<p>Many small U's and LACs like prospective students to show interest in their school. Things like making a visit, doing an interview, participating in online chats, etc., are important. Is that the case for UVa? </p>
<p>On the one hand, it's a state school with tens of thousands of apps. It must be mostly stats driven, right? How could they possibly track interest to the same degree as smaller schools? </p>
<p>OTOH, it's one of (if not THE) best public U in the country. They have the perogotive put applicants through as many hoops as they want. </p>
<p>So, to what degree does UVa track an applicant's interest?</p>
<p>When I applied I felt like UVa was really reaching out to ME. They had an alumnus call to congratulate me, and they set up a really cool admitted students day. I hadn’t participated in online chats or made a formal visit before applying (though I had been in the area).
I think the most important way to show interest is to write unique and meaningful essays. Let them know you aren’t submitting the same essays to every school by sticking to the prompt and writing something other than “it’s a good school” when they ask WHY you are applying.
But really, the bigger question is - if you aren’t interested, why apply?</p>
<p>Oh, Son is interested. He just won’t have an opportunity to visit, interview, etc., before submitting an app. My OP was just wondering out loud if that would hurt his chances.</p>
<p>UVa has a great admissions blog that will give you a great deal of information- it’s [Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process](<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com%5DNotes”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com). As guillame stated, they do not track interest and they also don’t interview. My D will start there in the fall.</p>
<p>Your Son will be just fine.
I don’t know the situation, but I think its strange that so many parents are online here. College is about independence and growth. I keep my mom out of my academic life as much as possible, because I want to be independently responsible. The only part she played in my college application process was in handing over the credit card. I know that you and other parents worry about your kids but They Will Be Fine. And so will you. Good luck!</p>
<p>The above poster is correct that UVA does not track interest, but unlike many other large universities they actually do a pretty good job of admitting students holistically (they actually require to write several essays I believe and these are very important). In that sense, they are similar to smaller LAC’s.</p>
<p>I agree that UVA admissions is amazing in terms of its ability to carefully review applications and essays matter. Both of my sons used the opportunity in their essays to reflect on their experiences on grounds…one managed to attend two classes, but both projected specific programs they would like to be involved in on campus that indicated both research online and discussions with current students and alum. </p>
<p>they don’t penalize students who can’t come to campus to attend courses, nor did they track my son’s class attendance as a HS senior…they give out lists of classes you may visit and it is up to you to email profs to alert them to your visit. No one in the Admissions Center will be tracking your time on campus…in this way it is a public school…but you are free to comment on something you gleaned from your tour ect.</p>
<p>also…read the Cavalier. it is an outstanding college paper and should get you thinking about your future life at UVA. If UVA is in your top five, I recommend reading the Cavalier all the time as you become more familiar with life in Charlottesville. Your essays will show what you understand.</p>
<p>As others have stated, UVa does not track your info or how many times you call into the admissions office. </p>
<p>If you are unable to visit, etc. but have questions, this is a great place to ask them. Also, there are online chats for prospective students during the year, so be on the lookout for those. Pratik (the one who’s been spamming the UVa threads) actually ran those this year; he may be doing it again this upcoming year. If I get wind of those chat dates, I’ll post them. dougbetsy, we don’t interview so no worries. :)</p>
<p>If you want to at least get a sense of grounds, then check out the UVa maps: [U.Va</a>. Map : WebMap](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/]U.Va”>http://www.virginia.edu/webmap/) On some places on the map, there’s a “VR”. Click it, and it’s like standing in one place and looking around.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks Db and yes we do have chats during the year and I will be in charge of those. Between now and then, we as summer guides have created a student blog to complement Dean J’s admissions blog to show more of a student perspective (uncensored) so check it out and comment! [Hoo</a> Stories: A UVa Student Blog | Providing a student perspective and face to UVa as you go through the application process](<a href=“http://hoostories.blogspot.com/]Hoo”>http://hoostories.blogspot.com/)</p>
<p>It is interesting to read about what UVA values in the admissions process. I recently saw the naviance scattergrams for UVA applicants from a couple of VA high schools. Specifically, the scattergram had SAT (M+V) on the horizontal axis and GPA (weighted) on the vertical axis. If you drew a line to divide the acceptances from the denials, at both schools it would be essentially a horizontal line at a GPA of 4.0. A few applicants above 4.0 were denied and some below were accepted, but the pattern was rather robust. A naive reading would suggest that GPA is all that matters. Of course, essays and ECs might explain the few below 4.0 who got in or the few above who were denied. Moreover, a student with a low SAT score might apply only if she had good essays and ECs. So, the data should be taken with a grain of salt, but the pattern from these two schools was striking.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to agree with the post above me. I was denied from UVA and did all that I could to show my interest- visited campus, participated in chats- but none of that made a difference. I put so much effort into writing exceptional essays. One of my peers happened to write about the same topic as I did for a UVA essay (we had a similar experience through one of our EC organizations) and to be honest, theirs was not half as good as mine. But I don’t think that even mattered.</p>
<p>If you’re from around here, admission to UVA is not guaranteed unless you have a 4.0 and a 2100+ SAT, with the exception of certain minorities and athletes. Nobody likes to hear that, but from what I’ve observed, it’s true.</p>
<p>You are right DR. In spite of all UVA’s talk about looking at an app “wholistically”, numbers are what counts unless there is something in your EC completely out of the ordinary. Essays won’t do a thing for you if you don’t have the minimum numbers: 4.0, top 10% and at least a 2100 SAT.</p>
<p>The number one thing that the Admissions Office is looking at is your high school coursework. They want you to take the hardest classes available at your school and to do well in them. As for GPA’s, it just happens that most people that are doing the above have solid GPA’s and with weighted and unweighted, it looks like everyone has 4.0’s which is definitely not the case. SAT’s matter when you aren’t the “top” of the class so they can stand to “legitimize” you among your classmates and show that you aren’t dumb…other people are just smarter. All that other stuff matters alot when people start looking the same with GPA’s, ranks, and SAT’s. However, nothing ever gets looked over, it is holistic.</p>
<p>P.S. This is just my take on what goes on from hearing our deans’ information sessions and reading the literature.</p>
<p>I agree with DR and guilluame- from what I saw this year in our local VA high school- the top 10% got in. Those below top 10% who got in were professor’s children, athletes or URM, one of whom was in top 30%, (being a legacy had no impact ). This year was definitely a numbers game more so than in past years. Class rank was the cut off at our school. I personally think the “holistic” approach they sell you on tours or UVA’s stated emphasis on essays is only a consideration once you break the SAT, GPA or class rank benchmarks in the first place.</p>
<p>We don’t have time to wait for all applications from a school to arrive before we start reading, so there’s no way for us to have a “cut off” at a school. Applications are read randomly, in the order in which they arrive.</p>
Also, there are online chats for prospective students during the year, so be on the lookout for those. Pratik (the one who’s been spamming the UVa threads) actually ran those this year; he may be doing it again this upcoming year. If I get wind of those chat dates, I’ll post them. dougbetsy, we don’t interview so no worries. :)</p>