<p>UVA Echols students may have the same opportunities after graduation, but they don’t have the same opportunities as places like Harvard or Yale during your undergraduate experience. I assume that if you’re applying to a ‘HYP’ (which I think means one of the top top schools) then you’d be able to afford it if you’re considering turning down Echols to go to such a school, obviously. That’s why I included ‘probably’ and ‘especially Harvard, Yale, etc.’ I would definitely go to an HYP over UVA Echols, but not a university like UPenn or Brown if Echols is being offered to me from UVA. Of course, other people have their personal preferences but in the end probably one of the main reasons Echols program acceptance is so low is because these students opt to go to higher level schools since they feel those environments and the caliber of the school is better for them, despite Echols offerings.</p>
<p>Faline, UVA does represent one of the top public schools in the nation. However, in the end it’s still a public school, and by nature of the fact that most of the students have to come from Virginia means that the average UVA student is definitely not on the level of an Echols Scholar. All Echols come from OOS or comprise of IS students who could easily get in OOS. Letting first years apply for Echols is to cover those who felt that they were randomly snubbed because of a possible mistake, they had the stats but didn’t bother writing good essays, etc.</p>