One of our local websites picked up on this video that Katie Couric made a few weeks ago when she was on Grounds for her 30th reunion. The luncheon where she is filming when the video starts took place in front of Peabody Hall (visible when she turns the camera on herself). Other stops: The Lawn, Katie's old room, and The White Spot.
Enjoy...especially the part when they're dancing to OutKast.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Another student blog!
You've probably already seen UVa Life, a blog that was started by a student about a year ago. Now, to join the student bloggers, we have a team blog called Hoo Stories. The group has already racked up a good number of posts and I'm sure they'd love to read your comments and answer your questions.
An even better look at the residence halls
This link deserves its own post. You can get 360 views of the residence halls on our website.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wider, cleaner layout
I've been doing some tinkering today. I never liked the amount of empty real estate on the blog, but also don't want to clutter it with extra columns or images. So, I changed the layout a bit, made the columns wider, and simplified the color scheme.
You'll notice buttons for subscribing to the blog via common RSS Readers. Those of you who currently subscribe via email might be interested in using a blog reader, especially if you like to read multiple blogs (goodness knows many admission officers have jumped into blogging in the last few years).
Anyway, I hope you like the new format! Let me know if anything looks buggy to you.
You'll notice buttons for subscribing to the blog via common RSS Readers. Those of you who currently subscribe via email might be interested in using a blog reader, especially if you like to read multiple blogs (goodness knows many admission officers have jumped into blogging in the last few years).
Anyway, I hope you like the new format! Let me know if anything looks buggy to you.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A look inside the residence halls
Just in case you haven't found them yet, the housing office has photos of students' rooms from various halls around Grounds. While I'm sure some of the students did some tidying up before the photographers showed up, these were not rooms set up by the University.
Note: these are just pages with pictures. Go to the housing website to read general info about each building. There are more halls than those below. This is just a list of the pages with photos.
McCormick Road Halls
Alderman Road Halls (here's a special page about Kellogg Hall and some info about future buildings)
Brown College (also check out Brown's website)
International Residence College
As a little bonus, here's a blog entry written by a 2004 graduate who saved pictures of both his first year and fourth year rooms (he lived off Grounds his fourth year). Perhaps these are a better representations of men's residence hall rooms!
Note: these are just pages with pictures. Go to the housing website to read general info about each building. There are more halls than those below. This is just a list of the pages with photos.
McCormick Road Halls
Alderman Road Halls (here's a special page about Kellogg Hall and some info about future buildings)
Brown College (also check out Brown's website)
International Residence College
As a little bonus, here's a blog entry written by a 2004 graduate who saved pictures of both his first year and fourth year rooms (he lived off Grounds his fourth year). Perhaps these are a better representations of men's residence hall rooms!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Visiting us this summer? Please take note of parking instructions!
This information is on our website, but I thought it would be helpful to post it here in case there are prospective students and parents reading.
From June 19th through August 31st (with the exception of July 17th and 18th):
Visitors are invited to park in the Emmet/Ivy Garage located at 123 Emmet Street South, Charlottesville, VA 22903 behind the Cavalier Inn and Italian Villa. Parking is FREE in this garage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; the garage is closed on Sundays. We cannot validate parking elsewhere.
Directions to the Emmet/Ivy Parking Garage:
Utilize exit 118B off Interstate 64 and travel toward Charlottesville on the 29/250 Bypass. Take second exit onto Route 250 Business East. Turn right at the top of the exit onto Ivy Road. Turn left at third traffic signal into garage entrance.
Click here for a detailed parking map (PDF).
On Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th ONLY
The Emmet/Ivy Garage will be closed for maintenance and visitors may park at the Culbreth Road Garage located at 130 Culbreth Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Parking is FREE in this garage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. We cannot validate parking elsewhere.
Directions to the Culbreth Road Garage:
From Interstate 64, take exit 118B towards Charlottesville. Merge onto the Route 29/250 Bypass. Take the second exit onto Ivy Road. Pass through the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street (Route 29) and turn left onto Culbreth Road.
Click here for a detailed parking map (PDF).
We can not validate parking tickets for those who park in the Central Grounds Garage.
From June 19th through August 31st (with the exception of July 17th and 18th):
Visitors are invited to park in the Emmet/Ivy Garage located at 123 Emmet Street South, Charlottesville, VA 22903 behind the Cavalier Inn and Italian Villa. Parking is FREE in this garage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; the garage is closed on Sundays. We cannot validate parking elsewhere.
Directions to the Emmet/Ivy Parking Garage:
Utilize exit 118B off Interstate 64 and travel toward Charlottesville on the 29/250 Bypass. Take second exit onto Route 250 Business East. Turn right at the top of the exit onto Ivy Road. Turn left at third traffic signal into garage entrance.
Click here for a detailed parking map (PDF).
On Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th ONLY
The Emmet/Ivy Garage will be closed for maintenance and visitors may park at the Culbreth Road Garage located at 130 Culbreth Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Parking is FREE in this garage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. We cannot validate parking elsewhere.
Directions to the Culbreth Road Garage:
From Interstate 64, take exit 118B towards Charlottesville. Merge onto the Route 29/250 Bypass. Take the second exit onto Ivy Road. Pass through the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street (Route 29) and turn left onto Culbreth Road.
Click here for a detailed parking map (PDF).
We can not validate parking tickets for those who park in the Central Grounds Garage.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
2010 Essay Questions
The future applicants out there might be interested in knowing the essay questions that will appear on next year's UVa Supplement to the Common Application. The Common App will have one general question which you must answer. In addition, we ask for two short responses that are specific to UVa. Please pay attention to the limits! We aren't expecting you to write term papers. We're looking for thoughtful, concise statements.
For advice about essays, click on the "essays" tag at the bottom of the post and you'll see all related posts from past years.
UVa Supplement Essays for First-Years
1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to your intended school. Limit your answer to a half page or roughly 250 words.
2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words
UVa Supplement Essays for Transfers
1. How do the possible career or professional plans you indicated on the Common Application relate to your planned course of study?
2. Since you graduated from high school, have there been periods of time (other than summer vacations) when you were not enrolled in college? Do you plan to spend the Spring term away from your current college or university? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, please describe, in chronological order, your activities or employment during these periods.
3. Answer one of the following essay questions. Limit your response to one page.
For advice about essays, click on the "essays" tag at the bottom of the post and you'll see all related posts from past years.
UVa Supplement Essays for First-Years
1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to your intended school. Limit your answer to a half page or roughly 250 words.
- College of Arts and Sciences: What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
- Engineering: Discuss experiences that led you to choose an engineering education at U.Va. and the role that scientific curiosity plays in your life.
- Architecture: What led you to apply to the School of Architecture?
- Nursing: Discuss experiences that led you to choose the School of Nursing.
2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words
- What is your favorite word and why?
- Describe the world you come from and how that world shaped who you are.
- Discuss something you secretly like but pretend not to, or vice versa.
- "We might say that we were looking for global schemas, symmetries, universal and unchanging laws - and what we have discovered is the mutable, the ephemeral, the complex." Support or challenge Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine's assertion.
UVa Supplement Essays for Transfers
1. How do the possible career or professional plans you indicated on the Common Application relate to your planned course of study?
- If you are applying to the College of Arts and Sciences and are undecided about your major, indicate your general area of interest.
- If you are applying to the Architecture, Commerce, Education, Engineering, or Nursing Schools, tell us why you have chosen this field and what experiences (work, internships, etc.) have prepared you for it.
- If you are applying to the Five-Year Teacher Education Program, indicate your academic major within the College of Arts and Sciences and your intended teaching area (e.g., elementary education, secondary education).
2. Since you graduated from high school, have there been periods of time (other than summer vacations) when you were not enrolled in college? Do you plan to spend the Spring term away from your current college or university? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, please describe, in chronological order, your activities or employment during these periods.
3. Answer one of the following essay questions. Limit your response to one page.
- Stephen Hawking asked the question, "What is the probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe?" in his public lecture, "Life in the Universe." If life does, in fact, exist elsewhere in the universe and you could send one thing to represent the human race, what would it be and why would you choose it?
- If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead or fictional, who would they be and why would you select them?
- What issue of local, national, or international significance concerns you? Why?
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Waitlist offer ramifications
Some of the waitlisted students who have been offered a spot in the class have asked if they are at a disadvantage when it comes to orientation, housing, and registration.
First of all, you should know that in the Student Information System (SIS), only the Office of Admission can see that a matriculated student was previously on the waitlist. Your professors and peers will only know that you were waitlisted if you tell them yourself.
Orientation registration opened in May and I imagine that there are some early sessions that have filled up by now. So, in a sense, you may be at a disadvantage in that you could have fewer session options. That being said, all orientations sessions are the same. Coming to an early session is not better. I might add that from in my experience, the skits and sessions that the orientation leaders give get better and better as the days go by.
As for registration, there is no advantage to those who come to an early orientation session and therefore register early. The registration system reserves a certain number of seats for each orientation session. A class may appear full once all the spots give to a particular session are taken, but the class will open up again when the next orientation session starts (and only students in that orientation session can snap up those seats). This is why some of you who have already gone into the registration system are seeing classes that are full.
Lastly, housing forms were due on June 5th. However, housing assignments are random for first year students, so I do not think those of you who submit forms a little late will be penalized. The Housing Division has a webpage just for first year students that will give you more information about the assignment process.
Congratulations to those of you who are getting offers! Don't hesitate to go call offices around Grounds if you have questions that aren't answered on the website. While I try to be a font of knowledge, it's always smart to get information right from the source. To those still waiting, hang in there. Again, we are trying to make this process as quick as possible while still being thorough.
All incoming students should be keeping an eye on the deadlines listed on the Summer Orientation page (scroll down). One of the deadlines, the health form deadline, is firm and there is a penalty for missing it!
First of all, you should know that in the Student Information System (SIS), only the Office of Admission can see that a matriculated student was previously on the waitlist. Your professors and peers will only know that you were waitlisted if you tell them yourself.
Orientation registration opened in May and I imagine that there are some early sessions that have filled up by now. So, in a sense, you may be at a disadvantage in that you could have fewer session options. That being said, all orientations sessions are the same. Coming to an early session is not better. I might add that from in my experience, the skits and sessions that the orientation leaders give get better and better as the days go by.
As for registration, there is no advantage to those who come to an early orientation session and therefore register early. The registration system reserves a certain number of seats for each orientation session. A class may appear full once all the spots give to a particular session are taken, but the class will open up again when the next orientation session starts (and only students in that orientation session can snap up those seats). This is why some of you who have already gone into the registration system are seeing classes that are full.
Lastly, housing forms were due on June 5th. However, housing assignments are random for first year students, so I do not think those of you who submit forms a little late will be penalized. The Housing Division has a webpage just for first year students that will give you more information about the assignment process.
Congratulations to those of you who are getting offers! Don't hesitate to go call offices around Grounds if you have questions that aren't answered on the website. While I try to be a font of knowledge, it's always smart to get information right from the source. To those still waiting, hang in there. Again, we are trying to make this process as quick as possible while still being thorough.
All incoming students should be keeping an eye on the deadlines listed on the Summer Orientation page (scroll down). One of the deadlines, the health form deadline, is firm and there is a penalty for missing it!
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Tree planting honors Jack Blackburn
After a few days on retreat, our staff returned to Grounds for a tree planting ceremony to honor our late dean, Jack Blackburn. It seems fitting that Jack's tree is on The Lawn, close to the intersection of some major paths that are filled with students making their way to and from classes during the year.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Back from vacation
As you could see from the tweet sent a few days ago from my phone (see the menu to the right), I was out of the office for a few days. I was also away from an internet connection for that period, so the blog was pretty quiet.
The class continues to take shape and the waitlist is still active. Again, when the class is complete, a letter will be sent to all waitlisted students. I will also post a note on the blog.