<p>Honestly, how difficult is it to get in to UVA if you are a legacy applicant? I know everyone says it gets put in the in-state pile, so in essence, is it relatively easy to get into UVA if you are considered as this type of applicant? What kind of stats are needed? Thanks</p>
<p><a href=“Notes from Peabody: The UVA Application Process: Unofficial 2013-2014 Admission Statistics”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2014/03/unofficial-2013-2014-admission.html</a>
Taking this at face value, 43% to 23%. I read somewhere legacies were ~50% admission rate but I can’t find a source.
You still need stellar stats.</p>
<p>The vast majority of legacy applicants are not admitted. I personally know many legacies whose kids were not admitted.</p>
<p>How can it possibly be a vast majority? Maybe a bit of an availability heuristic there Charlie, seeing as you referred to those you personally know. Any other thoughts on this? </p>
<p>The legacy policy at most schools is that it tips the scales in favor of admission only if it’s a close call. Meaning, if the applicant has the stats and good essays, they would be picked over other applicants who also had good stats and essays but no legacy.I don’t believe your description that if you’re OOS and legacy they automatically put your app into the in-state pile is correct. It’s more like if you’re OOS and legacy then you have a slight advantage over those who are OOS and not legacy. Your app must still meet the OOS standards for admission. That being the case, I can see how Charliesch can state that “[t]he vast majority of legacy applicants are not admitted.” The standard to be admitted as an OOS student is quite high. </p>
<p>"…so in essence, is it relatively easy to get into UVA if you are considered as this type of applicant?"</p>
<p>Everyone has tried to give you a nice answer to this. Bottom line, the answer to your question is: No. There are very very few hooks that would make UVA “relatively easy to get into” (and if you had one of those hooks, it doesn’t mean that it was “easy” to get into either). Just being an OOS legacy is definitely not one of those hooks. Can it make a difference, all other things being equal? Possibly. Does it make a difference in all cases, or outweigh other qualifications? No. If you are a typical OOS applicant and you don’t have stellar academics, great ECs and solid essays and recommendations, legacy status doesn’t change those things. To put it in perspective, there were 31,000 applicants this year and 8900 offers made. That means 22,000 (71%) qualified applicants didn’t get in. Legacy status won’t jump you ahead of all of them.</p>
<p>I would add that the biggest advantage to being a legacy applicant (IS or OOS) is access to the Legacy Admission program offered by the Alumni Association. Attending this one day workshop will give you some good insight into the admissions process at UVa and the Alumni Assoc. reps on site who run the program will give you some pretty frank advice about your chances of admission. I recall one piece of advice (would only apply to RD applicants)…time your application to arrive around December 1st so it gets a first read in the weeks leading up to Christmas break. Like the rest of us, admissions officers are likely to be in a festive (i.e. positive) mood during those weeks. On the other hand, a file read on January 4th may not receive the same festive edge. This seemed to make sense to me.</p>
<p>That timing comment was definitely a joke. There is no “festive” edge. Sorry.</p>
<p>We don’t even really get to celebrate the holidays. With 31,000 files, we’re reading every day from the time we get home from Fall travel to the end of the transfer process. </p>
<p>^^^^^^ It worked for both of my kids…just a coincidence I guess 
</p>
<p>I still highly recommend the Legacy Workshop. Best to go during your junior year so you still have time to act on any advice they give you about your schedule, activities, etc.</p>
<p>A bit late but thank you for your input!</p>
<p>I don’t think it is “relatively easy” to get into UVA as an in-state student. So if legacies do get treated the same as if they were in-staters (and I’m not quite sure that is the case), it isn’t a lay-up. One of my legacy kids got in, and one did not. If my third kid does not get in in a couple of years, then vast majority of legacy applicants in my house will not have gotten in.</p>
<p>+1 on the Alumni Asso’s legacy admissions counselling program. Very helpful in giving your HS soph or junior a read on whether they are in the game or not. </p>
<p>There are different types of legacy.
Type 1: There is a building on campus named after your grandfather and your dad is an IB and offers internships and jobs to UVA students.
Type 2: Your parents give a little money each year and attend some alumni functions and/or athletic games.
Type 3: Your parents are not involved with donations or any UVA activities.</p>
<p>Bud: UVa admissions staff insist that they don’t have access to information on donations by parents. I know of one alum who was a large and consistent donor to UVa who had a highly qualified son who was not admitted.</p>
<p>Of course, if you paid for a large new building or you are the Governor, exceptions can be made. </p>
<p>There are OTHER colleges and universities where they do track donations by alumni parents of applicants. A parent who has not regularly donated may not get admissions preference at that college for their son or daughter. In that OTHER case, it would be a good idea for parents to make multiple donations of at least token size before their son or daughter applies. </p>
<p>By the way, US News gives points in their ratings for the percent of alum who contribute. This factor hurts public universities because too many alums don’t feel a need to donate if they are paying tax money towards the college. If every alum would make at least a token donation each year, it would help UVa both financially and in the ratings. </p>
<p>At UVA, the legacy gig isn’t really about Tudor Jones level donations. The legacy preference at UVA is much more about attracting well credentialed students who will (i) accept admissions offers and (ii) pay the much higher out-of-state tuition with little or no financial aid. Remember, unlike fancy private schools that give legacy preferences, at UVA the legacy preference ONLY goes to out-of-staters. In-state students (legacy or not) all get considered for admission as in-staters. </p>
<p>Non-legacy out-of-state kids have a sub-20% acceptance rate overall. A lot of them would therefore also be getting into a lot of other very selective schools with similar prices to UVA (or maybe less after merit aid). So the acceptance yield on those offers is way lower than what you get for in-staters. </p>
<p>A legacy OOS kid, in contrast, gets a bit of an admissions boost. So UVA might more likely be the most selective school they get into. So they’d be more likely to accept. Also might be more likely to accept because of the family ties. As an overall demographic, children of UVA alumni are going to be (on average) more prosperous than many other admissions demographics. Just sorting for the demographic where one parent is a college graduate (of any college) gets you more financial wherewithall.</p>
<p>Most legacy parents would send way more dollars to UVA in 4 years tuition than they ever would over a lifetime of alumni contributions. </p>
<p>Northwesty brings up an interesting point. Does UVA view OOS legacy as well funded, high yield students willing to pay 3 times the in state tuition?<br>
Certainly there are many ways any “need blind” university can improve its vision…SAT scores, EC’s, private and magnet HS, international students, zip code, summer enrichment programs, etc…
I suspect UVA’s percentage of students receiving need based aid at only 34% makes other public and private U’s green with envy. </p>
<p>It has been said that a disproportionate percentage of the most loyal and regular donors to UVa are out of state alums. Too many Virginians in the past have thought that they didn’t need to donate because they paid Va. taxes. </p>
<p>UVa administrators recently said that the tuition from full pay out of state students and international students pays for the AccessUVa aid for the out of state students who cannot pay full price. </p>
<p>In any case, UVa doesn’t target US applicants based upon their wealth. </p>
<p>There are OTHER universities that use consultants and sophisticated computer models to target full pay students, including emphasizing recruiting at expensive private schools and in high income zip codes.</p>
<p>The international students are major “profit centers” at many colleges. Many other colleges will not even offer them admission unless they can prove they have the financial resources to pay for 4 years without any college aid.</p>
<p>Charlie – UVA provides admissions help to OOS legacy applicants. What do you think the SES demographics are for children of UVA grads? Just average? Or maybe a good bit above average? Come on. UVA is giving an admissions break (i.e. targeting) a pool of applicants that, on average, is going to be much more likely to be full payors. The legacy status IS the targeting!! If it was all about family traditions and donations, how come UVA gives no boost to all those donor legacy kids who are in-staters? </p>
Thought I’d post an update. I ended up getting into UVa, along with Cornell, Berkeley, and a few other comparable schools. Wasn’t really a hard decision for me personally - I’ll be going to Charlottesville in the fall!