Decision Letters

Decision letters for transfer applicants for the Spring of 09 will be mailed this evening.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, you won't be able to check your status online, so I'll repeat, no decisions online. The letter should arrive early next week. We will not give decisions out over the phone. If you are admitted, the letter will contain instructions on what your next step will be, should you decide to attend. If you are not offered, and you are not in the middle of your junior year at a four-year school, you should find instructions on "rolling over" your application for Fall consideration.

I'll take this time to thank you for submitting your applications. We had an increase in the number of apps this semester, and as you know spring is already tight. We hope that whatever the decision, you'll understand that we spent a significant amount of time considering the time and hard work you put into your application.

Happy Thanksgiving All!

Submission of Recommendations

You'll find that I posted about this on September 8th, but I have an update for you. Obviously, this does not really concern Spring applicants.

First, we want to make sure that you 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.

These recommendations may be
1) mailed to the address on our website.
They may be 2) faxed to (434)924-7674.
And 3) NEW, as of November 21, they may be 3) 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. I'll reiterate these pointers in a month or two as this information tends to get buried.

Just as a reminder, as a transfer applicant to UVA, we do not need the Secondary School Report, nor do we need the College Officials Report.

New Website Design!

If you've been trafficking our website for many months, you'll notice that the general website has been redesigned. Well, now the admissions website has gone through a beautiful upgrade. The text on the website has not changed, but you'll see straight away that the placement of things has changed. Please explore it on your own, but as a tip, from www.virginia.edu/undgradadmission, about a fifth of the way down, click on "I am a..." and you'll click on "transfer student." Take the time to familiarize yourself with the website. We hope you like it!

Alias Names on the Blog

Folks,

Please create and alias for yourself instead of being "Anonymous." That will make it much easier for me to differentiate between questions. Even if you name is 123abc, that would make it much better.

Thanks!

Spring Applications

We received just over 300 applications. This is up from about 250 last year. It varies from year to year, but we'll admit anywhere from 30-40 students. We hope to have all of the decisions out the first week of December.

21st Annual Virginia Film Festival

For something a little different, I wanted to point out that many neat events go on throughout the year in Charlottesville. One of the most popular is the Va Film Festival. Venues turn into makeshift theaters and the regular theaters lend a hand in playing over 100 films in four days. This year's theme is Aliens! Check out the website here: www.vafilm.com

Spring Transfer Deadline is just around the Corner!

Readers,



If you are thinking of applying to transfer for the spring, the deadline is November 1. That gives you 9 days! Please read!



-We are on the common app. Find the application here at http://www.commonapp.org/

-Read everything on our page www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/transfer.html and the common application website.

-We only accept students in the spring for the College of Arts and Sciences and Architectural History.

-An applicant's high school transcript and testing are required.

-We recommend recommendations, but they are not required.

-Regarding question #2 on the UVA supplement part of the common application: If you did not take off time in between semesters or in between high school and college, do not worry about filling out this essay.

-We will release decisions only by mail. You are either offered admission or not offered admission. There is no wait list in the spring.

-Unfortunately, you will not be able see if transcripts and materials have come to the office.

-But, we will contact you if something essential is missing so long as you have clicked submit on the application.

Good luck!

Arts Supplements

Students with exceptional talent in art, dance, drama or music, and who plan to major, minor or significantly engage in the arts are encouraged to submit a Common Application Arts Supplement.

The catch is that we are not participating in the common app arts submission process. For detailed instructions, please go here: http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/arts.html

If you submit through the common app, we will not recieve the supplement.

The deadline for submission for spring transfer is November 1. The deadline for fall transfer is March 1, 2009.

Supplement Essay Question for Spring Applicants

This is getting into the nitty-gritty of the filling out the application, but I've been getting a lot of questions about this essay topic. You can find it in the transfer common app supplement.

2. Describe your activities during periods of time (other than summer vacations) when you were not enrolled in college.

Just so it's clear, this is a question for a student who has taken off time in between their years of school. It may be after high school or in the middle of college. Please don't interpret it to mean that you must take time off at some point during college. This question is more for our non-traditional student applicants. If it doesn't apply to you, meaning you've been in school consistently with the exception of summer vacations, simply type, "N/A" in the space. I hope that clears it up :)

Finally

Hi All,

I apologize for being absent on here. I've been on the road as it is that time of the year. I believe I've answered all of your comments on the previous posts.

Where can I apply for the spring 2009?

Big reminder here folks! Spring applicants can only apply to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Architectural History Major.

We've been getting a lot of applications for the Commerce and Engineering schools, etc. This is not possible. They are not open at this time and will be available for Fall 2009.

Applying with the Common Application

So, as you've seen, we've moved to the common application. We are still getting used to it here, but we're plugging away. The Common Application makes the process more accessible to more students and thus, it streamlines the process. There are many schools and universities that are part of the CommonApp group and they look for different components in the application. Sometimes you'll see something that is not necessary for us. For instance, as a transfer student, you will not need to fill out the "College Official's Report" nor the "Secondary School Report." I can only speak for UVA. You'll have to ask other schools if this is required.

I'd like to stress again that as we move over, the checks and balances aspect will be barebones for the Spring 2009 applicants. You will not be able to see if your transcripts or recommendations were received. You will not be able to see your decision online. We realize it's a little old-fashioned, but we appreciate your patience as we move through this year of transition.

Back in the Saddle

Well, now that we've said goodbye to Labor Day, that last holiday of the summer, you're either back in the saddle or just starting up the fall semester. But maybe you've turned your eye towards applying to UVA for the Spring of 2009.

For those of you who are new to this process, you must spend one full year in your college or university before you are eligible to transfer. Therefore, someone in their freshman year cannot apply for the 2009 spring semester. You may apply for the Fall 2009.

IMPORTANT FOR SPRING APPLICANTS: As we move into our first year of using the Common Application, the process will be differ from years past. Spring transfer admission decisions will not be displayed online. Instead, they will come solely via U.S. Mail on December 1. To apply, please go to http://www.commonapp.org/.

The deadline to have all transcripts, recommendations(these are totally optional) and the application submitted is November 1, 2009.

Summertime Lull

Hello all,

As you can tell, Transfermer has been away from the blog. While we are still in and out of the office, the blog will probably continue to be in a "summertime lull" phase until school begins. Please come back at that time for the most recent updates.

Next up! The Spring 2009 application process -- we are still working out the kinks involved with spring transfers applying through the common application. You will be able to apply there, but I'm told the application won't be available until late August. As you might or might not know, the deadline is November 1. Think about gathering up your high school transcript and test scores while it's summer and things are quiet.

See you in a few weeks.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Housing for Transfers

I understand there's been some concern about housing for incoming transfers. We've heard from callers that they've run out of space for you. This is not the case. We had to do some investigating and spoke to the people in the housing department.

We will have more than enough space for transfer students, although not enough space for everyone to receive an offer in the initial round of assignments. Believe it or not, construction on a first-year dormitory is in it's final stages and the housing office decided to hold spaces in upper class housing until that the building is completed. If you are on a housing waiting list, you will be eventually offered housing. It is just not true that there won't be enough space for you.

Latest news on waitlist notification

Hello All,

We know it has been a very, very long wait. We appreciate your patience. The great majority of you will recieve wait list decisions next week. Unfortunately, it is my understanding that this will not appear online. However, you will be notified by mail in the next few days.

Best of luck!

If you have been admitted...

please be patient when it comes to courses showing on ISIS or your VISTAA report. Registrars are currently combing through every single course on every single transcript for 500+ students. As you can imagine, this takes time. Everything will be up by the time you come to Orientation.

And now for something a little different

Please follow this link to find a story about a former transfer student. He transfered to UVA a couple of years ago and graduated Phi Beta Kappa on May 18. I'll call it a little taste of the students you'll come across at UVA. http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=5208 Enjoy!

Correction: May 14 Post

On this date, I told you that you could send a list of awards or honors. I should correct myself now and say that anything sent after mid-June will likely not improve your chances. We hope to have everything finished up by that time. I'm sorry for the confusion.

More Info on the Wait List

Well, we are nowhere near complete in our review process. In fact, we've barely begun. But I did want to let you know that we'll be going to the wait list. We plan to take about 75 students across all schools. Most spaces will be for the College and Engineering. Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that we'll go for anyone in Architecture, Nursing and Education. As you know, these schools are very small. We are still looking at Commerce. We plan to look at the rest by June 2. It's important to remember that admitting students from the wait list is a rolling process. Not everyone will hear at the same time. We hope to have everything settled by the end of June.