Admission FAQs

Straight Talk: Demystifying the admission process

The best choices are made with accurate information. Sometimes, however, prospective students have misconceptions that cloud the process of applying for admission to the University. The Alumni Association's Admission Liaison Program, in conjunction with the Office of Admission, begins a series this issue to address questions and dispel myths so that students and parents will have "just the facts" about the University.

  • How does the University regard transfer students, particularly those from community colleges?

    • Each year, the Office of Admission enrolls about 560 transfer students—students who have been enrolled at another college or university for at least one year.

    "Some students have spent one year at their previous school, some have spent two," says Olivia Hessing, admission counselor.

    The University has some restrictions about transfers, such as not allowing students in their first year at another college to transfer into U.Va. during the spring semester. Students who have completed at least a full year elsewhere, however, have transfer opportunities in certain programs, and fall transfers are open to six schools within the University.

    Regarding the Virginia College Community System (VCCS), University officials value the diverse backgrounds of those students.

    "There are many different interesting life experiences, from the Army vet who recently returned from two tours in Iraq to the mother of four who is going back to school after 30 years," says Greg Roberts, associate dean of admission.

    "VCCS students are strong and become strong U.Va. students, just as any four-year student would," says Hessing.

    The University developed a guaranteed admission agreement between the VCCS and the College of Arts & Sciences in 2006, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science followed suit this year. Students must meet certain criteria to qualify.

  • Do U.Va. admission deans evaluate applicants by region or high school?

    • The answer, simply, is "no." There are no targets or quotas associated with any region of the state or country, nor with any one high school, says John A. Blackburn, dean of admission.

    "Each applicant is read individually," he says. "We are fortunate. We're a public university, but we're unique in that we see interest from students across the state, the country and the world, so the geographic cross-section of students in the incoming class occurs without our needing to set quotas."

    Family members sometimes worry that an unusually large number of students applying to U.Va. from their child's high school could limit their child's chances of attending the University.

    "This is not true. Their child will be evaluated based on his or her record only," Blackburn says. "When we evaluate an application, we do so without knowing how many other students have applied from that student's high school or region."

    For the record, this year's entering class includes students from 69 countries and 42 states. About 60 percent of applicants are from out of state; at least 67 percent of the entering class must be Virginia residents.

  • Will admission be more competitive now that U.Va. has decided to drop the Early Decision program?

    • "That is unlikely to be the case," says John A. Blackburn, dean of admission.

    The ED program was discontinued because few students with financial need applied for it. In some years, as much as 35 percent of a class would be filled through early decisions, but only one or two low-income students would be in the group.

    "Our decision to change the process opens up all 3,170 first-year places to all candidates," Blackburn says.

    All students accepted in the ED program planned to attend the University. Now, to fill the first-year class, there will be more offers because some applicants will decide to enroll elsewhere.

    "Because of the quality and depth of our applicant pool, however, we are confident that there will not be any change in the credentials of the students we accept," Blackburn says.

    In the past, some students accepted in the ED program let their grades slide, resulting in their admission being canceled. "We are far less likely to see this among regular decision applicants," Blackburn says, "because one of the credentials we always have is the first-semester grade report.

    "It will be interesting to see if dropping ED leads to fewer cancellations this summer."