Unofficial #UVA22 Early Action Statistics

The Office of Institutional Assessment 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. Obviously, what happened in past years isn't going to predict the future, but some people have fun playing around with the Tableau on their site.

Here are some unofficial numbers about the early action process. These numbers are up to date as of yesterday, January 25, 2018. If you are a reporter, please contact the Media Relations team in the Office of University Communications for current, official information and all of your reporterly needs. :)

Early Action Applications

Total number of Early Action applications: 21,573 (20,419 last year)
Total number of VA apps: 5,897
Total number of OOS apps: 15,676
We use completed applications in our statistics. There are schools that include incomplete applications in their stats.

Early Action Offers

Overall offers: 6,000
Total VA offers: 2,618 (44% offer rate)
Total OOS offers: 3,382 (21.5% offer rate)
Schools admit more students than the enrollment goal with yield in mind.Yield is how many students accept an offer of admission.

Early Action Defers

Overall defers: ~5,300
Applicants are already withdrawing, so this number changes constantly.

Early Action Testing/Rank (offers only)

Middle 50% SAT score:  1360-1500 (VA)  1440-1540 (OOS)
Middle 50% ACT composite: 31-34 (VA)  33-35 (OOS)
We use scores from each section in our review, but the reports on averages generate totals.

A couple notes:

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

2. The Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars programs are sending invitations by mail next week. 

3. Welcome packets with information about next steps will be leaving our office soon!

Let's Talk about #UVA22 Early Action: The Offer of Admission

Admitted students can use this entry to talk. I imagine you might also want to join the UVA Class of 2022 Facebook group to chat with your future classmates. That group is just for students (I'm not even in there). Once the first-year class elects it's Class Council, the class officers run the group. Parents, you can check out the UVA Parents Page and the UVA Parents Facebook page.

I'll have post about admission statistics and Days on the Lawn (our admitted student open houses) in the coming days. Just for reference, below your letter are buttons to accept or decline your offer. If you accept, you will see a button to let you pay your tuition deposit online*. Orientation registration will open on April 2nd and you'll get more information about that in the future.

You have until May 1st to decide whether you'll be joining us at UVA. If you decide to go elsewhere at some point in the coming weeks, I hope you'll decline the offer via your self-service page.

Congratulations! We are so lucky to have you considering UVA!

Image by Jen Fariello Photography

*We have an e-check system for deposits. You'll type in the numbers on the bottom of a check. The system will take certain kinds of credit cards, but it's primarily an e-check system. Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker when you go to pay the deposit!

Let's Talk about #UVA22 Early Action: The Defer

Deferred students can use this post to talk.

Your application hasn't finished it's journey yet.

Once your mid-year grades arrive, your file will be reviewed again as part of the Regular Decision pool. At this point, you should simply make sure your mid-year report is sent when the grades are ready. Most of your counselors will do this automatically.

We know the wait is tough, but we think your mid-year grades could help your case. Hang in there! You should see the link to the defer FAQ page in your letter, which answers the most common questions.

Jack hopes you can find a peaceful place to wait.

Let's Talk about #UVA22 Early Action: The Deny

Denied students can use this entry to talk.

I know this is hard to handle and some of you might not have gotten a disappointing admission decision yet. I hope you all can look at your options and get excited about your other schools. If your immediate reaction is "I'll transfer", don't let that plan keep you from getting involved in campus life at the school you choose. I think many students come to think of their next choice as "home" and can't imagine leaving it after a little while. Give yourself time to explore your options.

Some students inquire about being moved to the defer group. Please understand that we do not have an appeal process.

Please be polite and respectful of others when posting.


BTW, if you signed yourself up to read the blog by email and don't want the messages anymore, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. 

Happy Birthday, Dean Roberts! We got you some #UVA22 Hoos!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Dean Greg Roberts' birthday than to have some new Hoos join the UVA family. We're going to post Early Actions decisions tonight in SIS!

Jack's ready!

I have a few notes for about this release, so please read the rest of this message.

1. At some point tonight (this is handled by the tech people these days and I don't control the exact time), the "View Decision" link at the bottom of your SIS page will go to a decision letter. If you can't find your login info for the SIS, review the "After You Submit" section of the application instructions. A welcome mailing with info about next steps will come later for those who are admitted. Please do not open multiple windows or constantly hit refresh. Set a time tonight when you'll check and do something offline until then.

2. The release is always exciting, but some of you aren't going to get the decision you wanted. I hope you'll focus on the college options you have instead of the ones you don't at the end of the day. I hope those of you who get offers will celebrate your success, but also be gracious around those who might not have gotten good news.

3. I will post blog entries where you can talk about the different decisions. I'll be back to work through any questions that are asked in the comments tomorrow.  I trust you to be respectful of others in the comments. A lot of people on Grounds will be watching #UVA22 on social media so they can welcome our newest Wahoos to the UVA community. We love seeing your reactions when we check that hashtag!

Keep an eye on the UVA Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts. There might be some nice messages!

4. Please don't post personal information in the comments (contact info, statistics, etc.). As we discussed often around here, school-specific statistics like GPA are subjective these days and don't represent the applicant accurately. What's more, there have been times when enough information about an applicant has been shared that their classmates could identify them.

5. Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars will be notified next week by mail. I will write posts about deferral, Days on the Lawn (open houses for admitted students), and EA statistics in the coming days. There is no lag time in our office, so we are now reading Regular Decision applications. Please understand if my responses to questions are a little delayed.

6. You don't need to call us to verify this. It's true. We are releasing decisions tonight. The receptionists can't tell you an exact time or your decision since the IT folks handle the things for us.




THANK YOU to all of you who have read and commented on the blog and chatted via social media so far this season.

Regardless of what SIS shows you tonight, you are going to attend a great school. You're going to learn from amazing, inspirational professors, administrators, and peers. You're going to meet people with whom you will stay friends for the rest of your lives. You're going to pull all-nighters studying. You're going to pull all-nighters not studying. You're going to have great successes and you're going to fail miserably at some things. What's going to make or break those experiences is your response and your openness to learning from them, not your location when they happen.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. Most of our applicants are qualified. They are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVA. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.


Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll continue to comment and stay in touch.

It's a big night and I'll be thinking about you all. Good luck!

A #UVA22 Early Action Update (really a non-update)

It's the time of year when Early Action students get a little punchy. They're obsessively checking SIS and wondering if it will give a sneak preview of decisions and every mention of UVA has them looking like Jack waiting for a treat.

Can I have it? Can I have it? Can I have it?

First of all, UVA's SIS is a system that was created by PeopleSoft called Campus Solutions. Lots of schools around the country use the same system. When you implement a SIS, it takes a few years and a lot of resources (human and financial). Customizing parts of the system requires even more resources. There are always going to be features that aren't used by a certain school (but might be perfect for another). I know the boxes that pop up during the application season are confusing, but we can't get around them.

I post this screenshot every year.

Decisions will be posted by the end of the month. I always post an update here first, then on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Word spreads quickly. We also queue up a mass email to go out, but those can take a little time to land in in-boxes. You'll know when notification is coming, I promise!

All the decisions go up at once and that "View Decision" link that currently goes to a "decisions aren't ready yet" message will go to a decision letter. Those admitted will see buttons for accepting and declining their offer.


Now, I want to address the timing of our process again. Years ago, our early pool was pretty small, just a few thousand applicants. In those days, our review was done before students went on winter break. These days, half of the applicant pool is applying early. As I mentioned in my last post, it just isn't possible for us to read 21,000+ files in six weeks unless we a) dramatically change our review or b) significantly increase the size of our staff.

I like the holistic review that we use here. It means that decisions aren't just about GPAs (and remember that GPA methodologies differ) and standardized test scores. Recommendations, essays, and activities also factor in (though academics come first!). In addition, we don't "auto" admit the top of the pool and deny the bottom. We read every application. I'm sure there are admission folks out there who might find that antiquated or quaint, but it works for us.

This will all wrap up soon and then we'll shift to posts about Regular Decision and Days on the Lawn. Hang in there, everyone.

Why Late January? An Early Action #UVA22 Update

It's the time of year when Early Action applicants start guessing the date their decisions will be posted on the Student Information System (SIS). The good news is that this blog provides a glimpse into the past because there are 12 years of posts that you can explore using the menu on the right side of the page.

I compiled a little chart showing the date that early applicants saw their results online. Way back in 2006, we had Early Decision and only got 2,311 applications. We had a paper application back then and our application had its own, unique website where students applied and saw their decisions. I typed "-1" six times to get decisions posted back then. Ah, simpler times.

We had a few years with just one application (Harvard, Princeton, and UVA made that move around the same time). I remember being convinced that people would applaud us for giving seniors their fall semesters back. I remember thinking that schools would follow our lead. In reality, all we got were complaints. In time, we gave in to the complaints and added an early process again. This time, it would be Early Action, which would allow students to see their financial aid packages before committing to enroll.

(2018 number is unofficial. I'll have an updated number on decision release day.)

Thoroughly reviewing the number of applications we're getting these days takes time. Of course, we've added staff members over the years (I can remember a time where there were just 13 full time admission officers here!). We aren't going to take short cuts while reading your applications.

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

1. Decisions will be posted by the end of the month.
2. All decisions are posted at once.
3. If we are able to post decisions before January 31st, I will announce the date here and on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We will also email all applicants the news.

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

The Mid-Year Report on your Application Checklist

I'm getting a lot of questions from students questioning the mid-year report being listed on their "to do" list in our Student Information System. I've covered this in the "After You Submit" section of the application instructions and in past blog posts, but thought I'd post about it this information is searchable.

We know that most of you don't have mid-year grades at this point. Unless you are denied during Early Action, we expect to get your mid-year grades when they are ready.


And because that was a very short message, here's a picture of Jack in the UVA bowtie the Dean of Students office gave him.