remember in the self evaluations admissions offices do, UVA said it places high emphasis on your class rank/GPA and your essays, whereas SATs are the next step down. All three together make up the core of your application, so you'll need to top it out as much as possible and not focus to much more on secondary factors like ECs and what not. You'll also want to be >1400 to better your chances.</p>

20

<p>^ kk well yeah i'm not wealthy so thats basically what you are getting at. and im not saying its an EC fun park but they are my strong points...besides my 4.0. :) and yea ill try and get over 1400. summer studying!!</p>