Getting close...

Bins of envelopes are lined up all over the office. We're almost there!

Echols, Rodman, & College Science Scholars notification

CavDog has gotten out his UVa gear in preparation for the big day.

I don't have much new information to share on the Echols/Rodman/College Science Scholars front, but here's what I know:

The Echols Program is aiming to mail their invitations or "Thursday or Friday".

The Rodman Program is doing their printing/stuffing. I didn't get a concrete date for their mailing.

I believe that the College Science Scholars Program made final decisions earlier this week and should be printing their invitations by now.

It looks like many will receive their admission decisions before invitations to these programs arrive.

As for questions about when letters will get to you, I can't be certain. Once letters leave UVa they are in the USPS's hands. I imagine that a few of you living in Central Virginia might get letters on Saturday, though you probably know how quickly your mail comes better than I.

Days on The Lawn

Admitted student open houses at UVa are called Days on The Lawn. At DOTL, you can take tours (including tours of the residence halls), visit the various schools and colleges at UVa, sit in on classes, meet current students, and get to know some of your future classmates.
This year, Days on The Lawn will be held on the following dates:

Monday, April 7
Friday, April 11
Friday, April 18
Monday, April 21

The day will start at The Rotunda (or Newcomb Hall Ballroom if it's raining). There, you'll pick classes to visit and have a chance to chat with current students. You can do as much or as little of the schedule as you'd like. Some people make it every session and others wander Grounds on their own.

Admitted students will receive the brochure below with their offer letters. The brochure will include the entire schedule and have information about RSVPing for the day that works best for you.

Transfer update

Transfers, we started reviewing your applications last week. For updates on your process, check the transfer blog.

Good luck!

Notification update!

Here's the news you've been waiting for.

As long as the printing/folding/stuffing continues at the same pace, your decisions will be leaving our office on Friday. Your status pages will reflect your decision on Friday at 6 PM.

Thanks for hanging in there! Just a few more days!

Happy day!

International decisions are on the way!

I just heard from Dean Muth that decisions for internationals are headed out by email! The international decision letters will go to the mailroom today, but it might take quite some time for them to get to certain countries.

Domestic students, please understand that the students who live abroad are facing very complicated logistics when it comes to coming to UVa, so we send out their notification a little early. We are still working on stuffing the rest of the letters. My promise to update you as soon as I know when the mail will go out stands.

Internationals, please be patient...getting all the emails out will take some time.

No one will see a change in their status page. That is an "all or nothing" page that will only change when I turn on decisions for everyone.

Good luck to you all!

Meet CavBunny

Extra special guest blogger CavBunny hopes the wait isn't too stressful for all of you!

Someone asked for a new CavDog picture each day until decisions are posted...I'll do my best.

Weekend Topic: Heading home

When you start thinking of the logistics of your move to college, you'll probably wonder how you'll get to and from Charlottesville in the future.

First of all, rest assured that Charlottesville, though a small city, is a city nonetheless. There are plenty of transportation options here.

1. Planes
The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO) is a relatively small airport that is served by Delta, Northwest, US Air, and United. Non-stop flights generally go to Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Cincinnati, JFK, and Dulles (the Dulles flight is only 30 minutes long). The airport is 10-15 minutes north of town and most students get there by sharing a cab/shuttle with other students.

The Richmond Airport is just over an hour away. I don't know of any public transit that goes there. Dulles International Airport is about two hours away. Though there isn't direct public transportation to Dulles, some alumni have organized bus that meets international students who come to the last orientation session ("Session L", the one that is held just before the official move in). Washington, DC's Reagan Airport is accessible by public transit, though I'm not sure this is a popular option with students. To get there, you'd take Amtrak from Charlottesville to Union Station, then take the DC Metro to the airport.

2. Trains
There's an Amtrak station about a 1/2 mile down Main Street from The Corner (the student shopping district). The free trolley stops right at the station. Trains run a few times a day and go up to DC and down south.

3. Automobiles
Charlottesville is on I-64, about 45 minutes from I-95 and I-81 and two hours south of Route 66. First year students can't have cars, but there's a "ride board" online that you can use to find an older student who might be driving home to your area.

4. Buses
Obviously, we have bus companies like Greyhound here, but even more convenient are the buses that make trips just for students around the holidays. There's a bus service about which I've heard (forgive me for not knowing the name at the moment) that has two general "trips". One drops students off at a mall in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area and another drops students off at one of the Tysons Corner malls in northern Virginia. I'm sure that you'll hear about this from older students if you wind up here.

Any questions?

Still printing, but stuffing has begun!

The printers continue to churn out letters, but the stuffing of envelopes has begun! Comparing this photo to one taken last year of all the decisions and a few more from the days when we were stuffing, we have quite a ways to go before we're done.

By Monday, I should know if we'll be done early or if we'll stick to the April 1st notification date.

A few words about blog interaction

This is obviously an emotional and stressful time for all of you. While I understand that it's sometimes cathartic to blow off steam on message boards and blogs, I hope we can keep the discussion here polite and thoughtful.


I have few suggestions for those who want to discuss topics on the blog. It's fine to address each other (in fact, when students answer each others' questions, it's very helpful!), but I hope that you'll keep a few things in mind.

1. Be welcoming of newer readers.

2. Don't gang up on other readers.

3. Don't horde information.

4. Be patient when waiting for answers to questions.

5. Know when to take a break from all the admission talk.

This was really another "zen moment" is disguise. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. :)

Process reminder

CavDog wants you to go outside and smell the spring flowers

The frantic phone calls about decisions have begun. A few things to remember: the notification date (written on every time line and publication) has always been April 1st. Early notification is something we aim for, but can't guarantee.

As I've stated in the past, we don't want to hold onto your decisions, but we also want to be thorough and careful with each student's decision letter. A parent called to ask why we didn't mail letters as soon as they were printed. That's not how we operate and I honestly think that would cause a lot of heartache a school (Jenny could get her letter on Monday, but Bobby might not get his until Friday).

We do not give decisions out over the phone. Your letter is your official notification.

For those who haven't followed my suggestion and looked at past entries about decisions, let me explain again how this works.

1. We print all the letters.
2. We put all the letters in envelopes.
3. We send all the letters to the mail room.
4. The letters are run through a machine that meters (stamps) and seals them.
5. The letters are released into the US Postal Service system.

Last year, the process wrapped up on March 30th.


As I've mentioned many times before, it will take a few days to print all the letters, fold them, and put them in their envelopes. If it looks like we will mail before the notification date, as promised, I will let you know on this blog. The frequency of my posting should tell you that I really try to keep you in the loop. No need to hammer your status pages...I will let you know a specific date and time to check for decisions online.

As much as I love to read your comments, think about whether you need to step away from the blog and message boards for a few days to give yourself a rest from thinking about all this. The traffic on this blog is hitting record levels this week. I'd love to think that's because you're enjoying CavDog pictures, but I know better.

Printing has begun!

Decision letter printing has begun! Four of these massive printers will be churning out letters and envelopes for the next few days. For a few days after that, we'll be stuffing the envelopes. After that, comes the big day!

I do not know the exact day of the mailing/posting of decisions online. As soon as we are certain of the date, I'll be posting an update here.

Hang in there!

A special note for those planning visits

CavDog was distracted by a large tour on The Lawn this afternoon.

It's spring break time at many high schools and that means those of you hitting the road for college visits will encounter packed information sessions and large tours at many of your stops.

At UVa, we've added extra sessions on Sundays at 10 AM and weekdays at 8:30 AM during our busiest weeks. The University Guide Service is also scheduling extra tour guides in hopes of keeping groups a little smaller. For the full schedule of sessions and tours, along with the list of open classes and information about arranging day and overnight visits, check the "Plan a Visit" page of the Office of Admission website.

Admitted student open houses, called Days on The Lawn, are scheduled for April. Information will be included in offer letters.

We're looking forward to seeing you!

Weekend Topic: Free and cheap entertainment options

Someone suggested that I attempt to let you know about some of the low cost options for entertainment around Charlottesville as a weekend topic. UVa events are either free or cheap because the audience is the students. Sporting events are free (you'll have to swipe your ID card for major events like football games, but you won't be charged anything), movies are a few dollars (many that have just left the big theaters...No Country for Old Men is showing tonight), lectures are free, and outdoor events put on by different student organizations are almost always free or charge a small fee that is used for future club events or donated to charity.

On the official student events calendar, there are 15 events scheduled for today, ranging from a 5K to benefit a summer camp for children with serious illnesses to a festival sponsored by the Thai Student Organization. There are undoubtedly events going on that weren't submitted in time to be listed on the official calendar. Most students hear about them by checking out the bulletin boards around campus or by simply looking down at the chalk ads that can be found all over Grounds.

Charlottesville being a college town, you'll find that there's plenty of free and nearly free entertainment if the many options on Grounds don't pique your interest. The Corner area is full of little shops and cafes that are geared towards the students. Down the same street about a mile is the Downtown Mall, which is a pedestrian only shopping district. Now, I normally caution visitors that this is generally where students go when their parents are in town, as there are some pricey restaurants and boutiques there. However, there are some great, cheap options as well. The entire mall is littered with street vendors and performers.

Thanks to asphaltbuffet on Flickr for the photo

At the "top" (really the west) of The Mall, there's an indoor rink where you can ice skate free on your birthday (and a little more on other days). On the other end, there's a concert pavilion. Friday shows at the Pavilion are completely free. Tickets for other shows at the Pavilion are going to cost what normal concert tickets do, however the best part about this venue is that it's completely open. Plenty of people go to the show, but never walk in the gate.

Thanks to Chris Makarsky from Flickr for the photo

For the artists out there, all the galleries in Charlottesville open their doors on the first Friday of the month. People wander from place to place, checking out what's on display and many of the galleries have food and music to add to the atmosphere. If you want to make some art, grab some chalk and hit the free speech wall outside the pavilion. You'll find all sorts of messages there.

Photo courtesy of mitznc, phedlund33, and Gary Glass on Flickr

From April through October, early risers can check out the Charlottesville City Market, an outdoor market in a parking lot just off The Mall. I rarely see students at The Market, which is a shame...it's a great place to get produce, flowers, jewelry, plants, and handmade gifts. The fresh donuts, coffee, and cider are addictive!

I could go on for pages and pages about all there is to do here. Let me suggest that you do what I did for inspiration and go to Flickr.com to search for Charlottesville photos. It's a great way to get a feel for town.

One last thing. I will get complaints if I don't tell you about the best, cheap meal in all of Charlottesville: dumplings. For $2.50, you can get these amazing dumplings at a little shop on the Downtown Mall. They used to operate out of a window on a side street and people would line up down the block for these things. The business has moved to a storefront, but the lines are just as long. I had my doubts when I was told about this place, but I have to admit that they're quite good!

Photo courtesy of Janet Moore-Coll on Flickr

One really, really last thing. In my Flickr browsing, I came across this set titled "Renegade Poets" that contained a series of pictures of the construction barricades that surrounded Ross Hall here on Grounds back about a year or two ago. I wish I had seen the barricades in person. The photos are great!

Do not panic. Stay where you are.

Another round of those "likely letters" should be hitting mailboxes today and tomorrow (or over the weekend if you live very far away).

For more information about these letters, read this entry.

Where's Dean J?

As I've shared before, UVa will be using the Common App and moving to a new student information system next year (if you've heard current students complain about ISIS, you'll be happy to hear it won't exist in the near future). The preparations have been going on for about three years, but the end (or really "start") is in sight.

I now divide my time between the Office of Admission and the office that is responsible for setting up and preparing for the implementation of the new system. Some days, I'm surrounded by antiques in Peabody Hall with a window overlooking a busy lawn full of students going to class, and other days I'm surrounded by computers with a view of the highway.

The point is to let you all know why my comments aren't as quick and frequent right now. I'll still be at Days on the Lawn (admitted student events on Mondays and Fridays in April), but I won't have my eyes on the blog as consistently as I have for the last few months.

Off topic: financial aid documents

Before I start, let me say that we are not Student Financial Services, so questions about aid really can't be answered here. I'm just giving you all a heads up...

The "priority deadline" for financial aid has just passed. Be aware that the aid website has a list of documents you MUST complete and submit to be fully packaged. At some schools, the FAFSA is enough, but not at UVa. Our aid officers want all documentation up front (my understanding is that it gives you a better, more final package the first time around).

In the past, the aid office HAS taken documents late, so if you did not follow the "Applying for Aid" instructions and need to send in more forms, do so immediately.

I'm closing this entry to comments. Please direct questions to Student Financial Services.

Weekend Topic: Sports

CavDog's a big fan of the fantastic UVa tennis team

March is a great time in the Office of Admission. The end of the review process is in sight. Bookmarks in books that have been neglected start to advance for the first time since December, very understanding friends and family welcome us back from our little caves in Peabody where we read applications, and and we're able to fully enjoy something that grips many college campuses: March Madness. Our dear Cavs have had a rough seasons, so maybe it's best not to focus too heavily on basketball...

What would you like to know about UVa sports? Last year's sports entry might be a good place to start.

Photos from Peabody

Everyone loves some "inside the office" photos, right? These ones from last year were a hit, so I thought I'd throw a few your way. Looking at them, I hope you understand why notification probably isn't going to be made early this year. April 1st is the day.

The first photo shows one dean's reading sitting in "buckets" outside his door. His desk and the floor around it have piles as well. These folders have already been read twice, but it's the time of the year when we do some rereading, double check decisions, review mid-year reports, and select students for Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars (the search box will get you more info about those processes).

The second photo is of our "miscellaneous credentials" file. This is where the components of an incomplete application sit.

As always, click to enlarge!

As the seniors wait, the juniors begin

I sat on the first of probably many Junior Night panels this evening at a high school over in Richmond. These nights remind us that the new class of students is embarking on their search. I'm wondering if some of the seniors might use the comments to give some tips to the juniors who might be reading.

What do you wish you had known a year ago? What would you have done differently during your college search?


By the way, one of the students at that Junior Night sent CavDog a belly rub and asked for more pictures. How could I resist such a nice request?

**NOTE: The follow is not to be taken seriously**

I was going to call this entry "Why you shouldn't write about Fahrenheit 451 or DMB", but I imagined panic stricken applicants running to their guidance counselors in tears and thought the disclaimer would be better.

What I'm writing about is NOT scholarly research. It is NOT statistically significant. It is NOT being taken seriously. It is just for entertainment.

A grad student at CalTech has analyzed the favorite books and musicians that students have listed as their favorites on Facebook and their SAT scores. He has come up with a chart that purports to show a relationship between the two. Again, this is more funny than anything and I'm sharing it because I think it'll give you a little breather from the admission talk.

You can see notes about how the student did this, the schools involved, and the test results on Books that Make You Dumb and Music that Makes You Dumb.
Click to enlarge!

The Senior Slide

Back in November, I wrote about the importance of your senior year. I think it's about the time that we need to revisit that topic.

About this time every year, guidance counselors and college admission officers start fielding the "how low can I go" questions. I think most of us bristle at this. After all, the message being sent is not what we expect from students preparing for entrance to a selective college or university. When we see a student we were prepared to admit drop AP/IB courses or let their grades fall dramatically between terms, it's hard to justify retaining a spot for them when there are other students with consistent records eagerly waiting in the wings.

Most students submit mid-years and final transcripts that are perfectly fine. It's a very rare student that gives us a reason to reconsider. We get all sorts of reasons for the drop - prom committee, the start of a sports season, just plain senioritis. The fact is that many students have planned proms, played baseball, and enjoyed a little spring fever without letting their grades slide.

Hang in there and keep up the good work!

Weekend Topic: Music

I started weekend topics just about a year ago with this topic and a lot has changed about the Charlottesville music scene since them.

Our most well-known local band came back to town to work on a new album and word is it's being mixed and mastered in Seattle. No word on another homecoming gig.

Our most popular indoor concert venue closed and the second most popular venue became the "it" spot for shows. Our resident mogul is renovating a historic theater on the Downtown Mall to fill the gap.

UVa's new basketball arena continues to bring in major touring acts, though I think most students go there for games than for concerts.

I could go on and on about our music scene, but would rather answer your questions. What would you like to know? Reading the entry and comments from last year might be a good jumping off point.

Please keep comments to music. If you have admission questions, they can wait until Monday.

Final Decisions are NOT ready at this time

I think some readers are over analyzing things and misinterpreting what I've written about our process.

Applications move through different phases of review. In the first phase, each folder is read by two readers. In the second phase, the application pool is looked at as a group and decisions get reviewed again.

At this time, decisions are not finalized.


As I've written before, we want to get decisions out as soon as possible. We do not want to delay this process in any way. When decisions are finalized, the printers will start churning out 18,000 decision letters. After that, our administrative staff will stuff 18,000 envelopes. Finally, the letters are put in the mail. The evening that letters are put in the mail, decisions will appear on your status pages (if you applied online).

Using the search feature at the top of the page or the tag feature (most entries are tagged to reflect their subject), you can read last year's entries from around this time to familiarize yourself with the timing of the process.

Moving on!

Good news! By this point, most applications have been read by two different readers and we are ready to move into the next round of review, which which consists of more reading, looking at the bigger numbers (in state/out of state ratios and things like that). This next round should take another few weeks to complete. We'll be simultaneously reviewing applications for Echols/Rodman (use the search function at the top of the page to search for earlier posts about that).

If you haven't sent in first trimester or semester grades, you need to fax or email them immediately.

If you have a question about your specific case, call our office during business hours (8:30 AM - 5 PM) and speak with someone here. Our number is (434) 982-3200.

Another sign of Facebook's pending demise...

The last time I wrote about Facebook, the comments seemed to point to high school students being tired of the "new" version, which made me think reports of the site's pending demise are true.

According this entry on The Chronicle's Wired blog, the number of unique US visitors "plateaued" for a few months and then dropped in January. Those into web stats might see this is the beginning of the end.

Twitter, anyone?

A look inside SEAS

Someone just sent me this video made by a group of students about the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (we just call it SEAS here). I love engineering, so I really enjoyed listening to what current students have to say about their program.

See if you can spot the family arriving for an info session. They're in there somewhere...

A moment of zen from CavDog (and CavBear)

You didn't need a moment of zen until March last year, but by the looks of the comments and the message boards, you need it now. One month to go, folks. Hang in there. By request, here are some CavDog pictures to provide a break from the admission talk.

CavDog is usually found under the desk while I'm reading applications

Oh, the books you're read!

Click the image for a laugh!

Did you know that we have 13 libraries at UVa?

Putting things in perspective

Some of the questions coming into the comment sections of my posts lately have led me to believe that some of you think admission officers are picky people who are sticklers for deadlines and quick to punish applicants for insignificant matters.

Many of the questions ask if something "will be held against" the applicant. For example, a student asked if she'll be in trouble if her counselor sent an updated transcript at mid-year when I wrote that we only require the student to fill out a mid-year form online. Another student was worried about not taking the SATs in January despite having said he'd take them again on his application. This is such small things and we aren't nearly as petty as you think we are.

Once again, I find myself wondering if you think we sit in a cold, dark room, at a long table with angry scowls on our faces and big, red REJECT stamps in our hands, just waiting for the next minor flub to let the hammer fall on an eager applicant.

Do I have it right? Humor me. Tell me what you imagine when you picture the UVa admission officers.

The Likely Letter 2008

I'm going to keep this entry very, very simple.

Around this time of year, many colleges and universities send letters to very strong students telling them that their applications are impressive. These letters are commonly referred to as "likely letters".

If you have questions about a "likely letter" from UVa, I hope this helps:

1. A small number of likely letters are sent each year. There is no set number of letter sent.

2. The letters are sent in waves, not at once.

3. Do not read into the absence of a letter. The vast majority of admitted students never receive one. It is best to assume you will not get one.

4. There is no relationship between likely letters and Echols/Rodman/College Science Scholars.

5. The letter means exactly what it says.  We like you!

6. International students can get one of these letters.

Q&A with Dean J, Part 5

I thought I'd pull out a few questions from the comments so more people would see them.


Q. I always wonder if I should be calling there to talk with a Dean just to ask questions about my application. Do you open files and note that the student never called for any reason or added anything new and then just put that folder in the "reject" pile?

A. This is definitely the waiting period. We are extremely busy with reading and if you called right now, chances are your file wouldn't be in the "library" for a note to be added anyway.

We have never read into student contacts (we aren't more apt to admit those who call/email).


Q. I took more standardized tests in January. Is it possible that they will be reviewed with my applications during the second round?

A. It's hard to know if your file was reviewed before or after your scores arrived. This is why we ask that testing be completed by December.


Q. How much does not taking an SAT II hurt an applicant's chance of acceptance?

A. SAT IIs can't hurt an application...they aren't a required part of the application.


Q. Will all applicants receive decisions on one day? or will some get earlier?

A. Decisions will be mailed at the same time. The USPS will determine when you get your letters. Decisions will appear on your status pages at a specific time on the day we mail the letters. The exact date and time will be posted as soon as we know the mail date.


Q. In addition to the SAT Subject Tests I completed, I said I would take another SAT subject test in Jan. 2008. I was not able to attend that testing. Do I need to let UVA know that I didn't end up taking it, or will they just assume I didn't take it?

A. No. You only need to notify us of major changes (dropping a class you were scheduled to take, for example).


Q. I am very worried that my transcript is still listed as not received!

A. Do you have multiple application accounts? Sometimes students create more than one application account and we check documents into one and they submit through the other. Only one physical folder exists for each student, but sometimes there are multiple online applications with the student's name on them.



Q. I'm curious if UVa does use outside resources like Facebook to help a decision, and how often you do.

A. Search for "Facebook" on this page (there's a search feature at the top of the page) and you'll find the answer to your question.

Process Update

Reading folders before breakfast usually means one thing: the end of our first phase of reading applications. By the end of this week, we should be moving on to the second phase of our review, which means every file will have been read at least once and we'll start double checking our decisions and printing those mysterious letters that have been deemed "likely letters".

Selection of Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars has been happening concurrent with the process and a few students have started to call those students we've flagged. Official notification about the scholars programs is made by mail. The programs mail the letters themselves and I'll let you all know here when that happens.

Weekend topics will start in another week or so, once the first round of reading is behind us.

Another round of Q & A with Dean J

Lots of questions came up in the comments section for the last post and I thought I'd answer them here so more people will see them.


Q. I am wondering if you read all the personal letters that applicants write to you personally? Does writing a personal letter to you hurt or help us as applicants? -Anonymous

A. Of course we read any letters sent to us, but writing to me isn't going to change your transcript, recommendations, essays, activities, and testing. At this point, unless something dramatic has changed in your program, there isn't really a reason to write to us. Wait until you get your decision and go from there. Waitlisted students often write us letters. You can read more about that if you look back at last year's blog entries from around decision time.


Q. Because we are entering our midyear grades and not sending an official transcript, does this mean that the UVA admissions office does not consider mid-year semester grades and class rank in the application process? For example, if my GPA or class rank have improved over the last semester, how can I tell the admissions office? Thanks! -Jessica

A. Jessica, if we ask you for something, we're considering it in our review process. Your first semester grades are very important to us. The comments section of the MY report is for adding any info you'd like to share with us.


Q. Under transfer FAQ's for the UVA transfer webpage, it said a student should have a B+ average to be competitive. If we've got just below a B+ average, will recs and essays come into play or will that low GPA knock us to the bottom of the pile. -KS

A. KS, courses taken also factor into our review, so don't assume you're out of the running if your GPA is a little short. As I'm sure you've read, transfers with a solid 3.4 GPA are competitive.


Q. How can I be sure my fine arts supplement was received? I sent it in and I don't know how to check...:( -Andy

A. Andy, art supplements are not checked into the computer system. They are sent to various departments for review. I believe the instructions tell you this.


Q. Do I absolutely have to send in my ACT score, even though I took it only once, and four years ago at that? I am a prospective transfer student. Thanks! -Rene

A. Rene, sending in your score can only help you, not hurt you.


Q. Can midyear grades break a decision? I have my lowest GPA(a lot of B's!!), but I am taking my most challenging course load yet. I know midyear grades can help an applicant but can they hurt them too? Sorry these questions must get tedious...just shows how nervous we all are! -Hooareyou

A. Hooareyou, midyear grades can change a decision if they show a dramatic departure from the grades earned in the past. Now, it's normal to see some change in grades when the challenge level goes up in the curriculum, so it's not the end of the world if a few Bs creep into the transcript.


Q. I am so anxious about finding out if I've gotten into UVA. I check the status of my application everyday and I've read probably all of this blog. My question is about the likely letters, because I want as much info on my admission ASAP.

Do you send likely letters to all applicants that are likely to get in? Like, are there some students likely to get in, that you never send letters to and for what reason? Will they all be sent at the end of February? -Anxious

A. Anxious, first of all, there's no reason to check your status everyday. The way our system works, decisions are "turned off" right now. They WILL NOT show up until I edit the database settings that govern what shows up on your status pages. If you read back, I talk about this fairly often and I tell students not to hammer the system because decisions won't show up without my giving you a heads up on this blog first. There is no ways, barring a bizarre computer glitch, that decisions will show up before

Likely letters are sent to a small percentage of students. A VERY small percentage. Perhaps I should repost the "Letter Frenzy" post I made last year.

It's 70 degrees in Charlottesville (a notification update)

The flip flops, shorts, and t-shirts are out and the admission deans are stuck inside reading your applications. I sometimes wonder if weather affects admission decisions...we could study it, but I don't think we have the time...

Last year, February 1st was the first day I was asked why decisions weren't out yet. This year, the question didn't come until three whole days later!

We're currently about half way through the first round of reading. During the first round, each application gets read by at least two different deans. It will probably take about three more weeks to finish this round. When that's done, we'll start double checking our decisions, reviewing students for the Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars programs, and getting those lovely "likely letters" ready. I promise you that I'll update you when those things start happening. For now, use the side navigation to look at posts made a year ago to familiarize yourself with the pace of things.

Notification will not be made early, as far as I can tell at this point. April 1st is the big day.

Gratuitous CavDog shot

Submitting the First Semester/Trimester Grades Report

The mid-year report for UVa is super easy. We don't need anything from your counselor. You simply log into the online application to fill out a form. You'll have room to explain any changes in curriculum or to give us updated information about testing and activities.

Here are some screen shots to get you to the report.

When you log into the online application website, you'll see the general admission menu:

Click the image to make it bigger

Click on "Apply Online" to get to the online application's menu. At the top of the menu, you'll see a message confirming that your application has been submitted and a link to the mid-year report form. Click that, fill in your courses and grades, submit it, and you're done!

If you applied with a fee waiver and haven't provided documentation yet, you will not see this link. Your application is not considered complete until the documentation has arrived.

Click the image to make it bigger

Hope that helps! If you are admitted to the University, your need to have your school send a FINAL transcripts as soon as the second semester is over. We'll verify the grades you submitted at that point.

The final transcript is very important. You will not be able to sign up for classes at orientation without it! I'm going to give you this heads up many times over the next few months. Every year, a number of students show up for orientation without ever having submitted a final transcript and they get stuck hanging out at the Office of Admission waiting for their school to fax a transcript while everyone else is registering for classes.

Let's hear some ideas for weekend topics

I promised the return of the weekend topic, but instead of writing about what I think is interesting about live at UVa and in Charlottesville, I'd like to know what's on your mind. In the past, we've talked about transportation, restaurants, outdoor activities, and weather (40 degrees today). The idea is to have topics that aren't admission related and to instead give a better idea about what life is like in Charlottesville.

What topics would you like to see discussed on the weekends?

Should UVa's Office of Admission have a presence on Facebook?

facebook Originally uploaded by annieee

When I first joined Facebook, I thought it was neat. I saw it as a way for people in a college/university community to communicate without all the "sketchiness" of other social networking websites. When the idea of having an official UVa Admission presence on the site came up a few times, I toyed with the idea, but saw Facebook primarily as a student site. I was kind of indifferent about having an official profile for the Office of Admission. If it was deemed important, I'd create it, but I wasn't particularly enthused by the idea.

That opinion was formed back when a .edu email address was required for membership. These days, it seems that Facebook has exploded in the same way that MySpace did. Third party applications dominate the site and people with an anonymous Gmail account can sign up and get a profile. It looks like a very different site and while some features are great, others impede navigation and clutter pages.

Today, The Chronicle's Wired Campus blogger writes about one professor who has written a blog entry predicting that this the year of Facebook's demise (he goes on to talk about positive effects of Facebook). He writes about the things that Facebook users probably find tedious about the current state of the site.


What do you think? Do you think we (UVa Office of Admission) should have a formal presence on Facebook? Do you think Facebook is falling out of favor? If so, what site might fill in that space for students?

The return of the weekend topic

I started writing about non-admission topics on the weekends last year and thought I'd return to doing that. It's nice to get away from the admission talk for a little bit and I think it also helps some students who might want to ask questions about life in Charlottesville.

I'll start things off with a correction. One of my topics last year was the weather. I confidently wrote that we didn't close UVa for snow. Well, looking back, I found a day or two in 2003 when classes were canceled (but the school stayed open). This past week, classes after 4 PM were canceled because of another storm. Now, that didn't really affect a large number of undergrads, but it's worth mentioning. Mea culpa.

Our "storm" this week brought about three inches of snow to Charlottesville. It was nice to get a taste of winter, but it was also nice to see it melt away within a day or two.

Despite it being his first time seeing snow, CavDog was unimpressed by the falling flakes.

Online + paper = slowing down our process

There's a practice that seems more common than ever: sending paper copies of documents already submitted online.

I don't know why this is being done, but it defeats one of the nice things about having an online application, which is having less mail to open and less paper to process. Many counselors seem to be enclosing a copy of applications that have been submitted by their students online, many students are sending copies of essays, and many teachers are sending duplicate recommendation letters.

Online applications are supposed to streamline the process. However, if we have to handle two copies of everything, the flow of documents is significantly slower. Trust the online process! Know that if there's a problem, we'll email you.

Which reminds me...please keep checking the email account you gave us on your application. You can update it if it changes, but that is the primary way that we will contact you if there is a problem.

New status message

I decided to update the message on the status message to make it more clear and to use some HTML to make it look a little nicer.

Your application has been received and is being processed. At this time, we are data-entering thousands of credentials which have been mailed to us. If items are not listed as received, please do not call our office as they may have arrived, but not checked into our computer system. We will contact you if we are missing any documents crucial to the review of your application.

First-year applicants should log back in to submit mid-year or first trimester grades online as soon as they are available. Please check the admission blog at http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com periodically for updates about our process.

Thank you for applying online to the University of Virginia!

Book of the Year so far...

The most popular book I've seen used as a topic for essay 3 so far this year is....(drum roll)....


Obviously, it's still early in reading season, so my "Book of the Year" may change, but it seems as though this bit of existentialism is being served up quite routinely in AP English classes this year. There have been some fantastic essays in which students have talked about how this book affected them and how they act. Of course, there have been plenty of essays that read like a book report, summarizing the plot.

I'm personally enthralled by absurdists like Camus, Ionesco, and Bérenger ( and other French writers like Sartre and Hugo), so it's been fun for me to read your "take" on this one.

Some surprises in the numbers

When we decided to eliminate early decision at UVa, we were convinced that the move would cause a drop in the number of applications received. We thought this was an acceptable trade off.

Well, the preliminary numbers are in and we have a big surprise. Our applications numbers are up. Now, the increase isn't dramatic, but it's still very exciting. I think a number of schools out there are interested in eliminating early programs and they are watching Harvard, Princeton, UVa, Florida, and Delaware this year to see how our application statistics are affected by the move.

Looking at the Data Digest, we had 18,046 applications last year and 17,798 were completed applications (meaning students followed up with all the required documentation). At the moment, we have over 18,500 applications submitted (the number . It will take a few weeks to know how many become completed applications and then a few months for profile data to be compiled.

Deadline Extension

In a few hours, the application will be back open. Those with accounts created should be receiving the following email:

Late last night we experienced technical difficulties with our server which resulted in some students having problems submitting their on-line application by the January 2 deadline. In light of this event and the power outages in some areas of the country due to heavy snow, we have decided to extend our application deadline one week to January 9th. We hope this will give students additional time to complete their applications. The on-line application should be accessible this afternoon. Students who have any questions or difficulties can call the admission office at 434-982-3200 for assistance.

Thank you very much for your patience.

A gentle reminder about status

Please remember to read the note on your status page once you submit. I'll repost it here:

"Your application has been received and is being processed. At this time, we are data-entering thousands of credentials which have been mailed to us. If items are not listed as received, please do not call our office at this time. First year applicants can expect to see items listed as received at the end of January. We will contact you if we are missing any documents crucial to the review of your application. First-year applicants should also log back in to submit mid-year or first trimester grades online as soon as they are available.

Thank you for applying online to the University of Virginia."

No reading today

We aren't reading applications today. Instead, the entire staff is opening mail. The conference room table is full of deans with date stamps, staplers, staple removers (really, one is sufficient), highlighters, letter openers, and candy. After lunch, our daily mail delivery will arrive and the stacks will get much, much bigger.


As you can imagine, it will take quite some time to process and check in all the documents that are arriving right now. If you submit an application today, you probably won't see a change in your status page for a week or two.

Letters! We get letters!

Whenever I look at the mail bins downstairs, I think of the that little song...

Anyway, the mail is pouring in and that's great. Our mail services staff is busily opening bin after bin of letters and passing them along to the processing staff to be checked in and then filed. However, something else is pouring in: FedEx and UPS packages from students living in the US. Now, it's perfectly normal for international students to send applications via one of those delivery services (DHL seems most popular), but there really isn't any need for students living in the United States to send their applications or supporting documents by special courier.

Pass the word around. Don't spend $20 (or whatever it is) to mail anything by FedEx or UPS or DHL if you live in the US. There's plenty of time for documents to get here via the US Postal Service.

This is considered a very small amount of mail.

The status of your status page

There seem to be many students checking their application status at odd times. I thought I'd explain how the status page works and when you'll see updates to it.

First of all, you won't see anything about your credentials until you hit the submit button. At that point, anything that our staff has already checked in will show up. As we get closer to the deadline, the amount of mail we get grows dramatically and mail may sit for a few days before the staff is able to process it. It could take around two weeks for something that arrives in early January to get through the system.

If recommendations are submitted online, the name of the writer and the date they submitted their letter will show up on your status page. Paper recommendations are not logged into the system. You will not see information about them on your status page.

Once your application is complete, your status will not change until the notification date in late March. The exact date and time of that will be posted here and on the UVa website.

Though your status won't change, you need to log into your account to send us your mid-year grades as soon as they're available. We do not need your school to send an updated transcript with your first semester grades. You simply need to log in and report them through the online application website.

Hope that helps! Please use the comments if you have any questions about status!

Transfer status update

Spring transfer decisions are going to be turned off today. By now, everyone should have their official letters. If you haven't received any notification, contact our office.

Application supplements

The deadline for sending performing and visual art supplements has passed and we're now in the process of sorting and sending mail bins off to various departments around grounds so faculty can start their review of CDs, slides, DVDs, and other media. Of course, in the mix are a few items that aren't really mean for arts faculty. Some people send DVDs, books (I wrote about those last year),
and other items. Unfortunately, the extras don't get much attention unless we're in the mood to procrastinate and throw in a DVD that didn't fit any of the art categories.

Thanks for your submissions! The faculty will review them in the next few weeks and then notes will be added to your files to let us know what they think.

A blurry picture of some art supplement sorting

Ready for the onslaught

I took CavBear down to the file room this morning to have a look around. It's a pretty different scene than the one I showed you all just a few months ago, isn't it? Those red boxes are full of file folders and I know there are plenty more stacked up in one of our storage rooms.

We're ready and waiting!

The good news is that many students have hit the submit button already. Those applications will be reviewed by the Office of Virginia Status, then get matched up with any supporting documents that arrived earlier in the season, and finally be marked "ready to read". I'd guess that about 3,000 applications are either in processing mode or being read right now. In a few weeks, that number will jump dramatically.

Good luck finishing up those applications, everyone!

Miscellaneous credentials waiting for an application

Spring transfer decision time

In roughly 45 minutes, I'll be "flicking the switch" (which is really typing "-1" five times) to turn on decisions for spring transfer applicants. Good luck to all!

Shock! Panic! Horror!

There seems to be a problem with one of the email servers at UVa today. If you've emailed us in the last few days and haven't gotten a reply, sit tight. I'm sure things will be back to normal tomorrow.

Yield Protection

Years ago, when I was just a wee student worker in an admission office far, far away, an admission officer showed me an article in the Wall Street Journal about a new practice that was growing in popularity. Interestingly, when I looked the article up this morning, I found that it was written by none other than Dan Golden, the author of The Price of Admission. Anyway, that's not the point...

The article was about the practice that is sometimes referred to as "yield protection". Schools that use this "strategy" often waitlist top applicants under the assumption that those students are using the school as a safety and will opt to go elsewhere when they make their final decision. This has become common enough that outside consulting groups offer to give admission officers some sort of predictive rating for each applicant (don't ask me the details of that process...I don't know much beyond the fact that it exists).

Here and there, I'm asked about this practice and whether it's used at UVa. We do not practice yield protection at all. The applicant pool here is so broad that it'd be hard to compile a profile for a student who wouldn't enroll. I think the practice might be more popular at smaller schools.

Students take over AccessUVa blog

This is pretty neat news, in my opinion. 'Hoos for Open Access, a recently formed CIO (Contracted Independent Organization...our name for a student club), has taken the reigns of the AccessUVa blog.

They have one great idea mentioned on the blog already: they'll be online to chat every Sunday evening from 8-9 PM EST. They also have an email address for questions outside of that hour.

Does senior year matter?

PK asked:

Hello Dean J, I was just wondering how senior year grades were considered. Are they included in your overall GPA or not?

I don't know where the idea that senior year wasn't considered in the college admission process came from. I remember hearing the same thing back when I was in high school and it didn't sit right with me. Now that I'm on the other side of the desk, I can put this one to rest. Senior year definitely comes into play during our review process. Let me explain my thinking...

The way I see it, part of what we do is spot trends. We look at the last four years as predictive of the next four years. Obviously, high school starts the same way for many students. Aside from making some choices about foreign language and electives, your course are often dictated. As you advance, you're able to make more choices about what you'll take. Ideally, by senior year, you'll have work that shows us that you're ready for college level work.

Now, if a student seems to be doing great work in junior year, then pulls back in senior year, dropping their AP/IB/DE classes for lower level work, we're concerned about the transition to the college level. Is this student really ready? Will they "hit the ground running"? Why take this student when our applicant pool has plenty who have maintained a high level of difficulty for all four years of their high school career?


Consider, as well, an analogy I often use during my presentations. Your high school career can be compared to a concert. The start of the show is usually full of energy, with signs of good things to come. Junior year is the like the end of the main set. It ends on a high note, making the audience want more. Senior year is like the encore. There might have been a time when encores weren't standard, but these days, they're expected and the songs played better be the best ones of the entire night. They're the songs that send the crowd off thinking that they can't wait for the next show. They HAVE to see that band again.

If the band pulls back, starting the encore with a great song, then finishes it with a ballad, you might leave the show wondering why they didn't do more with all of that momentum. This is a similar to the feeling we have when we read an application that shows a step down in curriculum strength without any explanation or when we get mid-year (or even final) grades and they are significantly different from the ones earned earlier in the high school career.



As for the second part of PK's question, we don't recalculate GPAs at UVa. We look at the method used by your school to calculate them and go from there.

New feature!

I used to keep lists of musicians mentioned in application essays on my door. My colleagues would add to it when they thought of it and we'd laugh over some of the choices (please, no more Tupac essays). I thought I'd take the list to the internet and add it to my blog. You'll find it to the right, below the welcome comment.

This isn't a comprehensive list...just the topics that either struck me as interesting or ones that are extremely popular.

Enjoy!

How could the process be more kind?

Leaving Alderman Library with a post-lunch cup of coffee, I was greeted by more chalk messages than usual (chalking high traffic areas is a common method of promoting events here). Imagine my surprise to learn that today is International (not National, mind you) Kindness Day!


I don't have much to say about the application today, so why don't I turn it over to you, dear readers. How could the college search and/or application process be a little kinder for you?

Interested to Know asked:

Without reopening the pros and cons of that debate, are there parts of the ED process that you will miss, and how do you expect the elimination of ED will impact UVa's Admissions Office as you work to select the young men and women who will join the UVa community in the fall of 2008?

I personally don't miss the Early Decision process at all. The atmosphere in our office is extremely pleasant right now. When we start our reading season, our lives change dramatically...to the point that loved ones groan when the first pile of folders comes home. We stop going to movies, concerts, and sporting events. Thanksgiving sneaks up on us. The holidays are a blur. I'm really enjoying fall in Charlottesville for the very first time (CavBear would have never gone to the Halloween festival if we had Ed...I wouldn't have had time for that).

Up until now, I've only really thought about the educational reasons for the ED change. I'm realizing that this is a nice change for us personally as well. We're probably better admission officers right now. When the piles start mounting, we don't have as much time to talk with students on the phone or greet our visitors when they return from tours (Deans greeting the tours is a tradition here).

Obviously, things will change this year. We'll probably see a decrease in application numbers, because some student will have applied ED elsewhere. We're okay with that. Our reading load in January and February might be a little heavier, but I think it's a fine trade off!

Reading Season Day 1

It's the first day of reading season and as you can see from my unusually short stack of applications, our processing team is now trying to match applications with supporting credentials so we'll have complete applications folders to read.

If you've completed your part of the application, but haven't hit the submit button yet, I think now is a good time to do that. I imagine that the mail stream will pick up significantly in the next few weeks and submitting before the rush might help us process it more quickly.

Good luck and feel free to post questions in the comments!

Hope you had a happy Halloween!

CavDog (ahem, CavBee) made an appearance at the Halloween Festival on The Lawn on Wednesday. His sad eyes are for those of you who were working on ED and EA apps instead of enjoying Halloween.


Edit: I realize that this didn't actually post on November 1st...oops!