My parents are UVA alums, but I’m not from VA. I’ve heard that even though I’m not a resident, I still get put in the “in-state” pile for admissions. Is that true? If so, what (if any) advantage does that give me in the admissions process?
Yes, it is true. An OOS legacy applicant will be evaluated within the in-state pool for admissions purposes. This can provide a substantial boost to your odds of admission since UVA takes about two thirds of its applicants from the in-state pool.
You should consider checking out the UVA Legacy Liason program at the links below. It might be too late for a meeting with the Liason Office if you are in your senior year, but the webinar is worth thirty minutes of your time.
http://alumni.virginia.edu/admission/
http://alumni.virginia.edu/admission/admission-liaison-program/legacy-services/
http://research.schev.edu/enrollment/b12_report.asp
Admissions stats for IS vs OOS.
OOS legacy students are in these stats as non-residents.
OOS legacy kids who enroll count in the 1/3 of the class that’s allowed to be non-resident. I don’t know how much, but a good chunk of the OOS students are legacies.
The net effect is that the stats/standards for unhooked OOS non-legacies are very high. Stats/standards for IS and OOS legacies are still high, but not quite as high.
Don’t assume that “in state” pool for admissions translates to “in state” cost for tuition.
Last official word was that OOS legatee applications would continue to be evaluated on basically the same standards as IS applicants, for admissions purposes. This is not quite the same as “within the in-state pool,” it’s more like “comparably to the IS pool.” Note that this does NOT relate to establishing IS residency for any purpose, especially tuition! It is also a policy set by admissions, not a University policy or state law or anything binding like that.
That being said, you should definitely indicate this on your application. It is a huge advantage. For 2015, 44.3% of IS applicants were offered admission, compared to 23.7% of OOS applicants.
http://avillage.web.virginia.edu/iaas/instreports/studat/hist/admission/first_by_residency.htm