#UVA Regular Decision Update!

If you're a regular reader of the blog, participate in my live q&a sessions on Instagram, or see me reply to questions on TikTok/Twitter/reddit/etc, you know that we release admission decisions early whenever possible. We are ready.

Regular Decision notification will be

Friday, March 18, 2022

This is official. Please do not call our office to confirm it. The decisions will get posted all at once to portals after office hours. 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.

As always, I'll have a post with admission statistics to share between now and Friday. I'll be back next week to talk about the waiting list. For now, those who are offered the waiting list should click the link in their letter to read through the information on the waiting list page. 

UVA Scholars Programs 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 has been posted to applicant portals. A second round of invitations will be posted at 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 and School of Engineering are invited to join these programs. You can read more about them on their websites.

Congratulations to our first group of scholars for the Class of 2026!

2022 Early Action Admission Statistics for #UVA

 Here are some unofficial numbers about the Early Action process. These numbers were up to date on Thursday afternoon. If you are a reporter, please contact the Office of University Communications for current, official information and all of your needs.

The Office of Institutional Research and Analytics is the source of all official statistics about UVA. They take a census to determine the final statistics for the class. You can see official admission data in the data digest part of their website. 

Early Action Applications

Total number of Early Action applications: 31,143 (28,897 last year)
Total number of VA apps: 8,518

Total number of OOS apps: 22,626
We use completed applications in our statistics.

Early Action Offers

Overall offers: 6,243
Total VA offers: 2,573 (30% offer rate)
Total OOS offers:  3,669 (16% offer rate)
Enrollment Goal: ~3,750
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. 

Early Action Defers

Overall defers: 6,925 (22%)
Total VA defers: 2,295
Total OOS defers: 4,630
Read more about deferral here (this link is in all defer letters). Please read #2 below.

I can also share that our total application number is around 50,000. 

A couple 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 deferred, you must submit the defer form in your portal if you'd like to be considered in RD. This form takes the place of a "letter of continued interest" or LOCI. Please follow the directions on the defer student page about what you may add to your file.

3. Admitted students will get a paper copy of the offer letter by mail.

4. The first round of invitations into Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars, will 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.

#UVA Early Action Notification Update!

 Happy February! We have news...

I'm so happy to share that we are finishing the Early Action ahead of schedule and will post results to student portals on Friday evening.

Early Action notification will be the evening of 

Friday, February 4, 2021! 

This is official. Please do not call our office to confirm it. The decisions will be added to applicant portals in the evening so most students are checking while at home, after school hours. I do not have a specific time that decision will appear, as getting the letters into the portals is a time-consuming process handled by our technical team.

I'll be able to share some statistics about the Early Action process in the coming days. As always, I'm happy to answer your questions in the comments.

 

 

January Admission Update

As a reminder, I'm moving to monthly updates here. Between our application volume, trying to keep people updated on Instagram and TikTok, checking in on other channels, and my other responsibilities, the blog has taken a back seat.

So here are some notes from the past month.

 

1. Final (For Now) Application Numbers

A record 50,813 students applied for first-year admission to UVA. The Early Decision group was the smallest, at just under 3,500 applicants. The Early Action group is the largest, at just over 31,000 applicants. The RD group is around 16,000.

When I got to UVA in 2005, our total application number was equal to our current RD round. The pace of the process has changed dramatically.

 

2. Early Action Notification

We changed the language we use for Early Action notification in 2019 to stating that we'd have decisions ready by the middle of February. That year, we were able to get decisions posted on January 31st. It was a huge effort. Last year, we were able to post decisions on February 5th and I think that's in large part due to the entire staff being at home (our office was closed to visitors during that phase of the pandemic). 

With that background information, I can tell you that Early Action notification will definitely be in February this year.

3. Submitting Mid-Year Grades 

If you are a Regular Decision applicant or you are deferred during the EA/ED rounds, you must submit mid-year grades. You can upload them yourself via your portal (a screen grab is fine) or your counselor can submit them. Please submit electronically. 

 

4. Portal Updates

You are allowed to upload several kinds of documents via your portal. If you do not get an error, your upload was successful. The portal can not "read" what's on the file you submit and classify it. Please do not email staff members a second copy of something you already added to your file via your portal. 

 

5. Demonstrated Interest

You do not need to send us letters of continued interest (LOCIs). All deferred students and those offered a spot on the waiting list will have a form in their portal to fill out instead of a LOCI. That is the only demonstration of interest we need. Please follow our directions on this! It streamlines the process for you and for us! 

This is covered in the application instructions, our FAQs, and on the "connect" page of our website.  

6. Getting in Touch with Us

If you need our assistance, we have staff members answering the phones and email during business hours. You can email undergradadmission@virginia.edu, and a staff member will direct your message to the right person!

Unofficial #UVA Early Decision Statistics

Happy Thursday! I have some statistics for the Early Decision round of our application review to share with you. These are unofficial. Institutional Research and Analytics is the source of all official statistics about UVA. They take a census to determine the final statistics for the class. You can see official admission data in the data digest part of their website. 

These numbers were updated on 12/10 at 9:45 AM. If you are a reporter, please contact the Office of University Communications for current, official information.

Early Decision Applications

Total number of Early Decision applications: 3,466 (2,937 last year)
Total number of VA apps: 1,833
Total number of OOS apps: 1,633
We use completed applications in our statistics.

Early Decision Offers

Overall offers: 1,109
Total VA offers: 703 (38% offer rate)
Total OOS offers: 406 (25% offer rate)
Enrollment Goal: ~3,750
Averaging these offer rates together is misleading because residency is a major factor in our review. If you are going to share these numbers, cite BOTH offer rates and not an average. Last year, we made just over 8,400 total offers to reach the enrollment goal.

Early Decision Defers

Overall defers: 1,027
Total VA defers: 530
Total OOS defers: 497
Deferred students are no longer bound by Early Decision agreements. Read more about deferral here (this link is in all defer letters). Midyear grades are due by February 15th and we're happy to take them via the student portal.

A couple notes:

1. I do not have additional statistics. We are already immersed in the Early Action review process and I have to read files!

2. Decisions will be posted in the applicant portal tomorrow night. You got login credentials back when we received your Common App. I don't control the posting of the decisions, but we will email everyone after the technical team finishes the work they do to add decisions to the poral. Your enrollment deposit is due by January 1st.

3. Admitted students will get a paper copy of the offer letter by mail. I can't predict when the mail will arrive.

4. The Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars program invitations will be extended at the end of  the Early Action and Regular Decision processes. Echols and Rodman also allow self-nomination after your first semester.

#UVA Early Decision Notification Update

The stated times for decisions releases are mid-December for Early Decision, mid-February for Early Action, and April 1 for Regular Decision. I'm so happy to share that we are finishing the Early Decision ahead of schedule and will post results to student portals in a couple days.

Early Decision notification will be the evening of 

Friday, December 10, 2021! 

This is official. Please do not call our office to confirm it. The decisions will be added to applicant portals in the evening so most students are checking after school hours (there are fewer people on the system after the business day is over). You will notice that application checklists come off the portal today as we make preparations for the release. There is a team that works on getting decisions loaded into the portal and I can't tell you exactly what time they will complete their work.

I hope to share some statistics about the Early Decision process tomorrow. As always, I'm happy to answer your questions in the comments.

 

                         

November Admission Update

One of the fun parts of working in social media is watching new channels emerge. It became clear this year that students preferred to interact on Instagram and TikTok, so I have spent a lot of time on those apps trying answer questions and respond to comments. If you didn't know, I host a live question and answer session every week on Instagram (I think this is my third year of doing that and I started saving the recordings to IGTV a year or two ago) and post there and on TikTok several times per week. 

Adding another channel to my workload had led to this little blog being less active. I may move to monthly updates here, except around decision releases, when I know people expect more posts (especially those statistics posts). 

So here are some notes from the past month.

 

1. Early Decision and Early Action Numbers

We had about 3,400 Early Decision applications and 31,000 Early Action applications. I'll post precise numbers around the time we release decisions for each group. Last year, we had about 2,900 applications for ED and 29,000 for EA. 

Once upon a time, our applicant pool seemed to be split fairly evenly between Early Action and Regular Decision. Now, we get more applications during the early rounds. Whether those higher numbers above mean the shift is continuing or if they mean we'll have a larger pool overall remains to be scene. 

We are not a school that craves big jumps in application numbers. Our classes are growing, but not at the same rate that the pool seems to be. That makes for some tough decisions when reading applications. Our staff doesn't grow at the same rate, either, which is part of the reason why the release of EA decisions moved back into February a couple years ago.Which leads to the next point...

 

2. Decision Notification

We read all of our files (no computer sorting here) and that takes time. We promise to finish the Early Decision review around December 15th and Early Action review around February 15th. As soon as we can post a more specific date for decisions, we will do so on this blog, on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Follow me at @UVADeanJ or the office at @UVAAdmission.

All decisions for a round (Early Decisions or Early Action) are posted en masse in applicant portals. 

 

3. The Applicant Portal

By now, ED and EA applicants should have logged into their portals to verify that all items have been received. Your login credentials for the portal were emailed to you within a few days of us getting your Common App. 

Application updates are submitted via the portal, not by email. Please follow our directions on this! The portal will take a Word/Pages doc, PDF, JPEG, and probably some other file formats I can't think of right now. The portal can't read the file and assign it a category. It just files the item with your application. If you didn't see an error message when you uploaded the file, the item was accepted. Please don't send multiple copies of documents. 

 Student Financial Services uses UVA's Student Information System (SIS) for their process. Please be sure to check those accounts if you applied for aid. The faster you respond to their requests for missing or supporting documents, the faster they can do their work.

4. Demonstrated Interest

This is not part of the review. Your application is proof that you are interested in UVA! You have a lot on your plate as a senior and don't have to spend time and energy showing interest. You did that when you put together your application. 

5. Application Instructions Revisited

A lot of the questions I'm getting this year are covered in the application instructions or our FAQs. Please be sure to take a look at those! 

As always, I'm happy to answer questions in the comments.

Important Reminders for Early Action and Early Decision Applicants to #UVA

The Early Decision and Early Action deadline is around the corner and I thought I'd address some important points for applicants...

 

 1. Read the application instructions and FAQs.

Enough said on that!

 

2. The deadline is November 1st at 11:59 PM.

If you are someone who is inspired by the last minute, you have all day on November 1st to submit your application. Keep in mind that there may be a lot of people using the Common App website on deadline day, so it might slow down. In addition, the help desk might be fielding more requests for assistance than usual. 

3. Colleges don't control the Common App website.

If you have an issue with the Common App website, hit the question mark that is on every page to get help. In my experience, the support from the Common App team is excellent.

4. Teachers and Counselors get a grace period to submit documents.

Get your application in by the deadline. The supporting documents from your teachers and counselors don't have to be in by the deadline. We understand that they are working with multiple students who may be applying to several schools!

5. Updates are sent via the applicant portal.

This is covered in the instructions, but you'll get login credentials for our applicant portal once Common App transfers your application to us. Use the portal to send updates. Don't send updates by email to admission officers.

 

6. We really mean it when we say we don't use interest!

The application is proof that you are interested in UVA. You don't have to send us emails or supplements to tell us you like UVA. Desire is not a factor in our review. 

Do you have any last minute questions? Feel free to put them in the comments!

Scattergrams and GPA Data

I just finished my first week of high school visits in Fairfax County, Virginia. This is one of our most densely populated areas in Virginia and we have a lot of students at UVA from the many high school in the area.

The GPA attempts to summarize your academics, but it's not a very reliable number in my world. GPA methodologies vary a lot (and this is fine with us...each school/district uses the method that works for their students). The GPA doesn't tell us the full academic story, though. We need to see four years of course selection and grades to understand that. Trends are also important and aren't conveyed in the GPA.  Resist the urge to fixate on GPA alone. GPAs just don't provide the details we need to make a decision in a selective admission process.

Some may suggest that high school-specific GPA data is more reliable and use scattergrams to estimate admission chances. The scattergram is a feature of a student information system that many high schools use. Scattergrams plot past admission decisions on a chart using GPA and testing as the variables.

A scattergram I found online. This is NOT for UVA.

If you have access to them, remember that scattergrams are plotting the results of an elaborate application review process on a chart with just two factors, one of which is no longer required in our process. They show how our decisions correlate to those pieces of data, but they don't tell you how admission officers made their decisions. 

Keep in mind that there are some issues with scattergrams. Schools often rely on students to report their admission decisions to make the scattergrams. There may be missing or incorrect data for your school. In addition, testing is optional for applicants to UVA and about 40% of our pool didn't submit them last year.

There are times when someone may have a high GPA, but have some holes in their program (remember, we want to see classes taken in each core subject all four years of high school), a lopsided program, or a grade trend that is of concern. The details matter in this process!

A Return to Fairfax County

I'm almost in disbelief that my first week of high school visits in over a year is around the corner. The last time I was in my Virginia territory (Fairfax County) was the week of January 13, 2020, when I spoke at a series of programs for junior parents planned by counselors in Fairfax County Public Schools. Suffice it to say, I'm really looking forward to being back in my territory! Admission work is cyclical and I have missed the parts of the calendar that traditionally had me in high schools. 

Scheduling high school visits was a bit of a trick this year. Most schools have fewer spots in their schedules (totally understandable!) and some are only offering virtual appointments. I wasn't able to stack my usual 4-5 schools per day this time, but I'll look on the bright side and think about how much less stressful it will be to battle northern Virginia traffic. 

I have 24 in-person visits in the coming weeks:

Monday, October 4: Justice, Falls Church, TJHSST
Tuesday, October 5: Langley, McLean, Marhsall
Wednesday, October 6: Madison, Oakton, Woodson, Fairfax
Thursday, October 7: West Springfield, Lake Braddock, Trinity Christian
Friday, October 8: Centreville, Westfield, South Lakes, Herndon

Monday, October 18: Edison, Lewis, Mount Vernon
Tuesday, October 19: Chantilly, Hayfield, South County
Wednesday, October 20: West Potomac, Annandale, Robinson

If you're in Fairfax County and don't see your school listed, we probably scheduled a virtual event with your school. If you see your school list and would like to attend my session, be sure to follow the procedures set by your College & Career Center to sign up. These talks are for students...parents, feel free to call, comment, email, or message me if you have questions about admission.

Jack in NOVA (technically not in my territory, but close!)

How to Manage College Admission Email

When I was in high school, the college mailings started to arrive a few weeks after you took your first PSAT exam. The first few pieces of mail seemed novel, but then the deluge began. Managing the influx of mail was easy enough - it just required more frequent trips to the recycling center!

These days, the print mail arrives along with a steady stream of email. All that email sometimes leads to overlooked messages about important things - missing application items, invitations to special programs, or even financial aid information). Many suggest that students create a separate email account for college mail, but that doesn't really solve the problem. Students still have to wade through a lot of messages to find the important ones in a second email account. I have a different suggestion.

Learn to use email filters.

Email filters (also called "rules" in some email clients) automatically file email for you. In gmail, all you have to do is click the three dots in a message and select "Filter messages like these" to set one up. Create a folder for everything important and you can quickly scan the side of your email client to see if anything important has arrived. 

This is where to find the filter set up in gmail.

If you set up a filter for messages from your counselor, Common App, UVA, etc., it could mean that your main inbox becomes a miscellaneous inbox.

Live #UVA Admission Q&A Sessions Every Thursday!

I sometimes forget that people aren't aware of my accounts on the various social media channels. After years of doing live q&a sessions on my Instagram account and having thousands of views on each saved session. In the early years, I saved the sessions to Instagram Highlights (like this), but I started saving them all to IGTV last year. It's safe to say the Thursday afternoon live session is tradition now. 

The sessions usually start around 3 PM. I post an Instagram Story on Thursday mornings with two stickers*: one that lets students turn on a countdown reminder for the session and another that lets them submit questions they'd like me to answer. Students can also submit questions during the live session via a comment box and a live question sticker. 

Jack decided to participate in a session last December and he's been a fixture since. He starts the session by doing a trick for a treat (this buys us some time as people join the session). There are points in the application season when I give an update about our process and then I answer questions. 

* A sticker is a box or graphic added on top of a photo or video in Instagram Stories. Some of them are interactive.

It's almost time for this week's live session. I hope you'll join us on Instagram!

2021-2022 #UVA First-Year Application Essay Prompts

With tours full of prospective members of the Class of 2026 this week, it seems like a good time to share our essay prompts for next year. Feedback from students and admission officers have helped us tweak our prompts over the years and it seems like we have them in a good place because we don't really have edits this year!

There are three required pieces of writing on our application: the Common App essay and two shorter responses that are specific to UVA. The Common App prompts are on their website. 

A couple notes about essays: the prompts are deliberately broad, these are supposed to be personal, and the word counts are guidelines meant to remind you to be concise. I'll elaborate on these and share some tips in future posts. Regarding the first essay, remember that we admit students to four schools and one major at UVA. The only students who apply directly to a major are the kinesiology students.

 As always, I'm happy to answer questions you submit in the comments.

2021-2022 First-Year Application Writing Prompts

1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.

• College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way?

• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering.

• School of Architecture - Describe significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.

• School of Nursing - Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.

• Kinesiology Program - Discuss experiences that led you to apply to the kinesiology major. 

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words.

• What’s your favorite word and why?

• We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.

• Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?

• UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?

• Rita Dove, UVA English professor and former U.S. Poet Laureate, once said in an interview that "...there are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints." Describe a time when, instead of complaining, you took action for the greater good.

The UVA Class of 2025 is Complete

A waiting list update from Greg Roberts, Dean of Admission:

On behalf of the UVA Office of Admission, I’d like to send a heartfelt thank you to all of the applicants and their families who placed their faith in us during this challenging and chaotic year, including those who were on our waiting list and received our final decisions last week. We are honored and humbled that you chose to apply to UVA. While we were unable to offer admission to every deserving and capable candidate in this intensely competitive year, please know we saw you, we heard you, we believe in you, and we are grateful to you. And please know we wish you happiness and success as you begin your college journey in the fall. 

 

I know this is disappointing news for many of you. I hope you can look at your chosen school and move forward with you plans to go there with excitement. Thank you so much for being part of this blog.  Best wishes for a wonderful summer and exciting start to your college career!

 

#UVA In-Person Tours for Prospective Students Resume June 14

I'm so excited to share that we will be hosting in-person tours soon! I remember posting that our admission events were cancelled back on March 11, 2020 and thinking we'd be back in a month or so. The day we were told to take our office phones home was probably the one when I realized tours would be on an extended hiatus. Suffice it to say, we have missed seeing prospective students in person! We've also missed seeing our guides, ambassadors, and student workers. The team of summer interns will ease us back into tours starting on June 14th (are you following them on Instagram yet?).

A few notes for those who want to visit...

• As always, reservations are required, so please head over to the Visit page of our website to secure a spot on a tour. Once all the reservations for a day are taken, that date is no longer "clickable," so have a alternate visit date in mind. 

• Prospective students can register themselves and one guest for the tour. If you'll be traveling with a larger group, please make plans for the other members of your party to do something while you tour. I suggest a walk on The Corner to see the shops and restaurants adjacent to the University along with a walk on the UVA Lawn and a visit to the new Memorial to Enslaved Laborers. 

• The University's buildings are still closed to visitors at this time, to the tours will be completely outdoors. We suggest you use the housing youtube channel to explore the residence halls and check department websites for virtual tour options. UVA Recreation's website has descriptions and picture of their facilities, too.

• We'll continue to offer live and recorded virtual options for connecting with the Office of Admission and our students. Links are on the visit page and we'll also email them to students who make in-person tour reservations. 

I'll do my best to answer your questions in the comments, but I hope you can appreciate that our plans will probably evolve during the summer. 

A 2021 Waiting List Update

If you watch my weekly live q&a sessions on Instagram, you've heard me talk about the waiting list a few times already, but I thought I'd share some information on the blog who aren't regularly tuning in (does one "tune in" for an Instagram live?). I save the live sessions on IGTV, barring an Instagram glitch, so you can watch old sessions if that is of interest.

It looks like the waiting list pendulum has swung (see over a decade of waiting list offers here), as it tends to do, and we are not seeing much movement on the list this year. A few offers have been made, but I don't think we'll see a total anywhere near what we saw last year.

As always, when the Dean decides to close/release the waiting list (meaning no more offers will be made), we will email all students who completed the waiting list interest form. 

I'm happy to answer questions in the comments and on this Thursday's live q&a session.

Miss a Virtual Days on the Lawn Event? Recordings Available Now!

 I've gotten so man questions from students who weren't able to join some of the live virtual Days on the Lawn sessions in the last few weeks, but are looking for recordings. All of the recorded sessions are available on the Virtual DOTL website! 

As a reminder, enrollment deposits are due by Saturday, May 1st. If there is anything we can do to help as you decide where you'll be starting your college career, please reach out to us via whatever channel is most comfortable. We have a dean on call each weekday during business hours, student volunteers who are eager to chat, and I'll also be monitoring my inboxes on the various social media platforms.

 

Waiting List Reply Forms (the #UVA LOCI) Due TODAY!

If you were offered a spot on the waiting list at UVA, you have until the end of the day to submit your Waiting List Reply Form in the applicant portal. This form is your "Letters of Continued Interest" (aka LOCI).

If you are a Virginia resident who applied to the College of Arts & Sciences, you will also see a question asking about your interest in spending your first year at UVA's College at Wise.

 

If you accept a spot on the waiting list, you will see a confirmation message in your portal. You will also see a link to withdraw from the waiting list if you decide that you are no longer interested in UVA at a later date. 

 

Please remember to follow the instructions in the Waiting List FAQs if you would like to submit an update to your file. 

 

Meet Morgan, a Pre-Med, Anthropology Major from Baltimore!

I'm very excited to share the first 2021 entry in a series of guest blog posts by UVA students. Since you won't be able to meet current students at our Days on the Lawn open houses or on go on group tours this year, we thought we'd use social media to provide opportunities for you to connect.    

 Morgan offered to kick things off! She kindly offered her email address if anyone would like to ask her questions.

 

Wahoowa and welcome to UVA! My name is Morgan Suchin and I am a second year from Baltimore, Maryland. I absolutely LOVE UVA and am so excited to share my experience with you. I am pre-med and majoring in anthropology with a concentration in medical anthropology, ethics, and care. I am an Echols Scholar and involved in PhiDE (a pre-health, co-ed fraternity), Hillel/Brody Jewish Center, Virginia Ambassadors, Virginia Anthropology Society, and started my own project working with other CIOs using a mental health support website my brother and I made called Codyy.org.

 

I will be honest. I never even considered UVA until my mother forced me to tour it. I thought UVA would be too large for me, did not know anyone from my high school who went there, and did not know much about it. Well, a big thank you to my mom! I can confidently say that the second I walked onto Grounds, I immediately fell in love with the beautiful architecture and greenery, the vibrant and spirited student body, the traditions, and the warm feeling of community from both the students, professors, and staff. I am a true believer in that everything happens for a reason. There was some reason my mother forced me to tour one random day in July before my senior year. Another instance of this mantra happened at my Days on the Lawn which is our newly admitted students’ day.

I checked in with my parents and was walking from the Office of Admissions to the Rotunda for the welcome address from our Dean and to hear our amazing marching band. Before we got to the Rotunda, I asked my mother (there’s a theme here), how will I know where I am supposed to end up? She replied, there will be a sign. In that very second, Dean J and CavPup walked by and I stopped to take a picture. I am obsessed with CavPup and Dean J’s blog/Instagram that provided information and was a valuable resource that motivated me to go to UVA. I internally screamed with excitement. I think from the smile on both of our faces, we were pretty excited in this moment. This was another instance of everything happening for a reason.

 

My third moment of this mantra was during my first day of class. I walked into the lecture hall, which was also where I had my information session during my tour at UVA and sat down amongst 200 students. This class was medical anthropology with Professor China Scherz. I admire how amazing my support and advising system at UVA has been. During my summer orientation and per advice from my Echols mentor, two people recommended that I take medical anthropology. I knew nothing about it but figured I love the humanities and am pre-med, so this sounded like an interesting combination. My eyes grew with wonder during the first lecture. Professor Scherz made a 200-person class seem like 15 through her passionate lecture, engaging with students through conversations, and being so eager to share her love of medical anthropology and her research. The second I walked out of class, I pulled out my phone and googled if UVA had a major in medical anthropology. Sure enough, it was made just the previous year before I got to UVA! That same day, I met Professor Scherz during her office hours to discuss the major and my future trajectory. If it were not for the input from fellow UVA students and staff, I maybe would not have found my major. Medical anthropology has changed my life, and everything happened for a reason! (I am sorry I am so cheesy) Professor Scherz became my advisor and mentor who has provided so much guidance and support throughout my first two years at UVA. Everyone who I have met at UVA, whether it is an upperclassman who offers advice, your professor or academic dean, or just a person in the library you recognize from class, has been unbelievably supportive and welcoming. One of the reasons I chose UVA was because I saw a community like myself during my tour. UVA felt like the students were leaders both inside and outside of the classroom, but were also involved in the community with clubs, research, volunteering, or just being there for a fellow classmate. It is hard to express how generous and kind the people at UVA are in making Grounds feel like a home. 

To me, UVA is my second home. Despite being a large university, it has never felt like it for several reasons. My Jewish peers at the Brody Jewish Center have gone above and beyond to make all students have a home away from home during the holidays. I had a sense of community when the student body joined arms for the first time at a football game and sang the Good Old Song. My Echols scholar family introduced me to some of my best friends who made my first year so special. It is seeing someone in the grocery store wearing a UVA orange and navy shirt and we say Wahoowa to each other that sparks a smile on my face that confirms that UVA is a special place. You got into UVA because it was meant to be your home for the next 4 years because everything happens for a reason! I look forward to seeing you on Grounds! Please feel free to reach out to mis6mmf@virginia.edu if you have any questions. I love sharing my experience and how much it means to be a Wahoo!