!@#$%: Prospective Students: Read Me

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Virginia
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<p>Okay, so, I feel like I keep repeating myself when giving college advice, so I’m going to put it all down here in one area. </p>

<p>note: these aren't in order of importance.</p>

<p>First, some facts about UVa.
[ul]
1. There is no ED/EA. If you don’t know the difference between the two, look it up.
2. UVa stands for the University of Virginia. not the university of vermont.
3. There is no premed/prelaw/preprofessional major.
4. You DO NOT apply to the School of Commerce as an incoming first year. If you try to check this on your first year application, then it will automatically put you in CLAS. Don’t freak out.
5. If you have a question that pertains specifically to you (meaning, the answer would depend upon your situation) then call the necessary office at the school. I can’t tell you about your financial aid package. Don’t post it on CC thinking we would know (or call for you.)
6. We here at CC: UVa Edition, really do enjoy your questions/comments. But we enjoy them much more when the answer is NOT a simple Google search.
7. Notes</a> from Peabody: The UVA Application Process Read it. Enjoy it. But don’t expect Dean J to chance you. She won’t do it there, and she most certainly won’t do it here. She contributes her vast knowledge in other ways by giving info on local food places, answering questions that are related to admissions where the answer is a fact, and giving her opinion on things happening on UVa grounds. She’s really nice. But if she sees any more questions about likely letters, I think her head may implode. (if you don’t know what they are, check this website: [Google[/url</a>] or better yet, look at the admissions blog)
[/ul]</p>

<p>Now some general things.
[ul]
1. CLAS=college of arts and sciences. SEAS= school of engineering and applied science.
2. The best thing to make your life less stressful, is to research EVERYTHING you can about the schools your applying to. Make an informed decision.
3. When we give you advice, we don’t do it with a malicious intent; we don’t know you. So, if we are harsh, then it’s for your own good. Take it or leave it.
4. Don’t be intimidated by the college admissions process or colleges or any other idea for that matter. Stick to what you know and you’ll be fine. The more you believe the hype, the more stressed you will be.
5. Remember to keep things in perspective.
6. TALK TO YOUR PARENTS/FAMILY. They live in the same house. They shouldn’t have to adjust their moods based on your Godzilla like mood swings. And remember that your parents paid for the house. So telling them to leave your room means nothing because it’s actually theirs unless you are paying rent. They shouldn’t have to avoid you like the plague. So be amiable.
7. On the talking note, keep open lines of communication with your parents. See how much they would be willing to pay for your education and what their preferences are in terms of a college. You don’t have to take their suggestions, but they’ll feel pretty good that you asked them.
8. You’ll be spending the next four years of your life at the college you pick. So, don’t pick something solely on academics. Look into things like social life, student organizations, surrounding area, etc. On the flipside, keep academics in mind.
9. Figure out the best way for you to learn NOW. Otherwise you’ll waste all of first semester trying to figure it out. If making flash cards or singing a song works, find out before you go to college.
10. Don't base your admissions decision/chances based upon one person. There's a good chance that person has a different situation than you and it changes the dynamics/chances of each application.
11. Don't compare yourself with others on CC. People on CC really don't represent the norm.
12. GET SOME SLEEP. wasting your sleep to "perfect" your essay will end up with you on Facebook all night and wasting a good few hours of rest. Sleep is extremely important. Don't take it for granted. And if you really want to perfect that essay, get some sleep and do it on the weekend or when you have time.
13. Unless you know for a fact that you want to go to X school and you've talked it over with the parties involved (parents) and there's no chance in hell you would go to Z, A, B and Y school if you got in, then apply Early Decision. But if you have some doubts, DON'T. Save yourself the agony and let someone who really wants to get in take that spot.
14. DO NOT BOMBARD ADMISSIONS WITH STUPID QUESTIONS. contrary to popular belief, there are stupid questions. stupid questions would be like, how many recommendations should I send? Should I send Ms. Jenkins or Mr. Bonkins? Should I do [insert something that can be answered with a Google search.] Really, if colleges keep a tally of when you called their admissions office, I would mark you down because of your idiocy. If it's a real question that might affect your application/admissions decision, THEN call. During a time not too long ago, people used to put together an application, send it in the mail, and then wait for a few months for their decision. They didn't have an "application tracking" website to stalk.
15. Don't stalk the admissions officer for your area. It would stink if they had a restraining order against you.
16. If your application asks for X amount of things (like 2 recommendations), then send the X amount. If you have the option of sending something else and you feel like it would add to your application, then do it. Don't send excessive amounts of things that, in essence, repeat the same thing again and again. Use every part of your application to show a different part/side of you.
[/ul]</p>

<p>I'll have more for you later. Essays are a completely different ballgame, so expect a post on that soon. Others, please post and add your words of wisdom. (But don't rant on things completely unnecessary or that don't pertain to the topic. and don't put minute details that just make the post longer and will elicit a hostile response from others....you know who you are.)</p>

<p>and essays: I am brutal with essays. Really, when reading them, your feelings don't matter to me. So if I compare your ability to write an essay to that of a sloth and swimming, don't take it personally. I do it to fuel your growth. and since half of you seniors will be stalking this website for months to come, here's a preview:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/488463-so-what-essays-did-you-write.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/488463-so-what-essays-did-you-write.html](&lt;a href="http://www.google.com%5DGoogle%5B/url"&gt;http://www.google.com)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Prospectives: good luck. And when you go about your college related activities, remember that you are prospective students. So keep things in perspective. Happy hunting.</p>

<p>P.S. I did not put the !@#$% to censor myself. I put it there so you'll take notice.</p>

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<p>11 cont. We're not as mean in real life as we come across online.</p>

<p>P.S. great thread db!</p>

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<p>BUMP</p>

<p>BUMP BUMP! i think we really need to keep this on the first page</p>

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<p>haha sorry guys been busy. I have a lot more advice when I'm annoyed so let me go through the chances threads quickly.</p>

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<p>Stellar post db!</p>

<p>I especially liked #6 under "Some General Things." :)</p>

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<p>ah. so standardized tests. let's talk.</p>

<p>THERE IS NO MAGIC NUMBER</p>

<p>Even if you get a 2300 on your SAT, you can still get rejected. The SATs at UVa are a part of the application but they are, by no means, the most important. At UVa, they prefer that you have a strong transcript (meaning you took the hardest classes and excelled/did well in them.) over strong SAT scores. Strong SAT scores are great, but if you have a weak transcript and strong scores, what does it say about you? That you're a great test taker but aren't really motivated to take that more challenging class? The admissions office is looking for people who are prepared for the academic rigors of college; your transcript is the best indicator of that, not your SAT score. To keep things in perspective, admissions officers usually look at your transcript and your SAT scores and if there are vast discrepancies, they might look into it. If not, they'll nod and keep going. (Yes, your 4 hours SAT experience accumulated into a nod.) They will also spend more time looking at your transcript and looking at the various classes you’ve taken, and the grades you’ve gotten.</p>

<p>Now, having said that, the SAT is still important. Don't blow it off. If you think you have everything (or you think you're on the edge and really just need that extra UMPH! then do all you can to raise your score. The SATs will really make a difference if you’re teetering on the edge and need a little extra to convince the admissions officers.) Also, there’s something called the ACT. It’s similar to the SAT in that the SAT and ACT are: (1) standardized tests and (2) colleges will let you submit either the SAT, ACT, or both. However, the format and focus of the SAT/ACT are quite different. The SAT is a reasoning test; it tries to measure your problem solving skills so it’s not testing you on things you actually learned in high school. It’s a REASONING test that lets you demonstrate your problem solving skills without worrying about how your school taught. The ACT on the other hand, is based on what you know/learned in high school. Some students struggle with the SAT but then they take the ACT and they think it’s a piece of cake. If you can afford to try both tests, then try both. If you’ve had a rigorous curriculum in high school, then I would definitely recommend taking the ACT..</p>

<p>ACT</a>, Inc. : A Student Site for ACT Test Takers</p>

<p>Going back to the idea of a magic number, there is no magic number for anything. There’s no magic score. Each application is different and has it’s own flavors. So trying to compare your SAT scores with someone else to determine if UVa is a “fit” school is pointless. Go/apply to a school based on your preferences for a college, not just your SAT scores.</p>

<p>so yes. that's SAT scores. unless you're 700+ for SAT, we're going to suggest you try to take them again. so don't keep asking, "By how much should I raise my SAT scores?" Raise them as much as you can.</p>

<p>so, what should you take away from this?
[ul]1. admissions is looking for people who are prepared for a rigorous academic experience. They don't want waffles.
2. SAT/ACT scores are semi-important, but not THE deciding factor. However, you still need to make sure you score high, because they can help you when your on the edge. And you never know when you're on the edge.
3. There's something called the ACT. [/ul]</p>

<p>P.S. NO I WILL NOT READ YOUR ESSAYS. STOP SENDING THEM TO ME.</p>

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<p>for those of you who are like E-F-F AP EXAMS I HATE YOU!, here's something you might want to keep in mind when taking them.</p>

<p>Advanced</a> Placement (AP) Exam Credit — Undergraduate, College of Arts & Sciences, U.Va.</p>

<p>You get credit for AP classes and the amount of credit for some AP tests is quite surprising (AP US History is 8 credits). I printed a sheet out will the highest grades necessary to get credit at all the places I applied. For example, UVa takes a 4 or 5 for AP Pysch but I wrote down that I needed a 5 to get credit because at some of the other schools I was applying, they only gave credit for 5s on the test. List the highest, so that way you can try to get as much credit as possible, regardless of what school you go to.</p>

<p>did I mention sleep was important??</p>

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<p>So, now that Dean J has started to revive this question and answer session, she’s going to get a lot of repeat questions because everyone thinks they have a new and original question and won’t go back to check if there’s an answer somewhere. So, here are the big points that Dean J said.</p>

<p>
[quote]
There's no 100% "auto-admits" for first years.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
Every decision has to have written justification.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>so no, you can’t just say that you the admissions officer really hated you.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Every applicant is reviewed in context, so we'll interpret your transcript with your school's profile (an official publication sent by each counselor) and recommendation in mind.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This is a big one that keeps coming up. IN CONTEXT. If you post your stats and some story about how your dog died and your sophomore year grades plummeted, and say will I be able to get in? Dean J will say that each application will be reviewed in context.</p>

<p>
[quote]
We don't calculate average GPAs at all. The scales used by all the schools are there are too different. A 3.9 means very different things at different schools.</p>

<p>As for the difference in testing between offered and enrolled students, we don't calculate that. I haven't seen a VA/OOS break down for SAT (not saying Institutional Assessment doesn't do it, I just haven't seen it published anywhere).</p>

<p>John, we aren't as interested in ACT/SAT as you seem to think we are. Testing is important, but there's a lot of substantive information to consider in the application folder.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Just a hint:
Do not ask her questions that can be answered with Google. She’s a busy woman and doesn’t have time for that foof.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
wasting your sleep to "perfect" your essay will end up with you on Facebook all night and wasting a good few hours of rest.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ah, yes. </p>

<p>Well, I find that working on essays (in first-year equivalents, lab reports and problem sets) with others immediately spikes your productivity because you don't want to waste the other person's time.</p>

<p>Unless you strike on some point of gossip and then you both facebook together.</p>

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<p>My study buddies and I talk about keg kills and food and our depressing major and girls (it's what I get for working with dudes). Maybe that's why we spent 8pm to 4am in Thornton stacks Monday, and 7pm-12am on Tuesday. Awesome.</p>

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<p>Late nights in the physics library always seem to turn into someone doing ridiculous impressions of our crazy foreign teachers (and the crazier american ones) and discussions how much this semester is making us hate physics when we all used to love it.</p>

<p>Did I mention I actually have to try this semester? I wasn't actually expecting to have to do work for CS205 and my other physics classes are SO MUCH WORRRKK. No more 3 hours of guitar hero and halo a day for me...</p>

<p>also this thread is win.</p>

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<p>


</p>

<p>I used this magic thing called a fee waiver. ;) </p>

<p>That might work for those students facing financial hardship. Also, if you can demonstrate hardship to your GC, even if you didn't make the income cutoff, you might get the fee waiver code anyway.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>Per day ?? You mean those quantum physics courses you took last year allowed you to do that?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Others, please post and add your words of wisdom. (But don't rant on things completely unnecessary or that don't pertain to the topic. and don't put minute details that just make the post longer and will elicit a hostile response from others....you know who you are.)

[/quote]

...</p>

<p>galoisien, I would prefer if you would stay out of this thread. Nothing personal. You just can't follow directions. I put a whole paragraph specifically for you and you missed it completely. And because of something random you post, everyone posts something random too. So, please, if you have GOOD advice, say it. Otherwise, don't. This thread is for PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS. I was referring to COLLEGE admissions essays. NOT your junk. so I don't want to hear it. I would prefer if this thread stays concise with all of the information on 1-2 pages. Not going on for 4+ pages of 1 liners or your diary entries for the day. keep that for your "random questions" thread.</p>

<p>Edit: like the thing about fee waivers. thank you. If you have some advice on how to go about financial aid (tips and tricks) that would be wonderful, since you seem to have dealt with that system more than I have and would have more knowledge about it.</p>

<p>Edit II: a post about essays should be up soon. for right now, I'll leave you with some of Dean J's words:

[quote]

"I'm interested in reading something that's well written and personal. Admission officers at most schools aren't going to dismiss a well written essay if it's not in line with their beliefs (the exceptions are those at schools with very specific missions). If we only liked essays about our pet topics, our student body would be pretty boring.</p>

<p>If you've been to our information sessions or if we've been at your schoo's "College Night" (event for juniors to get them started with the process), you've probably heard us address this."</p>

<p>and :</p>

<p>"I do not look forward to essays where the answer to that question is an entire subject. To be frank, an essay about how calculus challenged a student usually puts me to sleep. We see plenty of essay about this, as calculus is a challenge for many students.</p>

<p>Try to be creative...go beyond the obvious."

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>Quick thing about finances: You need to talk to your parents immediately about this. Find out the dates and deadlines and post them where you and your parents can see them. If your parents are not paying for college, then try setting up an appointment with your guidance counselor or college advisor in your school. They would have the resources to point you in the right direction of how you can afford to pay for college. There’s a lot more option out there than you think. For those of you who think that college is out of the question because of financial reasons, think again. There are many options available to students and each college is different when it comes to financial aid. So call the financial aid offices of colleges EARLY to see if what programs there are. (Actually, check the website and then call.)</p>

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<p>So, you prospectives are at a slight disadvantage because I’m not currently at the top of my essay writing game; I haven’t written prose/anything analytical since the AP Literature test in May (a little more than 4 months ago) so the advice for essays will come as I remember it. You, prospies, should be in an English class or another writing intensive class. Even in college, you should try taking a few English classes to improve your writing and analytical reading skills. You’ll need those skills throughout your life and it’s best not to get rusty. Even if you are horrible in English, try taking an English class; we improve our weaknesses by working on them.</p>

<p>In this post, we’re going to talk about good topics and bad topics for essays. The topic of your essay will have a huge impact on what type of essay you write and how you should approach the situation. So, I’m going to give you a few pointers, and then I’m going to wait before telling you how some easy ways to make your essay more interesting, unique, etc. You don’t need to be a great writer to write a great essay.</p>

<p>So, let’s start with the don’ts. Don’t try to answer life’s greatest mystery in your essay. Chances are, it won’t fit in the 250-word space. Don’t talk about [insert class here.] Don’t tackle things that are too big to tackle; you only have 250 words and you’ll have a hard time staying under those requirements.</p>

<p>Biggest Misconception: You need to write about a car crash/death/other traumatic event. NO. NO. NO. If, god forbid, you experience it, then write about it IF AND ONLY IF it made an impact on you and shaped how you’ve grown as a person. You should show that effect through your essay. (more on that later)</p>

<p>Now, your essay topic can be on anything you like. (except the afore mentioned don’ts. You could do those, but it won’t help your application.) You could write about your back porch. You could write about your elementary school playground. You could write about asphalt. You could write about carpet. You could write about the hair on your arm. You could write about your experience in a lab*. (This comes with an asterisk for a good reason. You’ll find out why later) The point is, The possibilities are almost endless.</p>

<p>So, prospies, look at some things this weekend. Look at the things around you and REALLY notice them. Look at the things color, its shape, its size, the way it look in the light, the way it looks in the dark. Try to notice every detail about the thing you choose to write about. Write as much as you can. Do this for a couple of objects and try to throw in some similes and other literary things you've learned over the years. Similes are my favorites to use (why? I'll tell you later.;)) They don't have to be complex or intricate; saying "her face looked like a pickle" is fine for our purposes right now. After that, you’ll be ready for the next part of this essay exercise. And you may question why I’m telling you to do this.</p>

<p>With practice, comes ease. The more writing you do, the easier it will be. The more you notice the details, the easier it will be for you to point out how they affect the bigger picture. The bigger picture, after all, is comprised of detail. When you go to write your actual college essays, it will take less time for you to write a good essay instead of a crappy one. You may also end up just modifying one of these journals for an actual essay. And, by doing this, you’ll become better at writing the type of essay that is a pleasure to read. Good luck and happy hunting the finer points of life.</p>

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<p>i completely forgot about this. sorry guys! If I have the chance, I’ll post something Monday; if not, don’t expect anything until the weekend. Too many tests this week and finals haven’t even started!</p>

<p>galoisien: I was reading through this and I was really harsh with you. My apologies. I hope you will add constructive words of wisdom to this thread to help out our prospies. Same thing to everyone else. If you have advice you would like to share, please do!!</p>