<p>I have been getting mixed messages about my chances at UVA. Here is my info, can I get some feedback?</p>
<p>Virginia Resident
Ethnicity/Race: Hispanic
First Generation Student
Gender: Male
College Class Year: 2012
High School: Public 1st three years; Private for Senior Year
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: No</p>
<p>Academics:</p>
<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.2
Class Rank: School does not rank and will not estimate
Class Size: 49</p>
<p>Scores:</p>
<p>SAT I Math: 600
SAT I Critical Reading: 660
SAT I Writing: 630
ACT: 28/with writing
Taking both ACT and SAT again in December
Took: US HISTORY SAT II, Math I, English Lit (Awaiting Scores)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Class President 9
SCA 9,10,11
Yearbook Editor 10,11
Key Club 9,10,11,12
School Magazine Photographer 11
Quill and Scroll Honor Society 11
Church Youth Group 9,10,11,12
Mission Trip 11,12</p>
<p>Cross Country 12
Swim 12 (Community Swim 9, 10)
Guitar Ensemble 12
Drama 12</p>
<p>Completed Outdoor Survival Camp 8 weeks at Highest Rating (Outward Bound style Camp, Low Impact) Summer of 11th</p>
<p>The reason I asked about your location is because coming from Northern Virginia you have very little chance of getting in because so many people apply, but if you are from rural parts of Virginia where few people apply, they have quotas that they need to fill (since it is a state university) and in that case you would have a very good chance. I live in Arlington and most people that get in have around or above a 4.0 GPA and above 2000 on their SATs.</p>
<p>Don't know @UVA, but where we are from, the state colleges don't say we can take 3 from this county, 4 from that, etc. You are ranked against IS students. Racked and stacked. Be happy read chances threads for OOS, they have same GPA but a couple hundred more on SAT and still get rejected.</p>
<p>They do have quotas because people in every county are paying the same taxes to provide for the University and people in more affluent parts of the state who have better opportunities for education would grab all of the spots if they did it based merely on credentials. This is just another form of Affirmative Action...it isn't all based on race/ethnicity</p>
<p>Wow, that's interesting. They don't do it here. Even for the full ride scholarships. And tes, we have very rural areas identical VA and suburban areas with high scoring schools like Fairfax</p>
<p>I haven't been told this by UVA admissions or anything, but by teachers at my school...and it makes sense considering the only people who are admitted to UVA from schools in Northern Virginia have scores significantly higher than the middle 50% range of scores found online and those who fall in that range rarely are accepted.</p>
<p>I don't believe there are actual quotas. UVA's admissions department seems very sensitive to class rank, so if you fall outside the top 10% pretty much anywhere in Virginia, your chances go down.</p>
<p>Naturally, it's easier to be in the top 10% in, say, Henry County than it is in Fairfax County, and being at or near the top of your class may very well outweigh low SAT scores. It's just that, in N. Virginia, anyone at or near the top of the class is likely to have very high SAT scores in N. Virginia, and that may not be the case in other parts of the state.</p>
<p>In the end (as I recall), about half of all IS students at Virginia hail from N. Virginia, and the other half from the rest of the state.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm not arguing or anything, but I'm just saying scores like the ones presented would not fly if you were applying from Northern VA because of who you are competing with but may at some other school because the competition is not as great (basically reiterating what you said.) Also, you'd think that the rest of Virginia would be pretty angry if only the rich kids from Northern VA got the benefits of instate tuition while everyone is paying taxes. I think we're both kind of saying the same thing, maybe you're just explaining it better.</p>
<p>It's almost the same thing, but with a twist. My best guess is that UVA pays a lot of attention to class rank. Naturally, that's going to favor those who face weak competition over those who don't (but there are NOVA exceptions. TJ sends a lot of people who aren't top 10% to UVA). While it's probably true that non-NOVA counties would be angry if UVA accepted only NOVA kids, I can assure you that many NOVA parents get angry when their kids don't get in but some kid from Wise did. So it probably balances out.</p>
<p>The subtle difference in what we're saying has to do with motive. I have no reason to believe that UVA's motive in all this is to keep the non-NOVA parents happy, and I would be willing to be there are no quotas, and this this has nothing to do with affirmative action.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if Warrenton and surrounds is considered NOVA or not. If not, it must be right on the edge of NOVA.</p>
<p>Hey, chances are, there's an admissions officer at UVA that's familiar with your school. If it doesn't rank, there may be a reason (like, the 49 kids there are above or well above average in academic skills). So, that 3.2 might be a lot better than it looks. The upward trend will help. </p>