What are my Chances?

I am an independent student (instate) and I am applying to transfer to UVa as a third year. I would be applying for the BA of Environmental Science and the Specialization of Environmental and Biological Conservation Program. By the end of Spring semester I will have an AS of Physical and Natural Sciences from Piedmont Virginia Community College, and transfer with the maximum of 60/61 credits.

Courses On Transcript/Credits:
History/ Apr. of Art I - Humanities 3
Fund. of Design I- Humanities 3
College Composition II- English Requirement 3
General Biology I & II (Plus Labs)- 8
Chemistry I (Plus Lab)- 4
History of West. Civ. I- 3
Principles of Psychology- 3
Biology of Environment (Plus Lab)- 4
Historical Geology (Plus Lab)- 4
Physical Geology (Plus Lab)- 4
Eastern Religion- 3
Information Literacy- 3

Courses On Transcript After Spring/Credits:
Introductory of Microbiology (Plus Lab)- 4
History of West. Civ. II (Honors Section)- 3
Survey of Western Culture II (Writing Intensive)- 3
Applied Calc. I (Honors Section)- 3
Principles of Sociology (Honors Section)- 3

I am involved with more than 5 organizations. I will have recommendations from two doctors of biology and a doctor of sociology (All have or are working at UVa). I also have my essays written and have been told they were exceptionally good.

With that in mind, I had a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in high school and I have a 3.22 GPA from college as of Fall 2015. I’ve been on the VP List 3 times and most definitely will be on it for my final semester at PVCC. I plan submitting a mid-semester report. (Does anyone know how that works?) I hope to have a 3.6 GPA with my grades at the end of this semester.

Ok so it seems like you have not met the terms of the GAA and/or are not covered by that. And, I’m too lazy to do the math here, but I don’t think it is even humanly possible for you to achieve a 3.6 cumulative GPA by the end of this current (your last) semester in CC, if your current cumulative GPA is 3.22. Possibly you meant 3.6 for the semester alone.

In any case, given that the average cumulative GPA for all UVA transfers is 3.5, I’d have to say UVA is a huge reach for you. Even though roughly 50% or so of in state transfer applicants are admitted, a good portion of those are ones that are covered by the GAA and included in that statistic. So, IMO, in order to be accepted outside of that, everything else on your application would need to be exceptional in order to have a decent shot. And a 3.22 plus a little if you do well this semester in your CC, is not that. Nor is being “involved with more than 5 organizations”. If you had leadership in them, then that is another story.

Of course, I am of the belief that it never hurts to apply somewhere if it is your dream school. UVA reviews applications holistically so maybe something in your application will stick out to them and they will give you a chance.

I’m not sure exactly how the mid term report works. It should be a form on their Common App. If not, they probably have something you can download and get filled out and send back to them.

Please tell me how you calculated my GPA. I plan to have a 3.8 GPA by the end of this semester. How wouldn’t that raise my GPA to at least a 3.5?

@sknepper72 As far as I know, in most colleges GPA is calculated as follows:

  1. for each unit/credit you get:

A = 4 grade points
B = 3 grade points
C = 2 grade points
D = 1 grade point
F -? (verify with your school, I am not sure about F’s, since I never had any).

  1. multiply number of units/credits each class is worth by the amount of grade points you received.
  2. add grade points for each class together to calculate total grade points.
  3. divide total grade points by the number of total units to get GPA.

Now, based on the information you provided, you have a total of 45 units done and 16 in progress.
If your GPA is 3.22 right now, it means that you have 144.9 (3.22 * 45) grade points.
If you are doing 16 units right now, and target 3.8 GPA in them, you will have 60.8 grade points this semester.
Then, your total grade points after spring = 144.9 + 60.8 = 205.7
Divide that by 60 or 61 (your total amount of units) = 3.428 GPA by the end of spring.

It’s lower than required 3.5, but do not be discouraged. Your overall performance seems good (upward grade trend), and it looks like you have some decent extra curriculars, so you might still have a shot.

Sorry, I should have mentioned, even though I will be transferring with UVa’s maximum amount of credits doesn’t mean all my courses are transferring. Therefore, my GPA might be different than what you calculated. I’m currently enrolled in 20 credits this semester. I will graduate from PVCC with a total of 88 credits.

@sknepper72, so you have already finished 68 units with 3.22 gpa? That brings your total grade points to 218.96. Add to that 76 (20 units at 3.8) and divide by 88. You should get something like 3.351… that’s even lower. But that is just my estimate based on the info you provided. I suggest that you contact your cc for a more accurate number of your total grade points.
I would also verify with UV how exactly they view transfer gpa. My guess is only those maximum 60 units will be counted towards it, but they will be able to give you a more definite answer.