We DO Want Well-Rounded Students...But Not in the Way You Think

The first time I heard the phrase "well-rounded," I was in high school and even though that was a long time ago, I thought about it in the same context that many people use today. I thought about showing my well-roundedness through activities. While there were students whose extracurricular involvement was purely driven by their interests, many of us assembled lists that we thought broadcast variety. There was this perception that to be considered well-rounded, you need to cover certain bases: athletics, arts, academics, service, leadership, etc. I was so nervous about this that even though I didn't couldn't handle Model UN along with my other activities (pre-internet, being in Model UN required a mountain of work), I stayed in it out of fear that I needed it to look well-rounded.

Perhaps my experience is why I've always spent a good amount of time explaining that we don't have a checklist when it comes to activities and that everyone doesn't have to be well-rounded. After all, the incoming class of 3,800 students will be well-rounded. We don't have to engineer that. It just happens.


That being said, the "well-rounded" idea does apply in our review...to academics. In recent years, I've had more students articulate a feeling that they should be specializing in a certain academic field of interest. They think it will "look good" to show a focus in one subject...and they're dropping core subjects to do that.

High school is the time to build a great foundation. College is where you solidify that foundation and then leap into specialization. We want you to have a well-rounded academic foundation so you can go any direction once your get to college.  Dropping core classes in high school to load up in an area of interest isn't necessarily going to "look good" to admission officers.

I'm not talking about magnet or governor's school programs. In my experience, those allow for deep work in certain disciplines without sacrificing work in other core subjects.

Well-rounded

By the way, the vast majority of UVA students don't declare a major until they've been here for a year (Schools of Engineering and Architecture) or two (College of Arts and Sciences). If you think you know what you want right now, be aware that you might change your mind. It's really common!

The Balance Between Course Selection and Grades

It's course selection time in some districts, which is probably why my post about overspecialization generated some good conversation in the comments. Since juniors are obviously starting to read the blog, I thought I'd bring up the important topic of balance. Seniors, I think it would be great if you could chime in with some thoughts to help the juniors (and maybe the one or two sophomores who are reading) as they are thinking about picking next year's courses.

First, I want to tell a story. Read this while remembering that the number of advanced courses students are allowed to take varies from school to school. The high school profile that comes with every transcript explains the curriculum at the school and the limitations placed on students.

Several years ago, I started to chat with a family at the water cooler in our reception area. They were from Fairfax County, which is part of my region, and the prospective student attended a school with an AP curriculum (as opposed to IB, AICE, etc.). I love hearing about the rumors about the admission process that float around every year, so I asked what they were hearing. They said "we heard that you have to have 10 APs to get admitted." I remember the number because it seemed absurd. At the time, I didn't even know how you could schedule 10 APs in a high school program. Of course, times have changed and students do pack that many APs into their schedule at some schools (this might not be the case at your school, of course). These days, there are students taking 10, 11, even 12 AP courses. I also saw a stunning case where someone at an IB school was taking 5 HLs. I counted three times to be sure.

Some people obsess about the number of top courses they can get in their schedule, but may be forgetting about balance. The balance is different for every student (and as I mentioned before,scheduling works different at every school), which is why that 10 AP "requirement" that visiting family heard is ridiculous. How do you find the balance? You need to have a frank conversation with yourself, your counselor, and a trusted adviser or two about this. How many top courses can you take while still maintaining great grades?

Finding balance

You need to challenge yourself with a fabulous program, but the transcript has two sides. You don't want to do work that prompts this tweet that I wrote last week after being frustrated by some bad mid-year grade reports:

Seniors, it's your turn to impart some knowledge on the juniors. Who helped you find the balance? Were there times when you struggled? What did you do to make things work better for you?

Over Specialization in High School

I want to share a little trend I've noticed in recent years that seems to be gaining momentum. It seems as though students are trying to show a specialty through their high school work. I'm not talking about magnet programs. In my experience, magnet programs allow for deep work in certain disciplines without sacrificing work in other core subjects. I'm talking about students who are dropping core subjects to double and triple up in others.

High school is the time to build a great foundation. College is where you solidify that foundation and then leap into specialization. We don't need students interested in Commerce to take scores of business classes in high school. We need them to have a great platform from which to dive into the more advanced work they'll do here.

Dropping core classes in high school to get electives in an area of interest isn't necessarily going to "look good" to admission officers.

Instead of being impressed that you were able to take Business Development and a slew of marketing courses, we're going to wonder why you haven't taken a foreign language since 10th grade or why there is no science on your transcript for senior year.

At UVa, most students don't declare a major until they've been here for a little while. In the College of Arts and Sciences, you have until the end of the 2nd year to declare. If you think you know what you want right now, be aware that you might change your mind. It's really common!

For now, focus on getting a solid foundation in high school. We consider your core high school subjects to be English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Languages. Electives are interesting, but your core foundation is what's most important to us as we're analyzing your transcript.