Hey, rising senior in high school here. I’m new to this forum, so apologies if this is the wrong place to ask a question or two.
How much does VT value extracurriculars and the Ut Prosim essays as opposed to academic records? I have a few extracurriculars (mainly work, which is ~30h a week), but no leadership positions (besides from work). However, my academic work is quite impressive (or at least I like to think it is). Any thoughts on this?
Secondly, with the overflow of accepting students last year (2019), will class of 2021’s acceptance rate be lower or harder to get into? Additionally, the same can be asked considering many students might have taken a gap year due to COVID-19 (they would then be part of the Fall 2021 class).
Thanks for any help!
@WreckedStudent21 If you take a look at VT’s common data set, they identify the key areas used for evaluating applicants. Rigor of coursework, GPA, essays, and standardized test scores all are categorized as “very important”. Prevailing opinion seems to be less reliance on standardized tests (many schools are starting to go optional with those).
Unfortunately, no one on these forums or any other is really going to be able to give an even remotely accurate prediction of acceptance rate. If you take a moment to read through past-years “chance me” threads and compare to results, you’ll see it’s a crapshoot.
That said, you might be a little thin on the extracurriculars if all you have is employment. (But if there are compelling reasons why employment was your focus and those can be communicated in your essays, that may go in your favor). Most everyone who applies to prominent state schools has work, volunteer, NHS, varsity sports/clubs experience. Leadership is a big differentiator.
If your school uses Naviance or some other data capture system, check with the guidance office to see if you can get stats on past applicants from your HS. That is as accurate a predictor of your chances as you will find.
Good luck!
I appreciate your response. Regarding extracurriculars, I have a few church-related activities, along with two years of track, but not a ton of leadership positions. I’m assuming I can’t be the only one without lots of specific leadership positions, but I understand their importance. Naviance places me well, but who knows? There’s always a few people in the “green area” that still got denied.
One more question for you: Is dropping from AP Lang my junior year to Eng 12 HN my senior year a bad move regarding course rigor (everything else is DE & AP). What about disregarding a 4th year of foreign language?
I appreciate you help and look forward to giving back when the time comes.
@WreckedStudent21 Unless the major you’re pursuing requires or suggests 4 years of foreign language, I would encourage you to use that spot for an add’l AP or DE course.