What are my chances of getting in after getting deferred?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

I’m in state and got deferred from the School of Engineering… anxiously waiting for regular decisions results to come in.

What are my chances now, since I’m in state?

SAT: 1460
W GPA: 4.37
UW GPA: 3.9

12 APs (at the end of this year)
250+ community service hours
VSCS Summer Academy
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

a bunch of other things that I thought would get me in…

I just need some chances, since I’m in state (high acceptance) and very confused as to why I didn’t get in the first time.

2

Full Stats:

School of Engineering, Biomedical/Bioengineering

[B]Objective:*
SAT I (breakdown): 700 Math/760 CR (1460 Total)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 620 Math II, 660 Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.37
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 205
AP (place score in parenthesis): 8 APs so far, and 4 more this year (12 in all)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics AP US Govt and Politics, AP Comparative Govt, Discrete Math Honors, DE English 111/112, Honors Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, won a bunch of awards at district level (science fairs, etc.)

[B]Subjective:*
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS, BETA Club, FBLA (Historian), Mu Alpha Theta (Treasurer), Scholastic Bowl (Captain), Medical Club, FreshSTART Mentor, VEX Robotics (Captain), SeaPerch (Vice Captain), DECA
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: 250+ hours of community service through various volunteering activities
Summer Activities: Leadership Intern @ Camp Invention, Volunteering at hospital, NASA VSCS Summer Academy, taking courses at local community college (around 30 college credits accumulated w/o APs)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1 (rating 1-10, details): 7
Teacher Rec #2 (rating 1-10, details): 8
Counselor Rec (rating 1-10, details): 10
Interview (if any) (rating 1-10, details): N/A

[B]Other:*
Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): VA
School Type: small competitive public school
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: male
Income Bracket: N/A
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

Thank you!

3

I’m shocked that you didn’t get in early. Could you try having your counselor call up UVA and ask why you weren’t? The fact that you’re a valedictorian of a Virginian high school and didn’t get in is wild! Does your school usually send a good number of kids to UVA? Best of luck!

4

What part of the state are you from? Northern VA is the most competitive. Did anyone else from your school get in?

5

@berkdork you can imagine how shocked and confused I was! And my school is pretty small, only 1000 students.

What do you think of my chances regular?

6

@wisteria100 yep, Northern VA. To my knowledge, only 2 people got in; one of them had a 1300 SAT with a 4.3 (ranked 3) and the other had a 1250 SAT with a 4.1 (ranked 11). The rest got rejected.

We do usually send at least 4 students to uva every year. They’ve always accepted the valedictorian.

What do you think of my chances?

7

I think your chances are really high with those stats. I second @berkdork 's suggestion to talk to your guidance counselor. I also live in Northern Virginia, and at least 15 people from my school got in EA, some with Cs in their GPAs so I am dumbfounded. Were your semester grades strong?

8

@Lisa M I took 2 APs and 1 Honors this semester

2 A’s
2 B’s

My GPA went up
Rank stayed the same

9

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10

Engineering is more competitive to get into than arts and sciences, so that might be a factor.
If your gpa was 3.9, and you had 2 A’s and 2 B’s this semester, which is a 3.5, then how did your gpa go up?
Did you take a language in high school?

11

@wisteria100 I meant weighted GPA.

Okay here’s the breakdown of my first semester , ignore my last post.

DE English 111 - A
DE English 112 - B
AP Microeconomics - B
Discrete Math Honors - A

12

@wisteria100 my uw GPA is probably 3.8 something right now, my weighted GPA went from 4.35 to 4.37

13

@wisteria100 I took 3 years of Spanish

14

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15

They would probably like to see your mid year grades. Right now you have half A’s and half B’s. Also your subject test scores are low

16

@raclut people got in without taking subject tests that had a GPA and SAT lower than mine though

17

You don’t get to see the admissions application file of a student so you don’t know what else on their application is making them stand out. Most students do not get to read their recommendation letters so you don’t know what has been written. Every college is looking for a diverse incoming freshman class. The other student may have applied to Arts and Sciences or another school of UVA where the requirements for an acceptance offer maybe different. The admissions offer isn’t based on GPA and SAT scores alone. SAT reflects performance of one day vs GPA reflects a students performance over time. Still I will say a score of 700 or above in science and math subject tests only validates strength in those areas if applying to the engineering school. The offer rate is 31% for engineering based on the number of applications. 5458 early applications were deferred. All you can do at this point is work on your grades and submit your midyear report. Wait and see and look into other options that would be a good fit for you.

Just an FYI you may later get accepted to engineering but that does not guarantee acceptance to the Biomedical Engineering program. You apply for it spring of freshman year.

“Is there an enrollment cap on the BME Major?”
Yes, the major is currently limited to 95-100 students/year. Admission is based on academic performance and a personal essay. A school-wide application process takes place in the spring of the first year.
Students not admitted as rising second years may re-apply the next year. For the past few years, there have been 2-3 spots available for rising third years.
http://bme.virginia.edu/undergraduate/faq.html#q2

18

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19

@raclut I just want to get into the school of engineering first and worry about BME later haha

20

I know a lot of bme’s are also premed so that is something to think about if you are thinking along those lines.
Doing premed and bme is very challenging and not getting your major is an added stress while trying to graduate on time and keeping your gpa up if considering med school.