Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dean Jack Blackburn

Just wanted to let you all know that Tuesday evening, we lost are beloved Dean of Admission John "Jack" Blackburn. Dean Blackburn was an incredibly generous and devoted member of the UVA community and the admissions world itself. In case you didn't know about him, here is a great article on his life's work. Please read:
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=7536

Monday, January 19, 2009

Very Important: Course Descriptions Needed

Unfortunately, the application does not have a place to describe your college courses, past and present. Last Fall, we decided to put instructions on the website to make accomodations for this issue. You'll find them here: www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/apply.html Scroll down to School Forms and Recommendations. We ask that you send in this information via mail or fax(434-924-7674).


For each course you've taken or courses you are currently taking


You should list:
1) Semester/Year of the course
2)The Course Number
3) The Course Name
4) Short Description of the course



For example:
1) Fall 2008
2) PLAP 101
3) Introduction to American Politics
4) Surveys the fundamentals of American government and politics, systematically covering the major institutions of our system (the presidency, the Congress, the courts) as well as the system's essential processes.

You can consult your school's online course catalog to get these descriptions. Providing this information will aid us in understanding your transcript. Start early, as this can be time-consuming if you have a lot of courses. Remember to include your Spring 2009 courses if you are currently in school.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Recommendations Revisited

I've posted it on this several times, but as with any blog, pertinent information tends to get buried. Let's recap this subject.

1) Know that recommendations or "instructor evaluations" as they are called on the Common App, are RECOMMENDED and not required. Therefore, we do not recommend a number. Historically, transfer applicants send in 0-2 recommendations. You will not be penalized if you send 0. You will not be penalized if you send 3. However, please bear in mind that we are reading hundreds of applications and will not read every recommendation if you decide to send us an exorbitant amount with your application.

2) There are a variety of ways to send these recommendations. They can be 1) mailed to the address on our website. They may be 2) faxed to (434)924-7674 OR 3) they may be emailed through traditional email to uvarecommendations@virginia.edu. Your name must be in the subject line and we'd like your Date of Birth in the body of the email.

** We do not have the capability to receive the instructor evaluation through the CommonApp portal. Please send them via one of the three ways I've listed above.


Do I need to submit a Secondary School Report Form and College Official's Report?
NO
We at UVA do not, nor have we ever used these types of forms in our transfer review process. The Common Application is made for hundreds of Universities and Colleges and some use these forms, some do not. That's why it's important to check the schools' websites for specific instructions.