Topic: | Fairfax High School Graduates' Choices for Public Universities |
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seed 2012-12-25 17:53:27 MST |
U.S. News and World Report regularly ranks the University of Virginia and College of William & Mary among the top 10 public undergraduate programs in the United States. The schools' stellar reputation has been double-edged sword however, creating an incredibly competitive admissions environment in which several high-achieving Northern Virginia students are vying for admission. Graduates from the Fairfax County Public Schools overwhelmingly choose to go to school within the commonwealth, which rivals California as having the best public higher education in the country. In 2009, 75 percent of Fairfax high graduates attending college choose to enroll in the Virginia school, according to a school system report. Steep Competition This year, the University of Virginia saw a record-breaking 24,005 applications for its freshman class. William and Mary had 12,820 applications, according to a New York Times database. The commonwealth's most prestigious universities ended up with similar admission rates of 32.2 percent and 34.6 percent respectively. Private colleges such as Carnegie Mellon (30.4 percent), Connecticut College (31.5 percent) and The George Washington University (32 percent) have comparable admission rates. Several well-regarded public schools have higher admissions rates including Georgia Tech (48 percent), University of Texas - Austin (45.6 percent) and the University of Wisconsin - Madison (49.7 percent). A select few, like UCLA (25.28 percent) and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (29.2 percent), have lower admission rates than UVa. or William and Mary. STILL, several Northern Virginia families complain about their children's ability to get admitted to the commonwealth's top tier schools. At three Fairfax high schools, fewer than 10 students were admitted to UVa. this year, according to data released by the university. Yet UVa.'s own data also shows that students applying from Northern Virginia localities were accepted at higher rate than average. This year, the school acceptance rate for applications from Fairfax County (45 percent), Arlington County (43.1), City of Alexandria (40.1 percent) and the City of Fairfax (39.5 percent) was much more generous than the normal 32 percent. In fact, it is often the next tier of Virginia public schools where students face more trouble getting accepted that than average applicant. For example in 2009, Fairfax County Public Schools reported that the school system's graduates were often accepted at a lower rate than the average applicant to George Mason University (59.5 percent vs. 63.3 percent), James Madison University (50 percent vs. 59.3 percent) and Virginia Tech (51.1 percent vs. 66.7 percent). One reason that the Northern Virginia community may perceive a shortage of slots at the commonwealth's most selective college, UVa., is because a large share of the students admitted come from one school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Nearly 18 percent of all the students admitted to UVa. from Fairfax and Arlington this year attend Thomas Jefferson. The university accepted 223 Jefferson students into its freshman class next year, which is more than half of the number of students in Jefferson's 425-person senior class. The next largest cohort of accepted students came from the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond, where 75 seniors were admitted. Madison High School in Vienna was third, with 53 students. A fair number of Jefferson graduates choose to attend UVa. Ninety-three students in the 2010 freshman class came from Jefferson, according to the university. But some parents believe Jefferson students are also more likely to get into other prestigious schools that students from base high schools. There is some muttering that Jefferson students use UVa. as a "back up" in case they don't get into an elite private university. From 2005-2009, Fairfax schools sent approximately 100 of its students to Ivy League universities every year, less than one percent of the number of seniors than normally apply to college. Out-of-State Decisions Despite the strong reputation of the Virginia's public universities, many Northern Virginia students still decide to go out of state for school. Fairfax graduates who are going outside the commonwealth tend to stay close by, according to a school system report. The popular destinations for seniors include Pennsylvania, North Carolina and New York. West Virginia University (95 students), Pennsylvania State University (73 students) and East Carolina University were the most popular out of the state schools for seniors two years ago. Some Fairfax seniors may also need to go outside of Virginia to get what they need. For example, one of the most popular out-of-state schools for Fairfax residents is Brigham Young University, the flagship college of the Mormon Church. "I applied to other colleges but I have very high standards. I don't want to have to deal with some of the things I have had to deal with in high school," said Katelynn Crompton, who is attending another Brigham Young University, located in Idaho. Crompton, a West Springfield senior, said she also looked at the Brigham Young in Utah and yet another Brigham Young University In Hawaii. "It wasn't that hard of a decision," said Crompton. |
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