<p>I was rejected from the Virginia Tech Honors college and I would just like to see if there's anyone out there who was accepted so I can find out how I fell short. There's no recourse for rejection from the Honors College at VT. I would also like to know if anyone knows what applying to honors college again after I meet the requirements later will be like, what they consider, ect. </p>
<p>I have about a 4.44 weighted GPA, I'm number 11 in my class out of 286, on the SAT I got a 760 math and a 690 reading and a 720 writing. I take all AP/Honors and I took five AP courses over soph/junior year with two 5's and three 4's and I'm taking four this year. I go to another high school to take calculus III since our math doesn't go beyond BC, I am a member of national honor society and our school's history honor society and I'm Vice President of Spanish honor society, I played football all four years and was varsity for three, I wrestled for my first three years, I was the physics student of the year and AP math student of the year last year, and I went to VA governor's school for Spanish over the summer</p>
<p>Skipper19, Sorry you were not accepted to the Honors program. You seem well qualified but it was probably just a matter of them having more applicants than they had spaces for(not that you “fell short”). You will need a 3.60 once you get to Virginia Tech to be able to apply.</p>
<p>dont worry at all VT honors admissions is very quirky, the most qualified people do not get it… I know many people with 2200+ sats that were rejected from honors, a person who got a rodman at UVA got rejected from VT honors, and even someone who got into Johns Hopkins got rejected from honors…you did not “fall short” at all, you just did not fit the demographic that the honors committee wanted to fill the class (ie it is nearly impossible to get honors if you are a white male from nova). Do not feel slighted if you really want to do honors, you can apply if you have a certain gpa… but if you are doing engineering honors hardly adds anything to your resume…Many of the top students (especially engineers) at Tech are not in the honors program.</p>
<p>That is so weird. You are over qualified for honors. I made it and I have a 4.04 weighted GPA and 2030 on my SAT’s. Im from northern virginia. The only thing I can think of is maybe you didn’t fill out the application completely or maybe it was your essay.</p>
<p>If you just tossed an application together thinking “I got this”, then it probably came off that way. I didn’t participate in application review, but I know that the people involved take it seriously. Honors is determined to stay small and worthwhile. I’m not saying you didn’t try or don’t care (you seem to, since you’re posting here) but just be mindful and ask yourself if you actually tried or not. That being said, prove them wrong, get the high GPA, and apply once you get through a semester or two here. It’s worth it.</p>
<p>I did take it seriously, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to be serious about. Apart from the normal info like class rank, gpa, AP courses, ect., they only asked that you describe three activities and they gave three fillable pdf boxes with space for about 100 words, and I answered those questions to the best of my ability. There was also a separate free form page to write something about honors housing, but you weren’t even required to turn that in. So if they rejected me because it seemed like I didn’t try as hokagesama said or something was wrong with my essay as miketheasian888 said, it must have come down to those three short answer questions, which I have to say, is an awfully small criteria to base a decision on considering everything I’ve tried to achieve in four years of high school.</p>
<p>Honestly, it is shocking that you were not accepted into Honors, though I hope that will not stop you from reapplying to the program after your freshman year.
I was accepted with a 4.4 weighted GPA, 3.8 unweighted (though my grades were low in the high school classes I took in 8th grade and freshman year, I have gotten straight As for almost the last three). I scored a 1380 on the SAT, with a 760 in Critical Reading and a 620 in Math. I was very heavily involved in extracurriculars with leadership in most cases. I have taken eight APs, including this year, and one Dual Enrollment course. I also applied and was accepted to Honors Housing with a somewhat creative essay on finding my identity through other cultural experiences (it’s really hard to actually explain). It may have helped to have the essay to supplement the numbers and short statements that were on the regular application, though the processes may or may not be entirely separate. I hope that this helps, but honestly you seem extremely qualified. Don’t let this deter you :)</p>
<p>It’s definitely disappointing that you weren’t accepted with those impressive stats, so don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way. The VT Honors theme is to ‘be interesting’ so maybe they didn’t notice anything specifically special about you. We’re all just names on pieces of paper. I obviously can’t be sure because I don’t know exactly what you put on the application. I was accepted into Honors and my stats are a 4.1ish GPA, 23rd in a competitive class of about 550, 2030 SAT (680 math, 720 writing), and my major is within the Architecture college. Maybe it’s because I tried to be sure that the board knew that I love painting and spending time doing fun hobbies that set me apart? I guess we’ll never know. But again - I’m so sorry you didn’t get in!</p>
<p>I posted thus in another thread last night, but S didn’t get in either. No clue why. 4.45 GPA, 760 CR / 760 M / 700 W, all IB courses through high school, varsity soccer, French club, piano for 6+ years, certified soccer referee.</p>
<p>I should add that I’m now encouraging S to accept Alabama’s offer. They have bent over backwards to make every applicant feel wanted, and I’ve been very impressed by their organization and the opportunities offered to their top students - for example, they have grown their honors program as needed to give every qualified student a spot rather than reject strong students just to fit the few spots available.</p>
<p>Dominar - it’s always a good to ask yourself whether we as parents are too involved in the application/decision process. Perhaps I’m projected myself onto your postings but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to encourage DS to accept any particular offer (within reasonable bounds, of course). It’s great that Alabama makes you or your son feel wanted. They do a good job selling. The sales job though has nothing to do with the 4 year college experience afterwards. I’m sure that Alabama would be fine but don’t discount VT simply because communications were not consolidated and prompt. Most importantly, I’d advise not making a decision on ANY college based upon acceptance/rejection to an Honors program. I can’t even guess why your son wasn’t accepted. But, if he does attend VT he can get in to Honors if his VT grades are acceptable. There are a good number of VT students with the necessary grades who don’t have any interest in the extra activities required of being in the Honors college. Is your son so disappointed with the Honors decision that he’s no longer interested or is he more of the “that’s bizarre, but whatever” about it??</p>
<p>Be sure you are comparing apples to apples. The criteria for Alabama’s honors program is considerably less than that of Virginia Tech’s honors program. Just glancing at the website, their honors criteria is slightly in line with Virginia Tech’s regular admissions criteria.</p>
<p>Agree with ChrisTKD. Think carefully of discounting VT because of a perceived slight(if VT is otherwise a good fit). As he says, many kids are not even that interested in Honors. My kid passed on it even though he was invited to apply after his first semester. If your son though still does want to do Honors, he can apply after entering VT. Sorry he was not accepted into Honors,Dominar.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, but if you read some of my prior posts, you’ll know the Honors rejection is just the icing on the cake. I was already concerned by what seemed to be a lack of organization, poor communication and disjointed administration. Every organization has a “culture,” and there is a good chance that issues observed in the admissions process will exist in other areas as well. <em>That</em> is what worries more than any perceived slight. </p>
<p>Of course, S may still go to Tech, but I would rather see him go to Alabama. It’s as simple as that. In the end, he will make his own decision (he’s far beyond the age where he listens that much to me anyway, LOL), but I would not be doing my job as a parent if I didn’t share my observations and concerns based on almost 30 years of experience, both as a VT grad and from working with business owners. </p>
<p>But don’t kid yourselves that Alabama is somehow inferior to Tech. Actually, I’ve always felt (again, check my prior posts) that they were remarkably similar. In fact, prior to this Honors thing, the only difference between them was cost (UA is $36K cheaper for us than Tech) and distance. Now, with Honors added to the mix, I think the scales have tipped. </p>
<p>I don’t see why it should matter at all if the UA Honors program admits kids with a 1200 SAT – more power to them – so long as it also admits students with a 1520 SAT. Personally, I find that much better than a program that can’t manage to find a place for all qualified students. YMMV.</p>
<p>The cost difference for you is certainly significant and lots of kids seem to be very happy at Alabama. Good luck with the final decision and good luck to your son!</p>
<p>“I don’t see why it should matter at all if the UA Honors program admits kids with a 1200 SAT – more power to them – so long as it also admits students with a 1520 SAT. Personally, I find that much better than a program that can’t manage to find a place for all qualified students.”</p>
<p>Good point, and I actually agree. However, isn’t much of this college admissions hoopla surrounded around stats and averages? If so, VT’s are higher (if that’s important to you or not).</p>
<p>My comment was make sure you were comparing apples to apples. UA valued something that VT didn’t. If both schools have different criteria, then getting into one shouldn’t really be compared to the other.</p>
<p>IMO and from what I’ve seen, VT isn’t always as “statistical” as it’s put out to be, especially when it comes to honors. I think they look for creativity, initiative, and passion. Qualities, not Quantities. Getting high stats will never <em>guarantee</em> anything at VT. Just because a student meet/exceeds the requirements to be <em>invited</em> to the honors program will not hold all the bearing on the actual decision process. This isn’t regular admissions. The goal of the honors program seems to be to create a diverse atmosphere with an emphasis on a love for learning. If an applicant dishes out the application in a perfunctory manner (standard essay, recommendation, etc) without being creative or letting a passion shine, then the student may come off as just a regular student. I’ve heard about the infamous “last page” of the honors application. A blank piece of paper left for the prospective honor student to do what he or she likes with it. I think this may be where students make/break the application. </p>
<p>Moral of the story: Don’t assume you’re a shoe in because of high numbers. </p>
<p>Disclaimer: I’m no VT expert (just a VT hopeful for c/o '14), this is just my opinion.</p>
<p>You are probably right, VaCollegeGirl, and I guess a lot depends on what you expect from the Honors program. Should it be a program that offers talented students challenging classes, closer contact with professors and opportunities to explore and expand their horizons, or should it be a “mini-Ivy” wannabe? If the former, then all qualified students should have a place. If it’s the latter, then frankly, it sounds more like UVA than Tech. </p>
<p>“Creativity,” “initiative” and “passion” are all well and good, but they are very subjective terms that, when applied in the applications context, will inevitably reward students with a certain personality type and skill set, while ignoring others who, like DS, are more cautious – the kids who prefer to observe, analyze and think before jumping in. The kids who never raise their hands in class (because they don’t care if anyone else knows that they know the answer), but who contribute very deep and thoughtful replies when called on. The kids who don’t have a dozen ECs on their resumes, but who pursued 1 or 2 interests over many years. The kids who don’t load up on volunteer hours in a quest to fill out their application, but who quietly help people in their own way every day. The kids who aren’t into writing flowery prose, but who can logically and methodically break down your argument in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>If what you say is true, and it probably is, then I understand why DS was not accepted into the Honors Program. But that doesn’t change the fact that I expected VT to be better than that.</p>
<p>Actually, I agree (in part) with the personality comment. The Honors program isn’t just a club for the people with the highest GPA’s. An Honors student is suppose to embody the VT spirit. However, I don’t think it means to exclude those who are more reserved/introverted. I think that maybe the admissions process tries to give chances to the students who may not have all the amazing stats but have other redeeming qualities. Like I said, I’m no VT expert, but this is just the feel I’m getting from all these Tech threads and their website. I can understand your frustration. Your S has really impressive stats, and will without a doubt be successful regardless of which college he attends.</p>