@thing3 unlike Michigan, UVA does deny EA applicants — look at UVA blog January 25, 2018. The Dean talks about the Offer, the Deny and the Deferral. The blog has the answers to a lot of questions.
I know that GPA is not that big of a factor for UVA admissions, but is class rank a major factor in admissions decisions?
@blazinamazin2023 Your GPA is primarily looked at in consideration to the rest of your school, so I’d say that class rank is arguably more important than GPA alone; however, keep in mind that your actual transcript is the most important piece of information in your application, so class rank is really just used to contextualize that transcript within your school to see possible grade inflation/deflation.
I’m not an expert by any means though, so I’d recommend looking through Dean J’s blog to find accurate answers
When is the notification date going to be released, or how recently in other years has it been released before the actual decision date?
Most schools don’t report rank these days and GPA doesn’t convey the detail we need. We look at the actual courses and grades on the transcript to understand your academic preparation. I’ve written about this a lot on the blog and twitter. 
@splash42 Check this out: http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-uva-early-action-non-update-update.html
@splash42 Dean J usually announces it on her blog the morning that decisions are going to be released.
Thank you Dean J – appreciate UVA’s method rather than schools like UT Austin which blindly takes class rank without consideration to school competitiveness! A small highly ranked school is treated just like a big public school and even worse grade inflation is a huge problem in our country today! There was a post sometime back —a student with UWGPA 4.0 was the 41st rank among 500 students!!! Yes, most likely 10% of class had perfect GPA --it is becoming a joke!
Dea J - wish people compare kids based on common tests, AP class scores, number of APs taken etc. in addition to other criteria rather than looking at GPA or rank… because there is really no good way to compare across the school in this age of grade inflation that schools and school districts are involved in that is doing disservice to kids from schools who have to work very hard to get a 3.7/3.8 UW GPA average!
@kg2013 Public colleges in Texas use the method of automatically admitting the top X percent of any high school in the state as a means of creating a diverse student body without an explicit use of race or ethnicity (which they are no longer allowed to do). They intentionally do not compare applicants on SAT/ACT scores and other similar criteria and are quite aware that they are not admitting the highest scorers (they also admit some number of kids in addition to the top X percent if there’s room left over). You can probably find info and history of this dating back to the ‘90’s.
@kg2013 for the University of Texas and other public universities in Texas, the Top 10% admission requirement was a law passed by the state legislature, not a specific policy of UT admissions. (UT now actually only guarantees admission for top 6% due to number of applications received.)
@kg2013 the flaw in your idea of how to look at the applications is you have not considered or included the IB diploma students. At our high school IB students can only take 2 AP Classes (History) and 3 AP tests (the 2 History plus they just take the English even though not the course) in their first two years of high school with Jr/Sr being strictly IB curriculum. The IB students do not find out their diploma scores until the summer after graduation so that cannot be a factor. It is a very rigorous program and very hard to maintain a 4.0 average like those who take general honors or AP.
Also there are many really great students out there stuck at high schools where not many (if any) AP courses are offered due to lack of funding or teachers trained to teach them. (Teaching isn’t at the top of many college students list of preferred majors these days, but women’s studies is?! I digress…) I think you have to look at GPA and Rank if they are part of the transcript, but with the context of coursework taken. And I like the ‘holistic’ approach of looking at the full picture (grades, ACT/SAT, ECs, content from essays) and not just the numbers. I haven’t heard anything about grade inflation being a country wide problem in high school. I think that is isolated to only areas of prestige where going Ivey or highly selective is a status symbol. Of course I have heard about grade inflation at certain select colleges where graduate school (medical, business, etc) is the planned next step. Not everyone is able to live somewhere with full upgraded schools or can afford private school, which isn’t necessarily any better, Where we live IMO private school is more of a status symbol and their course work is not any more academic than if you go to public and choose to be in the IB program or take a full load of AP courses. Just my thoughts
i don’t think class rank is an important factor. Most schools don’t do ranking anymore. My DD’s school does not do ranking. We are in Northern VA.
when do decisions come out? i heard it was today
@1legnemh where did you hear that?
no specific place just lots of people at my school have been saying it
people STOP ASKING WHEN! Just follow Dean J on the many places she has said she will post the date! its not that hard to follow directions.
@“Dean J” My daughter’s first semester grades are now out. Should we send them in?Or do you not consider them for EA anyway? Thanks!
A skmother: clarifying point further since you seem to have missed the point.
If there are only two APs given by the school, then if you want to get in to top colleges, you should take those courses and do well and not take easy courses and get straight As --why do you think there are so many drop outs from top programs? The dirty secret there are many kids who are given GPA 4.0 and get in to top honors programs and they cannot maintain the required GPA in college and transfer out of the course…also happens in Ivies! Yes, the colleges do not want to talk about it since it will create a negative press for them!
Just gave an example of APs as part of strength of curriculum? what is the point of pumping a kid to go to an MIT or UPenn or Princeton or UT Honors —if that person cannot handle the rigor and completely drop out of college? Would it not be better to send them to a college that is right level for them and complete a degree?
For some courses, it is important to make sure that the student can handle the rigor – Aerospace, Biochemistry, etc. etc. - starting a club and being class president does NOT merit somebody to go to Comp. Science Honors. We want Aerospace scientist to have strong math skills not just a leadership skills and first chair piano!
Merit and ability to do well in those type of rigorous programs as evidenced by test scores, taking tough courses and scoring well in those subjects, taking SAT subject tests (everyone can take that) etc. should be the major criteria… TIt is high time when we say holistic, we include academic merit too…because too many times, people are trying to use that to replace academic achievements.
I don’t think I missed the point. Just went through the college selection/application process last year. Wanted to make certain to add in the IB factor. It is typically considered the most rigorous course of study (well except for dual enrollment) so if your school offers it you should take it to better your chances of being considered for admissions to the top tier schools. I was just pointing out that you forgot it and it is another factor that boosts acceptance chances.
I also completely disagree that the standardized test scores and AP credits should be the heaviest weight on an application. Some students just do not test well under a pressured timed circumstance. The holistic policy that select Universities are looking at the entire candidate when considering an application helps to even the playing field IMO but also ensures you don’t end up with a campus full of bookworms with no other interests. The top tier Universities are already including academic merit and getting the cream of the crop, but the additional focus on the more human aspect of an applicant (what do you do when you aren’t studying … what interests you … what gets you excited… where is your passion) leads to a more interesting and diverse student population, as well as people who can not only think outside the box but also lead people to that place.
Last year decisions didn’t come out until Jan 25th and they received 15% more applications this year, I know it is hard to wait but I wouldn’t get worked up thinking that they will come out today. They often come out on a Friday but a couple years ago they came out during the week on a snowy day that most Virginia students had off from school so you never really know.
A skmother - know very well about IB and agree it is one of the toughest program. Agree on that point.
But, rest of your post does NOT address the main issue - grade inflation and how to compare schools across different schools, school districts and all over the country!
If we keep bringing some kids cannot take standardized test --how about subject test --they are in the subject of your interest or similar subjects? IF you cannot get a decent score, would you have the ability to handle the course curriculum?
Also, your argument is completely flawed when it comes very rigorous curriculum such as Aerospace, Neuroscience, etc - how does being a social butterfly qualify or participating in debate clubs or Model UN --help you to master the strong math or science skills to be successful in such areas!
Just a friendly suggestion – Go to any Grad Eng school in your area – mid-tier or top Ivies --you will see majority of kids are from outside this country? Do you wonder why? Let us not confuse these social skills (which everyone needs in this inter-connected world) with the hardcore skills to be successful in these areas that require focus and rigor!
Also, you are suggesting, somehow research and being excited about subject is a disqualification!! Some of the top researchers you would see love what they do --many of the grad students in sciences go on weekend to do research because they love what they do? Your opinion that research and love for an area – is something different?
Also, using a term of “bookworm” is clearly not right? It takes all kinds of people to come up with great discoveries – we need knowledge seekers - who are also key part of that process!
Lastly, you are wrong about Ivies! Ivies are the schools that have a much more holistic admission process than many other schools! In fact, you can check, some of the non-Ivies boast about class rank while Ivies do not care about it.
My main issue --let us Not keep coming up with excuses to circumvent merit …see so many people posting 5-8 different clubs, etc. …we all know what is going on!!!