Anonymous wrote:My DC didn't answer the optional essay and got in OOS. When DC told us we secretly thought for sure it would be a negative but I guess not.

I'm pretty sure Dean J has said multiple times it's not a big deal if you leave it blank. Many do she said. My kid couldn't leave it blank, so just went with their experience visiting the university.

Anyways, morale of the story...don't stress about it. I really don't think it's super important in the grand scheme of the application.

My DC didn't answer the optional essay and got in OOS. When DC told us we secretly thought for sure it would be a negative but I guess not.

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Of course they had great applications. The connection essay is the cherry on top.

Why do they offer this essay if legacy isn’t considered? At the info session, they mentioned writing about a summer class you take at UVA. Besides being a descendent of the slaves that built UVA, a legacy or taking a class or camp, is there another creative way to respond to this essay?

That essay drove us crazy as we had none of that to write to either. My DC wrote about his personal connection he felt when visiting the University (places he went, his experiences, what got him excited to go there). That's it. My advice is not to overthink it. You can write about a connection you made or felt during a visit (if you are out of state, maybe even a virtual visit would be something to write about ).

Agreed. The extent of my DC's "connection" to the school was attending a sports camp there one summer and having an aunt and uncle who graduated from the school. DC is not close to them. It gave DC something to write about, but not much. Weird essay prompt. DC is in their first year and loving it, BTW.

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Of course they had great applications. The connection essay is the cherry on top.

Why do they offer this essay if legacy isn’t considered? At the info session, they mentioned writing about a summer class you take at UVA. Besides being a descendent of the slaves that built UVA, a legacy or taking a class or camp, is there another creative way to respond to this essay?

That essay drove us crazy as we had none of that to write to either. My DC wrote about his personal connection he felt when visiting the University (places he went, his experiences, what got him excited to go there). That's it. My advice is not to overthink it. You can write about a connection you made or felt during a visit (if you are out of state, maybe even a virtual visit would be something to write about ).

Is it harder to be accepted in-state or OOS for Engineering at UVA?

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Of course they had great applications. The connection essay is the cherry on top.

Why do they offer this essay if legacy isn’t considered? At the info session, they mentioned writing about a summer class you take at UVA. Besides being a descendent of the slaves that built UVA, a legacy or taking a class or camp, is there another creative way to respond to this essay?

Dean J mentions learning about summer programs she did not know existed from this essay. DD attended a summer program, but did not think it was worth discussing and left the essay blank. Admitted OOS

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Of course they had great applications. The connection essay is the cherry on top.

Why do they offer this essay if legacy isn’t considered? At the info session, they mentioned writing about a summer class you take at UVA. Besides being a descendent of the slaves that built UVA, a legacy or taking a class or camp, is there another creative way to respond to this essay?

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Of course they had great applications. The connection essay is the cherry on top.

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Anonymous wrote:

OOS yield is only 16% at UVA.

Let's assume this is true. So what. The kids who want to attend don't give a shit about OOS yield, and their families apparently are able to make it work financially. Please move on and let interested families discuss their results.

If you really think about it longitudinally, it means UVA is on the long-term decline because 1) it is too reliant on oos kids for budgeting purposes and 2) it is charging a private school tuition that these kids think is not worth it. Something will have to give if UVA will maintain its level of prestige. The writing is on the wall — and some people can read it better than others.

Michigan is highly reliant on OOS kids for budgeting purposes and that has saved it from decline. I think the most probable reason for a relatively low OOS yield is net price. For an OOS applicant, they will likely either have an offer from their state institutions at a much lower net price (and may get merit/honors) or offers from privates that are providing better net price and financial aid packages than UVA. Many top privates have replaced loans with grants. UVA, although need blind, focuses more on in-state net price, which makes sense given it is a state institution.

Anonymous wrote:I will take what SCHEV reports over anything a college posts on its own website.
OOS yield is only 16% at UVA.

SCHEV data is standardized. It is reported based on standard calculation criteria.

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Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

And they had nothing else going for them, right?

Can we acknowledge that these kids probably had great applications?

Are there stats on how many were deferred to regular decision?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

It’s different in our circle. Of all the kids my Dc knows who have gotten in, only 1 is not a legacy. All the other non-legacies were deferred. It may not “count”, but the connection to UVA essay does come into play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This year and last year I have known many JMU educated parents who are sending their kids to UVA. I also know several UVA educated parents whose kids were rejected from UVA.

I don’t know if this is just a fluke in my experience, but it seems UVA really is honoring the legacy ruling change from last year.

Agreed - I know several legacy kids that were denied.

Good.

Mommy and daddy went to the college. The kid did not.

+1

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Anonymous wrote:Accepted in-state

4.0 uw, highest rigor
1390 SAT
Varsity and club sport
EIC school newspaper
Internship in area of study
Very strong essay and LORs
Only took 3 years of foreign language

Outside of NoVA? Smaller town?

We’re in NoVA