Our son, who is currently a high school senior at Fairfax High, was waitlisted from his #1 choice, Virginia Tech. His SAT scores were relatively good, definitely above average for Tech. In addition, he achieved a cumulative GPA close to, if not, a 4.0. His extracurriculars, including varsity athletics, various clubs, volunteer work, and internship hours also didn't seem to help. Neither did his perfect behavior record.

When our son found out that his friend was accepted to Virginia Tech, he was happy for him, but couldn't help the fact that he (the friend) had an SAT score 200-300 points below his, a lower GPA, and lack of extracurriculars (including sports) or job experience. He was also quite disturbed that his friend was of African descent (1st-generation college student)

We're very proud of our son, and praise his academic efforts throughout high school, and we're planning to send him to his second choice (Christopher Newport). However, we are flustered as to what has taken place in this college admissions process.

We, as white Americans, understand the hardships and mistreatment of other races, which has sadly taken place for several years. But we wonder, should affirmative action still apply today?

Affirmative Action is on outdated joke. But, Virginia Tech to Christopher Newport? C'mon

tl;dr

Just wait 10 years and white people will be needing their own affirmative action.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

GPA a 4 and your first choice is VT? And good SAT scores? Nice lie you've got going. And AA is a joke, blacks and other minorities (latino) rarely get in now based off just AA. You do not know everything that kid has done, seeing as you are not his mother. Whites have this little thing called legacy, which has a much greater impact than AA. Not to mention whites at a greater rate claim ADHD, which makes it easier for the kid to get into a better college.

okay Wrote:
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> GPA a 4 and your first choice is VT? And good SAT
> scores? Nice lie you've got going. And AA is a
> joke, blacks and other minorities (latino) rarely
> get in now based off just AA. You do not know
> everything that kid has done, seeing as you are
> not his mother. Whites have this little thing
> called legacy, which has a much greater impact
> than AA. Not to mention whites at a greater rate
> claim ADHD, which makes it easier for the kid to
> get into a better college.

We didn't come here to post a lie, or even to gain anyone's sumpathy. Truth is, our son was devastated to learn of the waitlisting. CNU is quite a huge step down; it is certainly not a testament to his academic achievement.

Parents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> okay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > GPA a 4 and your first choice is VT? And good
> SAT
> > scores? Nice lie you've got going. And AA is a
> > joke, blacks and other minorities (latino)
> rarely
> > get in now based off just AA. You do not know
> > everything that kid has done, seeing as you are
> > not his mother. Whites have this little thing
> > called legacy, which has a much greater impact
> > than AA. Not to mention whites at a greater
> rate
> > claim ADHD, which makes it easier for the kid
> to
> > get into a better college.
>
> We didn't come here to post a lie, or even to gain
> anyone's sumpathy. Truth is, our son was
> devastated to learn of the waitlisting. CNU is
> quite a huge step down; it is certainly not a
> testament to his academic achievement.

sympathy*

The truth is, affirmative action does very little. It is a hoax, the minorities at the school, they deserve to be there.

i'm hispanic, and i didn't get into uva three years ago, despite my 3.6 avg. im now at wise.

Send him to NVCC, then transfer to VT. I've seen several people do that. Cheaper, easier, and a guaranteed transfer as long as his grades are good.

NVCC Wrote:
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> Send him to NVCC, then transfer to VT. I've seen
> several people do that. Cheaper, easier, and a
> guaranteed transfer as long as his grades are
> good.

We're definitely considering that, and he has no shame in doing that. It would save us a good deal of money, plus he could work and save money for VT.

For Northern Virginia students getting into UVA, William & Mary and increasingly Virginia Tech is becoming a crap shoot. They are only going to take so many kids from each school and the area as a whole, and quite often it is hard to figure out what caused them to admit one kid and not another. While it is possible that affirmative action could have played a role, it is equally possible that it comes down to which person at the admissions office looked at the application or whether they feel they have enough mediocre jocks but not enough ethnic dancers.

The one constant I have seen the past few years though is that while it is increasingly hard to understand why these schools didn't accept certain kids, you can still see why they accepted other kids. I suspect if you take a good look at your son's friend you will probably notice several things which might have made him an attractive Tech candidate.

Now if you want to talk serious affirmative action, stop looking at race and ethnicity and look at geography. Chances are your kid would have had an easier time getting in if you'd lived in Staunton or Lynchburg, and quite possibly if your kid lived in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

@Bill N.

Why shouldn't the student's statistics play a factor? Why should the 'nice kid' have an advantage over the one who *earned* it?

OP, you actually expected for us to read all that? This is Fairfax Underground.

Parents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NVCC Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Send him to NVCC, then transfer to VT. I've
> seen
> > several people do that. Cheaper, easier, and a
> > guaranteed transfer as long as his grades are
> > good.
>
> We're definitely considering that, and he has no
> shame in doing that. It would save us a good deal
> of money, plus he could work and save money for
> VT.


You should do the NVCC only as a last resort. The four year college experience is crucial to your kids future. It's so much more than just grades. The entire college experience is very important.

jmu dad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You should do the NVCC only as a last resort. The
> four year college experience is crucial to your
> kids future. It's so much more than just grades.
> The entire college experience is very important.


There is some truth to this. Friends to this day started with the guys on my floor freshman year. I'm not sure I would have developed the same type of ties rolling in as a junior.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

The Science Guy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @Bill N.
>
> Why shouldn't the student's statistics play a
> factor? Why should the 'nice kid' have an
> advantage over the one who *earned* it?

Where did I say they shouldn't? I don't believe that I advocated any particular system. I simply tried to explain the result. It's been a few years, but I recall that these schools all emphasized that admissions weren't based strictly on GPAs and test scores, but instead were based "on the entire package". This of course means they take who they want. So like I said, if you come from NoVa it's a crap shoot.

Bill.N. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Science Guy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > @Bill N.
> >
> > Why shouldn't the student's statistics play a
> > factor? Why should the 'nice kid' have an
> > advantage over the one who *earned* it?
>
> Where did I say they shouldn't? I don't believe
> that I advocated any particular system. I simply
> tried to explain the result. It's been a few
> years, but I recall that these schools all
> emphasized that admissions weren't based strictly
> on GPAs and test scores, but instead were based
> "on the entire package". This of course means
> they take who they want. So like I said, if you
> come from NoVa it's a crap shoot.


I think affirmative action is definitely an outdated policy and no longer necessary and agree with Justice Thomas that the idea that they need help getting jobs should be insulting.

That said there is a lot of truth to what Bill Said. So many people from Nova apply that even though they may all be the best candidates they arent going to just take nothing but Nova students. Admissions is also hit or miss depending on who reviews your application with them all having different standards and some officers preferring certain things over others. If you sent in the same application 10 times and had it reviewed by 10 different people youd probably get a fairly even split of accepted and rejected if its a qualified candidate.

They also do have an incentive to accept as many out of state students as they can for the sheer fact that they have to pay a much higher tuition rate. Its about 17k a year for an instate student to go to tech with 10k of that being tuition. For an out of state student at Tech its about 31k a year with 25.5k being from tuition.

The Science Guy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @Bill N.
>
> Why shouldn't the student's statistics play a
> factor? Why should the 'nice kid' have an
> advantage over the one who *earned* it?


There is truth to what he says, though. I've noticed many students, white and black, accepted to top-notch colleges (including UVa and UNC) on sports scholarships or drama scholarships that have never played for their school team or made the playbill to their school productions.

The admissions process is unpredictable, and in many cases, complete bull.

Close to 4 GPA and no AP/IB courses on your transcript. It sounds made up, or he didn't challenge himself in high school.

He may also be getting screened out as a result of his selected major. Some of the schools within VT are much more restrictive in their admissions. If you can't get into Engineering school, they put you into general studies and have you apply again after your first year.

I think it's becoming outdated. Considering the speed at which information moves these days and the ease with which workers can document transgressions, it's pretty hard for companies to cover up unfair hiring or promoting practices.

The law was necessary at one point, but it's not like American business would immediately revert to hiring white males only without it.

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13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2012 02:19PM by MrMephisto.

blacks deserve civil rights even extra

trayvon sounds like a tv dinner

If I had a son he would go to Virginia Tech

If I had a son, he would look like Virginia Tech.