Does UVa look at the student as a full package or at numbers?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Virginia
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<p>I dont mean my question to put UVa in a bad light, but it seems that there are so many applicants to the university that admissions officers would have a hard time evaluating students on a personal level. Other aspects of the process such as the elimination of the early decision program, the fact that the school does not offer interviews, and that recommendations are not required tells me that they base admissions largely on a student's GPA and SAT scores. </p>

<p>I am an OOS female student (NJ) and have applied for fall 2008 admission to the engineering college. I have a GREAT recommendation from the president of a company that I had a summer internship with. How much will this recommendation affect my chance of being accepted? Will the admissions officers base their decision solely on my GPA/SATs?</p>

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<p>We read everything in the application folder. There are no thresholds that must be reached when it comes to GPA, testing, or program to get an application to be read. Every decision needs to be justified with written notes on the various components of the application.</p>

<p>The elimination of ED was to put all students on equal footing, regardless of financial status. The lack of interviews is due to the relatively small size of our staff, it’s not a message. Instead, we meet returning tours as a staff to answer personal questions that students didn’t want to ask in the information session. We also have a “Dean of the Day” who answers questions by phone and we have me, logging quite a bit of time on here, [my</a> blog](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/]my”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/), and on IM (UVaDeanJ) to answer questions online. :slight_smile: Students are required to submit one letter of recommendation, but extras are welcome.</p>

<p>As for that recommendation, the position of the writer doesn’t matter as much as the content of the letter. I hate to say it, but people in the business world tend to write business reference letters, which often stick to the facts.</p>

<p>Do some searching on my blog and on this site and you’ll come across a lot of information about how we read and how we aren’t purely numbers based.</p>

<p>Good luck! Just a few more weeks to go…</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot for your prompt reply to my post! It really put me at ease as far as the whole admissions process goes.</p>

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<p>Does UVA send out the notification through regular mail only? Or do you post the admission decisions online also?</p>

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<p>archrival - if you applied online it will show up there if you didn’t you’ll have to wait for the letter.</p>

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<p>Notification is made online and by mail. Check [the</a> blog](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/]the”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/) for the actual date when it’s closer to decision time (end of March).</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>