<p>2331clk, the reverse is true as well. OOS students I believe have an easier time getting into TCNJ (The College of New Jersey) than those instate students who are not in commuting distance of the school. I do agree that it is probably easier for an OOS student to get into some JMU than a student from NOVA. </p>
<p>I think that the young man in the article should have had more safety and low match schools. Frankly, I think that JMU was his only low match/match school. That was his mistake, and perhaps the mistake of his counselor.</p>
<p>Ideosyncratic records (like this one) arelikely to yield ideosyncratic results. With nearly 20,000 applicants oer year at JMU, one with a 3.4 weighted GPA from Northern Virginia might be rejected without close examination.</p>
<p>One moral to the story: recs, explanantions of special circumstances, etc. are more likely to be important at small schools, where Adcoms can spend more time with each application.</p>
<p>Re post #16 - I agree, he shouldn’t be bringing up the death of great grandparents. Obviously high school kids whose parent or sibling or best friend dies would understandably not be carrying on as usual.</p>
<p>We just returned from a visit to W&M. The numbers were interesting, and tell a compelling story about how the selectivity varies depending on where you live and your sex.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate for all in-state students was 51% this year. For OOS the rate drops to 26%. </p>
<p>But W&M has nearly twice as many girls apply as boys. Since the number of students accepted is closer to 50/50 (53% girls/47% boys), this means that the acceptance rates are significantly lower for girls than for boys. </p>
<p>Using W&M’s fact sheet I computed the acceptance rate for in-state boys to be nearly 66%. On the other hand, the acceptance rate for OOS girls drops to around 11%, a rate comparable with the most selective schools in the country. </p>
<p>I thought the discussion of this student’s grades was a bit fishy, too. It did seem as though his 3.0 in 9th and 10th GPA, as well as his current 3.4, might be weighted, although it was compared to the average GPA at JMU of 3.6. Also, I think that there may be a big difference between a GPA of 3.4 that is composed of As and Bs, and one that has a bunch of Cs or even Ds in it.</p>
<p>It is very doubtful that the student’s 9th and 10th grade GPA of 3.0 were weighted as Robinson Secondary is an IB school and very few IB-track kids take IB-weighted courses during 9th and 10th grades. His junior year grades may have been weighted if he took the exams. His senior year grades will not have the weighted average added until he actually takes the exams.</p>
<p>Believe me, this has been the major topic of discussion amongst fellow FCPS parents this weekend. “Did you read the article about the kid from Robinson who DIDN’T get into JMU?..”</p>
<p>tactics22, that is some interesting stuff on W+M. Thanks for sharing. I wonder why more boys from Virginia don’t apply? My brother attended there in the early 80s and loved it (although he had to work his backside off!). He says that it does seem to be more liberal now than when he went, but I think that is the case with most any college nowadays.</p>
<p>I read that Washpost article but the minute I saw the 3.4 I was not that surprised that he didn’t get in. JMU is a popular school and a lot of ppl apply. With so many trying to stay instate for financial reasons those that don’t have a 4.0+ (which is what you need for UVa and W&M) apply to Tech and JMU. </p>
<p>Tech is know to be numbers based admissions, pretty much opened and shut, but JMU looks at the entire file I think. </p>
<p>This year is a peak year for application due to the baby boomlet passing through. It will begin to subside over the next 5 years.</p>
<p>I was really surprised by the Robinson kids college list. Too many reach schools.</p>
<p>This year was also JMU’s Centennial- it’s a campus that is on the rise. New facilities, growth in programs. Developing a new engineering school, building new performing arts center, growth in science/technology programming- applications are way up. Those operating under the assumption that JMU is a safety need to adjust their thought processes.</p>
<p>Barrett, I agree with you about too many reach schools. It seems to me that JMU was the only match/low match on his list. Sabaray, I agree with you too.</p>
<p>“It is very doubtful that the student’s 9th and 10th grade GPA of 3.0 were weighted as Robinson Secondary is an IB school and very few IB-track kids take IB-weighted courses during 9th and 10th grades.”</p>
<p>Well, maybe. My son goes to an IB school, and there are still lots of honors and AP weighted classes in 9th and 10th grade (and even a couple that carry over from middle school). A kid in his program could have half Bs and still have a weighted GPA of over 4.0.</p>
<p>Fairfax County Public Schools (Robinson is a FCPS) do not weight honors or pre-IB classes. The only classes that are weighted are actual IB and AP courses. The student gets an extra .5 for the letter grade for the AP/IB class IF the student takes the exams in May. Additionally, the percentages one must achieve to attain specific letter grades are fairly high. The letter grade change from a C to a B or a B to an A is at the 4, not at the 0.</p>
<p>I don’t think the FCPS grading scale is that unusual for Virginia schools. At my children’s school, 93-100=A; 86-92=B; 78-85=C;70-77=D;0-69=F. Also have to think that JMU factors the differences in grading scales in somehow in an attempt to equalize things. </p>
<p>One other thing- can’t recall what types of service positions this young man had. JMU is a very service oriented university-- the more EC’s that focus on service to your community the better.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine anyone who isn’t in the top 25% on scores and grades can consider JMU a safety. I don’t think the GC at our HS puts on the safety list for anyone. Too much competition. When S2 applied 6 years ago it was not a safety and he had comparable to student in article, high SATs and good grades. The change in time, however, S2 did get in with that profile, it was a match at the time. He probably would not now.</p>
<p>I learned about this article this weekend from my NoVa relatives who have junior twin D’s. Naturally, they were a bit stressed by this result, as they’ve been looking at the VA state schools, already knowing that location was going against them. I did suggest they look at TCNJ, where I thought their OOS status might give them an edge. They already had Rutgers on their list, but hadn’t known about TCNJ.</p>
<p>Garland, I think that you had a good idea about TCNJ. I would have thought of the same suggestion. I doubt that TCNJ will be competitive with COA as an instate student in a VA public (unless their stats are on the higher end of average, in which case I don’t know what they’ll offer), but it is worth applying!</p>
<p>Weighing in here – in the Tidewater area, where we live 94-100 is an A. NOVA Fairfax students are not at any kind of disadvantage in terms of calculating GPA’s. It’s my understanding that the STate Dept of Education is is working on having this be consistent across the state, mostly so there isn’t an issue in applying to VA schools.</p>
<p>I always understood geography to be an important factor for Virginia residents. The state schools attempt to have their populations reflect all areas of the state. Even with that the large NOVA population would mean a larger percentage at the schools. I think the schools would take a student from southwest VA with a similar profile maybe slightly less than one from NOVA to better balance the numbers. I could be all wet on this and no doubt someone will let me know!</p>