Hahaha @Pburgmom “sticky boobs” haha sounds like your daughter has quite a personality! and yes, I do find it quite interesting, as I am someone who does not have the ideal ballet body. I’m very happy for her! Thank you again! 
Congrats to all who got in. My S was one of the lucky OOS, non-legacy kids who got accepted yesterday, so I just wanted to weigh in with my two cents.
I believe he made the first “cut” with a 35 ACT (35E, 36M, 35R 35S) and 4.67W GPA in the most rigorous program available. He, like so many of you, had good club ECs with leadership. And sports. You all can expect you got great recommendation letters, within the bounds of your referrers’ capabilities and time.
But perhaps DeanJ was telling when she said she’d put “essays before activities” in the application. The UVA writing prompts make it apparent (to me) that they care deeply about that piece. Whereas so many “selective” college supplemental essays are really just proof you’ve visited their website (“Why XX?”) or how your interests would mesh with their programs, UVA’s questions forced introspection and revealed personality. I think they were the most interesting of all the questions I read. Works of art that have unsettled or challenged you? Favorite word and why? This was a clue that being cookie cutter would fall short with this school.
Never forget, they aren’t just picking numbers; they are building a community of interesting, inspired learners who will go forth and do amazing things for the world – and for UVA by extension. I can see why “sticky boobs” got in. Just my thoughts, substantiated by little other than speculation.
Oh, and possibly the biggest clue of all, from their CA prompt: “We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists.”
Hi everyone! Congrats to those who have been excepted already to UVA. I was heartbroken to see my deferred notification yesterday. Things are not looking so great as all the rest of my classmates were denied. I am a nominee for the Jefferson scholarship and have my interview tomorrow. I am OOS but I have a 33 on the ACT, 4.43/4.6 and unweighted GPA. I serve as a lieutenant governor for Key Club on the state level, am captain of my XC team, captain of the debate team, Head of Relay For Life, VP of Young Republicans and hold a part-time job. Trying not to get my hopes up but I wish everyone else the best in this crazy process.
@Opinionated154 Hope your passion and personality showed through your essays, and that your recommendations were enthusiastic, because the rest of your application seems strong. Good luck!
BTW, you were “excepted.” Others were “accepted.” 
@Opinionated154 I feel your pain- I was deferred from Princeton and it wasn’t fun. applying out of state is always an additional challenge, but with your credentials I’d be shocked if you didn’t get in regular. Sorry to hear your bad news, I know from experience how disappointing it is
@Opinionated154 I’m sorry - I’m in the same boat. Almost the same situation, and also deferred. Just hang in there and start looking at other options, because there are a lot of fantastic ones!
“I believe there is an ethical issue when a state university – in any state – favors legacies. I’m not bashing UVA for trying to raise as much money as it possibly can. I think a state university should look after its residents better than UVA does.”
You can choose to believe what UVA says on legacies or not.
But for many many years, they have said that the ONLY legacy boost there is is for OOS applicants. Who get considered (for admission purposes only) under the general standards that are applied to in-state applicants. So the legacy boost favors legacy applicants from California to the detriment of non-legacy California applicants. All OOS applicants (legacy and non-legacy) are competing for a spot in the one-third of UVA’s enrollment that is allocated to non-Virginians.
Getting a boost because your family is a big time donor is called a “development case” and is a completely different thing than a regular legacy student. Development cases turn on the donation Benjamins – residency (or not) doesn’t matter.
The money at issue for the UVA legacy policy (as with most schools) isn’t donations. It is TUITION dollars. And also yield. Giving an admissions break to OOS legacy applicants is a great way for UVA to find very well qualified students, who are more likely than average to enroll, and more likely than average to be full pay.
The issue for VA residents is whether one-third of the seats should be allocated to OOS-ers. But once that call has been made, the selfish interest of the VA residents is for those OOS seats to be sold at the highest possible price. thereby bringing in the greatest amount of resources to your home state university.
Posting for my son.
ACCEPTED School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
In State
Asian Male (No legacy ties)
Act: Did not Take
SAT I: 2170 - M: 800 CR:700 Writing: 670
SAT II: Math 1: 780, Math 2: 800 USH: 730
Rank: 2/103 Private School
GPA: UW: 4.00, W: 4.8
APs: 6 and taking 5
Awards: Jefferson Book Award – Most well Rounded Student, WordWright Challenge – Highest Honor, National Language Exam – Spanish Exam Silver Certificate, Governor’s School Summer Residential STEM Program, Virginian-Pilot Scholastic Achievement Team, Elie Wiesel Visual Arts Competition Judges’ Choice finalist
Leadership Positions: Student Council Association (SCA) Executive Council - Vice President, SCA - Vice President, Peer Ministry – President
EC: Member of National Ocean Sciences Bowl, Tennis team, Soccer team and many volunteer activities
Letters of Rec.: Assume they were very good.
Essays: Ok. Writing not his strong suit.
He was deferred during early decision for Georgetown so we are all very happy and relieved. Congratulations to all accepted! Good luck to all those deferred. For those not accepted I feel your pain but I am sure you will be successful elsewhere.
Accepted! OOS
GPA: 5.26 W, 4.0 UW
Rank: 3/675 at a large public school
SAT: 2330 (770 CR, 770 M, 790 W)
SAT II: 770 Chem, 770 US
AP: 5s on Psych, US History, Calc BC, English Lang, German Lang and 4 on Chem. Currently taking APES, Bio, Stat, and English Lit
EC: Pretty strong with several leadership positions and emphasis on community service, music, and German heritage
Essays: really good, especially UVA supplement
Recs: teacher ones were probably really good but counselor doesn’t know me that well
Good luck everyone!
@crazym0m OOS legacies are not counted as VA residents in our statistics. OOS legacies do have an advantage. That has never been a secret. They will never be considered residents of the Commonwealth.
Did anyone here receive Echols Scholar notifications? Were they supposed to be listed on the portal, or sent out separately through email/mail? @“Dean J” could you comment on this?
My whole extended family wants me to go to UVa and I’d love to go but without the jefferson scholarship I doubt I can. Here’s hoping they make a mistake when evaluating my financial aid and give too much…
@brooklyn13 They’re supposed to come out next week
Deferred. OOS. ACT: 33. GPA: 3.97; Weighted GPA 5.05. Top 5% at a top notch school. 9 APs; two sports; clubs; volunteer work; two unique jobs. Negatives: Asian-Caucasian; essays probably weren’t progressive enough.
@vv1998 I hope you don’t mean progressive as in a political-thinking standpoint. UVA is a great school and welcomes all schools of thinking.
@MijoChbulkan Thank you!
@“Dean J” from Dean Roberts
http://uvamagazine.org/articles/carrying_on_the_legacy/
What are your thoughts on legacy admission? What is the current practice and will it continue?
“We are fortunate to have the most dedicated, loyal and passionate alumni in the country. The spirit of this place speaks for itself. It’s a defining characteristic of this great institution. Each year we see outstanding children of alumni apply for admission. While legacy admission has come under more intense scrutiny at colleges and universities around the country in recent years, we plan to maintain our current model, in which out-of-state legacy applicants are treated as if they are Virginians.”
??? How can I interpret this differently? Whether they are in your stats or not, they are “treated as Virginians” but charged oos tuition.
@“Dean J” or
http://uvamagazine.org/articles/college_bound_and_determined/
“That improvement in the pool has meant that one’s legacy status doesn’t carry the weight that it once did for in-state students. For out-of-state students, a legacy status puts them in the in-state pool, where their odds are better.”
@“Dean J” Thank you for answering my questions. I understand that for UVA the two actions (application decisions and the Jefferson Scholarship process) have totally separate identities but just thinking logically…should they be? IMHO How can an applicant be valued as a potential Jefferson Scholarship recipient but not valued enough to get accepted in the admissions process? It just seems counter intuitive and counter productive - sending conflicting messages to the applicant. Isn’t this process crazy competitive enough for the students?