Friday, March 27, 2009

Standardized Testing

Many of you might find that Standardized Testing(SAT,ACT,TOEFL,IELTS) appears on your to-do list. For many of you, this will stay on your to-do list until decision day. Your application will be read without it. Testing is not necessary for all of you and you might know who you are. For the time being, this element only leaves your to-do list if you sent it directly from the College Board. It is automatic. If your SATs appear on high school transcripts, it is not automatic. We are working to key this information in(yes, it has to be done by a human), but we will read the applications even it is not keyed in. If we require testing of you, we will email you. I realize it's counterintuitive, but the system is not perfect.

As always, we thank you for your patience. I think the first-year decisions have created anxiety on our transfer end here. Just remember to take a step back and breathe. Then, calmly go back to your daily routine :)

54 comments:

  1. The admissions tab that I use to check my acceptance status is saying that my application is "incomplete" since you said that there is no way to remove SAT from my to do list will my admissions tab always say Incomplete until decision day followed by a little yellow check???

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

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

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  2. If under the admissions tab there is a a "complete" symbol does that mean that the your application has been read and the decision has been made?

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  3. Hi Cookie,
    I believe that it just means all of your application materials are together and ready for viewing. I am almost 100% sure that has nothing do due with viewing status.

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  4. I have the same question as cookiemonster. If our status under the admissions tab is "complete," has our application been reviewed and decision made?

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  5. Complete means all of your materials are here.

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  6. Transfermer,
    What about my question??? :(

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  7. CarrJW,
    The $250 is the admissions deposit. This is required for most universities and colleges. It's the insurance that you'll attend in the fall and yes it will be required for offered transfers.

    CarrJW, we are working on it, but I sense you're an applicant who has been out of high school for a while and you requested the SAT be waived. If that's the case, you're fine.

    Transfermer has to do other work now.

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  8. The only thing missing on my SIS page is SAT scores, and it has been that way for a while. Before I saw this post, I called the admissions office to ask if I, as a student reapplying, needed to send my SAT scores again. She said that I didn't need to, but that I should email the admissions office to remind them that I sent the SAT results last year. Is that necessary/ will it expedite the process at all? I definitely want to make sure my SAT scores get seen.
    Thank you!

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  9. Thank you Transfermer!!!

    I did request an SAT waiver and it was granted.
    So the admissions tab will remain incomplete with a yellow check mark until decision day????

    Thank You!! I will leave you alone after this question!!promise :-D

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  10. Haha, I think we should make sure we read Transfermer's posts carefully before asking questions that have already been answered. Otherwise, Transfermer won't ever have time to read our applications and we'll never find out who gets in. :)

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  11. KJ,

    This is true, this is why it is important to have just one blog. That way it is easier to keep track of all Q/A's. Unfort. this is not the case.

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  12. If I am a freshman reapplying for my second year, do I need to resend my SAT scores? Throughout this whole process it has been stated that those reapplying do not need to resend their SAT scores; however, I do not want this to count against me in the admissions process, so should I email the admissions office, as Emory_Transfer stated was instructed to him/her?

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  13. I never recieved an email with my SIS ID!!!
    What should I do? I called in to the admissions office and they asked me to send an email.
    It has been almost a week since I sent the email and I still haven't received a reply? What should I do??

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  14. If we are accepted for the fall 2009 term do we have to reapply if we want to enter in the spring, or is it possible to defer your acceptance to a later date

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  15. I think you can fill out re-open application. That's what I did for W&M.

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  16. hey just wondering who else applied to engineering school. I started a thread on collegeconfidential.com for any transfer engineering hopefuls

    here's the link:

    http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/679006-uva-engineering-transfer.html

    Thanks hope to hear from some SEAS students!

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  17. I posted this in another comments section, but we had a long conversation about crepes, so I just wanted to make sure it didn't get lost in the mess, especially since you're already incredibly busy.

    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.

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  18. Teapot,
    so I guess you too are applying from community college? So am I. I did graduate, but did not go for guarantee admission program. As the due date is getting closer, I am also getting antsy, haha. I think it's hard for community college students to get in. If I remember correctly, transfers from 4 year universities get little more advantage over transfers from community college. Also there are certain number of people who are from community college are under guarantee admission. So yea.. I am scared that I might not get in after third try. Where are you applying from anyway?

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  19. I'm actually from JMU. It's interesting that you say 4-year college students have an advantage, because I've been thinking it's the other way around. I had thought that at least half of the incoming transfers are from community colleges, but I am not sure on this. It would be interesting to find out how the numbers even out though.

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  20. Hey, so I thought that the acceptance letters for first year admission would be sent out april 1, but i had a bunch of friends that got them last week, when i looked our acceptance date up it way may 1, does this mean we will hear on may 1 or around? Please tell me on may 1 haha or I will be checking it every day....

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  21. Teapot,
    last spring on this blog, someone asked this question, and transfermer stated that transfers from 4 year university get little more advantage over transfers from community college. And no, almost half would be from oos, and the other half would be from in state. Among in state, there are ones from 4 year, ones from community under guaranteed admission program, and ones from community w/o program, etc... so it's very competitive haha...

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  22. I was on the McIntire undergraduate admission website the other day and noticed that at the bottom of the screen it said that they were aggressively increasing the number of students admitted from Virginia community colleges and that approximately 70% of transfers to McIntire come from the VCCS system.

    It's also notable though that the average GPA is 3.9, plus I'm sure it's really competitive because there are 250,000 students that go to Virginia community colleges (from the VCCS website).

    I looked back to blog posts in April 2008 and there was a lot of community college bashing. Honestly, I think you've got pretty much the same chance whether you're from a community college, JMU or Cornell...it's just about what you do there.

    To substantiate the above claim, here's a quote from a transfer admission counselor in a recent CavDaily article:

    “Someone who is going to community college and doing very well actually has more of an advantage of getting in,” Undergraduate Admission Counselor Olivia Hessing said. When comparing two hypothetical transfer students — one at a Virginia community college with a 3.8 GPA and another at Cornell with a 3.3 GPA — Hessing said deciding which student will gain admittance is “difficult,” all else being equal.

    http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2009/feb/11/transferring-to-a-new-community/

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  23. UVeh,

    In a previous post I mentioned that if you look back to last year's blog entries, decisions were posted on April 25th. I don't think it's safe to assume that the same thing will happen this year, but it's possible. Transfermer has promised us that we'll have decisions by May 1st, so I'd just save that date and if you find out earlier you'll be (un)pleasantly surprised.

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  24. Although this does not pertain to the current topic, it's an important question! If we plan on applying for financial aid, do we wait until we have been accepted and do it through AccessUVa? I have already done FAFSA, but I'm not sure what to do next!

    Thanks :)

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  25. Anon, I'm pretty sure you were already supposed to have finished your UVA financial aid application.

    How many of you guys did the guaranteed admission? I did. I even enrolled in another CC in order to get my non-western perspective credit. I definitely encourage everyone looking into the GA to read the fine print!

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  26. I was on the McIntire undergraduate admission website the other day and noticed that at the bottom of the screen it said the following:

    "The University is aggressively increasing the goals for admitting students from the Virginia Community College System; 70% of McIntire’s 2008 incoming transfer students are from the VCCS."


    I looked back to blog posts in April 2008 and there was a lot of community college bashing, but honestly I completely understand why they're trying to encourage VCCS transfers.

    Not only does UVA have an obligation to look at in-state students who are looking to build on their two-year associate's degrees and get a bachelor's degree, but students who have finished two years at a community college are likely more mature and more grounded than students that have gone off to a 4-year university (my personal opinion). Out of the 250,000 students in the VCCS system 2/3 of them work part-time at jobs or internships, and students who forego the partying and freedom, stay at home and focus on school, get good grades and work a job, I feel, would be competitive with any student from a 4-year university.

    I think you've got pretty much the same chance of being accepted whether you're from a Virginia community college, JMU, Virginia Tech or Cornell...it's just about what you do there.

    To substantiate the above claim, here's a quote from a transfer admission counselor in a recent CavDaily article:

    “'Someone who is going to community college and doing very well actually has more of an advantage of getting in,' Undergraduate Admission Counselor Olivia Hessing said. When comparing two hypothetical transfer students — one at a Virginia community college with a 3.8 GPA and another at Cornell with a 3.3 GPA — Hessing said deciding which student will gain admittance is 'difficult,' all else being equal."

    http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2009/feb/11/transferring-to-a-new-community/

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  27. UVA Transfer,

    I did the GAA as well, though I asked to be considered for McIntire on top of that. :)

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  28. Please give the url if you're referring to something on a website. Long comments are not optimal for quickly reading, scanning and retrieving information. Thanks! Will be back in a jiffy.

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  29. Transfermer,
    Do you thing transfer decisions will post sooner than May 1st??

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  30. Did everyone receive an e-mail from UVA regarding course descriptions? I already sent mine through the mail over a month ago, however I have no idea if UVA ever received them. I guess I am just going to resubmit them through e-mail.

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  31. It said this on the bottom, so not to worry:

    ***NOTE: THIS IS A MASS EMAIL. PLEASE DISREGARD THIS MESSAGE IF YOU HAVE ALREADY
    SENT IN COURSE DESCRIPTIONS VIA MAIL, FAX, YOUR APPLICATION OR EMAIL.***

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  32. Emory_Transfer,
    These scores are viewed by looking at your previous application. They may not be removed from your to-do list, but if you sent them through the College Board or your high school transcript in a previous year, they are here.

    Smiles,
    This should answer your question. Do not re-send.

    Anon,
    You should write again.

    HokieHoo,
    We do not defer Fall to Spring. We defer Fall to Fall, but during that time, you cannot attend full-time schooling.

    Teapot,
    We don’t have this information. Generally, it’s a 50/50 split. We don’t have quotas for filling the class of 2nd years and 3rd years. We are reading applications. Decisions can only be promised to be released by or on May 1. There is no other information I can give you on this front. The number of students taken off the wait-list varies from year to year. I’m sorry to be vague, but it’s truly not a science. One year is not the same as the one before it.

    UVeh,
    As I said to Teapot, we can only say they’ll be out by or on May 1.

    Financial Aid Anon,
    You should also fill out the UFAA (University Financial Aid Application). The posted deadline was March 1, but that’s not to say you can’t still apply. However, the sooner the better.

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  33. Transfermer,

    For my own piece of mind, I just really need this question confirmed.

    I did request an SAT waiver and it was granted.
    So the admissions tab in my people soft will remain incomplete with a yellow check mark until decision day????

    Thank You!!

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  34. Kj,
    Thank you so much for that information. I am actually less worried after reading that article. Although it is still competitive for community college students since so many apply from them, and more students under guaranteed admission program. I don't know... I tried my best. Oh well

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  35. uvauvauva,

    Where will you go if uva does not work out?

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  36. carrjw,

    may I ask why you're asking such question?

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  37. So our application is technically "complete" even though our SAT scores do not get taken off the To-Do List?

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  38. Probably so CarrJW. Sean (see above me) hit it right on the head.

    Let’s worry about UVA guys and not where others are applying. Or, you can connect and talk about it off the blog.

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  39. uvauva,

    why wouldnt I ask such a question??? There is nothing implied by it other than simply what schools you were interested in. if you wish to not answer it, that is your choice.

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  40. carrjw,

    It is not that I don't want to answer your question but I wanted to keep this thread only about U.va just like transfermer said. I am more than happy to talk to you off this blog. Share some thoughts and tips.

    To be honest, U.va is the only school I am interested in, and is the only school I applied.

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  41. uvauva,

    "It is not that I don't want to answer your question but I wanted to keep this thread only about U.va"

    Yes, you are correct, the thread should be about UVA so wouldnt it have just been allot easier to say this in the first place in response to my question instead of asking me why I would even "ask such a question". I think so....haha geeezz!!! anyway, good luck!

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  42. carrjw,

    hahaha you are right. If you were offended by the way I replied, I apologize. Good luck to you too.

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  43. Ditto, take care! :)

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  44. I am missing the common application supplement on the SIS page. I submitted the supplement the same day that I submitted my application. Should I worry about this?

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  45. Lina,
    See my comment posted at 4:23pm on "Course Descriptions Revisited."

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  46. hey, I sent my SAT scores online from Collegeboard in February and yet the Standardized Testing is still present on my To-Do list and i have an "incomplete" application because of it.
    Am I supposed to do anything about this? or should I just assume the university has received my SAT scores from Collegeboard?

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  47. Hi Transfermer,
    My application status still says "incomplete" because of the financial form. I sent it with other items, but all the items were removed from the to do list except for the financial form. Also, I haven't got any contact from the admission office. Would that be matter? Thank you so much!!

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  48. The decision date is may 1st, but Virginia Tech's was May 1st as well but I got a letter in the mail yesterday from them. Does this mean that UVA applicants could find out before May 1st whether or not they got in?

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  49. If this is the case, Transfermer will let us know. As of now, you should just assume that the date is May 1. Hope things went well with Tech! :)

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  50. Also, you probably got decision letters from them sooner since less people applied there. All we can say is keep checking on this blog. Transfermer will create a blog to let us know when the decision letters will be mailed out.

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  51. Menna,
    This is something I don’t know about. Sending it from College Board is the best way to send it and I don’t know why it’s taking so long to arrive. It could be that it’s trying to match an abbreviated/middle name of yours. Please email undergradadmission@virginia.edu to inquire and give all the possible variations that you can use for your name. (i.e. John J. Smith, John James Smith, J. James Smith)

    Anon,
    I didn’t think this was a factor because not everyone will apply for financial aid. You should call Student Financial Services.

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  52. Hi Transfermer,

    I didn't mean the financial aid.
    What I meant was the bank statement and the financial form which are the requirements to
    international students.
    The status still says "incomplete" because of those forms :(

    Thank you

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