Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Festival of the Book

In an attempt to try and divert your attention, I wanted to clue you all into a fabulous cultural event that's going on in Charlottesville this weekend. That's Virginia's Festival of the Book. Writers and readers come together from all over for readings, seminars, classes and the like. In years past, there's really an electricity around town when these bookworms come to town. Some events started today, but everything really heats up tomorrow and Friday.
Take a break from re-checking your SIS page and check out their website: www.vabook.org

55 comments:

TeapotMonarch said...

Oh, I wanted to go to that last year, but never got the chance. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go this year either. Sad part about being a first year: no car. Hopefully next year it'll be just a few minutes walk. : )

Anonymous said...

Transfermer,

Does UVA admit students in their 3rd year of college for the spring semester?

Basically, if current 2nd years get rejected for the fall, is there any chance at gaining admission for the spring?

Thanks

TeapotMonarch said...

I'm signing up for a summer class at my local community college. I was wondering if a political science course could count toward the political theory gen. ed?

Anonymous said...

Do we need to submit mid-year reports? If so, when are they due by?

Transfermer said...

James,

Yes, that is your last chance to apply.

Teapot,

A politics course would satisfy the social science requirement.

Question,
No, you do not need to send these.

TeapotMonarch said...

Ok, thank you!

Kevin Jacokes said...

Regular admission decisions are being posted on Thursday! Only one more month for us transfer folk...

Anonymous said...

I feel like this is a stupid question, and that Transfermer has probably answered it before, but has it happened before where transfer applicants can see their decision before the set date of May 1st?

Kevin Jacokes said...

Ey Smiles :)!

If you look back to last year, decisions were posted on April 25th.

Looking through some of last year's posts was actually really interesting -- it gave me an idea of what to (hopefully) expect in terms of information from Transfermer on post-decision date happenings e.g. accepting offers of admission, wait list updates, etc.

Kevin Jacokes said...

On a side note, I just learned the difference between e.g. and i.e., which I previously thought were interchangeable.

When you mean “for example,” use e.g. It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase exempli gratia. When you mean “that is,” use “i.e.” It is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase id est. Either can be used to clarify a preceding statement, the first by example, the second by restating the idea more clearly or expanding upon it.

Yup...

Anonymous said...

Excellent information KJ, thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

transfermer,

is it possible for you to tell me that if transfer students who got rejection letter once or twice before, or it is their last chance to apply to u.va get more advantage over transfer students who is applying for the first time or have couple more chances to re apply? IF both have similar gpa or academic achivements?

Anonymous said...

The reason why I am asking this is because I've been rejected twice, and it is probably my last chance to apply to u.va. Well I did my best, and I guess I just have to wait and see what happens :)

Anonymous said...

KJ...I think you to go JMU. I also think you are in one of my classes (or have the same professor). lol I just learned the exact same thing in one of my classes on Tuesday. If you don't go to JMU, then what a coincidence!

TeapotMonarch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TeapotMonarch said...

I'm so curious as to who you guys are. I got to JMU too. It's so nerve-wracking knowing so many other people from here are applying. I know two personally, and there are at least four of us on the blog, I believe. Best of luck though!

TeapotMonarch said...

Well, actually, it's just nerve-wracking anyway.

Anonymous said...

Transfermer, what are the admissions officers looking for in a transfer student?

Kevin Jacokes said...

Haha, must be a coincidence then, JMUVAer. I'm a community college kid at NOVA.

Teapot,
Not sure if lots of JMUers are trying to transfer to UVA, but I'm one less you have to worry about. :)

Question for JMU kids though since I'm applying to both UVA and JMU: Why do you want to transfer? What makes UVA (in your opinion) better than JMU?

Kevin Jacokes said...

Not to spam the blog with questions...but I also wanted to get you all's input on something.

When someone tells you they went to a Virginia community college...do you make snap judgments about them? Whenever I heard someone say that I always thought to myself, "Ooh, where'd they go wrong?" My opinion has changed since to say the least.

Just curious.

Transfermer said...

wanna uva,

It's possible you've beefed up your chances because you have more credits under your belt, but those who are applying for the last time do not have an advantage over the others.

We don't have quotas for how many we take from certain schools, if that's what the JMU folks are getting at...

Chuck,
I know you know the drill. Strong grades and a great many of our core requirements. We like to see applicants who write clear essays that tell us why they want to transfer. That is just a snapshot. The website explains it in detail.

I'd prefer if you didn't compare schools on here. We do not compare ourselves within our office and I wouldn't want to get into it on here. There are many reasons why students choose to transfer. Let's just leave it at that. Thanks KJ! Keep the great UVA questions coming!

Anonymous said...

Transfermer, thanks for the clarifications.

Anonymous said...

Transfermer,
I know you probably have gotten a lot of questions about this but according to SIS my HS transcript and my test scores have not been processed yet (still listed under to-do list). Is that normal? Are the transcripts and test scores still being processed? Thanks for all your help!

Anonymous said...

Transfermer,

I am sorry but what do you mean by "It's possible you've beefed up your chances because you have more credits under your belt"?

Someone asked you this before, but is there anyway to check the decision for rollover applicatns before may 1st?

Anonymous said...

Good luck to everyone who is receiving their result today~! only 3 hours and 11 minutes to go

TeapotMonarch said...

I'm so nervous/excited for the seniors! Is it weird that I'll be checking that blog? Haha, at least I'm not the only one, Smiles :).

Sasha said...

On a lighter note, I just perfected my crepe dessert technique. i found it quite difficult to fold the crepe over the ice cream and berries and keep it there. so i folded the fat little pancake over itself and put it in the oven for a minute. Luckily, it did not really dry out, but rather just stiffened up a little bit...
...Now if only black berries would be in season and I could actually make creme fraiche.

Anonymous said...

Ummmmmm Crepes...!

TeapotMonarch said...

Crepes are delicious. : )

Anonymous said...

Crepes are so delicious. My mom is able to make some but I can't :(

Anonymous said...

Hello Transfermer,

Do the first year letters look the same for transfer students, as far as envelope appearance and size? what size envelopes are they in???

Thanks!

Kevin Jacokes said...

Crepes + Nutella = Delish.

TeapotMonarch said...

You know, I have always wanted to try Nutella. If I get into UVA, I can. They have it O-hill. :)

TeapotMonarch said...

When you have the stats (and the time, as this is a very busy time), could you post what percent are applying as first and second years and who applied under the community college guarantee?

Also, could you give us any insight into where our applications are in the process of being reviewed? Sorry for the amount of questions, but now that it's only a month away, I'm getting a little antsy.

Oh, and also the percent of people generally taken off the wait-list? I tried to find those stats, but was unsuccessful.

Thank you so much! This blog is always quite informative.

Anonymous said...

do we see our decision today? mine is not showing up online on SIS. it just says that my app is complete.

TeapotMonarch said...

Transfer decisions come out May 1, unless Transfermer tells us its earlier.

Anonymous said...

hahah thanks! i was super excited about today. oh well. may 1st then.

TeapotMonarch said...

Ok, so I swear I do have a life outside of this blog (even though I seem to post a lot), but does having the admissions tab say complete mean our application has already been reviewed? Or is everyone's up now?

Anonymous said...

Great question Teapot! I want to know that myself! aand I also have a life outside of this blog however, you would never know it.ha.

Anonymous said...

i'm pretty sure it means you've submitted everything for your application. i'd be surprised if it meant reviewed.
now i have to schedule classes and housing for here. ugh.

Anonymous said...

Hi Transfermer,

Same Question.....
When I logged on to my People Soft the Admissions tab was posted. I thought we would not see this tab until May 1st. Why is it that it is posting now? Also,
concerning my SAT/ACT scores I had previously explained to you how I did not submit scores b/c I have been out of HS for 5 yrs. I was concerned about the fact that my SAT's were still showing up on my To Do List. To this you answered...

"My apologies CarrJW. It is likely that this function will not go away on your to-do list. The reason for this is that we don’t have a formal waiver to trip the system into removing it from the to-do list. I believe this is the same for SATs that are sent through the high school. The system only picks up on electronically submitted SATs. But know that we’ll take them from the high school."

This is fine however the admissions tab is saying that my application is "incomplete" since you said that there is no way to remove SAT from to do list will my admissions tab always say Incomplete until decision day???

Also, whats going on with that $250 the first years have to pay?? will transfers have to pay this as well?

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!

katydid said...

@CarrJW isn't it just the deposit that says "i want to go here" ? so they pay if/when they decide to accept the admission.


also, maybe the admissions tab (mine is up too) showed up because first year decisions were posted today and it's all the same system? idk.

but yeah i'm starting to get really nervous too haha

Anonymous said...

Hey Katie,

Yeah, the only reason why I asked was b/c it appears on the screen prior to clicking the button that says "view decision". In other words everyone that got accepted today saw this outstanding fee applied to their account. It was an indication for them that they were already accepted.

~Carrie

The Nerves are rising!!!haha

Anonymous said...

teapot monarch. you silly goose! the crepe place in festival has nutella too! uva is not the only place in the world that has nutella... although i know we all like to think that uva is just the best and only school there is... :)

TeapotMonarch said...

Haha, that is true. I actually have noticed that before (ha, I live in Potomac, so I basically live at Festival...with all my classes in the quad...ugh!) And yes, everything at UVA seems better. :)

TeapotMonarch said...

Oh, and I actually came on to ask a question. Will we see the $250 like the first years did if we get in? Talk about painful if you don't see it. It's like reading the rejection or wait-list twice in a row. Almost as bad as seeing it online and then getting the letter in the mail

Anonymous said...

Yeah, For the first time in my life I'll squeal with delight to be charged a fee!!!ha. :-)

Anonymous said...

Transfermer,

I just read an article posted on CVILLE that said there were 21,839 first year applicants for 2009 and I have to say that I am amazed that UVA's admission office can process so many applications in such a short a time- then focus on our 2,500(just guessing) multiple transcript transfer apps. I really appreciate and respect what you all do.

Would it be possible, if I am lucky enough to be accepted, to help out in the process somehow?

Good luck to all,
Ben

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else still have things on their To-Do List?

Anonymous said...

Yes I do. I submitted my application Feb. 1st with my transcripts being sent on that date also. My college transcript has been received but my high school and SAT scores have not. This is worrying me a little at this point in the game although I know it shouldn't because we should be receiving e-mails if the admissions office is missing anything. Which brings me to the question: Transfermer, at what point in the application process should we become worried that our application status is incomplete?

Anonymous said...

OMG OMG IM FREAKING OUT.

If it says your application is complete, what does this mean?? I sent everything in, why is it still saying that?

Could it be because it still says "Standardized Test Scores" on my to-do list, or is this something else?

Anonymous said...

*incomplete

sorry that was a type!fail

Anonymous said...

I checked my application on the common app, and all the sections have a green arrow.

:(

also P.S. to TeapotMonarch: I don't think I'll be visiting the first-year blog for the next week or so. I remember how completely devastated I was at this time last year, and it'll be too heart-wrenching to read the posts of seniors who were not offered admission this year. *sigh*...

TeapotMonarch said...

Yeah, it is definitely rough. I posted some "it's ok, etc. etc." Now, whether that's more annoying or helpful, I'm not sure. And yeah, I'm going to try to stay away from it a bit as well. Trying to keep my mind off our decisions coming up now. Eek!

P.S. to the crepe conversation: it made me want some, so I got a crepe and coffee for breakfast...Yum.

Transfermer said...

Wannauva,
Everyone receives their decisions at the same time. By beefed up, I mean that in some cases, if you have more credit, you are probably more competitive than your former self and former application.

Ben B.

Thank you! Your guess wasn’t too far off. We received around 2300 applications.
There are a few work-study students in our office, but they do not read applications, nor do they recruit. They mainly answer phones and help around the office. There is also a group of student volunteer who come to the office to greet our visitors. Visitors and current students really enjoy this.