Hi, I’m a sophomore from Maryland interested in Uva. I got A’s freshman year, but I also didn’t take the one AP class they offer for freshman at my school. I’ve gotten one B this year, which was completely a mistake. All the rest of my grades have been A’s, including in AP Gov. My GPA is 4.3. My PSAT score this past fall was around 1200. I’m taking the SAT this May to see what I need to work on. I participate in activities at church for service hours including acolyte and crucifer, ASP (which is a service project for one week over the summer where student volunteers help build and fix houses for families. I play soccer and lacrosse. As well as sports, I am in Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish Honor Society, Leo Club, Memorial Garden Committee, Math team, and possibly National Honor Society (applications have not been viewed yet). I am a second generation legacy; my father graduated from UVA, including both of my grandparents, and my uncle was a professor there. I’m also thinking about studying abroad for a couple weeks in the summer, not sure yet though. I know this isn’t a lot of information, but I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice. I’m worried about my chances and think I should just start broadening my horizons at this point.
Why would you be a lost cause? Your PSAT score? It really isn’t that bad for a sophomore. I know it seems like it is now, and I would be speaking differently if you were a junior, but it really depends on the case. (Full disclosure: I went from a 1250 PSAT to a 1450 PSAT from sophomore to junior year literally without studying a day. I just took Algebra 2/Trig in between and it brought my math from high 500’s to low 700’s.) Everything else seems right on track.
Ok thank you!
Lost cause? Really? You have a huge legacy there and an excellent GPA. As said above, your PSAT score is fine. You are doing all of the right things right now – don’t worry about it.
@AlyB22 Hey! I was admitted for the class of 2021, albeit instate (which has a higher acceptance rate). Really, I would suggest that applying OOS means you should try to take a good number of AP/IB/dual enrollment classes (not necessarily all you can but however many you can get all A’s in). One of the things I did was take Calculus BC my senior year after only having taken precalculus in my junior year since another college ‘strongly recommended’ taking calculus. Personally, I think that worked in my favor for UVA because they saw I was continuing to challenge myself during senior year, not slacking off. That is one of the most important parts. Work super hard during junior year and keep up the grades senior year. They want to see people who are engaged in their community and academically inclined. Don’t worry too much about standardized tests as they’re not the most important part of the application (check the common data set and UVA’s blogs to get a better sense of what they place the most weight on during the application process).
Another thing that I wanted to say is that you don’t necessarily have to know where you want to go right now… And UVA is very selective, so it isn’t a sure thing. I know people at my school (in-state) who were waitlisted or deferred or completely rejected with higher stats than me.
Ok thanks. I’m taking Pre-Calc this year, so I’ll probably take AP Calc next year as a junior and then take a dual enrollment class senior year.