Monday, March 30, 2009

Course Descriptions Revisited

This morning, a mass email went out to remind those applying from non-VCCS schools to send us course descriptions. Please see the post on January 19. There are some slight differences.
1) If you haven't already sent them to us, we're asking that you email them. 2) We are not requesting this of VCCS students because these courses are standard across the state.

If you've already sent these descriptions, please do not send the information again. It was a mass email.

55 comments:

uvahopeful said...

If we already mailed it, should we just pray that you guys have received it already or is there going to be any way that it's going to be added to the to-do list. Seeing how the last day for them to be due is the day before admissions if for some reason you don't get them, we're just out of luck?

Emory_Transfer said...

Are these course descriptions for the purpose of determining admission, or determining admission off of the wait list (assuming that there is a waitlist for transfers), or simply a way to give you an idea of what credits would transfer with you should you be accepted?
Thanks for the information

I said...

Should we assume that our course descriptions have been received if the status of our application on SIS is "complete"?

OnceAgain said...

Is there a part on the To Do list for our Course Descriptions? How is this different from what we filled out on the Common App and what we see on our transcripts?

TeapotMonarch said...

"This component will not show up on your "To-Do List" during any part of the process."
The email said that the course descriptions would not appear on the To-Do list.

The part on the common app was just a list of the courses we are taking/will be taking.

I think if you go back and read the email, you'll get all the information you need.

Anonymous said...

I have just been notified that I have qualified to join the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Since I am just now receiving notification I was unable to put this on my application. Would there be any benefit in notifying the admission office of this academic accomplishment and if so how would I go about doing so?

Ali said...

if i sent a list of classes taken without any sort of descrition for any of them, should i send an emaial with all the little parts thaat the email lists? i'm thinking it's probabaly better to have both than to have just one

Transfermer said...

uvahopeful,
Please don't send it again.

Emory et. al,
This is purely used for credit evaluation purposes. It was on the application before we went to commonapp. We've learned from this and we'll re-insert it next year.

I and OnceAgain,
As Teapot pointed out, this doesn’t come in contact with your to-do list.
The Common App doesn’t ask for course descriptions. Neither does your transcript.

Anon,
Send an email (uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu) and our staff will try our best to get it to your application in time.

Ali,
In your case, you should re-send with descriptions this time 

John Galt said...

I honestly don't know how some of you can even think about applying for college if you can barely send in your transcript and application without asking a billion questions.

TeapotMonarch said...

I think for most it is a very stressful time. When you don't like the school where you are at, you want to make absolutely sure that you're doing everything you can to get into your dream school. Asking questions helps clarify so that we're not missing anything important. Sometimes people just freak out and need some reassurance. I don't think asking questions limits ones abilities.

TeapotMonarch said...

John Galt,

Out of curiosity, is that your real name or are you borrowing it from a book?

Anonymous said...

Are we allowed to use the descriptions straight from our school's course selection books?

Bates said...

I'm assuming he means the John Galt, a character in Atlas Shrugged. Clever. Also interesting, considering the phrase "Who is John Galt" is used as an expression of hopelessness in the novel, which is, no doubt, what many people are feeling right now as their transcripts have been sent away and they have no control over their situation. This blog is for questions, encouragement and constructive help. I apologize to all who read this, thinking it had something to do with their applications. I just don't appreciate negativity especially during such a stressful time.

TeapotMonarch said...

Yeah, I got the reference, I was just wondering if it was intentional, or coincidentally his actual name. Yeah, I found Galt's speech to more motivating than deprecating though.

UVAfan said...

Transfermer,

I'm a VCCS student, but i did the extra work and sent in my course descriptions anyways. This was done before i knew that for VCCS students it wasn't a requirement.
Will this affect me in any way?
Or does it just not matter?

TechtoUVA said...

I sent my high school and college official transcripts early in Feburary. On my To-Do list it has removed my college transcript approximately two weeks ago. I asked my high school to resend my official high school transcript with my SAT scores were faxed to the admissions office and mailed as you stated to do on this blog. Those were sent this past Thursday. However, my high school official transcript and SAT scores have not been removed from my to-do list. At what point should I become concerned and contact the office of admissions? Because I heard (I hope you can clarify) that no application will be read without both high school and collegiate transcripts. Additionally, the early applications that are read, generally have a better chance of being admitted because they sent their admission materials in sooner. Sorry for the long post I'm highly concerned about whether or not I will be reviewed because of a problem with the mail system. Thanks.

amanda said...

I sent in all the required materials back in the first week of January, and my To Do List still lists my high school transcripts, which I had had sent twice over the past 3 months! Should I be concerned or do anything else at this point?

TeapotMonarch said...

When it comes to the decision date, is there any place where we can send additional information if we are waitlisted? And if so, is there a specific format to follow, or does it matter?

Transfermer said...

Yes Anon. This was mentioned in the email.

UVAfan,
It doesn't make a difference.

TechtoUVA,
This is a valid concern. As far as Thursday goes, we stopped processing transfer materials momentarily while we were stuffing and mailing decision letters. Sorry to put you off again, but let’s wait until Friday.
And you can rest assured that we read the applications the same way throughout the process. It isn’t a case of the class filling up before we can read all of the applications.
Good question there.

Amanda,
I agree. That is very strange. We are scanning the transfers to check to see if anything has been misfiled. Again, let’s wait until Friday. But I think your best bet is to fax the transcript.

Let's hope you're offered Teapot, but if not, there is no format. Just email or mail it per usual.

Kevin Jacokes said...

My application supplement still isn't registered. If it's not up by Friday, should I contact you all?

Cartman said...

I spent one year at a non-VCCS College and one year at a VCSS college. Do you want course descriptions just for the classes at the Non-VCCS college?

Also in regards to the post about sending in your transcrpits again if the SIS system still says it doesnt have them (the one that said it might have been lost in the mail), How soon will the SIS update that?

amanda said...

Even though I sent in everything back in January, my To Do list still shows my High School transcript missing and that you need a transcript from a college where I am CURRENTLY taking one course. About a month ago, I spoke with someone in admissions, and they said they wouldn't need the transcript for that one course until the end of this Spring semester showing that it was completed. I am concerned however that it is on my To Do List, and you may think my application is Incomplete! What would you suggest? I am also asking my high school to Fax another transcript to you today, which will be the third one sent out to UVA since early January! Thanks for your help

I said...

If accepted, do we have the opportunity to defer till Spring Semester? I am looking to study abroad this Fall and initial payments for that start before I hear back from UVa.

TeapotMonarch said...

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

(Had to delete last post due to spelling error...want to be an editor, so sometimes annoying when it comes to correct spelling..Sorry! I wish this had an edit button rather than just delete).

Chuck said...

I've been wondering something. Is it harder to transfer to UVA than to be accepted as a first-year?

UVA2013 said...

Both had an acceptance rate around 35% last year. However, first year acceptance rate has dropped by nearly 9 %, I assume there will also be a drop for transfer applicants.

Transfermer said...

KJ,
I don’t know your situation specifically, but apparently students like yourself did not submit the UVA Supplement. I believe the Basic Application, the payment and supplement all had their own submit buttons. It’s too late to submit this online, so you’ll have to send it in an alternate way. If you applied online and the supplement is on your to-do list, you need to print the supplement and express mail it to us. The express mail address is

UVA Office of Admission
Peabody Hall
McCormick Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Cartman,

Just the non-VCCS courses.
I’m hoping that this information(missing transcripts) will be processed in the next 5-7 days.

Amanda,
Your current college transcript is like the SAT situation I’ve been talking about. The system automatically wants this transcript, but we’ll read your application without. If you didn’t tell us about this course in your application, you should email us.
Hopefully, the hs fax will come in today. Again, processing will take 5-7 days.

Chuck and UVA2013,
30% of first-years were admitted this year. There was a 15% jump in applications for these first-years. Close to 40% of transfers were admitted last year. There was a 3% jump in applications this year. I would venture to say that it will still be 35-40% for transfers.

outofstate said...

What percentage of those admitted transfers must be in-state students?

Kevin Jacokes said...

After submitting the UVA supplement online I noticed that I didn't attach the essays, so I sent my essays both via e-mail to uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu and snail-mailed my essays to the Office of Undergraduate Admission. I did this a couple of months ago, sometime in January.

Is it possible that these just haven't been linked to my application yet? Or should I re-send all of my essays

Howard Roark. said...

Everyone keeps saying how stressed they are - lighten up. You either worked hard and put together a good application or you maybe are on the borderline or maybe you've completely underestimated yourself because you slacked off but hope you might slip through the cracks. Whatever the case, just don't let your thoughts consume you: I've been doing this to myself, but then I just take a moment to collect my thoughts, smoke a cigarette, then go back to my daily routine of studying and working.

Know this is kind of unwarranted, but any engineer applicants? Anyone complete the agreement? I was just two courses shy ( no chemistry and computer programming). But I'm trying to maintain some semblance of optimism. Good luck to all the future applicants!

Lina said...

I got the same problem with the UVA supplement form. I received an e-mail after submitting it, that is why I did not think that it was missing. I live in Charlottesville, and I was wondering if I can stop by the Office of Admissions and talk to somebody about that.

jd08 said...

Transfermer,

On my to do list, it still says I have yet to send in my transcript and SAT scores. Do I have to send them? I know I sent my university's transcript, but my SAT scores I didn't because I applied to UVa last year.

Anonymous said...

Howard, Rowark-

I am engineering applicant also. If you'd like to have an engineering conversation let's chat on a thread I posted on college confidential.

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

uvauvauvaUVA!!! said...

Transfermer,

When you stated that approximate transfer acceptace rate for this year would be around 35-40%, did you mean 35-40% out of each schools (ars and science, commerce, education, and etc), or out of total transfer applicats?

Thank You.

Chuck said...

uvauvauvaUVA, I think Transfermer meant 35-40% for all transfer students.

CarrJW said...

Transfermer, I cannot find the people soft link to access my account. Where did it go?

Transfermer said...

Outofstate,
As always, the class is two-thirds in-state and one-third out-of-state.

KJ,
You need to send the supplement to us. Most everything is linked, so it’s likely that your essays are linked, but the Application Supplement was never submitted.

Lina,
That is very strange, but if it’s not showing and you submitted online, it’s just not there. Since you live in Charlottesville, you can drop it off at our office, or email it to us. Yesterday, I said you could mail it. You can also email it to our processing department – fb3u@virginia.edu

Jd08,
I’m almost positive the SAT scores are in-house, but they are not linked in a way for you to see them. Your University transcript must have been lost in the mail. Please see my note from a few days ago to find out how to deal with this.

Uvauva,
Chuck is right. I meant transfers in general. I’ve covered the fact that some schools are more competitive than others in previous posts.

CarrJW,
I don’t know what you’re referring to. Maybe there was some maintenance being done on it. You can always just search for it on the UVA website. Or go here:

https://sisuva.admin.virginia.edu/psp/epprd/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=PAPP_GUEST

Kevin Jacokes said...

Thanks for your help identifying the problem Transfermer. Apparently my supplement didn't go through despite it showing up as submitted on CommonApp.org.

I've been in touch with a UVA transfer counselor who gave me an e-mail address to send a PDF version of my supplement to.

Thanks again!

SL00 said...

Since I was a roller over, I didn't have an area to update my activities list and i pretty much forgot to update it. Is there any way to update it? I'm an intern this semester, which I think would be beneficial. If you don't think it would be beneficial or if it is too late then scratch this post. Thanks.

UVAhopeful said...

Transfermer, I've faxed and mailed my high school transcript three times now with the most recent mailing and fax being last Friday. I know in your previous post you said this Friday (April 3) is when everything should be accounted for. I'm getting extremely worried because my high school transcript and SAT are not on my SIS page. If not up by tomorrow, do you recommend calling the admissions office to help solve this problem?

me said...

i'm a rollover applicant. still, missing items appear on to-do-list. should i send the missing items again? or should i wait?

Transfer said...

well.. i just got accepted to 4-year undergraduate university, so i am a rising first-year student, but i am planning to transfer to the other colleges.

Can I transfer to the colleges within one year and become a second-year student next year?

Last time, I went to the UVA website, and found out required courses we have to take before we transfer. What is English composition(3), Natural Science and Mathematice(12)? I know what the English Composition and Mathematice are, but I don't know the numbers right next to each subjects.

How can I prepare if I want to transfer to college within one year?

Smiles :) said...

Transfer:

You can apply to UVA for Fall 2010. You must complete one year of education at another institution before you can apply to UVA as a transfer; meaning, you cannot apply for Spring 2010 semester.

As far as the required courses are concerned, those are the courses that one should have completed by the end of their first year at their first-year institution. The numbers next to the courses indicates the number of credits you should complete in each field in order to be considered competitive for transfer. For example, Natural Science and Mathematics (12) means you should complete 12 combined credit hours of natural science and mathematics at your first-year institution. Usually each math and science class is worth 3 credit hours, so that would mean you are recommended to complete 4 math and science classes by the end of your freshman year. That does not mean 4 math AND 4 science, but 4 in total (could be 3 math classes and one natural science, or any other way you want to combine the two).

I hope this helps.

hopeful said...

when is the deadline for the transcript description? the email i ve got said that it has to be sent by april 31.

TeapotMonarch said...

That seems really late, and also, April does not have 31 days.

Smiles :) said...

"The deadline to submit this document is April 30, 2009."

That's what it says on the email. I think there's one of two options as to what's going on here:

1) The Deans do not look at our course descriptions while they are making the decision to admit us into UVA or not. If we are accepted, they then look at the course descriptions to determine exactly what credits from our old institution should transfer over.

2) The Deans look at our course descriptions while reading our applications, if we send it to them early enough. If someone does not have their course descriptions while their application is being reviewed, I guess it neither helps them nor hurts them.

I honestly don't know whether the course descriptions are considered while the application is in review, but I'm going to say with confidence that the main purpose is for after the decision to accept the individual as been made, in which case UVA's admission office can determine which credits transfer over.

p.s. I don't really know why but teapot's comment made me laugh. Not in the "hopeful you're so stupid" kind of way because clearly you are not (you were only one day off), but just in that chuckle-to-yourself kind of way...

TeapotMonarch said...

Oh, I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, just stating. I don't think you're stupid, Hopeful...I'm sorry if it came off that way.

But glad I gave someone a chuckle. :)

Also, is anyone on here also on collegeconfidential? I recently joined it.

Smiles :) said...

Teapot:

Since you mentioned it, I did go and look at CC. That website drives me crazy because you can tell everyone's nerves are on high-gear!! (I went to it obsessively last year during march to see when decisions for colleges would go up, but I don't think I will do that this year...) I will say that it was kind of weird to read posts of people trying to transfer to the University that I currently attend...

Transcript Trouble said...

I posted this further down the blog, but decided to put it on top.

I received an email today stating that my application is missing my High School transcript.

I was under the impression that as a non-traditional (30 years old) transfer student with more than 30 credits that I did not need to submit my High School transcript.

How do I proceed?

Thanks in advance.

Hopeful said...

Transfermer,

I am a roll over applicant from Spring 2009. For weeks, my to-do list has still listed High School Transcipt and Official Transcript. I understand that you all were matching all the paperwork up, however I am worried because it no longer lists High School Transcript, but does still list Official Transcript. At this point should I be worried? Should I resend them? Thanks in advance.

NursingStudent said...

Hey Transfermer,
I was just curious, do you know if we will be finding out the decision any sooner than May 1st? I know its only been a little bit over 1 month since the application deadline, but I thought maybe you all might be able to tell by now.

Thanks!

Transfermer said...

SL00,
You can email us.

UVAhopeful,
Where did you fax it? I’ve talked about this, but chances are the SATs will not disappear. The high school transcript should have disappeared.

Me,
If you sent them back in the Fall, they’ll disappear soon. We are still working on linking and processing.

Transfer,
Thanks Smiles. You don’t have to have all of the math and science completed by the end of the first year, but having half of it will make you competitive. The (3) next to the English Comp requirement means that our English Comp requirement is three credits. At UVA, it is called ENWR 110. But if your school breaks it up into two parts, say Eng 101 and 102 or Eng 111 and 112, you need to take both.

Hopeful,
The descriptions are used for credit evaluation. We the admissions office does not evaluate credit, but we are doing this as a service to the individual schools. So for instance, the evaluators at the College of Arts and Sciences or the Nursing school, or any school use these descriptions. In effect, it is helping you earn credit.
The email stated April 30.

Transcript Trouble,
I’m sorry, but that is not posted anywhere in our literature. Here (www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/transfer.html) you’ll find in paragraph two, under the heading “Admission” that the high school transcript is required.

Hopeful,
Did you send your updated transcript(including Fall 2008 grades)?

Hopeful said...

Transfermer,

Yes, I sent my updated transcripts (Fall 2008). Please let me know if you think I should resend them. Thanks!

Transfermer said...

Hopeful,
I can't tell you if you need to resend them because I can't verify receipt without your name. I've said this in other comments. Email undergradadmission@virginia.edu and tell them that Transfermer told you to write in.

jmuwanttotransfer said...

hi , if i got denied from uva in high school and want to transfer after first year of college will it lessen my chance of getting in>???