Questions for those whose kids have applied for the UVA Jefferson scholarship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just ask Dean J on instagram tomorrow and this will be settled.

Someone asked her on Reddit last year and she responded. You can include the nomination if you want to - she didn't say that you should, but you can.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UVA/comments/1g9rsnr/jefferson_scholarship_nominee/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Kind of hard to do that when you're being contradicted time and again by people who are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just ask Dean J on instagram tomorrow and this will be settled.

Someone asked her on Reddit last year and she responded. You can include the nomination if you want to - she didn't say that you should, but you can.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UVA/comments/1g9rsnr/jefferson_scholarship_nominee/

Yep, and she said "it is completely separate from UVA Admissions. We will not know you are nominated unless you tell us."

Mic drop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

Happy to, now that I've been proven right.

[Anonymous]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[Anonymous]

My DD was her school’s nominee. First in her class, etc. It IS a lot of work but well worth it - especially the last of the last two rounds of interviews. Didn’t make the finals cut. I don’t know why this wasn’t mentioned above but the Jefferson was started by alumni interested in funding scholarships to students who would otherwise go Ivy or top SLAC, and, indeed, in DD’s experience, most of the Jef Soc scholars in her four years hailed from elite New York and New Jersey privates and we’re indeed were students of that caliber. Nevertheless, worth doing. DD was white, unhooked from a NOVA private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was her school’s nominee. First in her class, etc. It IS a lot of work but well worth it - especially the last of the last two rounds of interviews. Didn’t make the finals cut. I don’t know why this wasn’t mentioned above but the Jefferson was started by alumni interested in funding scholarships to students who would otherwise go Ivy or top SLAC, and, indeed, in DD’s experience, most of the Jef Soc scholars in her four years hailed from elite New York and New Jersey privates and we’re indeed were students of that caliber. Nevertheless, worth doing. DD was white, unhooked from a NOVA private.

Here's the list of current 1st year Jeffs -- pretty geographically diverse

https://rollcall.jeffersonscholars.org/2025/incoming-scholars

Jefferson Scholars
Class of 2029
The Jefferson Scholarship supports exceptional individuals who demonstrate excellence in the areas of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship.

Hannah Alex, Cincinnati, Ohio
Ashley Amirkhan, Atherton, California
Willoughby Anderson, Durango, Colorado
Ali Bird, Charlottesville, Virginia
Collin Chan, Nashville, Tennessee
Phillip Cheng, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Ryder Clark, Covington, Louisiana
Gianna DeBono, Greenwich, Connecticut
Malini Dharni, Yorktown, Virginia
Mattie Ellis, Ridgeland, Mississippi
Lauren Foglesong, Atlanta, Georgia
Wills Frazer, Memphis, Tennessee
James Galgano, Richmond, Virginia
Tyler George, Portland, Oregon
Lily Giardi, Charlotte, North Carolina
Hafsa Hamdaoui, Gambrills, Maryland
Afraah Hawa, Kansas City, Missouri
Ryan Heidler, Franklin, Tennessee
William Henderson, Rocky Mount, Virginia
Kendall Jones, Oakton, Virginia
Emmett Kliger, Burlingame, California
Arden Leslie, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Tate Lueck, Jacksonville, Florida
Jaiditya Malik, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Quinn McDonough, Chicago, Illinois
Evan Meade, Reston, Virginia
Sam Myers, Springdale, Arkansas
Titus Ngouepo, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
Emily Peake, Tampa, Florida
Layla Ragland, Summerville, South Carolina
Inesh Rai, Warwick, Rhode Island
Kavya Shah, Columbia, Maryland
Roan Wilcox, Boston, Massachusetts
Clint Wilson, Bristol, Virginia
Bella Xie, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being nominated by your school does not mean that the student is considered the most impressive uva applicant from that school. It’s indicative of an impressive student who is very likely to actually attend uva if offered. Most schools won’t nominate the top students who are likely to be offered admission to ivys and other top schools and likely to attend those instead of uva.

Not true at our FCPS school— you can self nominate to be the school’s nominee. There is an application process similar to common app and I think required a couple of essays.

Schools would not discriminate if the top student was likely to be offered admissions to Ivies. Literally the whole point of the scholarship was designed to encourage students that would otherwise go to the Ivies to go to UVA so HSs are looking to nominate Ivy caliber students.

Last year, about 60 students were offered the Jefferson Scholarship. I think a little over half accepted it, but most of the rest were going to Ivies.

It’s a big deal for a school to have a Jefferson scholarship winner. So they are absolutely putting their best students forward and not just someone who is likely to go to Uva!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

Happy to, now that I've been proven right.

The finalists- those students going to the final round of interviews - are all offered admissions to UVA. This happens in February so if you applied ED or perhaps even EA, you already would have an acceptance in hand. The offer offers for anyone applying RD come if you have become a finalist.
So the offer to attend UVA comes before the actual scholarships are offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

Happy to, now that I've been proven right.

The finalists- those students going to the final round of interviews - are all offered admissions to UVA. This happens in February so if you applied ED or perhaps even EA, you already would have an acceptance in hand. The offer offers for anyone applying RD come if you have become a finalist.
So the offer to attend UVA comes before the actual scholarships are offered.

You can keep saying this but it isn't true. Jefferson Society does not have admissions granting power, and their choosing someone as a finalist does not guarantee admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

Happy to, now that I've been proven right.

The finalists- those students going to the final round of interviews - are all offered admissions to UVA. This happens in February so if you applied ED or perhaps even EA, you already would have an acceptance in hand. The offer offers for anyone applying RD come if you have become a finalist.
So the offer to attend UVA comes before the actual scholarships are offered.

You can keep saying this but it isn't true. Jefferson Society does not have admissions granting power, and their choosing someone as a finalist does not guarantee admission.

OK, chicken and egg??

Let’s put it this way-

Every student who is a finalist for the Jefferson foundation scholarship (finalist means they are going to the final round of interviews), has been accepted at the University of Virginia.

So whether you think the foundation says to admissions, hey, these are the students we are offering final interviews too, please send them an acceptance if they have not already received one—

Or, you think the foundation says to admissions hey, these are the students we would like to offer final interviews to, can you confirm whether or not they are admitted students already—

The outcome is the same. Every student who goes to the final rounds of interviews has been accepted.

And by the way, that round of interviews is before RD offers go out. So if a student was only applying to UVA as RD, and they make it to the final rounds, they find out early that they have been accepted.

My DS is a Jeff. I have friends who conduct interviews for Jeff. I have friends that have children who are Jeffs.

Was it always this way? I don’t know. But this is the way it works now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC (2024) grad received the Jefferson, but decided to attend another university.

w/r/t admission, I will reiterate what others have said. On the February call with all finalists, the UVA Dean of Admissions joined the call and said that everyone who had applied RD was admitted (the finalists on the call who had applied ED/EA already had a decision at that point).

w/r/t whether it was worth it, I'd say absolutely! The interviews, in particular, were a great learning experience. Most high school students don't have the chance to interview with a group of adults who are asking tough questions.

For someone whose kid was a Jefferson scholar offeree you sure are dense. Yes, all of the finalists were admitted, but that is because the Jefferson scholarship committee checked with the admissions department and made sure they were admitted before they were named finalists. Why do you find that so difficult to understand?

Not the person you are responding to, but you really need to move on.

Agreed

Happy to, now that I've been proven right.

The finalists- those students going to the final round of interviews - are all offered admissions to UVA. This happens in February so if you applied ED or perhaps even EA, you already would have an acceptance in hand. The offer offers for anyone applying RD come if you have become a finalist.
So the offer to attend UVA comes before the actual scholarships are offered.

You can keep saying this but it isn't true. Jefferson Society does not have admissions granting power, and their choosing someone as a finalist does not guarantee admission.

OK, chicken and egg??

Let’s put it this way-

Every student who is a finalist for the Jefferson foundation scholarship (finalist means they are going to the final round of interviews), has been accepted at the University of Virginia.

So whether you think the foundation says to admissions, hey, these are the students we are offering final interviews too, please send them an acceptance if they have not already received one—

Or, you think the foundation says to admissions hey, these are the students we would like to offer final interviews to, can you confirm whether or not they are admitted students already—

The outcome is the same. Every student who goes to the final rounds of interviews has been accepted.

And by the way, that round of interviews is before RD offers go out. So if a student was only applying to UVA as RD, and they make it to the final rounds, they find out early that they have been accepted.

My DS is a Jeff. I have friends who conduct interviews for Jeff. I have friends that have children who are Jeffs.

Was it always this way? I don’t know. But this is the way it works now.

So. Now you get it? You aren’t correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD was her school’s nominee. First in her class, etc. It IS a lot of work but well worth it - especially the last of the last two rounds of interviews. Didn’t make the finals cut. I don’t know why this wasn’t mentioned above but the Jefferson was started by alumni interested in funding scholarships to students who would otherwise go Ivy or top SLAC, and, indeed, in DD’s experience, most of the Jef Soc scholars in her four years hailed from elite New York and New Jersey privates and we’re indeed were students of that caliber. Nevertheless, worth doing. DD was white, unhooked from a NOVA private.

Here's the list of current 1st year Jeffs -- pretty geographically diverse

https://rollcall.jeffersonscholars.org/2025/incoming-scholars

Jefferson Scholars
Class of 2029
The Jefferson Scholarship supports exceptional individuals who demonstrate excellence in the areas of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship.

Hannah Alex, Cincinnati, Ohio
Ashley Amirkhan, Atherton, California
Willoughby Anderson, Durango, Colorado
Ali Bird, Charlottesville, Virginia
Collin Chan, Nashville, Tennessee
Phillip Cheng, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Ryder Clark, Covington, Louisiana
Gianna DeBono, Greenwich, Connecticut
Malini Dharni, Yorktown, Virginia
Mattie Ellis, Ridgeland, Mississippi
Lauren Foglesong, Atlanta, Georgia
Wills Frazer, Memphis, Tennessee
James Galgano, Richmond, Virginia
Tyler George, Portland, Oregon
Lily Giardi, Charlotte, North Carolina
Hafsa Hamdaoui, Gambrills, Maryland
Afraah Hawa, Kansas City, Missouri
Ryan Heidler, Franklin, Tennessee
William Henderson, Rocky Mount, Virginia
Kendall Jones, Oakton, Virginia
Emmett Kliger, Burlingame, California
Arden Leslie, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Tate Lueck, Jacksonville, Florida
Jaiditya Malik, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Quinn McDonough, Chicago, Illinois
Evan Meade, Reston, Virginia
Sam Myers, Springdale, Arkansas
Titus Ngouepo, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
Emily Peake, Tampa, Florida
Layla Ragland, Summerville, South Carolina
Inesh Rai, Warwick, Rhode Island
Kavya Shah, Columbia, Maryland
Roan Wilcox, Boston, Massachusetts
Clint Wilson, Bristol, Virginia
Bella Xie, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Thanks for sharing this. It’s nice to see posters who put other posters who are clearly full of shit in their place. I love how people just make stuff up.