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.

Six Deadline Reminders for #UVA Regular Decision Applicants

Regular Decision applicants to UVA should be putting the finishing touches on their Common Applications this weekend. Here are a few of the most common issues and questions that come up around deadline time.

1. The deadline is January 1st, not December 31st.

You have until 11:59 PM on January 1st in your time zone to submit your application. Keep in mind that many schools share this deadline and while the Common App support team is going to be up 24/7 to help with issues, they are apt to be inundated with help requests on Monday night.

2. Counselors and teachers aren't subject to your deadline.

You need to get all of YOUR parts of the application submitted by the deadline. Plenty of counselors and teachers have already submitted supporting credentials for students, but the system stays open for them. Your counselors and teachers are on a much-deserved break. No need to be emailing/calling them over the weekend.

3. Paying the fee doesn't submit your application.

You have to go through a submission process through the Common Application. Don't stop with paying the fee.

4. Your application will be incomplete the first time you log into UVA's information system.

This is explained in our application instructions. A few days after your file is pulled into our system, UVA's Student Information System will send an email with login information to the email account you used on your Common App. On the main screen, you'll see a "to do" list of items that need to be checked into your file.

The first time you log in, you might see items that were submitted, but just haven't been matched up to your file yet. Please be patient. It takes a few weeks for our staff to match all those transcripts and teacher recommendations to newly submitted applications.We only log required documents due to volume.

Mid-Year Reports will be sent by your counselors once first semester grades are available.

5. We do not accept resumes, abstracts, research, or writing portfolios

We do not accept supplements that fall outside the lines of art supplements (for the arts, architecture, and marching band). Your activities should be listed in the activity section of the Common App. Be concise and brief. If we have any questions about your activity list, we'll email you.

Recommendations should come from your counselor and a teacher of your choice. The feature for submitting "other" recommendations is turned off in Common App.

6. Virginia residents must complete the residency questions to get in-state status.

If you are a Virginia resident, please be sure to fill out the residency section of the Common App. The first section asks questions about you (you'll answer "no" to most of them). The next section asks about a parent. The parent section is where most of you demonstrate residency since most of you are dependents. Only send extra documentation to the Office of Virginia status if they contact you with a request for supporting information.

Submitting unnecessary documents slows the process down for everyone. The Common App is a robust application that provides us with plenty of excellent information. Don't complicate the application process with extras!


Good luck! I'll be watching the comments below for questions. My Twitter client pushes notifications, so you can also tweet questions to @UVADeanJ.

On Grit, Passion, and Perseverence

I remember arriving at my first graduate school class ready for the most interesting discussions of my [short] academic life. It was a class about research methods during the summer session. I had walked for my college degree just two weeks prior and I was the lone new student in the class since most of my classmates had started the program the previous fall. I was energized and ready to go.

That first class was a blur, not because it was amazing, but because it was horrifying. I couldn't understand a lot of what my classmates were saying. I had read the first couple chapters of the text in my excitement to start my program, but it didn't matter. They were speaking a vernacular full of education buzzwords that I didn't know yet. My excitement dissolved and I dreaded going to that class for weeks as I struggled to adjust to the way people were talking.

I've been a little sensitive to buzzwords and lingo that fly around when people talk about college admission because of that confusing experience in grad school. I try to be simple and clear when I write about our process so  Right now, it seems like people in admission are talking a lot about grit, passion, and perseverance.

If today's buzzwords apply to you, that's great. If you don't think grit applies to you, haven't found a passion, or didn't persevere over a big obstacle, I don't want you to worry. Just because those words are popular right now doesn't mean those are the only things that colleges value.

At UVA, our first year class has about 3,700 students with interesting backgrounds and stories. We don't change our review based on the hot words of the moment. In fact, I have only heard someone say "grit" once or twice so far during our Early Action review. There's room for all kinds of students at the table here.

For those Affected by California Wildfires

I wanted to write a quick note to Regular Decision applicants and counselors in southern California who have been affected by wildfires in the area. Though we are still about three weeks away from the RD deadline, please know that we will work with you if access to the internet is a long-term issue.

Our thoughts are with our colleagues, students, and their families in the area.

A Few Status Notes for #UVA22 Early Action Applicants

Our Early Action applicants are obviously keeping a close eye on their status pages. I thought I would go over some of the most common questions that come up when viewing a SIS account as an applicant.

1. The SAT and ACT scores don't come quickly.

It takes the SAT and ACT folks up to two weeks to send your scores to us once you make your request. Once the score files arrive electronically, it can take a few days for scores to be matched up with applications. One common issue we've seen is that students are applying with a different name or address than the one they used with the SAT or ACT. This probably affects international students and those at boarding schools the most. If you know that you used a different name and address with the testing agencies, drop us an email to inform us.

2. We know your mid-year report isn't ready.

If you attend a school on a semester system, we know mid-year grades aren't ready yet (see the "After You Submit" section of the application instructions). We leave the mid-year report on the to-do list so you know it will be expected. Once a file is marked complete, students often stop checking their SIS account (until decisions get released!). If we waited until the end of the semester to add the mid-year report to checklists, may students wouldn't see that new requirement.

By the way, international students in IB programs can send predicted grades as their mid-year report.

3. Just because something is missing doesn't mean someone dropped the ball.

If something is missing from your file, please don't assume a the document was never sent. Though the USPS works very hard, sometimes the mail goes astray or a document fails to upload. Do not worry! We will work with you. No one is going to throw an application away because a credential is late. We want to get your file to complete so we can read it.

4. If you have to resubmit an item

Please use the dedicated email account for application updates when sending anything you want considered with your file. Do not email documents to individual deans or groups of deans. We're just going to forward the email to the account above the next time we check email (we are not on email all day...we're reading!). Sending things to the deans just slows down getting those items into your file. The folks in charge of the dedicated account are on the administrative team that files documents and they will get items into your application quickly!


If you have questions about your status pages, I'm happy to answer them in the comments!

Thank goodness we don't have paper files anymore!

Happy Thanksgiving from #UVA!

I've been a little quiet on the blog lately. My personal goal for this week is not to read on Thanksgiving Day as I have in year's past, so I wasn't posting much on social media for the last week. I'm always happy to reply to requests for help, even if a blog post is a few days old, though. Please don't hesitate to post your questions in the comments.

Our office will close on Tuesday at 5 PM and reopen on Monday, November 27th at 8:30 AM. We will not have any tours or information sessions during the break. If you are planning a visit to Charlottesville during this time, please keep in mind that the UVA vs. Virginia Tech football game will be on Friday evening. Traffic is apt to be heavy on Friday and Saturday morning as Hokies and Hoos from all over will be in town for the big game.


 By the way, did you know that plenty of students don't go home for Thanksgiving? Students can sign up to attend one of several Thanksgiving dinner parties that happen both on and off Grounds. If you're a current student who wasn't aware of this, there are still spots open if you'd like to have attend a dinner!

Happy Decorative Gourd Season!

Preliminary #UVA Early Action Numbers

We are already deep into the review process! Transfers applying for the January term had an October 1st deadline, so Early Action students are actually the second group of applicants this season. I thought I would share a few numbers to tide you over for a while since I'm not always able to post regularly in November.

21,393 students submitted applications for Fall 2018 under the Early Action plan. When I post admission statistics at the end of the EA process, you will definitely see a smaller number. Some applicants won't complete their application, though we'll email them plenty of reminders!


Keep in mind that we are still processing applications. There's a lot that has to happen between the time when you submit your Common App and when admission officers get to read it. Applications are downloaded and added to our system, documents that arrive electronically are matched up with applications, and anything submitted by mail has to be scanned into the system and manually linked to the correct applicant's file.

It will take several weeks to process all the documents that are arriving in our office right now. Please do not worry about your status page at this time. Once we are caught up on filing, we'll start contacting students by email about missing items. I know some of you have read this multiple times at this point between our application instructions and the blog, but it's important to get this information to as many students as possible!

Back to reading...

Five Important Deadline Day Reminders for #UVA Applicants

Ah, deadline day. We're fielding the usual "what time is the deadline" questions. You have until 11:59 PM in your time zone to submit your application. We DO NOT recommend waiting until the last few hours to submit. The Common App team stays up all night on deadline nights, but you can't expect instant help if something goes wrong with submission since there are apt to be scores of students submitting requests for help.


I have five important reminders for Early Action applicants:

1. We don't get your application instantly.
We pull applications out of the Common App and into our system in batches. As long as you submit your application in Common App before the deadline, you are set. Don't worry about the download date.

2. There is one VERY important email addresses: undergradadmission@virginia.edu
As covered in the "After You Submit" part of the application instructions (please read them!), you will get a confirmation email with login credentials for the student system. You will monitor your status in that system.

3. Do not worry about your status page in SIS yet.
When you log into SIS, you'll see a bunch of items on your "to-do" list. They'll just be labeled as "Initiated" right now. It means the item has not been filed in our office yet. Keep in mind that we have a deluge of documents to file. Don't worry about a missing credential yet. We'll be in touch by email once everything is filed to let you know if we need something from you.

4. Do not worry about your mid-year report until February.
At some point, the mid-year report will be the only thing left on your "to do" list. We leave that on your list because we will need mid-year grades from students who are admitted and deferred. Lots of students don't revisit their status once they are marked complete. If we added the mid-year report later, lots of people probably wouldn't see the addition. 

5. Do not read into "view decision" when it appears on your account.
The Student Information System has a built-in feature that adds a box that says "view decision" at the bottom of your status page when your file is deemed complete and ready for us to read. When you click on it, you'll get a little message saying decisions aren't ready yet.

Early Action Notification = January 31st

(any change will be announced on this blog ASAP)

We release all decisions at once. We've been able to release a little early since 2011, but we won't know the release date until we're almost at it.

Back in the paper days, we knew the release date a good week in advance because the last week was used to print letters and get them into envelopes.  We were basically done with the actual reading. These days, there is no lag time between the end of the review and the release.  When we're done, we can release.  We don't have to wait for letters to be printed.

Good luck, applicants! As always, I'm happy to answer questions in the comments.

Jack is all dressed up for deadline day!

Sending Resumes, Research, and Writing Supplements to #UVA

When you hit submit on your Common App, I think you should feel proud of yourself. You've done the bulk of your job related to the UVA application and now you have to wait for the rest of the pieces to fall into place*. Unfortunately, there are people who are trying to tell students that the Common App is the first of many things they have to send us. Below, I'll go over the things you may have been told to send us and why you don't have to worry about them. In a nutshell, colleges ask for what they need to complete their review. If the admission office didn't ask for it, you shouldn't worry about sending it.

Please don't spend your money on stuff like this.

1. Resumes

The Common App allows each college to turn the resume function of the app on or off. It is OFF for UVA. UVA does not accept resumes. The Common App presents information in a systematic format, which allows us to zero in on pertinent information quickly. You don't need to make more work for yourself. Follow our instructions and use the Common App to share information in a concise way.

2. Outside Recommendations

We require one recommendation from your counselor and one from a teacher of your choice. We are looking for insight into your style in the academic environment. People who have never taught you can't speak to your learning style or how you work in a classroom situation. Also, those people tend to think they need to summarize facts (hours worked, tasks performed). Repetitive information isn't helpful.

Some people want to send recs from faculty they met at conferences or special programs. Consider how long these people have known you. I recently saw a recommendation letter that started by saying the writer knew the students for nine days. Your teachers and counselors have a little more familiarity with you.

The required academic recommendations are perfect! Don't worry about sending extras!

3. Research Abstracts

It's great to tell us about research, but don't send us an abstract. A line or two summarizing what you did is great. A paper is over the top and not useful. In fact, if you send us a paper full of jargon, you're increasing the chances that the gist of the work won't be clear. I promise we will be impressed regardless!

4. Writing Portfolios

We get three pieces of polished writing in your application. The Common App has a long essay and the UVA screen/tab has two short-answer prompts. That's plenty of writing for us. We don't accept portfolios.

5. Copies of Certificates

You sign off on our Honor Code when you apply and promise that the information in your application is accurate. We don't need a copy of a certificate to believe that you are a member of a certain organization or received an award for something. Leave those papers in the baby book or that folder where you stick important stuff.

6. Newspaper Clippings or Pictures of You Doing Something

Anyone who was on the staff of a literary magazine, newspaper, or yearbook is proud of their work. It's best to keep copies for yourself and your family. The same goes with photos (even the adorable baby-on-the-UVA-Lawn photos). They belong in a safe place at home, not in a college application.




We try to make this clear on out website with a statement above our email addresses:

 Again, colleges ask for the things they need to make their decisions. If we don't ask for it, we don't want you to spend time (or money) on it. Further, to make this process fair, we are specific about what we review for each candidate. We accept the Common App and supplements that fit the criteria for arts and architecture supplements. That's it. So when you hit submit, it's time to move on to monitoring your status. You don't need to spend time and money crafting extra items to send us.

*Be sure to read the "After You Submit" part of our application instructions. We explain that it can take several weeks for all the components of your application to meet up in our system, so don't panic if there are items on your "to do" list initially.

Early Action vs Regular Decision at #UVA

I've been Northern Virginia and New Jersey for the last week, making high school visits and attending some evening fairs. With the Early Action deadline looming, many students are feeling pressure to get some college applications submitted. Early Action isn't always the best route, though. Let's talk about how to decide between Early Action and Regular Decision at UVA.

Keep in mind:

1. We have the same review process during Early Action (EA) and Regular Decision (RD).
2. Interest isn't a factor (this is non-binding EA, after all), so an early application is not seen as a statement about your intent to enroll at UVA.
3. The results of an early application could be admission, denial, or deferral.

Successful Early Action applicants usually have transcripts that show consistently strong work across the core subjects. My suggestion is to look at your final report card from 9th, 10th, and 11th grades side-by-side. If you can say that your program builds nicely and your grades are consistent, Early Action might make sense for you. Of course, having time to write well-crafted essays is a consideration and you have to have given your counselor/teacher plenty of time to write wonderful recommendation letters!

Regular decision would be best for a student who needs more time to complete a thoughtful application or for whom one fall semester grades would be very helpful. There are so many scenarios where RD makes more sense then EA - rebounding grades, school changes, and the list goes on.

Early Action = transcript shows 9th-11th grade work and senior courses
Regular Decision = transcript shows 9th-11th grade work and fall grades in senior courses

This is an area where there is definitely some conflicting advice. For UVA, you need to submit your application at a strong point.

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

Eager to start the reading season!

Does #UVA Look for Consistency in Extracurricular Activities?

One of my colleagues spoke with a parent the other day who mentioned that her child was reluctantly continuing with a particular activity because someone told him colleges want to see consistency in activities. I'd like to share my thoughts on extracurricular activities.

We want students who will contribute in our community during their time at UVA. There are many ways and venues in which to make a contribution - through work in the classroom, research, at a job, in student organizations (we call them CIOs here), in the residence hall, around Charlottesville, etc.  The simple question that is in the back of my mind as I read a student's file is "will this student contribute in some way?"

1.  We don't value certain activities over others.

There are over 900 student organizations at UVA. All of those CIOs make UVA the interesting, innovative, and fun place that it is. Whether you are involved in the most popular club at your school or the most obscure one, we'll be happy that you are making a difference in some facet of your school community.

2. We don't expect you to fill out the entire Common App activity chart.

Most students aren't significantly involved in enough activities to fill every line of the activity chart. This isn't about who has the longest list, it's about understanding where a student spends their time outside of the classroom. The length of your list is not a factor in our review.

3. You don't have to show consistency.

If you are one of the lucky students who found an activity you love early on and have maintained involvement in it throughout high school, that's wonderful! If your interests have evolved over time, you are totally normal! You're a teenager and you are allowed to change your mind about your activities. Please don't apologize if your activities haven't been long-term.

It's fine if your activity list shortens a little bit in junior and/or senior year. As academic responsibilities increase, it makes sense to reshuffle your priorities and let one or two activities fall by the wayside. If you don't have to do this in high school, you'll certainly have to do it in college. Most first-years sign up for a few too many CIOs and realize about a month into school that they have to cut back!



The tl;dr: If you have something to put down in the activity section, we'll be happy.

Jack's activity list: looking cute and greeting visitors

Picking a School and Academic Interest on the #UVA Application

Spending time in my Virginia territory always gives me a read on what the big concerns are for the year's applicants. I gave 21 presentations at Fairfax high schools last week and sat on a panel at one evening program. Far and away, the most common questions I heard were about picking a major.

Applicants to UVA can enter through one of four schools or one academic program. The options are:

College of Arts & Sciences
School of Engineering
School of Architecture
School of Nursing
Kinesiology

Students do not declare majors in Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and Architecture when they apply. The only students who are really entering directly into a program are the Nursing and Kinesiology students. Last year, there were 75 first years in Nursing and 49 in Kinesiology. In the class of 3,683 students, 3,559 have yet to declare a major.

Students in the College of Arts & Sciences declare majors by the end of their second year and students in Engineering and Architecture declare at the end of theor first year. Engineering and Architecture expose students to all of their options (10 majors in Engineering, 3 in Architecture) before they declare at the end of the first year. Once they arrive at UVA, students can also explore the Curry School of Education, McIntire School of Commerce, and Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

You aren't making a permanent decision with your choice of school and academic interest on the UVA application. Please don't stress out about this! Pick the area that feels like the right jumping off point in light of your current interests. Very few students actually have an academic plan right now and those who have plans probably won't follow them exactly!

Interests evolve...that's normal!

Standardized Test Advice for #UVA Applicants

The College Board tweeted that students can see the results of the August SAT test today. Score release days always result in questions from students and parents about how we process and use test scores, so let's go over those topics.

The Basics

1. Take the SAT or the ACT. We don't care which one you show us.
2. There are no cut-offs. The stats we put out are describing the class that enrolled. They aren't telling you admission requirements.
3. SAT IIs are totally optional. If you don't send them, you aren't penalized.
4. The last recommended test dates are the ones in October (Early Action) and December (Regular Decision).

Now, let me explain four things that come up a lot in comments and on phone calls with applicants.

1. How UVA Receives Your Scores

Like most colleges, UVA receive scores from the SAT and ACT agencies electronically. We do not "accept" the scores, our system files them automatically. At slow times, the reports come once each day, usually around 3 AM. Around deadline, the reports come more often. I get an email every time there's an electronic transfer, regardless of whether the delivery is of one person's scores or of a massive group of scores from a popular test date. I took this screen shot of the score notification emails a few years ago. You can see that we mostly get one or two drops per day at this time of year.

2. How UVA Reviews Scores

When we built our online reading system here at UVA, we taught the system to only show us the best section scores for each applicant. I don't see all the scores a student sent us when I open a file. The system picks the best score from each section of the SAT or ACT. We use sections in our review, so the system doesn't calculate a total score, it simply shows us the best section scores.

For the time being, we'll be suppressing the essay (SAT) and writing (ACT) scores when we review applications. This could change in the future. There are plenty of schools requiring these sections, so you will probably still want to take these optional sections.

3. The Timing of Score Reporting

Send your scores to the schools on your list at least two weeks before the application deadline. In general, it takes the testing agencies 1-2 weeks to send a score report to a college. It could take the college a few days to match your score to your file. It's totally fine to send score reports before you submit your application. Anything that arrives before your application is held in a miscellaneous file. All of the application components will meet up in the end. I usually post on the blog and twitter when we have finished matching up documents so applicants know their to-do lists in our records system is up to date.

Both the SAT and ACT will give you four free score reports to use when you take their exams. Use your free reports to send scores to UVA and any other school on your list that automatically pulls the best section scores. If you wait to see your scores before sending them to us, you'll lose your free reports.

SAT Score Report Fees ($43 for a rushed report!)

ACT Score Report Fees

4. Taking (or Sending) Scores After Deadlines

Back at the beginning of the post, I wrote that the last recommended test dates are the month before each deadline. That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to sit for an exam after the deadline, but there is a chance that we will have already started the review your file before those late scores arrive.

You should still send those scores. After all, our review takes several months. There's a chance that the scores will be seen at some point in the process.




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

Don't forget to order your scores well in advance of deadlines!

Admission Travel Season is Upon Us

Hello! I have to admit that I didn't intend to take such a long break from the blog, but August was a tough month for us here in Charlottesville. The energy of having all the students back on Grounds has been a great thing, but I only got to see a few days of them before going on the road.

My first week of travel was through New England with colleagues from Berkeley, Hopkins, and Emory. Group admission trips allow schools to share the cost of traveling and putting on programs and also helps us expose students to new schools. We hold information sessions for students and parents each evening and counselor breakfasts each morning on our trip and spend the hours between driving to our next stop. This year's New England trip took us to Burlington (Vermont), Boston, Providence, Springfield, and Stamford. If you want to see when we might be holding an evening program in your area, check out the "UVA Visits You" section of the Visit page on our website.

Our team fans out to visit schools and hold evening programs all over Virginia at this time of year. My second and third weeks of travel will be here in the Commonwealth, where I'll be visiting schools and going to college fairs, mostly in my Fairfax County territory. You may see UVA pop up on your College and Career Center's calendar soon! If you're on our mailing list, you'll get an email when we plan to be in your area.

My last week of travel will be in New Jersey. As a Garden State native, I'm excited to spend some time visiting schools or holding programs in Jersey, though it doesn't happen every year. Again, if you're on our mailing list, you'll get an email if I'll be in your area.


Travel season is tiring and being away from UVA is hard, but I really look forward to getting into my schools to talk to students about their interests, demystify the review process a bit, and maybe debunk a few rumors along the way.

All Jack needs for a week on the road is a Hoo Crew shirt and his toys!