<p>I'm going to be applying EA this fall, and just recently noticed that UVa "strongly recommends" taking two SAT II tests. </p>
<p>In your experience, either having applied, or just generally knowing about the university, would it be a good idea for me to take these?</p>
<p>I don’t know how much value this has, but when my S was looking at schools we interpreted “strongly recommends” as “don’t apply without”. We especially felt that way being OOS for UVa.</p>
<p>Welcome to the UVa forum! Much has been asked, written, and discussed on this topic here. Since you’re not new to cc I’ll make the suggestion that you use the search function at the top right to find previous threads. </p>
<p>Since I’m already responding I’ll give you my take on this. It’s an opinion of a UVa parent who does stay on top of admissions here and elsewhere (another one applying this year), nothing more. When a college states something is ‘strongly recommended’ I advise my student if they have any serious interest in attending that they do their best to be most competitive and include that element. Will people get admitted without that element? Absolutely! This is a matter of putting forth your strongest possible application submission for consideration. At a school that uses holistic admissions lots of things can tip the scales for any applicant, however if they flat out ‘strongly recommend’ an element be included for consideration I don’t see why anyone would leave that out. </p>
<p>This brings me to my opinion on EA, which I’ve posted before and you’ll most likely see if you search this topic in conjunction to EA. It is my opinion that no one should submit EA that could possibly offer a stronger application in RD. If you need to polish your essay, are looking for Sr grades to give you a bump, need to (re)test for the SAT/ACT or SAT2s, anything that would show you as a stronger candidate with a RD submission, then applying EA is simply not in your best interest. There is a slightly higher admit rate in EA. This is not uncommon. This is not because UVa ‘reads easier’ in EA it’s because EA is generally an exceptionally strong pool of applicants. They do not need to test in Sr year, essays are written early, and grades are high and solid. Their applications would be no stronger if they submitted at RD. It is my opinion that an application sent without SAT2s is not that applicants strongest/most competitive submission, so I’d advise testing and applying RD. </p>
<p>Again, these are simply opinions (but you did ask 
). Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>After both reading this thread, and doing my own research, I have determined that it absolutely is a good idea to take the SAT II’s. I just informally looked over the results thread from last year, and although there’s only really a correlation between acceptance and SAT II’s, it appears that SAT II’s help. Today is the last day for registering for the SAT’s in October, and that is exactly what I am going to do. I’m planning on taking Lit and US History, so I will be strong in both.</p>
<p>In terms of needing senior year grades, I know that I don’t. My class rank is 5 (of around 320), and it is almost impossible that it will go up to 4. My UW GPA is 3.94, and W is 4.556. I also have a 33 ACT (twice) and 11 Writing. Would you say my application is strong enough to not need to wait until RD?</p>
<p>Glad you’re going to be able to get those SAT2s in for October. It’s important to note that the only way to get them to UVa for EA is to designate the scores be sent prior to taking the test. In essence you’re sending them blindly, however you seem to test well and be an excellent student so I wouldn’t let that bother you. The caveat being don’t wait to see your scores the third week of October and then decide to send them. Dean J usually writes a post on her blog showing the delay of scores getting to schools for each test date. She does a much better job explaining it!! (You can find it easily via search on the blog, I’d post a link but the iPhone never does this well) Another point Dean J has made several times here is that SAT2s can only help you.</p>
<p>Regarding you personally applying EA vs RD, I try to stay out of these sticky waters, lol. I will say with all of your testing complete, your grades solid (I do not think a one step change in rank that high will alter anything), if you feel you are presenting your best possible application at EA, nothing would be better at RD, then it sounds like it’s the right decision for you. </p>
<p>Hope this helps some. I honestly can appreciate the stress of the application gauntlet. My current hs Sr is right there with you. Hang in there. It honestly goes so much quicker then you think. It’s such a ‘mom’ thing to say but it’s true! The process can overwhelm your life if you let it…make sure it’s just one part of Sr year.</p>
<p>Blue gives great advice. As I mentioned in a different thread, your stats are extremely similar to my son’s, who is now enjoying his 1st year at UVa. He was oos and applied RD. </p>
<p>i will wade into the EA/RD waters, though please know this is just a parent’s perspective - I’m not an admissions officer. Personally I think many kids view EA (and ED) the wrong way, i.e. they view it either as a better chance for acceptance, or simply as a way to “know sooner”. In reality, depending on the school, neither of those may be the case. The pool of applicants is usually at its most competitive during EA, plus colleges know that a higher percentage of those applying EA will matriculate if accepted. In general, EA is more a win-win for the school than the applicant. Also know that in most cases, you won’t know anything about scholarships or financial aid until RD-time anyway, so if that is important to you it may actually make the process more frustrating if you’re accepted EA but don’t know for months if you’ll be able to afford it. Just my thoughts.</p>