University of Virginia Library

Upper Third

Generally, the Transition
student is in the upper third of
his H.S. graduating class but
has a particular academic
weakness as demonstrated in
his college board scores.
However, as
'teacher-tutor-counselor' Barb
Savage points out, the only real
consistency is that they come
from non-competitive high
schools. "Even then, adds
Barb, "some come from prep
schools." "Transition students
generally stand well in the
competition they come from,"
comments Mr. Elwood, "which
is why they apply to the
University in the first place.
And when you change the
order of the competition," he
adds, "they usually perform up
to that standard" which might
explain why the Transition
Program awards approximately
the same percentage of degrees
to its students as does the rest
of the University–75 per cent
as compared to 51 per cent on
the national average.