2/3 of UVA students aren’t involved in Greek orgs. Like most activities, those involved are passionate about the work they do. I think some first years are fixated on it because it’s a little mysterious to them. That fades as people find their niches. 
@“Dean J” My daughter was accepted to UVA in the EA round. We are thrilled! However (there’s always a however) she was not invited to be an Echols Scholar or a Science Scholar. She is qualified for both. Is there a way to petition prior to attending UVA for her to be included in those programs? She is an introvert and UVA does not offer her sports so we would need to know that she has access to a “tribe” before we sent her off to a large university.
@cleoforshort There are literally hundreds of niches at UVA and most students don’t commit to any before they get here. Plenty of students who think they know their passion or area of interest will often change their minds because they will have access to things that weren’t ever available in high school ([there are 1018 student orgs on the list right now!](- @UVA)). What’s more, there is so much growth and development in the college years that the groups that looked comfortable to a high school student might not be quite right once the student is here.
FWIW, I wouldn’t describe Echols as a “tribe.” I do see first-years making friends via the very small COLA, USEM, EWNR, and intro math courses. I’m pretty sure those courses are capped at 15-20 students.
Remember that students don’t “qualify” for scholars programs for via stats. The committee invites students to those programs using objective and subjective factors in the application. That being said, another round of invitations goes out at the end of the RD review and students can apply to join the scholar groups once they are here. The exception is the Arts Scholars, who are nominated by faculty.
@DeanJ Wow! THAT was fast, LOL! Thank you for your thoughtful response.
@bfc2017 unless something has changed recently, sorority rush is not until 2nd semester. That will give you plenty of time to decide if you are interested. Greek life is a loud minority but a minority so there are plenty of other activities to be involved in if it is not what you are looking for.
@DeanJ when you say that another round of invitations goes out at the end of RD review, is that to just RD applicants or can a student that was accepted EA receive an invitation then also?
We aren’t limited to RD applicants in the second round of scholars notifications. They’re probably the dominate group in that second round, though.
@“Dean J” - While you are generously taking the time to answer questions here, I have a quick one for you: Have the “at-large” Jefferson Scholarship nominees been selected yet and, if so, would the students have been informed?
@bfc2017 My daughter will probably rush and the fact that rush is in January (rather than in August before school starts) is great. I attended UVA back in the day and had absolutely no interest in rushing my first year. I was an athlete (co-ed sport) and that was my frat/sorority. I decided to rush my second year and really enjoyed my sorority. About 30% of the student population participates, so not “everyone” is involved in Greek life.
Is the letter congratulating on acceptance from the Office of the President anything special, or does everyone get it?
This might be a dumb question but I’ll ask it anyway. Does UVA give any merit money to students that were deferred in the Early Action process? We do not qualify for FA. My daughter is OOS, very strong applicant but she was deferred.
@bfc2017 It seems like you have a strong interest in rushing and if the only thing holding you back is fear of not getting in to one, I would say you should definitely try it! While this can be hard to focus on sometimes, as long as you are truly yourself, it should all work out as it is meant to be. That being said, @crazym0m is also correct that you will have an entire semester to really experience the university and college life before making a decision to rush, and you can also rush your second year if you still need more time to decide. Dean J is also 100% correct in saying that if you decide Greek Life is not for you, there is plenty of other opportunities and activities to get involved in.
Basically what I’m saying is follow your heart and don’t let fear be the thing that stops you from doing it!
UVa currently does not offer merit aid to incoming first year students. Some funding has been recently set aside for merit aid, but I’m guessing it will not be offered until next year’s incoming class. UVa does offer substantial need-based aid to US students, including OOS.
I knew of one OTHER university that reserved their merit for students who did not send in their acceptance of admission in the first few months. They were trying to use it to convince students who were still making up their mind, instead of funding students who they already had committed.
@deanj do you anticipate releasing decisions earlier than April 1st? If so…could you give me a hint when 
Did anyone else apply to the London First program?
@firstwavemom @enginero @londondad @crazym0m @collegemomjam @Dean J
Thank you all for the very helpful responses!
I got in EA, but was not offered echols. my gpa is 4.6 weighted, classrank is 6/350, EC were fantastic, essays were short of amazing. only thing that detracted was my sat score, which was 1430 superscored. I recently got a 1510 in a single sitting, was wondering if I should call admissions and ask if they can reconsider echols in the normal RD pool or something of the sorts. I think with my new sat score (took it in jan, got result after i heard back from uva) i would have a good shot at echols. not positive
edit*, i know that the echols are not purely based on “stats” but i think everything in my application screams uva.
@nmocha567 My daughter applied to the London First program and we are excited to find out tomorrow! Are you a VA resident or OOS? We are In State. Good luck to you!
@sourirjk I live in VA! Good luck to her, as well–we’ll find out tomorrow!