Dean J, I’m going to hope (though I realize they have no relation) that your throwback tweet to lounging is code for round 1 of review is finally over 
When I finish my last Early Action file, I hope my first Regular Decision file. We don’t really get to lounge at this time of year…but I do take breaks to watch the basketball games! 
The TBT post was because I am in Fairfax all week and am just working with whatever pictures are on my phone. Haven’t seen CavDog since Sunday. 
I was just looking back at Dean J’s blog, and I definitely think that EA notifications will be released tomorrow. Decisions have been released this week for the past three years. The dates were the 20, 17, and 11 - those may be off but they were all within this week 
hoping i get into UVa so i can root for the best team in March madness
@Rawhide96 Could you let me know the exact dates of release for past three years
Just went back and checked… Last year the date the 17, 2013 was the 11, and 2012 was the 20. And all of these dates were FRIDAYS! @JK0919
What was the usually time that they release? early morning?
Based on Dean J’s very helpful blog archives, last year she notified people just before 2 pm that the decisions would be released that evening.
Sigh, I do not think they will release tomorrow.
I think it will be tomorrow.
I think tomorrow.
First: that is the pattern from recent years.
Second: unless I am mistaken, the admission committee meets in person to advocate for the students that they reviewed and want in. Since Dean J is away from UVA I am guessing that the meetings have concluded (unless there is still one to be held next week).
I don’t understand why the big secrecy. You can’t tell me that they don’t have a good idea at least a week ahead of time when they will finish. I also don’t understand why they don’t do rolling admissions. There are lots of big schools who do holistic reviews that do it that way and it would seem to be easier on everyone involved, from students to admins.
How much notice did your schools give you all? Did they state a date at the start of the process and stick to it or change notification at some point? Just curious.
You are mistaken, @TV4caster. There are points in the process when we meet in groups, but every file is not discussed this way. Every admission officer doesn’t have to be sitting at their desk for the finalization of decisions.
I would say that we are far less secretive than many schools. I’ve been told repeatedly that we are more forthcoming with updates about the process than others.
@Dean J Again, thank you for keeping us updated. I think that some people fail to understand that this process can take a good amount of time as the “expected” decision dates arrive. Compared to other schools, UVA is definitely the most updated.
Thanks @Dean J for updating! Just wondering if you read Early Action applications all day today as well?
@"Dean J" Virginia is definitely more forthcoming with the selection process. I was deferred at Michigan and the process was a lot less transparent than Virginia. That is why Michigan’s early action forum had many more posts, Michigan never answered any questions, there was so much more speculation in that forum. Also I think it is great that Virginia releases early action admissions statistics. Michigan never releases these statistics or anything to do with their process. As a student who’s not really sure why they were deferred from Michigan (my counselor said I’d have no problem getting in), I really appreciate the way Virginia handles admissions. It’s nice to receive full disclosure of statistics.
I knew that everyone didn’t have to be at their desks at the end of the process, but I remember reading in one of your blog posts years ago about how you split up the files and then got together to advocate for those students. That is all I was saying. In searching for that old blog I did notice that in 2012 you gave notice the Tuesday before the decisions came out that they would be available on Friday. Is that common? Do you try to do it when possible? I think applicants and their parents would love that. Thanks for your helpful posts and hard work!
@TV4caster That is uncommon. Dean J usually posts that the decisions will be released the day of their release.
Dean J, to answer your question:
Three schools (rolling state schools) gave no date of expected release. One of them said that if your decision was submitted by , then you would hear back by . I got my decision much sooner than that.
Another school (more highly ranked, private) said that we would hear in “mid-December”. At the beginning of December, they emailed saying by December 21st. They posted on twitter when decisions were mailed (about December 13th); I received my decision in the mail shortly thereafter.
One of my other schools said by January 31st, then emailed in late December that the day would be January 10th and stuck to it. The other one said “mid-December”, then emailed three weeks before the date (December 15th) and said that December 15th would be release day.
Hope that helps!
Dean J,
My other school said Dec. 16th at 5pm in the email giving me access to the portal, and decisions came out on Dec. 16th 5pm. I applied to two safeties early as well and those did not give a set date. Decisions just appeared online or were mailed in one day. My experience with other admissions has been that schools with medium to high acceptance rates will generally post whenever they are done and schools with lower acceptance rates will tell you at least a couple weeks in advance when decisions will come out. UVA is the only exception to this that I’ve seen.
@TV4Caster I think the secrecy is largely due to Dean J not wanting people to have false expectations. If she gave any indication of a date and, come that date, they were not finished, the admissions office would be criticized. She’d rather have the leniency that comes with the “secrecy” so that she can spend time to carefully read through the applications rather than rush because she is running a little behind even though she said she would post decisions by a certain date.
To everyone: On Dean J’s blog, she mentioned in one of the comments that posting on Fridays is not a “rule” that they have. If we don’t hear tomorrow, there is still a possibility that we will hear before the 23rd.
Colleges tend to post on Fridays because it means upset or confused students can not contact the office over the weekend. This gives students and parents a time to calm down. Considering this is a 3 day weekend, I see it highly lucrative for UVA to release tomorrow. By releasing tomorrow it would decrease the amount of calls their office receives.
However, if they’re not ready they’re not ready. With 1,000 more people applying early this year, UVA is having their crunch time early in the season which is an adjustment for readers who have more material to cover in the short timespan.
Whether tomorrow or next Friday, it doesn’t matter. Sit tight, we’ve made it this far guys.