<p>You guys will obviously know more about UVA than I will so my question to you all is: why is UVA a top school? I know that in my discipline (engineering), UVA is not anywhere near as desirable as a public like GaTech or Illinois. Does UVA rank highly in the more liberal arts section?</p>
<p>as a parent of a highly successful graduate, you may prefer to hear from current students; however, anywhere, any reference you may check, puts UVA in top running. has as long as i’ve ever looked. i guess you don’t know the school, its reputation nor its rich history. (not to mention its beauty.) it’s long been considered a “public ivy/ elite” and is as challenging to attain as any “ivy” for OOS. altho its engineering isn’t top, whatever that means, anyone coming out of UVA will be noticed.</p>
<p>Gasp, how can someone even ask this ;). This is just a quick list I threw together for you.</p>
<p> Renown academics. People turn down Ivies to attend UVA. I personally have a shot at some Ivies (not a big one 
) and will turn them down any day for UVA. UVA is often considered peer schools with Princeton
. </p>
<p> Amazing faculty this just contributes to the excellent academics.</p>
<p> Unmatched social atmosphere for the academics the school offers. What other schools can you go to that offer D1 sports and D1 academics.</p>
<p> WEATHER this one is self explanatory</p>
<p> Devout (if this isnt he right word, please let me know) Alumni you would be shocked how much the Alumni of UVA love the school.</p>
<p> Everyone at the school wants to be there. I havent met one student or grad who hasnt raved about their time and experience at UVA.</p>
<p> Cost cheap compared too many other top schools.</p>
<p> Fantastic job placement UVA is considered a target for Investment Banking Firms.</p>
<p> McIntire this one is self explanatory (top undergrad business school behind Wharton)</p>
<p> Sports, AMAZING SPORTS</p>
<p> Rather conservative student body (this is a very, very attractive selling point to me), but still all types of people</p>
<p> CavDog</p>
<p> Did I mention weather? :D</p>
<p> What other school do you know of, where a Dean spends hours of her time on a college admissions site and creates a blog solely to help future students. Apart that, the UVA forum on CC has alumni that still stay on the site to help students (Hazel comes to mind first). I think the radiant love shared for UVA by its students is prevalent.</p>
<p>Its rich Jeffersonian History and the influence it has had on American history in general, the quality of alums (from the founder of MIT to Tina Fey to Katie Couric) and its selectivity are some of the facts that make UVA a highly regarded institution.</p>
<p>UVAorBust, I think you’re in love…</p>
<p>Fair enough, thanks for all your input!</p>
<p>Uvaorbust is adorable and would make an excellent alum!!</p>
<p>Lol, thanks guys :D.</p>
<p>For some types of engineering, there may be better choices in the nation, if you only consider academics and research. As noted above, however, UVa offers a much better total college experience than many colleges that are technically oriented.</p>
<p>Traditionally, UVa’s greatest strengths have included business, history, english, premed, prelaw and other liberal arts. </p>
<p>An incredibly high percentage of the people I went to UVa with are now successful medical doctors. Another is a dentist (with a huge house), another went to Harvard Law, another is a very rich owner of a chain of MRI centers, and another is a very rich developer. Another classmate graduated high school a year early, graduated UVa a year early, and then earned a combined law and MBA degree in a total of 3 years. </p>
<p>Since I went to UVa, the admissions have become much more selective.</p>
<p>charlieschm, Alot of the kids that choose UVa’s engineering school do so because of the desire to have a well rounded college experience(as you observe). My son could have probably done okay academically at a place like CMU(his dad’s and granddad’s alma mater) or CalTech (who contacted him about basketball even though they are D3-his math,physics numbers ,AP stuff etc were good enough to put him on their radar) but the social fit would have been a real problem. The engineering school is not as well ranked as many others, but it attracts good recruiting because alot of the recruiters value the combination of smarts and good social skills that alot of the kids seem to have.</p>
<p>That is a very good point sevmom.</p>
<p>Good luck,UVAorBust with your college results! Charlottesville is a great place to spend your college years.</p>
<p>Ohh I know it :D. Thanks again. </p>
<p>I think I’m going to visit UVA one more time just to get my name on the list. I’ve visited before but they didn’t make you put your name down. I know they don’t track interest, but just incase.</p>
<p>UVAorBust, wait until you register for Days on the Lawn. That will be the list you want your name on. :)</p>
<p>Honestly sabaray, all I want my name on is the acceptance list :D.</p>
<p>Gee UVAorBust, it’s all well and good to like UVA but I’m hoping you aren’t putting all your eggs in this one basket. Even if you do get in, your expectations about the entire experience are so high that it’s hard even for UVA to meet!</p>
<p>I’m not to worried ;)</p>
<p>They don’t track interest, so visiting or the sake of showing you want to be there is worthless.</p>
<p>Well, I’m going to visit the school again anyways so whatever. I’m looking forward to leaving this horrible NY weather for a day. However, I just had 2 days in a row off for snow. That is the first time ever for me :D.</p>
<p>UVAorBust–you should go visit, many people on here will say that it’s worthless, but I have two friends who work at the admissions office and if you meet them once and contact them again, they do remember you. I remember I met one of the admissions officer twice and when I got to UVA she recognized me and I kept in touch until I graduated. </p>
<p>PS: My little sister got wait-listed at UVA when she applied last year and I put her in touch with that same admission officer. Networking is very important and underestimated.</p>