<p>i LOVED UVA when i visited, but i was totally turned off when they told us their average SATs & stuff.</p>
<p>Me:
Blk. female from PA
1320 SAT (690, 630).
SATII: 660, 670, 690
school doesnt calculate GPAs or rank but i'd say my avg is around an A-.
5 APs by graduation (1 self-study) & 3 honors courses (school offers limited # of APs)
Lots of EC's & good recs.</p>
<p>my SAT is way low for OOS at UVA. but i LOVED the school so much. should i bother applying?</p>
<p>Why not, what do you have to lose? 1320 is a very good score, even though it may be a little low for out of state standards. The fact you are a minority may help. Also your EC's and stuff might help you out. I'd say you have a decent shot, what do you have to lose?</p>
<p>I agree with dodgerblue, being a minority will definately work to your favor, however for out of state it is a close call. I think if your EC's and recs are as good as you say they are, all you will need is a really great essay and you might be in. I bet your essay will be your ticket in, and you should definately try, if you get rejected you get rejected, so do about 70-80% of the out of staters, good luck</p>
<p>I say go for it. FYI, among UVa's top black professors are English professor Rita Dove, a Pulitzer Prize winning 2-time U.S. poet laureate; and Julian Bond, who's not only a history professor but also the chairman of the NAACP. </p>
<p>Though I'm not African-American, as a student I worked closely w/ the Admissions Office & the Dean of Students Office to recruit and retain outstanding black students. In fact, UVA has the highest graduation of black students among all public colleges in the country - 20% points higher than the next school (which if I remember correctly is either the University of Vermont or New Hampshire) - and higher than 5 of the Ivy League schools and Duke. </p>
<p>Plus, UVA has a huge network in place to help black and other minority students: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.virginia.edu/uvadiversity/%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/uvadiversity/</a>
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/studentprofile.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/studentprofile.html</a>
<a href="http://www.virginia.edu/oaaa/%5B/url%5D">http://www.virginia.edu/oaaa/</a> </p>
<p>Also, check out the Financial Aid & Merit Scholarship thread. I listed a number of African-American scholarships created by black alumni of The University of Virginia for black students.</p>
<p>you can get in with an 1100. your sat doesn't mattter that much i think if you have good ECs.</p>
<p>globalist, why does it matter about graduation rate? do blacks need help to just graduate from college? I don't see whites being helped; but i guess we don't need it?</p>
<p>At many predominantly white schools, some minorities tend to feel marginalized and not part of the system due to racism and discrimination (both subte and blatant.) So, without a network in place to support them, they are more likely to drop-out. UVa has a history of discriminating against African-Americans. Before the Civil Rights Movement, blacks were not allowed to attend the University at all. UVa realizes it has a duty to right to past wrongs and make an effort to ensure all its students feel welcome - rich, poor, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, gay, straight, disabled, whatever.</p>
<p>"pfft, bologne... because they don't understand that there may be a difference in how the brain functions."</p>
<p>O my god. I can't believe that you said that. First of all, AA does not make UVA admissions that easy. This applicant is strong, but being a minority will help. For you to say such a blantantly racist comment like that makes me wonder if most people who are against AA are truly racists at heart.</p>
<p>I am not a racist at all, but I am strongly against AA just because it is simply not fair. It is doing exactly what it is supposedly correcting: discrimminating. And if you think that is false, how is giving caucasians a disadvantage to other racial groups fair? Just because I was born white and not of another race does not make it fair for me to be classified as having more opportunities than those of another race.</p>
<p>Well, consider this. UVA uses legacy in admissions. It didn't desegregate until the 1960's, so hardly any African-American applicant will be a legacy. Thus, that's an injustice.</p>
<p>I understand that in essence, AA is very annoying. But for right now, it's the fairest and easiest way to keep different cultural and racial groups in universities to continue a diverse and broad learning environment, to give more perspectives to UVA students.</p>
<p>AA doesn't give that much of an unfair boost...jf215 appears to be a pretty good applicant and would have a 75+% chance in state as a non-urm. I think race is more of a "tip factor" in admissions, and would infinitely prefer to see race used as a tip factor over legacy status. Caucasians aren't given any kind of disadvantage; if you are an instater, UVA should be well within your reach. Once you get into a certain "stat range" (which isn't all too impressive, compared to what you'd need for ivies), you're pretty much in.</p>
<p>To jf215: You should definitely apply, UVA is a great school and I'm sure they'd love to have you.</p>
<p>AA has its ups and downs. The point of affirmative action is to reward people who have had to overcome something, such as growing up in poverty, like an african american in the ghettos. This person should get have that fact taken into consideration. However, I dont not think blacks should be given an advantage simply because their grandparents were disadvantaged. I also dont see why an african american living across the street from me, with similar stats should get an extra edge. I used blacks as an example, but it applies to any race. In this day and age, being a minority no longer means that you are disadvantaged. 50 years ago, you could definately make a case that it was.</p>
<p>jf215, I hope that people's comments here and at other posts on CC won't keep you from applying to UVa. I think you would do very well at The University of Virginia. You should definitely apply. (FYI, it's interesting to note that the racial group that has the highest percentage of donors to UVa are African-Americans. On average, 27% of all UVa alums donate back to UVa. Over 30% of black alums give back. UVa cares about all its students and alumni, and the fact that UVa truly supports its black students - more so than most other schools do - black alumni are willing to show their support back.)</p>
<p>Regarding Affirmative Action, there are 2 reasons for it. Firstly, it was established to help uplift the disadvantaged who through racial discrimination have been historically kept down. Keep in mind their are still glass ceilings in our society. Though you see more minorities in higher positions, there are still industries where you don't see many upper-ranking minorities at all. In fact, in this day and age, there are still fraternities at individual schools that don't admit minorities. </p>
<p>The other reason for AA to establish diversity at a school, workplace, etc. </p>
<p>In June 2003, the Supreme Court supported U. Michigan's usage of Affirmative Action by exclaiming that "the nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to ideas and mores of students as diverse as this Nation." Moreover the court stated that "major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today's increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints. High-ranking retired officers and civilian military leaders assert that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps is essential to national security."</p>
<p>It is one thing to read about a culture or a group of people, and it's another thing to be exposed to them. Having travelled around the world all my life, I've learned that the best way of overcoming my own ignorance is to learn firsthand about different people and their cultures. I think it would be a disservice to you if a school only exposed you to one like-minded similar group of people. Diversity has its place in academia and society. </p>
<p>Here's a comical anecdote: when I carry a bag of take-out food that I'm bring home or to my office, people make the assumption that I'm a delivery boy - ALL THE TIME!!! I took a cab once, and the driver said to me, "I didn't know delivery boys took cabs." I was valedictorian of my high school, did well on my SATs, got into UVa early decision, am currently a television producer, and yet, people can't get past the assumption that I'm a delivery boy. If that's not a good reason for people to be more exposed to more Asians (who aren't here to bring you your Chinese food), I don't know what is. </p>
<p>Going back to UVa, again the University looks at the whole applicant. Everything you bring to the table is important: grades, SATs, extracurriculars, essays, recommendations, your passion and commitment to the activities you're involved in, the difficulty of the classes you take, the type of school you attended (if you kicked ass though you came from an impoverished school, UVa will take that into consideration), even your character comes into play (specifically because honor is such a big deal at Virginia). Though UVa does want students who have high GPA's and SAT scores, the Admissions Office looks beyond them. What is YOUR story? Does a 1600 SAT and 4.0 GPA by themselves equate passion? Do they show a drive to better society, to contribute to the UVa community? Do they show that you are an honorable person? </p>
<p>The fact that a person is an underrepresented minority is only one facet of his/her application, and UVa uses it as Cavalier302 states as a "tipping factor" - meaning if you're on the border of being accepted or rejected, being a URM might help you over the hurdle. UVa wants students who will make the most of their UVa experience and will enrich the experience of others. The school won't go after a bunch of URMs who are under-achieving. What good is that? Keep in mind that many, many URMs are turned down too.</p>
<p>how can you say diverse? there are people who have alliances with other nations.</p>
<p>i think that having a minority as a president automatically says "omg, they do not discriminate"... it's ccrap. if a white is more qualified, then a white is more qualified. do not undermine a company because there is a lesser qualified but minority. $$$ doesn't work that way.</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson is spinning in his grave.</p>
<p>What does it mean to be "more qualified"? If someone in a genius in writing and has Pulitzer Prize winning potential, but only gets a 600 in Math, should s/he be definitely admitted over a person who may be good at test-taking and gets a 1590 but has mediocre writing skills? Again, there are many factors that come into play in college admissions. </p>
<p>Regarding the workplace, discrimination still happens. The National Bureau of Economic Research did a study where identical resumes were submitted to companies w/ only the names of the applicants being different - Emily and Greg vs. the black-sounding Lakisha and Jamal. The results? There is "significant discrimination against African-American names: White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. We also find that race affects the benefits of a better resume. For White names, a higher quality resume elicits 30 percent more callbacks whereas for African Americans, it elicits a far smaller increase. Applicants living in better neighborhoods receive more callbacks but, interestingly, this effect does not differ by race. The amount of discrimination is uniform across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and employers who list Equal Opportunity Employer' in their ad discriminate as much as other employers. We find little evidence that our results are driven by employers inferring something other than race, such as social class, from the names. These results suggest that racial discrimination is still a prominent feature of the labor market."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873%5B/url%5D">http://www.nber.org/papers/w9873</a></p>
<p>If UVA eliminate AA, they should eliminate legacy, ED, and look at household income. That's probably the fairest thing to do anyways.</p>
<p>By the way, on average UVa legacies have higher GPAs and SATs scores than the average admitted non-legacy student. It's more helpful for out-of-state legacies. Being an in-state legacy really doesn't help your application.</p>
<p>Also, the Admissions Office doesn't look at household income, because UVa is need-blind when it comes to admissions - meaning it won't look at whether or not you can afford to go there as an aspect of your application process. Some schools aren't need blind, and are more likely to admit students who can afford to go there vs. students who can't and would need financial aid.</p>
<p>If they are trying to help people who's ancestors have went through hardships, how come Jews don't get any help from AA? Was the holocaust some kind of party?</p>
<p>Globalist, Just wanted to let you know that your knowledge and wisdom is very much appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>globalist, i agree. jf215 does indeed have a shot... i generally don't agree with the nay sayers (Hoo_29 :p) that you must have a 1400...</p>
<p>what's funny is the mean sat at UVa is a 1320.... so you are fine on your stuff... if you have a unique passion, you will get in.</p>
<p>Lakisha and Jamal are synthetic names that have no european origin, so that may be.</p>
<p>I wonder what results "Antoine" would produce? It is a Belgian based name, but used by a majority of Africans in the West.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how true that is.</p>
<p>I would rather choose a more qualified person than one that isn't... be it black or white. the rest is left to further debate.</p>
<p>Globalist, your words are inspiring. I think the SAT will be pushed back as time goes on. UVa adcoms are probably liberal, so they will agree some of the best inventors did not have the mindset which the CB wants you to have.</p>
<p>dodgerblue, there's another fallacy of AA. there won't be AA in a decade with the majority of students being conservative.</p>
<p>globalist, you are asian?</p>