Applying to Architecture? Portfolios Are Required

If you are applying to the architecture program (not urban planning or architectural history), you'll notice in various places on our website that portfolios are required.  These are reviewed by architecture faculty and play a role in your admissions decision.

For specific instructions, you should go to our Deadline & Instructions page and scroll down to "ART AND ARCHITECTURE SUPPLEMENTS" tab at the bottom of the page (not the box in the middle of the page).  These are also due March 1, and happily, they are submitted online, so you don't have to worry about putting something in the mail.

These students are also required to attend UVA in the summer if admitted. Summer courses at UVA are condensed and super fun.

Come Visit Our Online Chat tonight!

Tonight (from 6:30-8:30 eastern), we're going to experiment with something we haven't done in years.  We'll be hosting an online chat for prospective students.  Two deans will be present along with a couple of students (former transfers) who will do their best to answer all of your questions about the admissions process and what it's like for a student at UVA. If you're on the mailing list, or you have an application in process, you probably received an email about this. If not, you should still be able to log in.

Starting at 6:30, you can go to this link to enter the room.  Of course, you can drop in anytime between then and 8:30. 

Many of you can use your myUVA account to register.  If you are asked for the chat code, it is 1481.

See you online!

Send Your Transcripts Now

Did you know that you can send transcripts before you apply?  Yes, it's true.

All too often, applicants do not mobilize quickly enough, or do not think about the need to send transcripts until March 1.  That's typically too late. Think about it this way.  If you wanted to mail a birthday card or an anniversary card to someone, you wouldn't wait until the day of the occasion to send the card, would you?  March 1 is the postmark deadline, but you can help us to complete your applications as efficiently as possible by planning ahead.  Request those transcripts now (this can take 7-14 days at some schools) and we'll match up your application to your transcripts after submission.

UPDATE: We will accept these via mail (see our address over there to the right -->)  or electronically (uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu or undergradadmission@virginia.edu) , so long as they come directly from your school.  Sometimes, these e-transcript services have email addresses pre-selected for them, but they should still end up here.

Good luck!

High School Transcripts (or the GED) are Required

We believe that many applicants are surprised that we require a high school transcript, or a GED score report from our transfers. This is an important part of application review and yes, it's required for everyone, no matter how old you are, or how long you have been in school.

This also goes for international students and students who finished high school abroad. This can present difficulties for these students.  Please make sure to consult with your school or school district to have these documents sent to us. If your transcript need translating, you will want to work on this as soon as possible. Most of our applicants use WES for their translation service.  We don't need the evaluation, only the translation. Some international schools do not provide transcripts, but rather summaries or test results from secondary education.  We will take those documents as well.

We tend to look closer at the high school records of rising second-years, because after all, that was less than a year ago.  While we require them for any applicant, typically the longer you have been away from high school, the less closely we'll look at that record.

Preparing for Spring Coursework

Are you applying for fall 2018 and looking to continue to take appropriate courses ahead of applying to transfer?  Be sure to keep an eye on our transfer course requirements.  As many of you are already aware, these are the building blocks to a competitive application and a smooth transition to UVA. 

To find out what courses transfer to UVA, be sure to check out this transfer equivalencies page.   With millions of courses out there, the College of Arts and Sciences has added as many courses as have been taken by our former transfer students. Just because your course isn't listed, it doesn't necessarily mean that the course won't transfer successfully.  We've also uploaded a document under our FAQs that should help prospective engineering transfers.

Taking the appropriate courses and earning strong grades are the most important aspects of file review. Now, back to those transfer course requirements. Once you click through to each school -- the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Architecture, etc. -- you'll see a list of exactly what you need to take.  Follow this closely, but it's highly recommended that you look to see what UVA students are taking their first two years as well.  It may be wise to take an additional math course if that's what Psychology or Biology is looking for. Some departments have done a great job of speaking directly to transfers on their pages.  Here are some examples - economics, psychology, and media studies. Some give curriculum guides like chemistry and mechanical engineering.  A quick google search will give you information on curricula all over the University.  Our best applicants have planned out their schedules using this information and it shows on transcripts.

Enjoy the rest of your break!

Spring Transfer Decisions Are Out!

Well, they'll be out this evening.  Remember that you have to check your SIS account to get your decision. You'll find information about this in your UVA confirmation email, back from the time when you applied on or before October 1st. We will post all decisions online, but we will only be mailing letters to admitted students.  A student is either offered or not offered.  There is no wait list process for spring admission.

Do not call the office to ask for your decision.  We do not give out decisions over the phone. To get to your account, go here and click on the "SIS Login."  If you don't remember your account information, check your submission confirmation email, then seek out the help information on the left-hand side of that same page.  

About 17% of applicants were admitted. If you were not admitted, you might have the opportunity to "roll over" your application for fall 2018 consideration.  Please follow the directions in your online letter to make the request.  NOTE: This option is not available for students who are entering their sixth semester at a four-year institution (this is not a community college) come January 2018.  Unfortunately, these students are no longer eligible to transfer to UVA.  If that is the case, we hope that you will apply to UVA for graduate school in the future.

If you are admitted, you'll notice the $400 tuition deposit, and you'll have until December 15th to make your deposit.

We do not have admitted student days for transfers and like you, our students and faculty will be heading into final exams in the coming days.  The Office of Admission is your best bet for questions, but hopefully, most of these were answered during your research this fall.

Best of luck to everyone on your final exams! 

Come Join Us for the Transfer Open House!

We'll have our annual open house in about ten days.  Please come join us for an overview of the admission process, a tour of grounds, and an opportunity to hear from faculty, and students who transferred to UVA in past years. To register, go here.  Hope to see you on Grounds!

One last community college visit for the year

Catch us at John Tyler Community College next week! We will be giving a session on Monday, October 23 at the Midlothian campus from 1-2 PM. Check with your Student Services Office on the exact location.


See you there!

Two More Visits out on the Road

If you are a student or an advisor, please come find us at the following Virginia Community College Campuses! Join us for a 45-60 min information session on UVA and the admission process.

Central Virginia Community College - 11 AM or 1 PM

Virginia Western Community College - 11 AM or 1 PM - Webber Hall 313

Check in with your Student Services Office for details or room changes.

Coming to an NVCC Campus Near You

We are on the road this week in the midst of visiting the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) Campuses.  We are covering Annandale and Loudoun today, but you still have time to see us on the other campuses.

September 26 - 9AM and 11AM - NVCC Alexandria Campus (check with students services for location)

September 26 - 2PM and 4PM - NVCC Woodbridge (WS 333)

September 27 - 9AM and 11AM - NVCC Manassas (check with students services for location)

We are also planning similar events at John Tyler and Virginia Western, so stay tuned, or look for us at this fall's transfer college fairs!

Back to School!

Wow, this summer has really flown by and it's time to turn your attention to perfecting those fall semester schedules.


As you prepare to return to school (or maybe this is your first semester of college), it's important to be aware of the pre-requisite courses necessary for transfer to UVa. We realize there are courses you'll need to take at your institution, but it's important to overlap, or incorporate what we're looking for as well.

If you go to our website admission.virginia.edu/transfer and click on "Transfer Course Requirements" on the left-hand side, you'll see some very helpful introductory information.  Once you click through to each school -- the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Architecture, etc -- you'll see a list of exactly what you need to take.  Follow this closely.  If you would like to see how your school's courses might transfer, you can use our transfer credit analyzer.  This will show most of your institutions and many courses.  Do not fret if courses you have taken do not appear on the analyzer.  It doesn't necessarily mean that they won't transfer, but our registrars will evaluate the credit once you're admitted.

We look forward to answering any questions here with regards to finalizing your schedules! 

And in comes July

As many of your saw from your email over the weekend, we have closed the wait list.  Offers were made throughout the month of June and the transfer class is now complete.  We thank you for your patience in this process and wish you the best if you do not plan to apply again in the future.

Before we know it, those who are looking to apply in the future will be fine tuning your fall coursework.  Look out for a future post on signing up for classes and the release of the application for spring semester.

We wish you a safe and happy holiday!

It's June!

June means we'll be moving to the wait list at some point this month. Remember that if you want to be considered, make sure you click the button in your SIS account to "Remain on the Wait List" and send in your final transcripts if your semester/term has ended and ALL of your grades have been posted. We will not review your application again if you have not completed these steps.  We'll likely be taking 70-80 students off the wait list, mostly in the College of Arts and Sciences and Engineering. We'll be announcing this over email and typically, you will have two days to make your decision.  If you need your financial aid award to make your decision, we can look into approving an extension if you submitted the FAFSA and CSS Profile by April 1.

Are you on the Wait List?

You can use this post as a space to make comments or ask questions about the wait list.

If you are interested in staying on the wait list, please make sure you click the button labeled “remain on the wait list.”  If you don’t do this, we will not review your file again in the future. Once you’ve clicked it, that does the trick.  This page stays the same after you click the button in case you change your mind at a later date. So, if you change your mind and want to leave the waiting list, please come back and decline the spot.

After the admissions deposit deadline of May 15, we’ll begin to look to see how many students we can take off the wait list.  These numbers vary from year to year and unfortunately, it can be a long process. We won’t make any decisions on May 16^th.  There is a bit of a wait. Why? Because we have to wait for your final exams to end, and for you to send us updated grades. We hope to make our decisions by the end of June however. Offers are usually made in waves.

How do we make these decisions?  We absolutely need to see your transcripts listing your spring 2017 grades.  In short, send us your final transcript. Trust us. If you want us to look at your file again, send it along.  You’ll want to do this, but only after your exams are completed and ALL of your grades are posted.  To send this transcript, please use the same address that appears on the right panel of this blog. Ideally, you would want to get these to us by the first week of June, but there is still time after that period. We know there can be extenuating circumstances. If you were not taking classes this spring, feel free to send a note/email/letter of continued interest to undergradadmission@virginia.edu. It will get to the transfer committee, so you do not need to put it to anyone’s attention. Please do not send us additional essays or recommendations.

If your grades are strong, this may help you earn the offer, but we can’t offer to everyone from the wait list, so we’ll be looking at the strongest candidates.  If you earned poor grades this past spring, it would be difficult for us to admit you.

Our wait lists are divided by school – Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Architecture, Nursing, Batten, Commerce, Kinesiology.  So, you are only on a wait list for that particular program.  It is not ranked, and it is only made up of students who elected to remain on the wait list.  That’s why we can’t give a firm number of right now.  Historically, about 20% of the applicants are offered a spot on the wait list, but not everyone elects to stay on it.

If you are eventually offered admission from the wait list and need financial aid information in order to make your decision, we will do our best to help you with this.  If you post here, please be considerate of each other’s feelings, emotions, reactions and the like. We will delete any inappropriate commentary. Good luck all!

Not offered admission?

This is obviously not the decision you were looking for when you set out on this journey.  We wish we could admit all of the wonderful applicants who have applied.  The reality is that we only have so much space, making admission highly selective.  We want you to be proud of your accomplishments and proud of the fact that you stuck your neck out and applied to transfer from your world to a whole other world. Even that is an accomplishment. This decision is not a declaration of your personal worth or who you are.  We trust that you have other options and hope you can find peace in that next step.

                        

We do not have an appeals process, but depending upon the length of time you’ve been in college and your desired school here at UVA, you may be able to apply again in the future. You’ll need to complete a new application. Spring 2018 applications (available beginning on August 1) will be due October 1. Again, this might not be open to your school of interest.  If you post here, please be considerate and supportive of each other’s feelings, emotions, reactions and the like. We will delete any inappropriate commentary. We wish you the best of luck wherever this decision may lead you.

Offered Admission?

Please use this post to ask questions if you have been offered admission.

Congratulations! As I said in my previous post, you will receive a letter (in a thin-ish envelope) via the snail mail in the next week or so.  We never promise admission to a particular major.  You have been admitted to the school to which you have applied. Major declaration and planning will occur at orientation and over the summer. For those of you who applied to the Curry Teaching program, you’ll find out whether you’ve been admitted to the Master’s program in your letter. For those of you who applied to Architecture or McIntire, watch out for information on required summer courses (in your offer letter).

Your $400 admissions deposit can be paid online.  This goes towards your first semester’s tuition. Below your online “letter,” you should see buttons to accept or decline our offer of admission.  Clicking “YES” will not completely secure your spot in the class.  You will need to pay your $400 deposit to set it in stone.  You can pay with a credit card (we do not accept VISA) or with an e-check.  As specified in the letter, you will have until May 15^th to put down a deposit.

Financial aid information will start to go out next week, if your financial aid has been reviewed.

You should keep an eye on your to-do list in the event that Student Financial Services needs more information from you. 

We do not have open houses for admitted transfer students. You are welcome to visit and look around, but keep in mind that our students and faculty are in the midst of final exams.

As far as the next steps go, 72 hours after you deposit, you should be able to take UVA’s responsible computing quiz, officially set up your email account and register for orientation. Housing and dining information will take a couple of weeks to come.   It is so important to keep an eye on both your old and new email addresses.  EVERYTHING happens on email.  Don’t miss important deadlines by ignoring these accounts. Your academic credit will not be evaluated until you pay your deposit and send in your final transcript. This evaluation is ongoing until summer orientation.   If you’re curious about what might transfer, check out our transfer credit analyzer.  Generally, you will not sign up for classes until orientation.  Your school may tell you otherwise, but this won't happen to until late Jane at the earliest.

If you decide not to come to UVa, please be sure to decline the offer using the other button-- the "NO" button. We and our wait listed students would really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Lastly, keep up the good work.  We’ve admitted because you have shown us you can perform well in college-level coursework. You’ve come this far.  Let’s keep it up!   Feel free to come back to the blog for moral support during that last final exam or paper.

Decisions are out!

We had some technical difficulties with the blog yesterday.   Many of you have found that we released decisions yesterday evening.

Apologies for the radio silence when it came to those posts earlier in the season, but we’ve been working away at reading transfers while juggling our high school spring break visitors. We are so excited to complete our transfer process.

For those of you who haven't found it, let’s review how you can see your official decision.  In order to view it, you must be able to get into your UVa SIS account. If you don’t remember or can’t find your SIS login information, use the links on the login page https://sisuva.admin.virginia.edu/psp/epprd/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=PAPP_GUEST to generate a new password.  If you need additional assistance, you can call the UVa help-desk at (434) 924-HELP or toll-free at (866) 469-4866. 

Please do not overwhelm the system by opening multiple windows.  Take your time and use one window.  If you need to give it a rest, walk around your house or apartment one time and come back to it. Do some reading, dishes, laundry and let the system relax as well. Your decision will still be there 2 minutes, 20 minutes or 2 hours from that point. 

The decision pages online will give you limited information on your decision– Offer, Wait list, or Not Offered. Once again, we do not email decisions.  Detailed information for admitted students will arrive in the mail next week.  In an effort to be environmentally conscious, we only mail letters to admitted students.  In addition, please look out for important inserts in your letters if you applied to McIntire, Architecture or the Curry Teaching Program.  Many of these students will have additional requests for summer coursework or things-to-do in their letters.

We’ll be creating spaces on this blog for you to comment, similar to what you’ve seen in past years. Look out for that later this afternoon.

Thank you for reading our posts and posting your questions throughout the whole year.  There is less to cover with you all because you are already college students, but we are happy to try and address any general topics you can think of regarding becoming a student at UVa.  We DO work most weekends during our reading season of October to April, but find it’s best to let the decisions settle in and we’ll address your thoughts and inquiries next week.  Good luck!