Yes I agree @VTAdmissions these kids have been waiting long enough. There are many that need to make other decisions if they are not accepted and by applying EA they were hoping to find out EARLY
Feb 22 - NOT early.
NOV 15 - YES early.
Does anyone know Pamplinâs difficulty to get into?
Statistically Pamplin is at about the average for the school. School average is 4.03 gpa where Pamplin is 3.98. Some easier majors fall below Pamplin and majors in the engineering department fall above Pamplin (engineering avg gpa 4.14). The average acceptance rate at VT is 70%. Pamplin is 65% acceptance - so a little more difficult then average.
But as we know that acceptance rate last year was too high. Depending on how many more applications they get this year I could see university acceptance dropping to 63% or less with Pamplin being more with the average this time around.
If you take last years 22393 for universtiy accepted to 31974 applied. Convert that to this year accepting possibly 20,000 (really you need to drop 3,000 in acceptances to be 1000 less accepting this time). Then if applications tick up to about 32500 that is an acceptance rate of 61.5%. But most of those 2,000+ less acceptances will be in majors not in Pamplin. So Pamplin could actually have higher acceptance rate then the average this year (by a bit).
I could see Pamplin this year getting 4125 applications (4013 last year) with 2550 acceptances (2619 last year) = 61.8% acceptance.
cbl1 thank you!!! Do you have any info on what the average sat/act scores are for Pamplin? Thanks
Last year average SAT was 1259. I like to look at the 25th percentile for enrolled students - which gives you a good idea of where the borderline is.
Last year the 25th percentile was 1170 SAT and 3.78 GPA. That would be the line where you wouldnât want to be below to have a decent shot.
cbl1 , So, do you think I would have a shot to get into Pamplin with a lower gpa (3.5) but 31 superscored ACT? In-state. Thanks!
Itâs more than just the numbers cut the rigor of your school and your classes. How does that compare to rest of your school. Is your GPA in the top 20% of your class. If so and with good Act it puts you in the running.
I do think they value gpa over sat/act though. A bit of disadvantage for you.
@cbl1 - Are you saying the applicant with 3.95 GPA + 1280 SAT will definitely get in Pamplin this year?
I would say decent shot I wouldnât say definitely. There are no definitelys.
As that is the average I would give that the average acceptance rate -65% chance.
@cbl1 - Thanks again for your feedback and analysis. Do you think the weighted distribution for VTâs review process will be something like this? GPA (40%), Course Rigor (10%), SAT (30%), ECs/Essays/Legacy/First Generation/Demographic (20%).
No one outside admissions would know.
@PLO2020 I was given a breakdown of 40% âsuccess traitsâ which is primarily essays and 60% âacademicâ which is test scores, GPA, and academic rigor. Did not give percentages for academic factors. This was from a staff member involved in the admissions process.
@hokie95 - Thanks for the valuable information. I was truly surprised to learn that âsuccess traitsâ (essays + ECs/achievements possibly) weighted so much in VTâs reviewing process. It is always to know something as an outsider during this long wait of EA decision.
@hokie95. I just cant imagine that those 4 120 word essays count 40%. I can see if they weight the essays and ECâs together to maybe 30% tops.
I canât believe essays would count more than 8%.
Maybe its 60% SAT and their calculated GPA.
Maybe 20% some type of school / class rigor calculation they do.
12% Hollistic (which includes factors such as minority, first gen college, legacy, challeges overcome)
8% essay
all hypothetical but lets say a point scale 0-100 where you need to get 60 pts. to get in.
Pretty good grades etc. and SAT - so if 60% of your score lets say then you are over the 50th percentile on those numbers and you got 45 of 60 pts.
Took real easy classes and a not so highly rated school - so lets say then only get 10 of the 20 points here.
Then going into Hollistic and Essays you would only have 55 points. With essays only then 8% you would need at least 5 pts of 8 pts to get in. So good essay in the case would make a difference (if had no hollistic going for you).
then example 2 - Diadvantaged child with not the best grades
Not great grades or SAT - so only get 28 of 60 points as your well below the 50th percentile in those numbers closer to 25th.
Your in a pretty hard school and took some hard classes - so lets say you get 16 of 20 for rigor.
But you write a terrific essay on your struggles in school and you are a first generation hispanic child. You get 7 of 8 on your essay and 9 of 12 on Hollistic (not legacy so lets say Legacy is 3 pts).
Your now 60 points and just got accepted with not so great grades.
in both examples Essay score made a difference. And in second example other hollistic made a big difference.
Example 3 - Legacy
Average grade - 40points
Average Rigor - 12points
Average Essay - 6 points
58 point total and your a VT average student but still borderline getting rejected
Legacy - 3 points ⊠winner your in. Every bit counts.
My brain hurts after reading that last one.
I was overly enjoying coming up with the scenarios
I think that post was oversimplifying things, considering they didnât leave any % for intangibles. That would leave me to believe that âsuccess traitsâ includes a combo of essays, ECâs as they relate specifically to VTâs vision for the student body, first gen, underrepresented, legacy, etc. If thatâs the case, then a 60/40 split might be pretty accurate, especially if the remaining 60% is more reliant on GPAâs relationship to course rigor.
In general itâs my impression that folks banking on high standardized tests carrying an app or compensating for other boxes unchecked are going to be increasingly disappointed in the years to come. Donât be surprised if the College Board ceases to exist by 2025.
The person I talked to was not an admissions representative but they are a staff member who reads and scores the essays and is part of the decision making process. VT takes these questions very seriously. Several years ago when Tech decided to revamp how they choose who to admit, they chose to take the scientific approach (of course) and reviewed all of the studies on identifying who will be successful in college. They came up with a list of success factors. I donât remember the exact number but the 4 questions are designed to measure applicants on 4 of those factors. They are all in on this.
Obviously I am a random person on a semi anonymous web site so believe what you want. My kid took them at face value and put a lot of effort into the essays.