Why did UVA deny me??

Applying to College
1

<p>On January 21st, I received an email saying my Early Action Admission results were available online. Slightly skeptical, I logged into my account and discovered that I was not offered admission. Can someone tell me why? I thought I had a good shot. </p>

<p>WGPA: 100.4 (4.2)
Unweighted GPA: 93.6 (3.8)
Rank: 49/643
ACT: 31
SAT: 1940
I've taken a total of 9 AP & 11 Honors classes.
I'm the president & co-founder of a music club at my school that goes to nursing homes & hospitals to play for the residents & patients.
I've been in the top concert band (Symphonic Band) at my school all 4 years.
I've been on the school golf team all 4 years and was senior girl's captain.
I've volunteered at a local hospital for two summers, totaling over 100 hours.
I'm in NHS & National Foreign Language Honors Society.
I'm also in other minor extracurricular clubs & I've been working at a part-time job since last summer. </p>

<p>My main CommonApp essay was pretty strong, but I'll admit I didn't spend as much time on my supplementary essays (I thought they were a minor part of the admissions consideration). Also, I didn't take any SAT Subject Tests, which were strongly recommended.</p>

2

<p>Go to the UVA admissions website and read through the excellent blog done by Dean J. Lots of excellent information there. Bottom line - for every spot, UVA had ten kids like you applying. They can’t admit everyone.</p>

3

<p>Here’s a link for you to make it easy-</p>

<p>[Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/]Notes”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/)</p>

<p>As of this post, the most recent blog entry provides statistics on this year’s EA process.</p>

4

<p>Actually, if I was a VA resident, I’d feel pretty bad about these stats…if i’m reading them correctly, the admit rate was <em>50%</em> for in-state applicants…those seem like great odds for any smart kid.</p>

5

<p>But a lot of those instate applicants applying early are already at the very top of their class in their respective high schools- there is a self selection process as to who even bothers to apply. There are TONS of instate kids out there with 2100 + SAT’s, excellent EC’s, very top percentage of their class. There just are not enough spaces to accept every good student. There are lots of other great schools out there for the kids that don’t get in to UVa. Great school but it is not the only game in town.</p>

6

<p>You are certainly qualified. Sometimes it is bit random. </p>

<p>Also if you need financial aid and another student has the same stats but doesn’t, they will pick the kid who can pay more.</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Wrong. UVA is need blind during the admissions process.</p>

<p>[Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process: How Applying for Aid Affects Your UVa Application](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-applying-for-aid-affects-your-uva.html]Notes”>Notes from Peabody: The UVA Application Process: How Applying for Aid Affects Your UVa Application)</p>

8

<p>Mandalorian, You really have no way of knowing the qualifications of other applicants in comparison to the OP. As an example, in my kid’s instate school of about 350 students, most of the kids getting into UVa are in the top 10 of the class, top 20 sometimes. Our high school averages about 10 kids getting in a year. In some Northern Virginia schools, there will be more kids than that getting in but the competition is very strong. Thomas Jefferson in Northern Virginia gets many kids in but they are a very strong magnet school.</p>

<p>UVa’s admissions are not connected with the financial aid office. The OP’s finances had nothing to do whatsoever with the admissions decision.</p>

9

<p>Your last paragraph is very telling. You did not take the SAT subject tests even though they were strongly recommended? And you did not spend “as much time” on the supplementary essays? A bit more effort might have made a difference.</p>

10

<p>OP, when you aspire to something, you take risks. You didn’t get into UVA because you took risks. Keep taking risks. There are many more risks ahead of you. Don’t shy away from them, but remember this event and temper your hopes with wisdom.</p>

<p>If this is your first academic disappointment, as it so often is for talented young people, mourn for awhile. And then remember how fortunate you must have been.</p>

11

<p>UVa has posted preliminary statistics for EA. The mid 50% range for ACT was 31-34, and for SAT 2020-2260. That means the OP fell below the 25% mark for SATs and was just at the 25% mark for ACTs. The offer rate for OOS students was 23.5%. Admission for OOS students is very competitive. This was a reach and they had every reason to apply and think they had a shot, however the OP should not be overly surprised at not being admitted (23% is not a lot for anyone). </p>

<p>Others have correctly pointed out that UVa is need blind for both instate and OOS students. Admissions has no way of even knowing if you will be applying for finaid.</p>

12

<p>Although admissions are selective so not everyone qualified can get in, plain and simple but you can likely chalk this one up to not taking the SATII. If strongly recommended and not taken you took a big risk and lost.</p>

<p>Also wondering what would cause you to not believe emails you get from admissions?</p>

13

<p>^ I completely agree not submitting the SAT2s was a factor. I was trying to add additional context.</p>

14

<p>People can only speculate why you didn’t get in. No one knows more than anyone else or you for that matter. (I agree it’s likely SAT/ACT.)</p>

<p>Don’t focus on where you don’t get accepted (those schools don’t matter) but focus instead on where you do get in!</p>

<p>Good luck. You can be happy at any school.</p>

15

<p>According to the Naviance data for our high school (OOS), UVa has accepted students with GPAs as low as 3.43 and ACT scores as low as 28. It is not useful to pile on to the OP with criticism of essays or scores. The OP is a strong candidate who got rejected by UVa, and the good news is that an applicant with these stats will have lots of other great options.</p>

16

<p>GPA can vary widely from school to school. Weighting is different. Some schools weight GPA up to 2pts (NC) while others not at all. Some schools offer 17+ APs with no restrictions on how early you can take them and in what year. Others may offer 5APs, if that. Some restrict APs to Jr and Sr years with a string of prereqs and teacher recommendation, allowing only 3APs/year. From this you can imagine a student with 17+ APs available with no restrictions and 2pts weighting for each would have the opportunity for a much higher GPA then say a student whose school doesn’t weight at all, or they weight .5 but highly restrict APs. Your GPA is only relevant in context of the other students in your school. Using another schools Naviance as a guide is meaningless at best, and can be very misleading.</p>

<p>I will agree, the student should have other great options.</p>

17

<p>Agree that Naviance can be misleading and potentially not tell the whole story. A particular admit could be influenced by any number of factors that would not be obvious on Naviance and can sometimes explain lower scores for a particular student- developmental admit, legacy, URM, athlete, national award winner, first generation, etc. For the average OOS unhooked candidate, a 28 ACT would seem low for UVa.</p>

<p>All the best to the OP! With a 31 ACT, you should have lots of good options.</p>

18

<p>Are you OOS? If you are, your stats are kind of low.</p>

19

<p>Watch this video and you’ll understand how random the college applications process really is. Very often it comes down to your essays and teacher recommendations – and unfortunately you didn’t publish those with your stats, so it’s really anyone’s guess: <a href=“College Admissions: Inside the Decision Room - YouTube”>College Admissions: Inside the Decision Room - YouTube;