<p>I went to Charlottesville on business and spent some of my free time walking around the UVA campus, and talking to some of the students in stores and restaurants where they worked. Everybody seems to love going here, so it is now on the list for my son, who is a rising sophomore at a top London (British) high school. I have two questions: 1) Is it hard for international students to adapt here, given that the undergrad attendance is 69% in-state? 2) Is the student body fairly homogenous, given that many of the students seem to look like upper-middle suburb kids from places like Bethesda,MD and Fairfax, VA? 3) My son is fairly introverted and does not make friends easily. Is it likely he will just find himself lost is such a big (14K) school where many of the kids have friends from their high schools joining with them? Thanks, Londondad</p>
<p>Sorry, one more question. I could not find on the website where the percentage of international students in listed. Does anyone know what it is?</p>
<p>I’m also from London and didn’t know a soul when I arrived at UVA, and I absolutely adore it. The fact is, for me (and your son) everyone is from “far away” since they’ve all grown up with a very different experience than we have, so the OOS/IS divide means very little to us. Also, bear in mind that while some students do come to UVA with other people from their graduating class, I’d say the vast majority make their own friends and their own way. There is some diversity at UVA but sadly I do think there is a fair amount of self-segregation. That said, there are always exceptions, and I have a somewhat diverse friendship group. I can understand why this would be a concern for you, though - when I arrived at UVA from my school, which was 70% Asian, I was surprised that there was only one black girl on my hall, and that some of my hall-mates had never heard of the countries of origin of my schoolmates. Coming from London that can be a shock, but I think UVA is a fantastic place and could be a great fit for your son.</p>
<p>My son plays for UVa’s Rugby Club, which includes a number of people from the UK.</p>
<p>UVa does publish info. on the numbers of international students by country of origin. As I remember, the largest numbers were from Asia - particularly China, South Korea, India, Singapore, etc.</p>
<p>There is an International Residential College, for people who choose it. However, for first year, I’d suggest being mixed into the general student population in the regular first year dorms. Most people connect with their initial group of friends in the first year dorms. The students are purposefully placed into the first year dorms at random, so you live with cross-section of students.</p>
<p>Many of the students listed as “Virginians” are actually from other countries and other states. The Washington DC is the fast-growing metro area in the eastern US, and people come from many places to live there. Many Indian-Americans for example live in Northern Virginia. The Tidewater Area and Northern Virginia also attract many families led by retired military, who come from other parts of the country.</p>
<p>The tuition costs and lack of financial aid for international students does limit the types of persons who can afford to attend from other countries.</p>
<p>“The tuition costs and lack of financial aid for international students does limit the types of persons who can afford to attend from other countries.”</p>
<p>^^^ this is a really good point. I am the only UK student in the class of 2014 who didn’t go to private school. Frankly, I have a huge amount more in common with most of the Americans than with any of the other Brits.</p>
<p>Dreaming92,</p>
<p>Did you receive much financial aid?</p>
<p>I imagine international students can apply for the highly competitive full ride Jefferson Scholarships. Other than that, I don’t believe UVa provides any direct financial aid to incoming international students. That means tuition of $40K to $45K a year plus $10K room and board. When Europeans compare that cost to the cost of the high quality European universities, it causes them to look elsewhere. </p>
<p>Only a relatively few US college and universities provide much aid to international students. </p>
<p>I imagine a number of international students are partly subsidized by their own governments, particularly for engineering and other technical fields.</p>
<p>Some international students may find it better to apply to UVa for grad school than undergrad. First, for liberal arts and sciences, UVa’s grad school tuition OOstate is much cheaper than for undergrad. Second, there are more ways to fund graduate education, including big tuition discounts in some majors, fellowships, teaching assistance-ships, research assistant-ships, etc. Third, it is at the grad level that you can find things to study at UVa than you couldn’t find at some overseas universities.</p>
<p>londondad:</p>
<p>not a penny. I’m actually a US citizen so I count as a domestic (albeit OOS) student for financial aid purposes. Luckily for me my parents have been saving my whole life for this, though! I’m very grateful, but I am disappointed by the (universal, not just UVA) fact that meeting full need doesn’t mean the ACTUAL need of the student, just the ‘demonstrated’ need.</p>
<p>There are actually three scholarship opportunities available to international students, including the prestigious Jefferson Scholars Foundation. For more information at the link, under Financial Aid and Scholarships for International Applicants, please see “Are Merit Scholarships Available?”</p>
<p><a href=“http://admission.virginia.edu/faq[/url]”>http://admission.virginia.edu/faq</a></p>
<p>Right, but those 3 are all INCREDIBLY competitive, and frankly if you’re a CLAS student who didn’t go to a UWC, the Jeff scholarship isn’t much to base your decision to apply to UVA on. 24ish people get it in a year. This year there are no Brits.</p>
<p>Yes, they are absolutely very competitive. I did want to point out that there are a couple of programs that do offer merit to international students. It’s not up to me to decide if the person asking (or the person who does a search on this topic 7mos from now) is a virtual admissions rock star. I’m just the messenger.</p>
<p>What is a “CLAS student who didn’t go to a UWC”?</p>
<p>Londondad: I’m a UVa alum and a parent of a current student, and I was wondering the same thing. CLAS is sometimes the UVa College of Arts of Sciences, but that acronym makes no sense, and it that doesn’t fit the context.</p>
<p>CLAS - College of Liberal Arts and Science. It’s a commonly used term in UVa-land. 
UWC - United World College. Although called a ‘college’ these are international schools and educate children ages 2-19.</p>
<p>Yes, sorry, blueiguana has it - of the three scholarships mentioned, one is for Engineers and the other is for those who went to a UWC. And is also right about the scholarships, of course, I was just making sure londondad didn’t get the wrong impression!</p>
<p>that’s strange - I just did a quick google search, and I couldn’t find anytime when the name “Liberal” was in the name of the College of Arts and Sciences</p>
<p>Dreaming 92 - Thanks. Two more questions: 1) what were your secondary school stats (GSCE/A Levels and SATs) and 2) why did you choose UVA?</p>
<p>If UVa would have added the word “liberal” to the College of Arts and Sciences, Cuccinelli would have issued a subpoena to find out who did it.</p>
<p>8 A<em>, 2 A at GCSE
A</em> A B (a) at A (and AS) level
2130 SAT</p>
<p>I chose UVA after visiting because I thought it was the most beautiful place I’d ever been. I wanted the real US campus experience, which UVA has, but I didn’t want to be too far from cities (DC isn’t far, and I’ve got family there). I just felt like everyone at UVA really loved it (and I still feel that way). It was just a feeling, though, really.</p>