<p>Hopefully, this article will bring up the hopes of OOS students; don't feel like getting into UVA is impossible:</p>
<p>Cavalier</a> Daily</p>
<p>Poor economy affects college admissions
Fewer out-of-state students expected to accept admissions offers from the University because of poor economy</p>
<p>Jane Ma, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Published: Thursday, March 12 2009</p>
<p>The current state of the economy is causing some colleges and universities to attempt formulating new ways to gauge whether high school student applicants will accept admissions offers. As a result, admissions rates are changing to compensate for students and their families potentially concerned about their financial futures.</p>
<p>All previous yield data is less reliable this year, University Admissions Dean Greg Roberts said. Were using our expertise and professional judgment to make what we hope are good strong estimated guesses as to how many offers to make.</p>
<p>Because of the economy, it is likely that fewer out-of-state students will accept admissions offers from the University, Roberts said.</p>
<p>We predict our yield will drop a little bit out-of-state because of the economy, he said. It is likely that more students will stay home and attend their own state institutions.</p>
<p>**Because of this, the University will make more offers to out-of-states students and less to in-state students, so as to keep class proportions the same.</p>
<p>We will continue to enroll the class thats with 67 percent in-state and 33 percent out-of-state thats our target, Roberts said. Now to achieve that, we may need to make fewer offers to Virginians since we anticipate that more Virginians will accept our offers due to the economy.**</p>
<p>Roberts also added that he expects the Universitys switch to the Common Application to affect the admissions return rate.</p>
<p>This is our first year with the Common Application and there is normally a two to three percent decrease in yield for schools moving to the Common Application, he said.</p>
<p>Many private institutions, meanwhile, also will increase admissions rates to compensate for the possibility of students declining offers. Marymount University will likely accept more applicants this year, Director of Undergraduate Admissions Mike Canfield said.</p>
<p>We might be looking into accepting three to five percent more [applicants], but were not looking into any broad changes, he said.</p>
<p>Canfield also added that Marymount has increased outreach to families to accommodate changes to their financial situations.</p>
<p>Were trying to make families aware about making sure they let us know if there are changes that arent reflected on their FAFSA, Canfield said. Ive talked to a number of families where a family member has lost a job ... [and] the FAFSA does not reflect their current reality.</p>
<p>Although some private institutions plan to offer more generous financial aid packages to appeal to students and their families, the University does not plan to follow suit, Roberts said.</p>
<p>We already have what we consider generous financial aid packages, he said. Were very sympathetic to families.</p>
<p>Many high school students take into account financial aid packages when deciding which higher education institution to attend. Jeffrey Hatakeba, a senior at Mountain View High School in Mountain View, Ca., said finances are an important factor in determining which school he will attend.</p>
<p>I applied for financial aid and the amount I receive will definitely affect which school I go to, he said.</p>
<p>Even so, Keith Roots, director of the Universitys College Guide Program, said finances are not the only aspect students will consider when choosing a college.</p>
<p>The financial aid thats available will certainly play a major role, but there are other factors students are looking at in addition to money like whether [the college is] a correct fit ... and whether its a place they can see themselves graduating from, Roots said. Financial aid is a huge piece of that equation but its not the only factor.</p>