<p>Don't take my words as an offense. I personally consider UVA to be one of the premier institutions in the USA. I might be wrong about Minnesota. But the truth is that UVA really is not as highly regarded as some of the other universities of similar US News rank (Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, Gerogetown to name a few), at least in my country. And I guess this is simply due to the rather smaller number of UVA alums represented in my country. So I just wish to know what its reputation is like in the U.S., and what it is known for. That's it, no offense.</p>