Transfering to UVA from VCCS

<p>I want to transfer into McIntire from JSRCC (VCCS). Currently I have a 4.0 after 30 credit hours. I have one W on my transcript in a pre-calculus class, which I retook and got an A in. I'm currently taking a BIO 101 class that I'm considering withdrawing from. The teacher has said that he will not curve his tests even though the highest grade on the first test was a 54 (which I got, and the lowest was a 0!!!) On the second test the highest was a 42(which I got, and the lowest was a 2!!!) I have tried talking to him but he just doesn't care. Should I take whatever grade I get in the class or have another W on my transcript?</p>

<p>Fall
BUS125-A<br>
ECO201-A<br>
HIS121-A<br>
MTH163-W </p>

<p>Spring
ECO202-A<br>
ENG111-A<br>
ITE140-A<br>
MTH163-A </p>

<p>Summer
BUS100-A<br>
SPD100-A<br>
HIS122-A </p>

<p>Fall
ACC211-In now
BIO101-In now<br>
ENG112-In now
ITE115-In now<br>
MTH270-In now</p>

<p>Do I even look like a good candidate to transfer into McIntire? Or should I transfer into the College of Arts and Sciences and major in Econ?</p>

<p>i'd drop the biology class. and it looks like you need to get on the ball with a foreign language - if you were wanting to transfer in under guaranteed admissions into the college of arts and sciences, you'd need four semesters of one (if you're missing some classes that may be okay, but you really should get into a foreign language class asap)
also, from what i understand, mcintire is not part of the guaranteed admissions program...again if that's your route...</p>

<p>I wouldn't drop the bio class. It will not look good to have two drops. There's no way the teacher can fail the entire class, I think you'll come out with an A. Teachers just don't want to tell the class if they'll curve or not because everyone will want to know they're curved test and a teacher just won't until the end of the year.<br>
And McIntire isn't part of the agreement yet. You'll either have to apply like all other applicants to McIntire or go into CLAS under the agreement.</p>

<p>I talked to him again and he said they same thing. He told me "if you can get an A in my class you should be teaching it." So I don't think I will be getting an A in his class. I've talked to other kids who have had him and they said the highest final grade in their class was a 72 and there were only 11 kids out of 60 left by the end of the year. There is some good news though, my old high school teacher is going to teach this class next semester. I know I can get an A with her. So should I get the W and retake it and get an A, how do colleges react to this?</p>

<p>There's no way that can happen. He would be fired. I would stick it out, two Ws look horrible. If you can't handle this bio teacher, no offense, but UVA is going to be much harder.</p>

<p>Is there some way to show grade distribution for that course on your application?</p>

<p>Furthermore, have you contacted a dean if this is really the case?</p>

<p>There are professors who do this. At Villanova there is a notorious calculus teacher we have dubbed Ben Stein because that is what he sounds like. The semester after me he only gave out 1 B, 1 C, and the rest Ds. I worked my butt off to get an A in that class. They can grade as they see fit. UVA professors do it too - my roommate had a Spanish professor who refused to follow the department's curving and her class always has lower averages than every other class (tough luck to those who ger her!). My roommate typically got A's in Spanish and she got a B- that semester. :\ Personally I would withdraw and keep the 4.0 but I'm not an admissions officer.</p>

<p>student3311 and hazelorb are right, there really are professors like this.</p>

<p>listen, drop the class, don't worry about the W...it's not like your transcript has a ton of them - shoebox in right that too many W's are bad, but you're in a different situation than most because you're in a vccs institution...if in the future you decide to go in under guaranteed admissions, you will not be able to if any of your courses are under a C.</p>

<p>there is no doubt that uva will be harder - i've been in the community college system for two years now and in all honesty the classes are a joke - i remember high school being harder than these classes - but because of this i try to go beyond the requirements for the course, if it's a literature one, instead of reading an assigned chapter i'll check out the book at the library and read the entire thing, then write an essay on it when only a paragraph is required, i do this because im already very scared about uva and want to soften the blow when i get there - not saying you should go this route, but consider that shoebox is right again in that if you cant handle this bio class, then that might be a sign...but maybe the professor really is a bad one...you know this better than us.</p>

<p>I found out that he was fired over the summer but was rehired at the last minute because another teacher left. I have taken hard classes with hard teacher before but still gotten A's. I got A's in though classes because I work very hard to keep my grades up. I don't want a teacher who will be leaving after this semester to screw it up. I have set up an appointment with the dean for Tuesday, but what can he really do? </p>

<p>My cousins goes to UVA and I sat in on his Ordinary Differential Equations class and his Comm 180 class and no offense they weren't as hard as I thought they would be. I sat in on an Econ class and a Calculus I class at UPenn and they were a lot more intense. I know UVA is going to be harder then Community College, but its not the hardest school in the world. With the guaranteed admissions program you only need a 3.4, why would they admit kids who couldn't handle the work load?</p>

<p>The lectures are a poor example of a course's difficulty. Unless you have taken tests it doesn't really mean anything.</p>

<p>That's true, I didn't take any of the tests.</p>

<p>I agree. DiffEq, in no way, is easy, or even not hard (I think there's a scale of toughness for a class roll through < easy < not hard < hard < ridiculous < ECE 309). I've seen brilliant e-schoolers suffer through the course. So, one lecture is in no way going to prepare you for UVA. It's good that you are preparing in some way, but it's still going to be a shock. There's no way you can withdraw from two classes just because the teacher sucks, unless you do it before the drop deadline.
Personally, I wouldn't drop the class. Instead, I'd bug the hell out of the dean to get a class grade distribution chart for the teacher and send it off to UVA. If the class really is how you described it as, you'll be fine, UVA will see that you pretty much got the highest grade in the class.</p>