UVA ED Deferred Forum

[DrLeoSpaceman]

I applied to UVA Early Decision 9/21 and today I heard back via a frustratingly ambiguous email. They've decided to put me into the Regular Decision pool - no waitlist, no admit/deny. I don't really know what to make of this, and a call to the admissions office didn't really clear things up. My stats are: 3.35/170/straight from a top undergrad (i.e. I am still a college senior). Any advice? Should I write a Why UVA Essay?

[AJordan]

Pretty standard. It doesn’t mean they don’t want you, it just means they don’t want to guarantee you a seat at this time. It would be smart to make use of the typical things that splitters do: visit, write a why uva, etc. The best thing you can continue to do is apply broadly. You can even now make use of ED at one of their peer schools (Michigan and Penn come to mind as splitter-friendly) and try to get the bump there too.

[suupersplitter21]

Hi, Just out of curiosity, when did you go complete/ UR etc? Also, did you have an interview? I have similar stats and am pretty sure I'll wind up deferred too

[QContinuum]

Pretty standard. It doesn’t mean they don’t want you, it just means they don’t want to guarantee you a seat at this time. It would be smart to make use of the typical things that splitters do: visit, write a why uva, etc. The best thing you can continue to do is apply broadly. You can even now make use of ED at one of their peer schools (Michigan and Penn come to mind as splitter-friendly) and try to get the bump there too.

Instead of EDing to Mich/Penn, IMO better to just blanket the T13 at this point, rather than take the risk of being locked into waiting for a single school until December. I'm not convinced the ED bump is large enough to make it worth it.

[DrLeoSpaceman]

Do you expect that I'll have to wait a while for a response from UVA (or other T-14 schools)? It's my understanding that adcoms are being much more conservative this cycle, given last year's spike in applications.

[QContinuum]

There are other TLS posters who are already hearing back - see, e.g., the Duke applicant worried about not including a Why Duke who was admitted a few days ago.

I suspect it may take longer for you in many cases because you're a splitter, and thus not as "obvious" as someone above both 75%s or below both 25%s. But you should have a good shot at the lower T13, at least. You have a strong shot at Mich and UVA, and you should get into at least one of Penn/Duke/NW. (I'd write a Why Penn if you haven't already - Penn seems to care more than usual about a Why Penn, based on various MyLSN data sets I've seen.)