Peabody is the building, Jack is the dog, and I'm Dean J (she/her, btw).

There are years of posts here. The search box works well, but please consider the age of the posts when you find them. The college admission process changes every year!

References to emailing updates to your application are from the years when we didn't have the current applicant portal. Please follow the instructions in your portal to submit all updates.

Welcome to the blog and thanks for reading!

Tuesday, April 09, 2024

A Waiting List Update

We are grateful to all students who remain interested in attending UVA. On Tuesday, April 9, we offered admission to 57 students who were on the waiting list for first year admission. We’ve reached out to these newly admitted students through their application portal and by email. All admitted students, including those offered from the waiting list, have until May 15 to submit their enrollment deposit to secure their place in the class. Enrollment deposit fee waivers are available to students with financial need and deadline extensions are available to those experiencing difficulties with FAFSA submission.

Although we may be able to offer admission to additional students who remain on our waiting list, we do not expect to do so before May 15, and the process may extend into June. Learn more about the waiting list on our FAQ page.

Again, we are grateful to all students who remain interested in UVA and wish all students the very best as they complete their senior year and make their college selection.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Second Round Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars Notfication

The second round of invitations for three of UVA's scholars programs went out on Monday afternoon by email and a short note was added to portals. All applicants to the College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering were reviewed for a potential invitation to three scholars programs: Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars

Echols and Rodman add a few members through a third round that takes place after the first semester (you can self-nominate for that round). 

About 5% of students in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering are invited to join these programs. You can read more about them on their websites. In addition to showing exceptional academic records, scholars show a love of learning and an extraordinary commitment to academic pursuits beyond the classroom. We see this in transcripts, recommendations, essays, and activities. The review for the scholars programs is not driven by GPAs or test scores. 

Congratulations to all!

Thursday, March 14, 2024

2023-2024 UVA Admission Statistics (Unofficial)

I've written a post like this few times per year since 2008. UVA has always been pretty transparent about statistics. The Office of Institutional Research and Analytics website has admission data going back to 1991 and our office shares admission rates broken down by residency in our presentations, publications, on our website, and on social media. If you're familiar with any of those, then these numbers I'm sharing aren't all that surprising. 

 If you are a reporter, please contact the Office of University Communications for current, official information.


Regular Decision Round

Total RD applications: 16,866 (15,828 last year)
VA RD applications: 3,750 (3,413)
OOS RD applications: 13,116 (12,415)

VA RD acceptance rate: 15% (16%)
OOS RD acceptance rate: 11% (10%)

Overall Admission Statistics

Total applications: 58,995 (56,439 last year)
Total VA applications: 16,455 (15,200)
Total OOS applications: 42,540 (41,338)

Overall VA acceptance rate: 25.5% (27%)
Overall OOS acceptance rate: 13% (12%)

 

A few notes:


1. We publish in-state and out-of-state admission rates because residency is a major factor in our review.

2. Schools admit more students than the enrollment goal with yield in mind. Yield is how many students accept an offer of admission. We do not try to figure out an individual student's likelihood of enrolling (or look at demonstrated interest), but yield trends influence the offer rate. For example, out-of-state residents tend to have a lower yield rate than Virginia residents. You can see yield rates by college/school (first tab) and residency (second tab) on our website.

3. Unofficial early decision and early action statistics were shared when we concluded those rounds.

4. Admitted students will get a hard copy of their letter in their offer packet. Unfortunately, I can't predict when USPS will put that in your mailbox.

5. Students offered the waiting list option should read the Waiting List FAQs. That link will be in the decision letter as well. Please share that link with the adults in your life!

6. The EcholsRodman, and College Science Scholars program invitations will come out next week. I will post an update when I have one. This review round included all applicants (Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision). Echols and Rodman also allow self-nomination after your first semester. Miller Arts Scholars apply after the first semester.


Good luck tomorrow night! If you get an offer, we are thrilled to have you considering UVA! We will be in touch by email to let you know about virtual and in-person admitted student events. If this is the end of your time with UVA, best wishes for the rest of your college search. There are exciting times ahead for all of you. I have loved interacting with you here, on Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, reddit, and Discord. Thank you all for considering UVA! 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

UVA Regular Decision Update

  I know why you clicked, so here it is:

Regular Decision results will be posted
Friday, March 15, 2024
This is official. No need to call to confirm!


What time will decisions show up?

The decisions get posted all at once in around 5 PM. There's a technical team that runs through several processes to prepare for the release and load the decisions. I can't predict the exact moment when they will finish their work.

Where are the decisions posted?

You will see a place to review an update in your MyUVA Applicant Portal. You received login credentials for the portal back when you applied. Remember that your applicant portal is different from SIS, which is used for the financial aid process. 

The portal emails you when there's an unseen status update. Decisions are not given out by email or phone. 

Are there early signs of my decision anywhere?

The portal will look different leading up to the decision release as the technical team does their work. These changes are not tied to your decision.


Are scholar notifications coming?

The second round of review for Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars covered Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision students. Notification will be in portals next week. As always, I'll post updates when I have them. 


When will statistics be ready?

I usually receive admission statistics for the round a day before the decision release. As soon as I have data, I'll share it here. 

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Midyear Grades Reminder

Regular Decision applicants and students who accepted a spot on the waiting list during the early rounds were asked to submit midyear grade reports by February 15th. This is a required item and we can't make an offer of admission without it! Please be sure to log into your portal to verify that midyear grades are in your file. 

If your midyears haven't arrived, you can use your portal to upload a screen grab of them. We do not need these grades to be sent by your school counselor. 

Remember, all updates are are submitted through your portal with the exception of recommendations. Those may go to the undergradadmission@virginia.edu email account. Please do not email individual admission officers with updates. That slows down the entire process!


Treasure found on the UVA Lawn


Thursday, February 15, 2024

Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars Notifications

The Office of Admission reviews all applicants to the College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering for a potential invitation to three scholars programs: Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars

The first round of invitations will go to students who applied during the Early Decision and Early Action rounds. An email with invitations from this first round is going out at 5 PM today and a short note is being added to portals. 

The second round of invitations will include students from all three rounds and will be posted after the conclusion of the Regular Decision process. Echols and Rodman have a third round that takes place after the first semester (you can self-nominate for that round). 

About 5% of students in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering are invited to join these programs. You can read more about them on their websites. In addition to showing exceptional academic records, scholars show a love of learning and an extraordinary commitment to academic pursuits beyond the classroom. We see this in transcripts, recommendations, essays, and activities. The review for the scholars programs is not driven by GPAs or test scores. 

Congratulations to our first group of scholars for the Class of 2028!

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Enrollment Deposit Deadline Changed to May 15

It should come as no surprise that colleges are making adjustments in light of the delayed transmission of FAFSA data. At this time, colleges will begin to receive FAFSA data in the first half of March. This means financial aid packages might not be available until April. We are moving our enrollment deposit deadline to May 15th as a result. This is on our website and we have emailed all of our admitted Early Action students with the information.

UVA Student Financial Services, the group that oversees the financial aid process here, has created a Financial Aid Guidance Page that is being updated regularly (they're instagram is @uvasfs if that's of interest). You might also bookmark the FAFSA Issue Alerts page, when the Department of Education is documenting known problems with FAFSA submission. 

On your side of things, you should be working on your CSS Profile and FAFSA (or the Commonwealth of Virginia's VASA if you aren't eligible to do the FAFSA). Student Financial Services was able to work on preliminary aid packages for the Early Decision group with CSS Profile information. Obviously, the rest of the documentation has to arrive to finalize packages. 

If you have questions about the financial process that aren't covered by the website I linked to above, you can email that office at sfs@virignia.edu or call them at 434-982-6000.






Thursday, February 01, 2024

2024 #UVA Early Action Admission Statistics (Unofficial)

I've written a post like this few times per year since 2008. UVA has always been pretty transparent about statistics. The Office of Institutional Research and Analytics website has admission data going back to 1991 and our office shares admission rates broken down by residency in our presentations, publications, on our website, and on social media. If you're familiar with any of those, then these numbers I'm sharing aren't all that surprising. 

These numbers were up to date on Thursday afternoon. If you are a reporter, this data is unofficial and you should contact the Office of University Communications for information.


Early Action Applications

Total number of Early Action applications: 37,642 (36,459 last year)
Total number of VA apps: 10,109 (9,511)
Total number of OOS apps: 27,533 (26,948)
We use completed applications in our statistics.

Early Action Offers

Overall offers: 6,519
Total VA offers:
 2,854 (28% offer rate)
Total OOS offers:  3,665 (13% offer rate)
Enrollment Goal: ~3,970
It's misleading to average these offer rates together because residency is a major factor in our review. If you are going to share these numbers, cite BOTH offer rates. 

Some notes:

1. I do not have additional statistics. I know people want to see how many students were admitted without testing. I was not given that number. 
 
2. If you are offered the waiting list, you must submit a form in your portal if you'd like to be considered again. This form takes the place of a "letter of continued interest" or LOCI. Please follow the directions on the waiting list student page about what you may add to your file. That page also tells you what you should not do. Following directions is important and it saves busy students time and energy. 

3. Admitted students will get a paper copy of the offer letter by mail via USPS. I'm pretty excited about this year's mailing!

4. The first round of invitations into EcholsRodman, and College Science Scholars, will probably be posted in the portal next week. I will post an update when that happens. A second round will be posted after the Regular Decision process is completed. Echols and Rodman also allow self-nomination after your first semester. Miller Arts Scholars only apply after the first semester.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

#UVA Early Action Update

  Let's just get to the reason you clicked through. 

Early Action notification will be 
Friday, February 2, 2024 
This is official. Please do not call our office to confirm it. 

Where are the decisions posted? 

You will see a place to view your decision when you log into your MyUVA applicant portal. Remember that the MyUVA portal is different from SIS (those who applied for financial aid are using SIS to monitor that process). You received login information for the portal back when you applied. Decisions are not sent by email, but the systems sends an email when you have an unseen status update.

What time will decisions show up? 

The decisions will get posted all at once to portals around 5 PM. There's a technical team runs several processes to get the portals updated and I can't predict the exact time that they'll finish their work. 

Why is the portal changing? Is it a sign of my decision? 

The portal will look a little different throughout the day as the technical team prepares for the release. The changes are not tied to your decision. 

 As always, I'll have a post with admission statistics before decisions go up. 




Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Why February? (An Early Action Update)

I've gotten a lot of questions lately about the timeline of the Early Action process. The timeline on our website says we'll have decisions for you on February 15th and that's true -  if you log into your applicant portal on February 15th, I promise your decision will be there. If we finish earlier than that, we will post the decisions and we always let you know here, on our social media accounts (@uvadeanj and @uvaadmission), and by email (the system automatically emails when there's a status change that you haven't seen*).  

The volume of the pool determines the calendar. The last time we were able to release in January, we had 25,000 Early Action applications. We have over 36,000 this season. Of course, we've added staff over the years, but reviewing the number of applications we're getting these days takes time. 

For those who want to predict the future, there are years of posts to explore using the menu on the right side of the page. 

So here's what you need to know if you applied Early Action to UVA:

1. Decisions will be posted by February 15th.
2. All decisions are posted at once.
3. We always announce updates to the calendar.

Hang in there, everyone. We still have some work to do!

*A couple parents messaged me after the Early Decision round because their student didn't get the status change email from the portal. That's because the student checked their status before the system could send the email, so there was no "new" status to see. I imagine there was some rapid refreshing involved!