**While based on previous years, it’s possible we could see decisions around March 21/22, April 1 is the publicized decision date. We can just be pleasantly surprised if we hear something earlier. **
UVA typically emails applicants once a decision is posted. Dean J will also announce when a decision is coming or posted. Follow her on Twitter at @UVaDeanJ
**This thread is for DECISIONS ONLY, to help others now and in the future learn from your experience. **
There are other threads for discussion.
Along with a holistic review, this is what published data says UVA deems most important:
Very important: rigor, rank, GPA, recommendations, character, state residency
Important: SAT, essay, extracurriculars, talent
What’s below is based on this. (We will assume that everyone thinks their submitted essay and recommendations were good and not ask about that.)
DECISION:
Planned Major/College:
State Residency:
Rigor:
Rank:
GPA:
Demonstration of Good Character:
SAT/ACT:
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Any hooks?
Were you deferred from early action?
State Residency: In-state
Rigor: High, IB diploma candidate.
Rank: HS doesn’t rank
GPA: 3.90 weighted (HS doesn’t report unweighted GPA)
Demonstration of Good Character: Volunteering at a hospital? I don’t know
SAT/ACT: 1370 (710 CR 660 M)
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: Cross country, track and field, 500+ hours of volunteering, work as a lifeguard, babysitting
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Any hooks? None
Were you deferred from early action? No
Thoughts on why you received that decision:I think my entire application was weak. My GPA, SAT, and extracurriculars are subpar. UVA is my dream school, but it was a reach, and I knew I would be rejected. I’ll be attending JMU in the fall and might apply to transfer to UVA if I don’t like it there.
DECISION: Deferred, then Denied
Planned Major/College: Econ
State Residency:OOS
Rigor:High
Rank:Top 5%
GPA:4.0 uw/4.74w
Demonstration of Good Character:Varsity sports character awards
SAT/ACT: 34 ACT
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: Local police advisory forum. varsity sport
Ethnicity:White
Gender:Male
Any hooks? Not really
Were you deferred from early action?yes
Thoughts on why you received that decision:None. He got through 2 rounds of cuts for Jefferson Scholarship (made it to top 12-15 in the region, with 3 going to Charlottesville) so to get denied is rather perplexing. He had already committed elsewhere after being cut from Jefferson consideration because no school is worth over $65K.
DECISION: ACCEPTED!!!
Planned Major/College: College of Arts & Science for Economics
State Residency: Texas (OOS)
Rigor: probably one of the most rigorous at school (all AP/IB)
Rank: school DNR, but I am in top 10%
GPA: 104.12 W
Demonstration of Good Character: I mean I think I’m a good person(??)
ACT: 35
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: World Champion jump roper, student body president, worked at a college preparatory program, math honor society, cross country/track&field
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Any hooks?: I got the UVA Jefferson Book Award as a junior, but idk if that counts
Were you deferred from early action?: no
Thoughts on why you received that decision: Honestly kind of shocked. This was the most difficult school to get in to that I have heard back from so far. I would guess my stats put me above top 50% though, and I think jump rope is probably a unique activity that made me stand out. Congrats to all accepted! Wahoowa!
DECISION: Waitlist
Planned Major/College: College of Arts & Science for International Affairs
State Residency: International/Out of State
Rigor: IB Diploma
Rank: DNR
GPA: 4.3 (predicted 45/45 for the IB Diploma)
Demonstration of Good Character: Service Awards
SAT: 1400
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: Model UN Secretariat (officer basically), Leaders of two school-specific clubs, TedxTalk speaker, Forensics and Debate Participant, miscellaneous volunteer stuff
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: male
Any hooks?: Nah
Honestly was expecting a rejection, international admit rates are historically very tough at UVA. I’m actually coming out of this sort of happy, because the waitlist means that my application was still competitive for top schools like UVA
Decision: Rejected
Planned Major: Political Science
State Residency: Out of State
Rigor: Decent
Rank: N/A
GPA: 3.5 UW
ACT: 28
ECs: Ted Cruz senate campaign intern (12), intern for congresswoman (11), political YouTube channel (21 k subs and 7 mil views)(9-12), jack and Jill southern US legislative chair (9-12)(elected in 10), congressional campaign volunteer (9-10), trump data entry volunteer (10), sibling caregiver (9-11), mock trial lead attorney (12), wolf pac Texas volunteer (9-12), law internship (12)
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Male
Hooks: URM
State Residency: VA
Rigor: lots of APs and honors
Rank: top 25% at very competitive HS
GPA: 4.2 (senior mid-year was very high)
Demonstration of Good Character: peer mentor, lots of leadership
SAT/ACT: 1290
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: outstanding and good variety
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Any hooks? Her extras are really interesting, but no other hooks.
Were you deferred from early action? Yes
Thoughts on why you received that decision:
She is what they are looking for, but they just don’t have enough nursing spots for all the good candidates. She’s honored to still have a small chance and will totally go there if ultimately offered a spot. She’s committing to her #2 school in the meantime.
State Residency: Michigan
Rigor:High, took AP, IB, and Honours courses
Rank: 1/460
W GPA: 4.07
UW GPA: 3.7
Demonstration of Good Character: Community service I guess?
SAT: 1500
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: 2 years varsity soccer, lots of community service, participated in 3 clubs, can speak in 4 languages, NROTC Scholarship winner, work at McDonald’s
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Any hooks? None considering I’ve gotten nothing but waitlists and deferrals
Were you deferred from early action? Applied during Regular Decision so no
Thoughts on why you received that decision: Not 100% why. I think my biggest flaw is my rather weak GPA and lack of many leadership positions.
DECISION: WAITLISTED
Planned Major/College: College of Engineering (AE)
State Residency: In State
Rigor: 9 AP’s, rest of core 4 courses all honors, only regular classes were PE, language, and a few classes like gourmet foods
Rank: Unranked
GPA: 4.09 (4.18 w senior grades first semester)
Demonstration of Good Character: SAT/ACT: 1480
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: Honor societies/VASTS Program/School Swim team
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Any hooks? Nah
Were you deferred from early action?: Yes
Thoughts on why you received that decision: My gpa was a little too low for the school going into a senior year. I also had no volunteering aside from honor societies, I don’t know if that was a detriment to my application. I believe my essays really boosted my application. I think my counselor and teacher recs were also really good because I knew them really well.
Already got into tech engineering, so I’ll likely go there unless I get off the waitlist, overall not too bummed.
State: OOS
Rigor: 10 AP’s
Rank: N/A
GPA: 3.71 UW
SAT: 1450 (750M, 700R)
Extras: Eagle Scout, 300hrs volunteering, cross-country captain, 5 varsity letters
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Any hooks: Full 4 year ROTC scholarships from Navy and Army, partial Air Force
Thoughts: GPA was lacking, I didn’t do so hot in AP Calculus and got a C and a D despite receiving a 4 on the AP test. Just the way it goes sometimes, holding out hope for other schools!
DECISION: Admitted Engineering
Planned Major/College: Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
State Residency: International
Rigor: Full IB Diploma
Rank: n/a, School doesn’t rank
GPA: 3.71 with 3.9 in the last two years (Unweighted)
Demonstration of Good Character: Do your best and you’ll be fine…
SAT/ACT: 1460 Superscore (800 Math, 760 English), 1430 single
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: Just school organized activities, for CAS.
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese), LOL
Gender: Male
Any hooks? Virtually None
Disadvatage? International Student from a Communist Country Applying for a Major in Rocket Engineering!!!
Were you deferred from early action? Yes. Made me sad for a month.
Thoughts on why you received that decision: Perhaps I’m the only one applied from an small Western European country, has IB Perdicted 43 Points, and got amazing mid year grade (3.9 Unweighted GPA). Huge upward grade trend . I also came to this Western European country without knowing any English or the Local Language. Wrote about Star Trek (Warp is my favorite word) and wanting to install a jet engine on my mountain bike (the Engineering essay).
State Residency: International student
Rigor:French Baccalaureate (Very rigorous program)
Rank:n/a
GPA: 17/20 Average translated to an unweighted GPA of 4.0
Demonstration of Good Character:
SAT/ACT:1420
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs:
A lot of community service, mainly with Syrian Refugees
Captain of the tennis team
Bunch of internships
Ethnicity:Middle East
Gender:Male
Any hooks?
Were you deferred from early action? NO
DECISION: ACCEPTED
Planned Major/College: CAS (Probably IR/government)
State Residency: In State
Rigor: 11 APs
Rank: n/a
GPA: 4.33
Demonstration of Good Character: idk hahah
SAT/ACT: 33
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: President of Model UN, Head Captain of Debate, Officer of a community service nonprofit, a lot of other different things
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Any hooks? not sure what this really means LOL
Were you deferred from early action? Yes
Thoughts on why you received that decision: I think I got in after being deferred because of my 1st semester grades senior year. I’ve always been a pretty dedicated student, but last year I had SO much going on and my grades weren’t that great. However, I took the same amount of APs this year (5 APs) + everything in my life is sorted out, so I managed to get straight As.
State Residency: In state (NOVA ouch)
Rigor: 10 APs, 12 tests
Rank: no rank
GPA: 4.1
Demonstration of Good Character: talked abt how I worked super hard in essay to appease working class immigrant parents, showed the growth of my personality over time
SAT/ACT: 33 superscored ACT, 1410 SAT (700 reading, 710 math)
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: DECA (all years, secretary and then co president), Young Democrats (all four years, president), NEHS (11,12), NHS (11,12), JV Cheer (9,10), Day Care job (10,11, 12), Secretary Job (12), Political volunteering for local democratic party (all four years)
Ethnicity: Filipino/Czech
Gender: Female
Any hooks? First generation, soft URM (filipino)
Were you deferred from early action? applied RD
Thoughts on why you received that decision: Had untreated depression winter of senior year and lots of family issues so first semester senior grades kinda low (had three b’s instead of usual 1-2), also my school is super challenging its one of the best in Northern VA so I was definitely not in the first decile. I’m kinda pressed bc UVA is my dream school but I realize I’m a lot luckier than most!!
DECISION: ACCEPTED!!!
Planned Major/College: College of Arts & Science for Biology BS
State Residency: Virginia
Rigor: rigorous - 9AP’s
Rank: top 5%
GPA: 4.42
Demonstration of Good Character: all good things all good things
ACT: 31
Extras/Volunteer work/Talents/Jobs: started my own club called We The People and began the first annual international night at my school etc
Ethnicity: black
Gender: female
Any hooks?: first generation American, black female in STEM, creative essays
Were you deferred from early action?: no
Thoughts on why you received that decision: I have no idea Im just beyond happy right now
DID ANYONE GET SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS IN THE DECISION LETTER OR IN THE SIS - MINE ISNT SHOWING!
