The Likely Letter

We've had comments on the blog, emails, tweets, and calls about Likely Letters in the last few weeks.  I thought this practice was going to go away, but I recently found out that the Dean is sending some out again this year.

Before I go on, let me cover the basics...

What is a Likely Letter?
Around this time of year, many colleges and universities send letters to some very strong students telling them that their applications are impressive. These letters are commonly referred to as likely letters, but you might also seen them called love letters or early writes.

Why do you send Likely Letters?
In this day and age, it's hard to feel confident about admission. These letters let some of our strongest candidates know we were impressed by their applications. These letters are not specific to UVa. Selective schools around the country send them. Doing a search for "Likely Letter" or "Love Letter" on College Confidential will yield signs of them being sent by plenty of other schools.

How many Likely Letters do you send?
We don't have a target number and I am not permitted to release the number of letters we are printing, but it's safe to say that the number is comparatively small each year. I don't have year by year statistics, but I'd say the percentage that gets these letters is in the single digits. So, ninety-something percent of you won't see these letters.

If so few applicants get them, why are you writing about them here?
As you have probably seen from comments posted in the last few weeks, people are already asking questions about these letters. When the letters land in mailboxes, the talk will increase.  Despite the chatter, there's little to no official talk of these letters outside of articles in college student newspapers.  I'd rather let you know the facts than leave you in the dark. I hope that makes you all worry less than you would if I didn't talk about these at all.

Will I see the Likely Letter on my SIS page?
No. Likely Letters aren't decisions. They won't show up on the SIS.

Does this mean I'm getting into Echols/Rodman/College Science Scholars?
No. There are students in the scholars programs who never got a Likely Letter and there are students who got Likely Letters who aren't in any scholars program. For more information about these programs, see the Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars websites.

I got one! What does the Likely Letter mean?
Congratulations! The letter means exactly what it says. In a nutshell: we like you! Keep in mind that this is not the formal offer of admission*. Obviously, we aim to only send these to candidates we think are among the strongest in the pool, but there have been times when mid-year grades or some other new piece of information has changed a decision. That's very rare. 

*We are still a few weeks away from having decisions finalized.


When will I get my Likely Letter?
Assume that you are not getting one. Manage your expectations and keep your eye on what's really important right now. If after reading all of this, you expect a Likely Letter, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Try to look at the big picture. Most students don't get them.

For what it's worth, I don't control the US Postal Service, so I can't predict when anyone will get mail.


A quick recap:

• Likely Letters are sent by many selective schools to some top applicants
• The vast majority of applicants will not get a Likely Letter
• Decisions are not finalized yet
  
• Getting a Likely Letter does not equate to an offer into one of the scholars programs
• Likely Letters are sent via standard mail

Do not read into the absence of a letter.

Please do not call our office to ask about a Likely Letter. The front desk does not have a list of who got them. Similarly, there is no need to reply to a Likely Letter. See it as a pat on the back.


 If you have a question, look at the replies I made to questions about these in the past. If you still have a question after that, post it below. Please use this post for questions about Likely Letters only. If you have a question about something else, comment on the next post.

It's Time to Focus

This is the time of year when college-bound minds start to wander.  You've been back at school for a little bit and the routine of the new term is in place. All those applications are in, but you're worrying about them.  Will that minuscule typo you discovered at the end of your list of activities ruin your chances?  Was it wrong of you to go over the 250 word suggestion on the personal statement by 27 words?  Should you have used a special font? What about double spacing?  Should you quadruple check that your counselor sent your transcript even though she said it was sent in December the last three times you asked?  If your neighbor's hair stylist's cousin was waitlisted in 2003, should you take her advice?

All the while, your teachers are piling on the work. You find yourself thinking that maybe you can relax just a little bit and they'll understand.  You start to daydream about the spring...prom, a new sports season, graduation...it all seems just around the corner and it's far more fun to think about those things than to keep you head in the books.

Stop.

You have work to get through in the next few months and it's going to prepare you for the next step, which isn't going to be any easier.  Besides that, worrying about an application that is already submitted isn't going to affect the outcome and it's apt to take you away from those pressing academic tasks.

It's time to focus.

 There's also a little virus called senioritis that starts to make the rounds at this time of year. Resist it!

You have to focus.

It's going to take us several more weeks to get through this process. So, tune out all that background noise.

 No matter how exciting the distractions are, keep your focus.

Hang in there! 

(adorable distraction provided by CavDog's "cousin")

The Rumor Mill

I started this blog because of rumors.

There is no shortage of "experts" who have plenty to say about how the admission process works.  There is some good information out there, but there is a whole lot really bad information being shared by people who have no experience working in our office. 

There was a time when I would get exasperated when I heard rumors.  I'd fly to this blog and dash out a post to address what I heard.  The next year, the same rumor would float around and, well, lather, rinse, repeat. You get the idea.  It's such a common occurance that I now find it almost humorous when I hear about the silly "rules" that people cook up.  I remember this happening when I was in high school.  We were convinced that because Dream U admitted two girls who happened to belong to the same club, that Dream U had a preference for said club.  We didn't consider that the people reading the applications at Dream U might have a slightly more complex process to arrive at those decisions.

I thought I'd post some of the most common rumors about how admission works at UVa and invite you to share some that you've heard in the comments.  I'll reply to confirm or give you the real story.  Sound interesting?


Rumor: It's harder to get in from __(insert your geographic location here)__.
Reality: Yes and no.
Since I spend much of my travel season in Northern Virginia, I most often hear this from students or parents up there.  I assure you that students in other areas think they are at some sort of disadvantage in the application process.  For those who live outside of Virginia, this one is true.   Within Virginia, it's not harder to be admitted from region to region.  People in densely populated areas tend to worry about this the most.  Schools in those areas tend to have fantastic program options and we see large numbers of students who have the academic preparation that will make them successful here. 

The Commonwealth of Virginia mandates that 2/3 of the students at UVa be domiciled in Virginia.  Out of state students tend to make up about 2/3 of our applicant pool, which results in a lopsided offer rate.  Last year, we admitted about 45% of the Virginia residents and about 26% of the out-of-state applicants. 


Rumor: You need __(arbitrary number)__ AP courses to be admitted to UVa.

Reality: False

What we expect of you depends on what is offered to you at your school.  There are so many different sorts of curricula out there that it wouldn't make sense to set a bar for the number of AP courses someone must have to be admitted.  There are schools that offer every AP under the sun, schools that only offer a few, IB schools, Cambridge Program schools, schools that offer duel enrollment courses, schools that just have advanced/honors courses, and schools that don't have tracks at all.  We start with the school profile, we we can read about the options available to the applicant and what restrictions are placed on students at the school.  Only after we understand the curriculum in place can we judge the strength of a student's program.


Rumor: If you don't have _(community service, leadership, athletics)_ on your resume, don't apply.

Reality: False

I love this rumor because it's been around for decades.  When I was in high school, we were convinced that there was some sort of extracurricular checklist used in admission offices.  You had to have service, athletics, something creative, leadership, and something academic on your resume.  I'm happy to report that with 715 student organizations on the books at UVa, we have no specific preferences when it comes to activities.  We have mainstream groups that probably mirror the ones you have at your high school and we have fringe-y ones that you probably never dreamed of before.

In recent years, the Common App has cut down on the number of lines in the activity section of the application and I fully support that.  The length of your list is of no importance.  We're interested in knowing about the activities in which you are deeply involved.

In addition, we don't know which clubs have value and prestige in your high school's culture. Don't join an activity because it is valued at your school if you don't enjoy it.


Rumor: You need to tailor your high school program to your intended major.
Reality: False for most.
When people ask us about course selection, they sometimes have interesting reasoning.  For example, someone who thinks they want to student business in college is told to take a course or two in the business disciplines in high school.  That's fine if you have elective time and want to do that, but I don't think you should sacrifice your core subjects for such work.

High school is your foundation.  Your foundation needs to be strong in your core subjects (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language).  Dropping a core course is not going to make you more attractive to us.

Now, if you plan on going into specialized school like Engineering, Architecture, Nursing, or the Kinesiology program, you can probably imagine that we'll be looking pretty hard at certain parts of your academic preparation. 


What rumors have you heard this year?

CavDog swoops in to stop the spread of rumors                            

The Class of 2016 logo

Every year, the Alumni Association gives a little gift to the incoming class...they have a logo designed for the class to use throughout their years at the University.  I'm happy to present (drum roll, please) the Class of 2016 logo:

Pretty cool, huh?

I just updated the Class of 2016 Facebook group icon with the new logo.  Administration of the group is being turned over to students by the end of the week.  I've enjoyed answering your questions there, but I think it's time to hand things off.  We are big on student self-governance, after all. 

Last call for missing credentials!

We sent out an email earlier this week to anyone with an incomplete application and told them that they had until today to get missing credentials to us (that does not include midyear reports, though those should be trickling in, too).  We are still knee deep in the regular decision review and will likely be at it for quite some time.

Amazingly, no one has asked me complained about the wait for their decision yet (last year, I think the first comment came in on February 1st), so I thank you all for understanding that this process takes time.  Though February is a short month, it often feels like the longest because there is little news to share on the blog. Hang in there, everyone.  We're working long hours to make sure every file gets a thorough review, so I might not have as many updates this month as in the past.


Here's a little dose of CavDog for you.  A local photographer snapped this picture of CavDog while we were at a pre-Puppy Bowl brunch.  CavDog was pretty excited for the big game.

Photo by Terry Beigie Photography

Moving on with regular decision

Happy February!  We are knee deep in the regular decision review, but I wanted to give you two updates.

1.  This Friday at 5 PM, all the Early Action applicants who were deferred will be switched over in our system to regular decision status.  This is behind-the-scenes stuff that allows us to get your file back into the "ready to read" pipeline once your midyear grades arrive.  If you log into SIS, you'll get a note about decisions coming out on April 1st if you hit the "view decision" link since you're back in the pool.


2.  About 25 students who were deferred still haven't seen their decisions.  We're emailing them one more time to give them a chance to check.


3.  Regardless of how you applied, your counselor will probably be sending us your midyear grades in the next week or so.  Many of the regular decision applications I'm reading this week already have fall semester grades in them, which is great.

If your school is on a trimester system, we want second trimester grades in your midyear report.  We realize that your schools' reports might come in a tad later than those from schools on a semester calendar.

Waiting.

Days on the Lawn 2012

DOTL 2011

It might seem a little early to be talking about our admitted student days, Days on the Lawn (DOTL), but there have been some requests for the dates.

At DOTL, undecided students and their parents get to tour Grounds, attend info sessions about each school, visit a resource fair, and tour the residence halls. Admitted students also get to sit in on classes and have lunch with current students while their parents are at a few sessions.

Days on the Lawn are a great way to figure out if UVa is the right place for you if you haven't gotten "that feeling" yet.


Registration for those admitted during Early Action is open (and you must register to attend). There is an attendance cap for each date, so please have a back up date in mind in case your first choice is full.  If your schedule doesn't allow you to attend any of these or the one that works for you is full, you can schedule an overnight visit on a better date and attend classes, too. 

2012 Days on the Lawn:

Monday, March 19th

Monday, April 2nd

Monday, April 9th

Saturday, April 14th

Monday, April 16th

and

Friday, April 20th

 
If someone in your party has a disability that requires an accommodation, please call us at (434) 982-3200 as soon as you make your travel plans. We want to arrange a comfortable experience for your family.

There is information about lodging on the main UVa website, but I'm happy to chat about the options and answer any questions you have about travel logistics. There are number of hotels within walking distance of Grounds or on the bus/trolley route. If you will be driving to Grounds, please be sure to read about the parking options. We rent out one garage so there is plenty of free parking available, but that comes with a 5 minute walk to the Lawn.

By the way, don't be afraid to come up and say hello at DOTL!  I'll be on the other end of CavDog's leash.

CavDog takes his DOTL duties very seriously  

Juniors and sophomores, if you are planning to visit us in March or April, please do not visit us on Days on the Lawn days. The Grounds are packed full of visitors and parking is very, very difficult as a result.

Oh wait! One more thing.  People often ask us how they are supposed to dress for DOTL. Dress as if you're going to be walking around Grounds all day.  Remember that we're not interviewing you, you're interviewing us.  We'll dress up.  You be comfortable.

Class of 2016 Facebook Page & Group

Years ago, an enterprising young college student had an idea to market a business to college bound students through Facebook in a new way.  Through made up Facebook accounts, he or his unpaid interns became administrators for hundreds of "Class of 20xx" Facebook groups.

Back then, most admission folks let Facebook groups grow organically.  Some excited student would start a group for their class and others would join as they got their admission decisions.  I shared that view. After the made up accounts were connected by a group of admission officers interested in social media, what was happening got picked up by the media and dubbed "Facebookgate."  The full story unfolds on the Squared Peg blog, but you can read a quick synopsis on this blog.

Each year since, that same enterprising, young man has tweaked his practices and tried again, more recently for his roommate matching website.  In 2010, even The Choice blog at the New York Times covered what was happening.


Why am I telling you this?  So you understand why I stepped in a few years ago to create class groups on Facebook.  I have absolutely no interest in tracking you on the internet or looking at your profiles.  My interest is in creating a page and group for each class where content won't include advertisements and your information won't be mined (my worry with groups that are tied to a company). 


Over time, I developed a plan for each class' Facebook groups.  I would create the group (and more recently, a page and a group) for each class.  Once the class was enrolled, I'd turn administration of the group over the current First Year Class Council, who would best answer questions and give advice.  When the incoming class elected their Class Council, class officers would become the new administrators.  I'm happy to say that most of the groups I created over the years are still in use.  

I've already sent an email to see if we can get the First Year Class Council to take over the Class of 2016 page and group.  I hope they'll be on board in a few days.  Until then, you'll see my name on the groups, but know that I'm far too busy with the application review process to keep up with your conversations there.

Click the images to go to the group and page for the Class of 2016:

By the way, if you're interested in how housing works, check out this post from last year, written by the Director of Accommodations in the housing office here.   He shared a ton of info about requesting a roommate or going through the roommate matching survey/process that his office runs. It's a really fantastic post!


Oh, one more thing.  Every year, the Alumni Association has a logo made for the incoming class and it becomes the avatar for the Facebook group.  So, don't be alarmed if the image changes at some point.  


ETA:  Groups that overlap can definitely co-exist on Facebook.  In past years, I've seen groups created by incoming students from a certain country or students who are in the scholars programs.  I think that's a great way to foster community, if there's an interest in them.

Let's Talk About Decisions: The Early Action Offer

Admitted students can use this entry to talk.

You have until May 1st to make your decision about whether you'll come to UVa or not. If you decide to go elsewhere at some point in the coming weeks, I hope you'll decline the offer immediately via your self-service page.

Just below your letter are buttons to accept or decline your offer. If you accept, you will see a button to let you pay your tuition deposit online*.  After you deposit, it's time to sit back and wait for the Regular Decision group to get admitted.  Once that group admitted, I'll post information about signing up for summer orientation and a reminder to have your final transcripts sent.

You may want to like the Class of 2016 Facebook page.  This page will be turned over to the First Year Class Council on May 1st and they will hand it off to your Class Council when your class elects officers.

I hope you'll stay on the blog and chime in as students ask questions about the process!

Congratulations! We are so lucky to have you considering UVa!

*We have an e-check system for deposits.  You'll type in the numbers on the bottom of your check, much like the system used when filing taxes.  The system will take certain kinds of credit cards, but it's primarily an e-check system.  Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker when you go to pay the deposit!

Let's Talk About Decisions: The Defer

Students offered a spot on the defer list can use this entry to talk.

There's no way around it.  This is probably the toughest decision (or maybe it's a "non-decision") to get from a school after applying under Early Action.  In most cases (there are 3,150 of you), we have deferred students when we think senior grades are needed before making a final decision.  At this point, you should simply make sure your mid-year report is sent when the grades from the first semester or second trimester are ready.  Most of your counselors will do this automatically.

Feel free chat here. You should have already seen the link to the defer FAQ page, which answers the most common questions.

CavDog hopes you find a peaceful place to wait

Let's Talk About Decisons: The Early Action Deny

Denied students can use this entry to talk.

I'm so sorry this sort of entry is needed. I hope you all can look at your options and get excited about one of your other schools. If your immediate reaction is "I'll transfer", don't let that plan keep you from getting involved in campus life at the school you choose. I think many students come to think of their next choice as "home" and can't imagine leaving it after a little while.

I hope you'll read this post and remember that this decision is probably about our numbers. You didn't do anything "wrong" (a common question). I'll leave you until tomorrow, when I'll be back to answer questions.

Please be polite and respectful of others when posting.

BTW, if you signed yourself up to read the blog by email and don't want the messages anymore, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

CavDog wishes he could make this easier on you

Early Action Echols, Rodman, & College Science Scholars Invitations Coming on SUNDAY

Looks like the folks involved in the reviews for the scholars programs aren't going to be done today.  They just told me that they will be emailing invitations on Sunday evening.

The Arts Scholars are not finalized until the end of the Regular Decision process.

A note of thanks and an apology

It's become a tradition for me to write this post on notification day...

Some of you won't be visiting after today, so I feel that this is a good time to say thank you for being part of this blog. This blog is successful because you read it and you write comments.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to interact with you here.

It's exciting to know that we're going to make some of you very happy this evening, but that excitement is tempered by the fact that we're going to make many more of you sad or upset. One of the drawbacks to this job is that we have to say "no" more often than we get to say "yes". I console myself with the knowledge that you will all have many other attractive offers, some from our 14 public sisters in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Regardless of what your status page says, you are going to be just fine.  You are going to attend a great school and you are going to grow tremendously while there. While I obviously think UVa is a great, supportive place for the next chapter in your lives, I believe that what will make your college experiences valuable is what you learn from them, not necessarily your location when they occur.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. With the number of applications we had, we were not able to admit all of the qualified students. Most of our applicants are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVa. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.

And now, the apology.  This is the first time in a few years that I am not totally devoted to answering questions online on notification day.  We have moved into the regular decision review phase and we are all reading files today.  I try to reply to every question that comes in on notification day, but I probably won't be able to do that this year.

Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll chime in as we move into the regular decision period.

The big day is finally here! I'll be here at 5 PM and will be thinking about you all. Good luck!

Give the EA students a hand, CavDog!
They gave us some great applications to read!

Happy Early Action Notification Day!

Happy Day!

You made it to EA notification day! Hooray!

I have a few notes about what's going to happen this afternoon. I'll be posting a few more times today, so check back later for more information.


1. The release of decisions is set for 5 PM Eastern. The SIS has been tested many times and we have never had any problems with it on notification day.  Click "View decision" and you'll be taken to the decision letter.  If you don't have a login, you can generate the information yourself on the front page of the SIS.

2. I will post entries for you to talk about offer, waitlist, and deny decisions. I will step away from the blog after that to let you chat.  I'll be back late tonight or tomorrow.

3. Notification Day brings a lot of joy, but there are going to be some hurt feelings as well. While I want you to be happy and celebrate your successes, I hope you'll be gracious around classmates who might not get good news. If you don't get the good news, I hope you'll be happy about the options you DO have.

4. You all have done a great job of moderating yourselves and I trust you to be respectful of each other in the comments.  I caution you about posting statistics in comments.  As I've written before, GPAs are meaningless without context, so trying to compare your stats and decisions doesn't make much sense.

5.  There have been times when a reader has written about another school in a comment (as in "I'm going to go to ____ instead.") and they have been chastised by other readers.  I don't think you should put down the other options that you or your peers have.  Be proud of the offers that you've received!

6.  We have switched to Regular Decision review, so I have a full day of reading ahead of me.  I might not reply to comments right away, but I will reply eventually.  Check back on Monday if you post a question.

Good luck, everyone!

Early Action Admission Statistics

Here are some numbers about the class. Please understand that I do not have additional statistics. I am giving you all I can right now.  Questions usually come in consistently throughout notification day, but unlike previous years, I am reading files today.  I'll try to reply to comments over the weekend.

The Office of Institutional Assessment is the source of all official statistics about UVa.  They take a census in October to determine the final statistics for the class.   You can see statistics from decision days in prior years by hitting the "statistics" tag at the bottom of this post.  You can see admission data from the last twenty years in the data digest part of their website.  Another part of their site has data going back to 1977!  Obviously, what happened decades ago isn't going to tell you too much about this year, but some people have fun playing around with the different charts on their site.


Total number of Early Action applications: 11,753
Total number of VA apps: 3.514
Total number of OOS apps:8.239


Overall offers: 3.184 total offer
Total VA offers: 1,547 offers (44%)
Total OOS offers: 1,637 offers (20%)

Enrollment goal: 3,360 first-year students total (between EA and RD)


SAT Mean (of the offer group): 2119
% in the top 10% of their high school class (offers only): 98.3%

The offers numbers for VA and OOS are similar because yield for OOS is generally lower.

Early Action Notification Update!

I just got back from our weekly staff meeting and I have exciting news!  It looks like we are going to have decisions finalized this week.  That means the big day is moving up.

Early Action Notification is moving up!

Decisions will post at 5 PM Eastern

Friday, January 20, 2012

I'll try to answer questions and post some fun information to pass the time, but please remember that we don't stop reading.  We have about 17,000 Regular Decision applications to read.

If you haven't logged into SIS yet, now is the time to verify that you know how to get to your status page. If you don't know what SIS is, read this.

A Moment of Zen from CavDog

Happy Friday!  I hope you can put college admission talk aside for the weekend and enjoy a little time with friends and family.

Preliminary application numbers

For the last few years, we've heard about other schools having huge increases in application numbers.  Our application numbers have gone up a little bit each year, but we've never had the18, 20, or 44 percent increases that others have reported (here are some numbers from 2010 and 2011).  Seeing applications numbers jump at other schools for the last few years made me wonder if the same would happen at UVa at some point.

I'm still waiting for a final number for the regular decision pool, but it looks like we'll have around 17,000 regular decision applications this year.  That means the overall application number is somewhere around 28,000.   That's up from 23,982 applications (23,587 ultimately completed) last year.

I'm still waiting for all of those applications to make it through the Office of Virginia Status' process, which determines whether an applicant is a Virginia resident or not.  My hypothesis is that the increase is on the out-of-state side. I imagine I'll have more information about how the pool breaks down in a couple weeks.



So there you go.  I have reading to do.

 CavDog trying to manage a really big stick

A quick note about your "to do" list in SIS

We're processing right now.  We're going to be processing for a few weeks.  While we're working on that, I thought I'd make a list of things you should worry about and things you shouldn't worry about right now.

Things you should worry about:
-your school work


Things you should not worry about:
-your status on the UVa SIS
-your status on the UVa SIS  (seriously)
-your status on the UVa SIS  (really, I promise)


It will take us a few weeks to process everything we have gotten.  Right now, your "to do" list on the SIS may have items on it that have already arrived in our office, but haven't been checked in and matched up to your file.  I heard about a school that doesn't even let students check their status until February.  Part of me thinks that's a great idea.  Part of me thinks it would drive students crazy!  I wonder if it prompts more calls/emails from people who want to verify that items have arrived.  That reminds me...

Please do not call asking us to verify receipt of credentials.

Our staff needs to process.  They can not check on documents for you.  This is what the SIS will be for at the end of the month.

Oh, and here are photos of the two things college admission folks hate the most at this time of year:

 

Staples are not welcome in paperless offices!  If you send us paper, we have to scan it into our imaging system.  That slows the process down right there.  Adding staples (and for some reason, few people stop at just one staple) slows the process down even more.  Skip the staples.

Special packaging is a waste of money and materials.  Anything that arrives like this gets yanked right out of the folder or binder so we can scan the contents.  Please, please save your money and stop using these things!

"View Decision" = Ready to Read in SIS

I've written about this a few times in blog posts and in my responses to comments (did you notice that I respond to comments?), but I think I need to make a really simple blog post about it.

The Student Information System has a built-in feature that adds a box at the bottom of your status page when your file is deemed complete and ready for us to read. 

Here's what it looks like:

If you see that box show up, it might cause a little excitement because "view decision" shows up in the box.  Alas, when you click on the words, you get a little message saying decisions aren't ready yet.  Because they aren't.

Early Action Notification = January 31st

Regular Decision Notification = April 1st

(any change will be announced on this blog ASAP)

We release all decisions at once and we aren't done with the EA process yet.  RD applicants, you'll probably start seeing these boxes pop up in early February, at which point I'll probably repost this entire entry.  :)



That's the Reader's Digest version (does that phrase even make sense anymore?).  The long version is that student information systems are built by companies that are in the information management business.  The company that built the system that we use did a lot of things right. However, there are a couple things that those of us "on the ground" don't love and that is to be expected. 

The "view decision" box works for lots of admission situations (many undergraduate and graduate programs use a rolling notification).  It just doesn't work for schools that admit a class as a big group.  Our SIS does a lot of things really well, but this one feature doesn't work perfectly for us. 

I have a feeling that if you have an offer on the big day, you'll be pretty happy with SIS.  Without it, you'd be standing by the mailbox, waiting for the postal service to bring your decision the way I did a long time ago. 

Last call

     Are you tired of seeing this graphic?  Apparently, about 1,000 RD applicants didn't see it. 

 

So here's what we're going to do: We're going to email those people today and let them know that they have to submit what's missing from their part of the application by noon on Thursday.  If they don't submit what's missing (payment, supplement, or Common App) by then, we're going to assume that they didn't mean to apply.

Once that's done, I'll know more about our total application number.  Determining residency stats takes longer since the Office of Virginia Status has to evaluation their part of the supplement (admission uses the first half of the supplement and status uses the second half).  While status does their thing, we continue to work on the Early Action process.

I can tell you that this is the direction that the total application numbers went:

That picture is NOT current.  We haven't had any snow accumulation yet this year.

When we tell you about the number of students who applied to UVa, we're talking about people who submitted all three part so of the Common App.  There is no "part 1" and "part 2" scenario here where you get counting for submitting one item of the three.  We are set up so that we only get your application from the Common App folks when you have submitted the Common App, the UVa Supplement, and the payment (or fee waiver).  Aside from covering this on the blog multiple times, it's also in the application instructions.

Deadline definition

There's always a little confusion about the specific moment of our deadline. Back in the days of paper applications, the deadline was whatever time your local post office was willing to post mark an envelope. These days, you have a little more time. With online applications came permission to procrastinate just a few more hours.

Our deadline is January 1st. Technically, you could submit an application at 11:59 PM on January 1st and meet the deadline.  I strongly encourage you to hit submit before that final hour. There is obviously a lot of traffic on the Common App servers on that final day and while I'm sure they can handle it, I can imagine the panic you'd feel if your internet connection cut out during those final moments of deadline day.

In addition, if you have questions for the Common App people, I imagine you'll get a faster response to a help ticket submission if you are asking during normal business hours. If you submit a help request at 10 PM, you'll probably be one of many doing the same thing and therefore won't hear back for a little while.

I know this is an extremely stressful time. I imagine there is some freaking out going on. Do yourself a favor and made a personal deadline that's before the official one.

Good luck! As always, you can post questions here and I'll do my best to answer them quickly!

Some last minute application information

The January 1st deadline is around the corner! Inevitably, there will be last minute questions. Here's how to get answers.

First of all, any trouble with the Common Application can only be fixed by the Common Application staff. If you have any problems with your Common App, submit a help ticket.  If you don't know how to do that, see #2 here. If you wait until the last minute, you have to expect a delay in the resolution of your problem. Don't freak out! Don't submit something that's half finished or incorrect in a panic. Wait until you get an answer.

Once you submit your application (all three parts, the Common App, Supplement, and payment must be submitted for anything to be sent to us from the Common App system), it will take a couple days of processing to prompt a login email for UVa's Student Information System (SIS) to be sent to you. If you are about to leave for college, you should be able to follow the directions in the email and log into our system successfully.  You can do it!

When you log in to UVa's SIS for the first time, scroll to the bottom of the main page and become familiar with the different areas of the status page.

Don't be alarmed by your to-do list at this time.

Credentials may be in our system, but not yet linked to your file. It may take a few weeks to get through all the applications submitted in these last few days, so please be patient! If your transcript arrived a month ago, it was scanned and put in a miscellaneous credentials file. A script and/or a staff member must link that transcript to your newly submitted application.  This takes time.

We will contact you when we are through the bulk of the processing if we are still missing documents. This will happen at the end of January or beginning of February. Don't freak out. Seriously. It will be okay.


That being said, here is how you can get answers to last minute UVa questions (not Common App questions) now that our office is closed for the weekend:

• Send me a tweet - the fastest method, I'll have my iPhone on me all weekend
• Post a comment on this entry - the second fastest method, comment alerts are sent to my phone
• Post on the UVa forum of College Confidential
• Instant message me through Google Chat (UVaDeanJ)

I won't be logged into all of those at every moment between now and deadline, but I will have my phone on me all weekend (hence Twitter and blog comments being the best ways to reach me). If I don't reply right away, I've either busy or am answering questions for another student.

Good luck with those last minute edits! Try not to submit at the very last minute!

Regular Decision deadline is around the corner!

The Regular Decision deadline, January 1st, is around the corner.  I thought I'd go over a few notes that might help those getting ready to hit submit.

1. There are three parts to your part of the application.  

We don't see anything until you submit all three parts via CommonApp.org.

The three parts are the Common App, the UVa Supplement, and the payment.

2. We can't fix problems you have with CommonApp.org.

Every single page on the Common App website has a "help" link.  

Hit the "help" link if you are having trouble and submit a help request.  

3.  Do not wait until 11:59 PM to submit.

If you have trouble, understand that the Common App team will have many help tickets to answer.

I'll be checking for questions in the comments every day between now and deadline, so fee free to post questions.  I'll also be on Twitter (UVaDeanJ).

 CavDog and I are rooting for you!

Good luck!

Family roles during the application process

Someone shared a video with me the other day that lead me down the Youtube rabbit hole (when you find yourself watching way too many "related" videos).  I landed on this video from a teen show that I don't know, but I think it's pertinent to what is happening right now.






There are days when almost every call that comes into the office is from a parent filling out the Common Application for a student.  To be frank, I'm disappointed.

I am going to assume that the vast majority of applications are filled out by the applicants.  I imagine that we don't hear from them because a) our applicants are web savvy and can figure out the Common App pretty easily and b) students are more than comfortable with hitting the "help" link when they have a problem.  Adults might not feel the same way, so they pick up the phone and call us.  I myself have been guilty of calling a business about an online problem without consulting their FAQs and support pages first.  I imagine younger folks are apt to check the online resources first and pick up the phone only after exhausting those resources.

I'm not saying parents shouldn't be involved during application season.  In fact, I think this process is a great one to tackle as a team.  Adults should be providing guidance and that second set of eyes that might catch a typo or an awkward phrase in an essay. I do not think they should be assuming their child's identity online.  College bound students, even busy ones, can fill out the forms.  It might cut into their Facebook time over the winter break, but they can do it.

If you are headed for UVa, you should be more than capable of completing the Common Application.  I also hope that you only allow your name to appear on work that is yours.

If you have questions before or after the deadline, just post a comment and I'll reply as soon as possible!

 

Application forms can be tedious...but a student bound for UVa can handle it.

Early Action Notification (a "no update" update)

We've been promising to have Early Action decisions released by the "end of January" ever since we announced a return to this early process.  Right now, assume that January 31st is the big day.

Please understand that we are working as quickly as possible. We'd love to be done right now, but we'd be shortchanging a lot of applicants if we rushed through this process. 

Hang in there.

Admission Chat TONIGHT!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 7 PM to 9 PM tonight. We'll have students and admission officers in the rooms to answer questions about UVa or the admission process. You'll have to register a username to participate and you can do that now or just before entering the chat.

Hope to see some of you there!
UVa Chat Rooms

Art Supplements 201

The Regular Decision arts supplement deadline is Decmeber 1st. Here are the most frequent questions I received and how I answered them:

Who should submit an arts supplement?
Anyone who intends to major, minor, or be significantly involved in the arts at UVa should think about submitting an arts supplement.  Submission is not required for anyone.

I don't think I'm going to be involved in the arts. Can a supplement help my application anyway?
I guess you could submit a supplement, but consider the fact that your supplement will be reviewed alongside those of students who are going to major/minor.  Submission alone doesn't help you.  The review by faculty is what could help you.

Can I submit ________ as part of my supplement?
Each type of arts supplement has specific instructions regarding format, length, and submission.  There are forms for visual art, dance, drama, music, and marching band.  Follow the directions on the form that corresponds to your discipline.

Can I combine a few areas into one supplement?
The supplements go to different departments for distribution and review, so if you want to submit a music and marching band supplement, you need to submit two supplements. One will get sent to the Marching Band Office and the other will go to the Department of Music.

The deadline is really early.  Can I submit late?
The deadline early because faculty need to review the supplements and send their notes to the Office of Admission in time for our review.  We don't encourage late submissions.

What about the Common App Arts Supplement form?
For now, we want you to use our forms.  We don't want recommendations (those are mentioned on the Common App's Arts Supplement form).  Just follow the directions on the UVa forms.

What questions do you have about arts supplements?

Important Links

The Arts at UVa

UVa Application Instructions (deadlines and basic info)

Arts Supplements Submission Iinfo & Forms

Missing document emails going out today!

A little over 400 Early Action applicants will be sent an email today about having an incomplete file.   If you get one of these emails, log into SIS to look at your to-do list to see what specific item is missing.  We aren't mad and you aren't in trouble.  Do not panic.  Calmly, but quickly, get us the missing item.

If getting the missing item to us requires a visit to your counselor, consider the possibility that the item was sent, but lost in transit.  I cringe at the thought of someone flying into the counseling office in a panic, accusing staff of not submitting credentials.

If your application is incomplete and the missing item is something for which you were responsible, get it done today. We aren't going to throw out your application because you didn't have your SAT/ACT scores sent.  Unfortunately, you're going to have to rush missing test scores and that's going to cost a some money.  I had hoped that addressing this earlier would have avoided that. Regular decision applicants, follow that link to see why you need to send your scores soon! 


We want you to complete your application. We aren't going to penalize you because you forgot one part of the process.


If you do not get an email, relax.  Do not send us a document unless we have asked for it.  Sending duplicates slows down the processing of documents we really need to complete other students' files. 

The only kind of duplicates we like (CavDog has 11 siblings)

Admission Chat TONIGHT!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 7 PM to 9 PM tonight. We'll have students and admission officers in the rooms to answer questions about UVa or the admission process. You'll have to register a username to participate and you can do that now or just before entering the chat.

Hope to see some of you there!
UVa Chat Rooms

Some notes about what you see in SIS

Let's talk about your status pages.  When you log into UVa's Student Information System (SIS), you should see a check list on the right side of the scree showing items that need to be submitted to make your application complete. Here are some notes about your status pages:

-"Initiated" in a term used by our SIS to show that an item has been added to your to do list. It means the item has not been completed yet.

-Mid-year reports come out whenever your first semester or second trimester is over.  The timing is different from one high school to the next.  SIS can't discern whether your school will have them before or after Early Action decisions are released.   The item is there for everyone.  If you are an Early Action applicant who just has the mid-year report on the check list, don't do anything more.  You're done!

-Below the chart where you list other schools attended, the Common App had one question asking if you are sending transcripts from all of those schools.  Ideally, you'd be able to select yes or no for each school.  Since you can't, that question doesn't really help us.  SIS is going to ask for transcripts from every school you list as having attended.  If you want that transcript taken off your to-do list, you can email uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu about it. Put "Checklist Adjustment Request" in your subject line with your name.  Be sure to include your date of birth day high school in your email.  Do not include your Social Security Number.

-Once your application is complete and it moves to the "ready to read" mode, you'll see a box pop up at the bottom of the status screen. "View decision" will appear in the box. It doesn't mean your decision is ready. That's just something that's built into the computer system. If you hit "view decision", you'll just see a note about decisions not being ready at this point. When decisions are ready, we will release them.  I promise!  We are always excited to get to notification day!


-If you ever forget your SIS password or want to change it, you can follow the steps in that first email you got to generate a new password.

Do you have questions about your SIS status page?

Caption this: What is CavDog doing?

Admission officers often read applications at home a few days each week.  It helps to get away from email, the phones, and unannounced visitors and concentrate on giving each file a thorough review.  Usually, CavDog sits next to me while I read.  This year, something changed.

Part of the day is spent doing this:

So, for those of you who are looking to take a break from the waiting (or preparing of Regular Decision applications), let's play "caption this."  Give that photo a caption.

If you aren't familiar with "Caption This" entries, check out these ones from past years.

Admission Chat TONIGHT!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 7 PM to 9 PM tonight. We'll have students and admission officers in the rooms to answer questions about UVa or the admission process. You'll have to register a username to participate and you can do that now or just before entering the chat.

Hope to see some of you there!
UVa Chat Rooms

Outreach chat TONIGHT!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 8 PM to 9:30 PM tonight for a diversity chat hosted by the Outreach Office. We'll have students and admission officers in the rooms to answer questions about UVa or the admission process. This chat is meant for seniors. You'll have to register a username to participate and you can do that now or just before entering the chat.

Hope to see some of you there!
UVa Chat Rooms

Admission Chat TONIGHT!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 7 PM to 9 PM tonight. We'll have students and admission officers in the rooms to answer questions about UVa or the admission process. You'll have to register a username to participate and you can do that now or just before entering the chat.

Hope to see some of you there!
UVa Chat Rooms

Preliminary Early Action numbers

I have very early numbers for you.  Please understand that I don't have any other statistics to share right now.  Once we process all the applications that were submitted last night, I'll have more information.

We have 11,415 Early Action applications right now.  About half of those were submitted this week and 2,000 were submitted yesterday. 

The Early Action application period is now closed.  If you started your application with EA in mind, but now are planning to apply under Regular Decision, go to the "Future Plans" part of the application and change your response about how you're applying to reflect the change.

We have a lot of work ahead of us!  I'm going back to reading...

Happy deadline night!

Our deadline is tonight at midnight. Technically, you could submit an application at 11:59 PM and meet the deadline.

The Common App has a grace period to account for time zones and in case there are technical problems, but I strongly encourage you to hit submit before that final hour. There is obviously a lot of traffic on the Common App servers during these final hours and while I'm sure they can handle it, I can imagine the panic you'd feel if your internet connection cut out with minutes to go.



Once you submit all three parts of your application (the Common App, Supplement, and payment must be submitted for anything to be sent to us from the Common App system), it will take a couple days of processing to prompt a login email for UVa's Student Information System (SIS) to be sent to you.  The email is coming from uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu.  Add that address to your contact list so the email doesn't go into your junk/spam folder. Just follow the directions in the email and log into our system successfully.  You can do it!

When you log in to UVa's SIS for the first time, scroll to the bottom of the main page and become familiar with the different areas of the status page.

Don't be alarmed by your to-do list at this time.

Credentials may be in our system, but not yet linked to your file. It may take a couple weeks to get through all the applications submitted in these last few days, so please be patient! If your transcript arrived a while ago, it was scanned and put in a miscellaneous credentials file. A script and/or a staff member must link that transcript to your newly submitted application.  This can take a little time.

We will contact you when we are through the bulk of the processing if we are still missing documents.  Do not send duplicates of any credentials unless we contact you asking for them.  Don't worry about those status pages right now. 

Good luck, everyone!

Happy Halloween!

I thought I'd take a little break from the admission talk and share a few pictures (and a video!) from this afternoon's trick-or-treat even on the UVa Lawn.  Every year, hundreds of children flock to the Lawn for a few hours of trick-or-treating.  Students and faculty who live on the Lawn provide a constant stream of candy and other students set up activities in the amphitheater. 

I've missed the even for the last two years due to my travel schedule and I was so happy to make it this year.

 

Roll that beautiful bean footage!

The costume with the most UVa spirit

The scene at one of the faculty residences...I have no idea what's happening here.

CavDog making friends with a banana

There are always lots of dogs, but I never saw pigs on the Lawn before!

While the entire event is a tradition, in recent years, this viking ship has become a tradition of its own.  The students from Agape Christian Fellowship haul this huge, wooden boat to the Lawn and dress in costumes to match.  They always seem to have a great time and children flock to them. 

After they did their routine, one little boy decided to get in on the action...

 CavDog was a little concerned when this student threw himself on the ground.

We had a little trick-or-treating in Peabody Hall, too. 

Happy Halloween!