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 event 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!

Let's talk about rumors

Every year, people who have never stepped foot in our office or even worked in education come up with little nuggets of information about admission that floor me.  I usually hear the latest rumors while making the rounds during the fall travel season.

There was the rumor that the younger sibling of a non-Virginia resident will pay the in-state tuition rate.  There are a ton about how many AP courses are "required" for admission (the numbers stated is always all over the place).  There are the rumors about advantages given to students who can trace their lineage back to Jefferson or Jefferson's friend or Jefferson's friend's neighbor.

I'm actually thrilled when people repeat the rumors to me.  It means they probably suspect that they are, indeed, rumors.  I worry that for every rumor shared, there are others that aren't shared and there are people spreading that bad information as if it were fact.

So...does anyone want to share a rumor that they've heard about UVa admission?  Feel free to share them in the comments.

Who comes up with this stuff?

*I hope it's obvious that the rumors I posted are NOT true.

300+ phone calls yesterday about sending test scores

I'm a little worried.  With the deadlines coming up, I think you should be putting the finishing touches on your essays and checking over your Common Applications to make you've found a place for all the important information you want us to know.  Based on the number and tone of the calls we got yesterday (and so far this morning), some of you are freaking out about sending test scores.

When it comes to testing, here's what you need to do:

1.  Send your test scores.
2. Move on to other parts of the application.

Is testing important?  Of course.  It's the one component that the entire pool has in common.  In a time when there are many different grading scales, styles of curricula, and ways to calculate a GPA, it's nice to have something that's standardized across the pool. 

However, this is a holistic review process.  We read the entire file to determine our decision.  Remember that we are trying to see you in the best light possible. 

I fear Score Choice has really complicated the process of sending scores.  We look at the best combination of scores.  When I open a file, our system automatically plucks the best scores out of your record for me to consider.  You don't have to over think sending the scores.  Send them and the system will pick out the best ones.

Stay cool, my friends.

Deadlines looming

The Early Action deadline, November 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!

Admission Chat THIS MORNING!

The UVa Chat rooms will be open from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM this morning for an international student chat. 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 juniors and 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

UVa Admission and regional quotas

Many rumors grow steam, get debunked, and fade away.  One rumor about the admission process at UVa never goes away: the rumor about regional quotas.

There is one quota that affects the admission process at UVa.  The Commonwealth of Virginia mandates that 2/3 of the students at the University be Virginia residents.  Beyond that, there are no quotas with respect to regions, counties, or high schools.  There are trends in the population here, of course.  Densely populated areas of the state tend to have many high schools and send many students to UVa.

Obviously, most admission offices want to bring in an interesting class that has people from many backgrounds, but we have not been handed target numbers for different regions, counties, or populations beyond that 2/3 : 1/3 ratio.

If you want to see admission statistics by residency, check out this chart on the Office of Institutional Assessment's website.