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.

Financial Aid Deadline Reminder

We just sent an email to everyone admitted and deferred during Early Action and all Regular Decision applicants about the financial aid deadline. We also emailed all of their parents, if we have parent emails on file. Some people have the same email for student and parent, but that's another story...

Anyway, no matter where you are in the process, it's important to know that the strict deadline to apply for financial aid at UVa is March 1st. You know how admission offices are always flexible with applicants around deadline time? Financial aid officers aren't so flexible. You MUST have your documents submitted by the deadline or they won't package you.

UVa's Student Financial Services can answer all of your aid-related questions. Remember that aid and admission are totally separate at UVa. I have no access to your aid documents, so please direct any questions to the financial aid folks. SFS is also on Twitter, so you might want to follow them for updates.

Once your submit your aid documents, keep an eye on your SIS status page. You'll have a financial aid "to do" list just like your admission one. Sometimes, the aid officers ask for extra documentation.

How Applying for Aid Affects Your UVa Application

During my visit to TJHSST (a high school in Fairfax County) today, a student asked about how changes to AccessUVa will affect our applicants. If you weren't aware, AccessUVa is the financial aid program that guarantees that the school will meet 100% of the need that's demonstrated by the financial aid forms. Talk about possible changes in the program have been happening for years.

While I was talking to the group, I realized that I haven't addressed how applying for aid affects an application on this blog. The short answer: applying for aid doesn't affect how we review your application.

When we're reading files. We aren't able to see any of the financial aid documents an applicant has filed. Those documents are between you and the folks in Student Financial Services. We are need blind in the Office of Admission. This is why I don't field questions about aid on this blog. Those questions are best answered by SFS.

Financial Aid Deadline

Everyone in the region is excited about the inch or so of snow that we got over night, but I have a something serious to share.

This is serious.

There's a hard and fast deadline for financial aid this year at UVa. 

You must submit all financial aid documents by Friday, March 1st.

I'm happy to say that admission and financial aid are separate at UVa, so whether you file for financial aid or not isn't a factor when we review applications.  Your finances are between you and Student Financial Services.

If you're interested is learning more about the financial aid process, check out the SFS website, the financial aid Twitter feed, and the financial aid Facebook page.

Now, back to playing in the snow!

An Update from Financial Aid

Student Financial Services was able to post financial aid packages on SIS yesterday for all students who had their aid paperwork submitted and complete.

If you are missing some paperwork (there is a separate "to do" list in SIS for financial aid), you have until April 30th to get everything submitted.  After April 30th, some kinds of aid (including UVa grants...the kind of award you don't pay back) will not be part of your package.

If you have questions, you can contact the financial aid office.

What Happens Next for Admitted Students?

I trust that most of you have had a chance to share your feelings on the three decision entries by now. I will continue to keep an eye out for questions that are posted in them. It seems like many of you answer questions for each other in those comments, often before I can get to the blog. Thank you for that!

I thought I'd cover some of the typical questions that come up when students are wondering what happens next.


Welcome Packets
A welcome mailing was sent out on Friday afternoon to all admitted first year students.  Obviously, you saw your decision letter on SIS (and most seem to prefer the speed of online notification over waiting for the mail to arrive like I did when I was in high school), but there is some more information coming beyond that. A blog comments on Monday reported that one of those packets was received, so I imagine the USPS is ferrying them to you very quickly.


For now, you might be interested in checking out our admitted student page.  If you decide to join the class, at some point between paying your deposit (deposits are due May 1st) and June 1st, you'll want to go through the items on the Summer Orientation website.  In past years, that page has updated around April 1st, so the information that's on there currently is probably for last year's incoming class.



If you're really excited to do more, you could flip through last year's Welcome Book online.  The 2012 book, with new dates, should be up soon. You can also take a look at the virtual tours of the residence halls.


Admitted Student Visits
Days on The Lawn (DOTL) are the admitted student events. If the DOTL dates don't work for you, you can plan your own visit, which might include staying overnight with a member of The Monroe Society or attending some open classes.

Days on the Lawn are totally optional events.  We created DOTL to help students "kick the tires" before they commit to the University. You'll be walking around the Grounds just like our current students do. Dress as you do for school (unless, of course, you wear a uniform to school).  We want you to be comfortable.

I'm more than happy to answer questions about directions, parking, and lodging if the DOTL page doesn't cover your concerns.



Financial Aid
I should have a financial aid update later this week.  They aim to post packages around decision time, but we were obviously a bit earlier than expected with our decision release this year.   I'm not sure if all packages will show up at once, like your admission decisions did, or if they will come up over a period of time. It takes time to ensure that all admitted students who have applied for financial aid have been properly awarded, so please be patient with them.


If you have any other questions about next steps, feel free to post them in the comments!


Tomorrow on the blog: What Comes Next for the Waiting List

Financial aid update!

The updates keep coming!  Here's a message from the folks over in Student Financial Services:

If you have applied for Financial Aid and you submitted all your forms by the March 1st priority filing date, you should be able to see your preliminary award beginning around April 5th.  Please don’t call Student Financial Services asking where your award is, as we are hard at work putting them together! 

When your award is available, you should receive an email notification informing you of this.  After you receive this email, you should then be able to view your award by going into the SIS and clicking “View Financial Aid” under the Finances section.  Choose the “2012” aid year. 

If you did not get all your required documents in by March 1st, or if you had or still have To Do List items, rest assured that you will still receive a preliminary financial aid award, most likely within a few weeks of your last documents being received by Student Financial Services.  Make sure you complete your To Do List items, as SFS cannot complete your preliminary award without them.  Awards are processed weekly on Thursdays, so notifications will come out on Thursday or Friday each week throughout the month of April.

Many of the most common questions you will have at this time will be answered on our website, so please be sure to visit here before contacting Student Financial Services.

The Office of Admission and Student Financial Services (SFS) are totally separate at UVa.  When I read an application, I don't have access to the financial forms and documents you submitted if you applied for aid.   I happen to like this...your finances and tuition bill are between you and SFS.  Unfortunately, it also means that I'm not the best person to ask questions about aid.

Last call for missing credentials!

We're going to send a last round of emails asking for missing credentials in the next day or so.  If you are one of the few that get one of these emails, time is now of the essence.  We need to you to quickly get us the item(s) mentioned in the email so we can get your file processed and in front of the Deans and readers.

Most of you won't hear from us at all.  No news is good news right now.  There will be more to talk about next week.  Right now, you should be working on your FAFSA and CSS Profile for the Financial Aid people.  You should really get those items filed by March 1st, which is next Tuesday.


I'm going to paste in a few notes from an entry I made a few weeks ago because it seems as though there are some new readers who haven't scrolled down.  Remember to use that little search box to the right...a lot of your questions have already been covered!

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

-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 we "flip the switch" for notification (April 1 at 5 PM Eastern), that "View Decision" link will take you to your official decision.  We we are able to notify early, I will post about it on this blog.

-While the Office of Admission is paperless, admitted students will be mailed an information packet which includes an invitation to our open houses (Days on the Lawn).   You will see your official letter online.  The only thing we're putting in the mail is the information packet for admitted students.

-If/when you apply for Financial Aid, their office's to do list will appear on your status page. Our offices are separate, so we in Admission have no knowledge of what's going on with your aid application. Direct all questions about aid to them and all questions about admission to us.

-Financial Aid packages are posted online ONLY. They won't be sending your paper documents. You'll probably want to take screen shots or print out the screen when your aid package gets posted so you can share it with your parents.

-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.

 

Waiting

Scholarship information

The application season has just started and I'm already getting questions about scholarships. I hope you've noticed that there's a link on the main Office of Admission page called "Paying for UVa". On that page, you'll find links to lists of scholarships and grants. You'll also find links to the financial aid website.

More from Youtube

I got a little lost on Youtube again.

The UVa Youtube channel has videos I have never seen before. I'm going to have to subscribe to stay on top of things from now on.

I love how this student says AccessUVa is the "greatest gift" anyone has ever given him. I also like that he showed off the list of residents who have lived in his lawn room before him. I always imagine that the first few days in a lawn room are spent googling those names.


One of the related videos is an interview with an Iraq war veteran who transferred into UVa.


I was really happy to learn that we have a sustainability coordinator working with the dining halls. Who knew all of our apples are local? Our bananas and coffee are fairly traded? Nice!



I wish I had seen this back in December. It includes some great pictures from 2009, including ones of our late Dean of Admission, Jack Blackburn.

First batch of aid awards is up!

Student Financial Services posted the first batch of aid packages at noon today.

If you applied for aid and don't have a package, it's possible that you haven't submitted the UFAA (SFS requires the FAFSA and the UFAA) or didn't send some requested documentation. Check your to-do list and your email folders (including junk and spam) to make sure you haven't missed anything.

As always, questions about aid are best directed to Student Financial Services.

I also heard that UAA decisions should be made at the end of the week. I'll post an update when I get more information.

Update on Financial Aid

Student Financial Services aims to post financial aid packages around our notification date. We moved our date up a week, which means you are going know your decision for a little while before getting your aid package.

SFS anticipates posting a batch of packages on Tuesday, March 30th. I imagine that if all of your documentation (FAFSA, UFAA, and supporting credentials) was in by the priority deadline, you'll be in that first batch. They'll have another batch ready by the next Tuesday, April 6th.

Packages are only available via SIS. When your aid is ready, there should be a "View Financial Aid" link to click. You'll probably want to print out the screen to share it with your parents.


I'm not a financial aid officer, so questions about aid need to be directed to Student Financial Services.

If you're interested in current students' perspectives of AccessUVa and Financial Aid, check out the Hoos for Open Access blog. It's a great team blog that was started by and continues to be maintained by students. I'm sure they'd love to answer your questions!

Some words about financial access

You've probably seen me mention that the Office of Admission is separate from financial aid, which is handled by Student Financial Services before. When I read applications, I'm not thinking about how the applicant is going to pay their tuition bill, which is something I like. Obviously, there are times when we find out about a student's financial background through their essays or recommendations and that's just fine.

You should know that we are committed to increasing financial access here. AccessUVa was the name of the initiative that started back in 2004 to make sure there is adequate financial support for low income students. AccessUVa is our pledge to:

• Meet 100 percent of demonstrated need for all admitted undergraduate students.
• Replace need-based loans with grants in the financial aid packages of low-income students — those whose family income is equivalent to 200 percent of the federal poverty line or less.
• Cap the amount of need-based loans offered to any student at approximately 25 percent of U.Va.’s in-state cost of attendance over four years, and meet all need above that amount with grants. All students, regardless of state residency, receive the in-state cap level.
• Offer additional one-on-one counseling to admitted students and their families, assisting them in the financial aid application process and presenting them with financing options outside of need-based financial aid.

I came across some financial aid statistics the other day and thought I'd share them with you:

• In 2004, we had 702 applicants from low-income families, described as those whose income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. In 2009, that number had more than doubled, to 1,599.
• Five years ago, 49.8 percent of low-income students accepted offers of admission. Last year, that number had jumped to 61.8 percent.
• In 2009-10, over 32 percent of the student body qualifies for financial aid, up from 27 percent in the previous academic year. As these numbers have risen, so have our Pell Grant recipients. The number is up 48 percent since 2005.
• Total need-based aid to undergraduates increased from $37 million in 2003-04 to $59.1 million during the 2008-09 academic year. Forecasts indicate that total need-based aid may top $73 million in 2009-10.
• The University's level of support for AccessUVa has risen each year to almost $30 million in the current academic year, even as state support has continued to dwindle.

Obviously, we're always trying to do better, but I think thought those show that there's been good progress here when it comes to access. I'm not a financial aid officer, so any questions about aid need to be directed to Student Financial Services.

If you're interested in current students' perspectives of AccessUVa and Financial Aid, check out the Hoos for Open Access blog. It's a great team blog that was started by and continues to be maintained by students. I'm sure they'd love to answer your questions!

Q&A with Dean J, part 1

I had a busy week last week and didn't get to too many of your questions. So you don't have to go back and look at old posts, I'll copy and answer the questions that came in here. Feel free to add more questions in the comments section of this post.

Please don't use the "anonymous" option when posting a comment. Select "Name/URL" and enter a name, real or made up. It makes it easier to direct my answers when you use names.

Valley Alum said...

Dean J, Not to split hairs but that "haystack" CavDog is standing in front of is called a "Round Bale." Thanks for writing the blog, I enjoy reading it from time to time.

Duly noted. I shall refer to all hay structures properly from now on. :)

Michael said...
As an out of state applicant am aware that UVA accepts more in state students. Are the standards more competive for the out of state students?

We don't read the way you seem to think we do. There is no "baseline" or minimum criteria for admission, so there aren't different bars for the different populations. I've written this before and I'll repeat it a few times between now and deadline day. Most students who apply to UVa are perfectly capable of coming here and doing well. There is so much good data out there about what works that most students won't put their hat into the ring if they aren't competitive. We wind up being able to take more of the strong Virginia residents because of our commitment to keeping the 2/3 : 1/3 ratio (VA:OOS). If you don't get an offer, chances are there was nothing wrong with your application. We just can't take all of the qualified students who apply.

Alex is Avenged7x said...

Hi. alex here: My to do list says I need to get my midterm grades in by Feb 15. Our grades didn't come out until week before last and we've been snowed out of school since then. My high school counselor is always behind on things and I don't see how the date will be met. Also -- my sat's needed to be upgraded and somehow that has never been done. Can I call someone or email so I can try to get these faxed in as soon as we get past these snow days?

Alex is Avenged7x said...

found out my high school counselor already submitted mid-term grades. Didn't even have to ask. (Is there a counselor appreciation day?)

I think you're onto something, Alex. Maybe after decisions come out, high school students should have a Counselor Appreciation Day to celebrate the end of the process. :)

Diana said...

Hi Dean J, Because my status for my official transcript is marked "Initiated" 3 times, would you like me to fax another copy? Is the number 3 because of my college courses or have computers just duplicated this requirement?

The system automatically asks you for transcripts of schools entered in the "education" section on your Common App. If you entered a local college because you have Dual Enrollment credit, chances are the courses are going to show up on your regular high school transcript. The system doesn't know this...it's just asking for the transcripts from the schools you said you attended.

Lisa said...

Hi Dean J,How can I be sure my SAT II Subject tests have been received for review? Collegeboard indicates they have been sent, but since they are not a requirement,my status page gives no indication.

Thank you!
Lisa

Our system isn't going to confirm SAT II score arrival since it's not a required part of the application. If you want to check up on that, send me a quick email with your full name (deanj "at" virginia "dot" edu) and I'll look your file up.

Matt said...

Hi Dean J, I've been reading your blog for quite some time now, despite never going to UVA, but I was wondering if you know anything about Graduate Admissions and when the Liberal Arts acceptance/rejection letters might go out. I applied in History and the the waiting is slowly driving me insane. Any ideas?

Matt said...

Ask, and ye shall receive. I got my acceptance letter yesterday :-D

Hooray! Congratulations! Graduate admission is handled by the individual schools, so I wasn't going to be much help on this question. I'm glad it worked out. Wahoowa!

Anonymous said...

Tell me there is a dogpark in Charlottesville! If I am accepted to UVA I am MAKING my parents bringing my puppies down :)

There are plenty! In fact, I've posted pictures from the dog parks in the past. I might repost some of those pictures in the next month. There are two great dog parks in the county (CavDog, being a bit of a water dog, loves the one at Chris Greene Lake where he can swim) and one in the city. There is also an "off leash" time at another park for dogs that don't need a fenced in park. Well behaved dogs can also be found on The Lawn right here on Grounds. There are at least three canine residents on The Lawn (owned by UVa administration and faculty) and there are a few felines, too.

UVA Alum mom said...

Dean J, I know you all are buried under snow and applications, but will likely letters be sent anytime soon?

We will probably send Likely Letters once this year, which is a change from years past. I think it's best to assume you won't get one since the vast majority of applicants never see them. It's just a nice surprise if you happen to get one. Do not read into the absence of a Likely Letter

You don't have to pay to play

A few weeks ago, we got invited to a college fair in the suburb of a small city in the south. The invitation came from a yahoo email address and no one recognized the name of the group behind it. The fair was being held at a golf club and the letter said there would be a $10,000 "scholarship" given out, raffle style, to one of the attendees. To have a table at the fair, all we had to do was pay $1,180.

Needless to say, we declined.

The person behind that yahoo email address has been pretty persistent and has continued to email us, wondering how we could pass up on this opportunity.


Around the same time, we got anther invitation to a fair, this time costing us close to $900. The students invited to attend were ones who paid $45 to belong to some scholars society. You probably know these groups...they sound impressive, but I could nominate CavDog for membership and they'd happily cash the check and add him to the rolls.

I asked around about whether people were seeing a rise in the number of these fairs and a colleague in Ohio reported back that their local TV station sponsored a college day and wanted $1,000 for a table that their fair and $17,000 from colleges that wanted to co-sponsor (no report on whether anyone took them up on that offer).


In case you didn't know, those costs are insane. Most college fairs are free to both the colleges and the students. There are a few, mostly those held in giant convention centers, that cost a little bit on the college's side, but the fees are no where near those I described above.

It's no secret that there are a lot of people out there who are willing to help you with your college search for a fee. Some of the help these people give is great, but there are people out there who are hoping to make some money off the fear and anxiety that surrounds this process. I want you to know and I want you to make sure your friends know that they don't have to "pay to play".

Students and parents should not be paying a fee to attend college fairs or information sessions. We hear about events with admission fees every year (especially events about financial aid and scholarships), but it seems as though the number of them is growing. Stay away from them.

Get ready, waitlist students!

The inevitable is going to happen. We're going to go to the waitlist. I don't know exactly when or how many we'll take (so please, don't ask me about either in the comments), but there's something those of you on the waitlist need to do now to be in a position to accept an offer if it comes your way.

You need to make sure your Financial Aid application is complete. Student Financial Services will create aid packages for waitlist applicants who are offered admission, but if you have an incomplete application right now, they probably won't be able to give you a package by the time we'll be asking you to commit. We usually give students offered off the waitlist one week to commit to UVa.

So, log into the SIS and check the finance section. If you are on the waitlist and there are items left on the SFS checklist, get them done NOW. It's amazing how many students never looked at the instructions for applying for aid and didn't file the UVa specific form.

Yet another update from Student Financial Services

This time, I have some numbers for you.

572 of you have not submitted your UFAA. It is on your to-do list in the SIS and Student Financial Services has emailed you about this. If you do not submit this form, a financial aid package can not be created for you. Check your to-do lists!

463 of you are still in review. You have submitted all of your documents and the aid officers are working as quickly as possible to get your packages completed.

Comparing the numbers I was given yesterday to those I got this morning, they seem to be moving very quickly. Hang in there...I know this is stressful, but I also know that Student Financial Services is trying to be thorough and fair in awarding your aid.

As always, you can contact the Office of Student Financial Services with questions, but realize that they are probably getting hundreds of calls each day, so you may have to wait to speak with someone.

Update from Student Financial Services

The Office of Student Financial Services continues to read and post packages on the SIS student self-service pages. At this point, they seem to have 1,400 applications left, so most of you who applied for financial aid should see your packages right now.

Please understand that they are working as quickly as they can to finish reviewing your documentation.

If you have questions about your package, please contact SFS directly.

Reminder: aid packages start to show up tomorrow

Starting tomorrow at 7 AM, financial aid packages should start to pop up in your Student Self-Service accounts. If you don't have computer access at home, you'll probably want to print out the information for your parents to see.

If you have questions about aid packages, call the Office of Student Financial Services directly at 434-982-6000 or 800-391-0063. Keep in mind that this is a busy time for them, so you may have to leave a message or stay on hold for a while before a counselor is able to speak with you.

What next?

I trust that most of you have had a chance to share your feelings on the three decision entries by now. I will go through them tonight and over the weekend to answer as many questions as possible. If past behavior has repeated, some of you have answered questions for the others already. Thank you for that.


Official Decision Letters
Your official decision letters are coming in the mail. Obviously, what you saw online was just an excerpt. If you were offered a spot on the waitlist, you will also receive a "Waitlist FAQ" sheet with your letter. An entry just about the waitlist is coming.


Admitted Student Visits
Days on The Lawn are the admitted student events. Please read the entry to which I linked. These days are intended for students who have not yet made up their minds. Your formal invitation and a schedule are coming by snail mail with your official admission letter. If the DOTL dates don't work for you, you can plan your own visit, which might include staying overnight with a member of The Monroe Society or attending some open classes.


Financial Aid
Financial Aid awards for those who had their documents in before the "priority deadline" (it was March 1st) will begin to show up on your accounts on Wednesday, April 1st at 7 AM. I'm not sure if all packages will show up at once, like your admission decisions did, or if they will come up over a period of time. It takes time to ensure that all admitted students who have applied for financial aid have been properly awarded, so please be patient.


If you submitted your documents after the priority filing date, Financial Aid will process a financial aid package for you. The amount of your award will not change if you applied later, but the you may have to wait a little longer for your package to show up on your Student Self-Service page. As mentioned before, it takes time for aid officers to process these awards, and given the volume of documentation being submitted at this time of year, it can take a while for them to process and package you properly.