Customizing the Common App Essay for UVA

It's natural to look for advice from trusted voices when you're doing something important for the first time. I think it's wonderful that there are so many people trying to help students through the college application process. That being said, I continue to see college admission influencers on social media suggest that students should customize their Common Application essay for every school on their list. I made a video about this back in June, but it bears repeating here on the blog:

Your Common App essay should address the Common App prompts. 

More recently, I've seen people suggest that for UVA, the Common App essay must be about an intended major and/or address "why UVA." With two small exceptions*, we don't admit to majors at UVA and we've never had a "why UVA" essay in the 20 years I've been here. We don't expect you to have a major finalized yet and we have years of surveys and anecdotes that tell us why people find UVA appealing.

The essay is your opportunity to share something meaningful about yourself. A strong essay gives readers insight into your experiences, perspective, and interests. It doesn't have to be about a specific one college.

If you're happy with your Common App essay and it shares something interesting about you that doesn't come through in the other parts of the application, there's no need to rewrite it just to mention UVA or one of our academic programs. Focus on telling your story well. Authentic voice, style, and tone is far more important than trying to work a college's name into an essay where it doesn't naturally belong.

As always, remember that the application is made up of many important parts. The essay is one piece of the puzzle.

*The Common App and our application instructions explain that we admit students to the College of Arts & Sciences (undeclared), School of Engineering (undeclared), School of Architecture (undeclared), School of Nursing, and the Kinesiology Program.