katzen-kultur: decisions

Showing posts with label decisions. Show all posts

Showing posts with label decisions. Show all posts

Let's Talk about #UVA21 Decisions: The Offer

Admitted students can use this entry to talk. I imagine you might also want to join the UVA Class of 2021 Facebook group to chat with your future classmates. That group is just for students. Parents, you can check out the UVA Parents Page and the UVA Parents Facebook page.

I'll have post about admission statistics in the coming days and you'll be getting an email with your personalized RSVP link for Days on the Lawn (admitted student open houses) soon. Below your letter are buttons to accept or decline your offer. If you accept, you will see a button to let you pay your tuition deposit online*. Orientation registration will open after April 1st and you'll get more information about that in the future.

You have until May 1st to decide whether you'll be joining us in Charlottesville. If you decide to go elsewhere at some point in the coming weeks, I hope you'll decline the offer via your self-service page.

Congratulations! We are so lucky to have you considering UVA!

Image by Jen Fariello Photography

*We have an e-check system for deposits. You'll type in the numbers on the bottom of a check. The system will take certain kinds of credit cards, but it's primarily an e-check system. Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker when you go to pay the deposit!

Let's Talk about #UVA21 Decisions: The Deny

Denied students can use this entry to talk.

I know this is hard to handle and some of you might not have gotten a disappointing admission decision yet. I hope you all can look at your options and get excited about your other schools. If your immediate reaction is "I'll transfer", don't let that plan keep you from getting involved in campus life at the school you choose. I think many students come to think of their next choice as "home" and can't imagine leaving it after a little while. Give yourself time to explore your options.

Some students inquire about appealing their decision. We do not have an appeal process, so the denial is your final decision.

Please be polite and respectful of others when posting.

BTW, if you signed yourself up to read the blog by email and don't want the messages anymore, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

A Regular Decision Update for #UVA21 Applicants

When online applications became the norm, most college admission officers and school counselors agreed to a best practice around the release of admission decisions. To avoid disrupting the school day and saving students from hours and hours of worry, it was decided that we would notify students of their decisions after the school day was over in our time zone, where most of our applicants live. This also let our staff work on fine tuning decisions throughout the work day.

Most smart, resourceful applicants will look at the 10+ years of posts on this blog and zero in on the fact that we tend to finish our Regular Decision review in the last two weeks of March.

Jack practicing his surprised look.

So...it won't be much of a surprise that we're done with our review and we are releasing decisions tonight. Please keep reading. There's a lot of important info to go over.

1. At some point tonight (this is handled by the tech people these days and I don't control the exact time), the "View Decision" link at the bottom of your SIS page will go to a decision letter. If you can't find your login info for the SIS, review the "After You Submit" section of the application instructions. A welcome mailing with info about next steps will come later for those who are admitted. Please do not open multiple windows or constantly hit refresh. Students have slowed SIS down to a crawl in the past by doing it. Use one window. Set a time tonight when you'll check and do something offline until then.

2. The release is always exciting, but some of you aren't going to get the decision for which you hoped. I hope you'll focus on the college options you have instead of the ones you don't. I hope those of you who get offers will celebrate your success, but also be gracious around those who might not have gotten good news.

3. I will post blog entries where you can talk about the different decisions. I'll be back to work through any questions that are asked in the comments tomorrow. I trust you to be respectful of others in the comments. A lot of people on Grounds will be watching #UVA21 so they can welcome our newest Wahoos to the UVA community. We love seeing your reactions when we check that hashtag!

Keep an eye on the UVA Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts. There might be some nice messages!

4. Please don't post personal information in the comments (contact info, statistics, etc.). After all, school-specific statistics like GPA are subjective and don't represent the applicant accurately. GPAs are meaningless without the high school profile's explanation of the methodology used to calculate them. What's more, there have been times when enough information about an applicant has been shared that their classmates could identify them.

5. Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars will be notified by email by the end of the week. Posts about the waiting list and statistics will come in a few days as well. There is no lag time in our office, so we are now reading transfer applications. Please understand if my responses to questions are a little delayed.

6. You don't need to call us to verify this. It's true. We are releasing decisions tonight. The receptionists can't tell you an exact time or your decision.

THANK YOU to all of you who have read and commented on the blog so far this season.

Regardless of what SIS shows you tonight, you are going to attend a great school. You're going to learn from amazing, inspirational professors, administrators, and peers. You're going to meet people with whom you will stay friends for the rest of your lives. You're going to pull all-nighters studying. You're going to pull all-nighters not studying. You're going to have great successes and you're going to fail miserably at some things. What's going to make or break those experiences is your response and your openness to learning from them, not your location when they happen.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. Most of our applicants are qualified. They are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVA. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.

Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll continue to comment and stay in touch.

It's a big night and I'll be thinking about you all. Good luck!

#UVA21 Early Action decisions come out tonight!

We're done with Early Action and we are releasing decisions tonight! Please keep reading. There's a lot of important info to go over.

Waiting

1. At some point tonight (this is handled by the tech people these days and I don't control the exact time), the "View Decision" link at the bottom of your SIS page will go to a decision letter. If you can't find your login info for the SIS, review the "After You Submit" section of the application instructions. A welcome mailing with info about next steps will come later for those who are admitted. Please do not open multiple windows or constantly hit refresh. Students have slowed SIS down to a crawl in the past by doing it. Use one window. Set a time tonight when you'll check and do something offline until then.

Our counselor friends want you checking your decision at home, where you won't have an audience of classmates and a parent can be standing by to give you a big hug regardless of your decision. That's more likely to happen in the evening (we've actually consulted a lot of counselors about this).

2. The release is always exciting, but some of you aren't going to get the decision for which you hoped. I hope you'll focus on the college options you have instead of the ones you don't at the end of the day. I hope those of you who get offers will celebrate your success, but also be gracious around those who might not have gotten good news.

3. I will post blog entries where you can talk about the different decisions. I'll be back to work through any questions that are asked in the comments tomorrow. I trust you to be respectful of others in the comments. A lot of people on Grounds will be watching #UVA21 so they can welcome our newest Wahoos to the UVA community. We love seeing your reactions when we check that hashtag!

Keep an eye on the UVA Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts. There might be some nice messages!

4. Please don't post personal information in the comments (contact info, statistics, etc.). As we discussed this morning, school-specific statistics like GPA are subjective these days and don't represent the applicant accurately. GPAs are meaningless without the high school profile's explanation of the methodology used to calculate them. What's more, there have been times when enough information about an applicant has been shared that their classmates could identify them.

5. Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars will be notified next week. Posts about deferral, Days on the Lawn (open houses for admitted students), an EA statistics will come next week. There is no lag time in our office, so we are now reading Regular Decision applications. Please understand if my responses to questions are a little delayed.

6. You don't need to call us to verify this. It's true. We are releasing decisions tonight. The receptionists can't tell you an exact time or your decision.

THANK YOU to all of you who have read and commented on the blog so far this season.

Regardless of what SIS shows you tonight, you are going to attend a great school. You're going to learn from amazing, inspirational professors, administrators, and peers. You're going to meet people with whom you will stay friends for the rest of your lives. You're going to pull all-nighters studying. You're going to pull all-nighters not studying. You're going to have great successes and you're going to fail miserably at some things. What's going to make or break those experiences is your response and your openness to learning from them, not your location when they happen.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. Most of our applicants are qualified. They are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVA. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.

Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll continue to comment and stay in touch.

It's a big night and I'll be thinking about you all. Good luck!

A #UVA21 Early Action Update

It's the time of year when Early Action students get a little punchy. They're obsessively checking SIS to see if it will give a sneak preview of decisions and every tweet or post that mentions UVA has them looking for hidden meaning.

We say notification will by "by the end of January" to give us the flexibility to ensure a thoughtful, careful review of every application, regardless of how many apply. The number of Early Action applications increased this year. I know Early Action applicants are eager to know admission decisions, but I hope you understand that you benefit from the fact that we will not sacrifice when it comes to giving every file a thorough review.

You will hear from us by the end of the month, but there is still work to be done.

golden retriever UVA grounds

No time to play! There's work to be done!

New in SIS: Withdrawing an Application to UVA

As soon as other schools start notifying their early applicants of admission decisions, many of our Early Action applicants tend to ask us two questions.

1. When will UVA notify Early Action applicants of decisions?

The official line is that the Early Action process will be complete by the end of January. If we are able to release decisions early, we will. The beauty of online notification is that it's fast. We don't have to wait for letters to be printed and envelopes to be stuffed.

I always post on social media as soon as the Dean declares us ready. I usually start with a blog post, then post on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We also queue up a mass email to go out to the entire applicant pool. The news tends to travel quickly!

2. How do I withdraw if I was admitted elsewhere through Early Decision?

Withdrawing an application to UVA used to require an email from the student. We recently updated SIS so that you can withdraw through your account page.

When you log in, you'll see something like this:

Clicking on the Withdraw Application link will give you this message:

Hit the button and the system will ask you to confirm:

Click "yes" and your application status will change immediately.

Picking the Right College by May 1st

Many of us have been on the road in recent weeks to help high schools with case study programs. During a case study program, students are put into groups and told to evaluate a handful of deliberately strong applications as if they are an admission committee. School counselors often ask admission officers to facilitate the discussions.

Before one case study program a couple week ago, a counselor friend said that her students had a few days to read the applications and many thought there was a "right" answer to each case. There were obviously three possible outcomes (admit, waiting list, deny), but each committee was bound to have different results for the hypothetical applicants. There were no right answers because all of the hypothetical students were awesome. That's the point of the exercise.

You can't make a bad decision when all the options are wonderful!

The notion of a "right" decision has been a theme this week as well, even though I'm back in the office. With May 1st around the corner, we're getting calls and visits from some who seem more anxious than ever about this choice.We can imagine the spreadsheets being developed when people ask about double majors or studying abroad, or how much the laundry costs (yes, that was a question the other day).

So here's my pep talk for everyone who is worrying about making a final decision in their college search:

You vetted these options back in the fall when you put them on your list of schools to which you would apply. All of these schools have great professors. All of these schools have exciting opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. All of these schools have happy students. If you are still debating your options, relax and remember that you can't make a bad decision.

There is no "right" decision, there is a "best" one. If you pick the school that is best for you, you'll take advantage of all those exciting opportunities. You'll be fostering your growth as a scholar and as a person.

Whether your next stop is here or another school, best wishes for a great end to your high school career and an exciting next step on your journey.

If you're joining #UVA20, I hope to see your photo from the "College Signing Day" photobooth on Instagram or Twitter!

When the Trophy Generation Applies to College

I'm used to fielding calls about admission to UVA from friends, friends of friends, and complete strangers. At this time of year, most of the conversations are with parents and are about the waiting list, but one exchange rattled me a bit. The woman on the other end of the line told me she was having trouble eating and sleeping because of her son's admission results. At one point, the conversation went like this:

Me: What other options are on the table?
Her: No good ones. We've had no good news.
Me: None of the schools on his list admitted him?
Her: Well, no elite ones.

Thank goodness we were talking on the phone because I winced. I pointed out that the schools on her son's list were probably all places he imagined attending back when he was working on the applications. His personal ranking system for schools might make them elite in his mind (I tweeted about this a while ago).

By the time we were done with our conversation, I think she was feeling better.

Being a high school student right now must be so confusing. This is a generation of students who have gotten tremendous support from adults throughout their lives. This is a good thing. From getting participation trophies to seeing 112 people named valedictorian at their school, they've experienced a lot of validation. But when some of these students get to this point in their senior year, it seems like the script gets flipped on them and only certain options are valued. Why did the support evaporate? Why was that mom losing sleep and not eating despite her son having multiple offers of admission at schools he probably liked? We gave them trophies for a job well done before, but why not now?

As we approach May 1st, let's all try to congratulate students on their success and encourage them to attend the best school for them. That's the school where they are most likely to be happy and engaged both inside and outside of the classroom.

As always, if you have lingering questions about UVA, we are here to help. There's a dean on call during business hours and a team answering emails to our general email account. I'm also happy to answer questions in the comments below.

We're here to help, too!

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Decisions: The Offer

Admitted students can use this entry to talk. I imagine you might also want to join the UVa Class of 2020 Facebook group to chat with your future classmates. That group is just for students. Parents, you can check out the UVA Parents Page and the UVA Parents Facebook page.

I'll have posts about admission statistics and Days on the Lawn (our admitted student open houses) in the coming days. Just for reference, below your letter are buttons to accept or decline your offer. If you accept, you will see a button to let you pay your tuition deposit online*. I believe orientation registration will open after April 1st, but you'll get more information about that in the future.

You have until May 1st to decide whether you'll be joining us in Charlottesville. If you decide to go elsewhere at some point in the coming weeks, I hope you'll decline the offer immediately via your self-service page.

Our relationship does not end here. We are here to talk if you need more information about UVA to make your decision. Don't hesitate to call or reach out to us online if we can help.

Congratulations! We are so lucky to have you considering UVA!


Image by Sanjay Suchak

*We have an e-check system for deposits. You'll type in the numbers on the bottom of a check. The system will take certain kinds of credit cards, but it's primarily an e-check system. Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker when you go to pay the deposit!

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Decisions: The Waiting List

Students offered a spot on the waiting list can use this entry to talk.

This is probably the toughest decision to get from a school. At UVA, the waiting list tends to be large because there are so many different segments to the population here (VA and OOS groups for each of the four schools and the one program that take first year students). At this point, we don't know where there will be openings in the class.

We won't know how large the waiting list is until you all accept or decline your waiting list offers. Right now, you've been offered a spot on the list. You aren't actually on it until you reply using the response buttons in SIS (you have until May 1st to do this).

Still, the numbers can change dramatically from year-to-year. We took 60 students off the waiting list in 2008 and 288 students the next year. We offered admission to 402 wait-listed students last year, but 42 the year before.

For now, you need to look at your other options and think about which one feels right to you. Some of you will want to hold on and see what happens with the waiting list and others will want to fully invest themselves in another school. Either way, you need to submit a deposit somewhere by May 1st to ensure yourself a spot in a freshman class. If you are offered a spot in our class and you decide to accept it, you'll have to write to that other school and withdraw your name from the class (you may lose your deposit at that school). Just remember that you can't "double deposit".

Feel free chat here. You should have already seen the link to the waiting list FAQ page in your decision letter, which answers the most common questions (is the list ranked, what do I do now, what's the time line, etc.).

We hope you find a peaceful place to think about your options

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Decisions: The Deny

Denied students can use this entry to talk.

I know this is hard to handle and some of you might not have gotten a disappointing admission decision yet. I hope you all can look at your options and get excited about your other schools. If your immediate reaction is "I'll transfer", don't let that plan keep you from getting involved in campus life at the school you choose. I think many students come to think of their next choice as "home" and can't imagine leaving it after a little while. Give yourself time to explore your options.

Some students inquire about being moved to the waiting list group. We do not have an appeal process.

Please be polite and respectful of others when posting.

BTW, if you signed yourself up to read the blog by email and don't want the messages anymore, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

Regular Decisions for #UVA20 Posting TONIGHT!

When Dean Roberts stops talking about applications and starts talking about basketball, that's a really good sign that decisions are final and he is ready to release them. I think our big game against Iowa State in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament has inspired him.

We

Are

Done

This is a long post with lots of important info, so keep reading!

HOORAY!

The release is always exciting, but some of you aren't going to get the decision for which you hoped. I hope you'll focus on the college options you have instead of the ones you don't. Celebrate your success, but also be gracious around those who might not have gotten good news.

I will post blog entries where you can talk about the different decisions at the end of the day. I'll be back to work through any questions that are asked in the comments over the weekend. I trust you to be respectful of others in the comments.

Please don't post personal information in the comments (contact info, statistics, etc.). School-specific statistics like GPA and rank are subjective these days and don't represent the applicant accurately. Our review is far more elaborate that a simple GPA and test score review.

Keep an Eye on Social Media

You may want to follow the UVA Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts. There might be some nice messages! The Class of 2020 Facebook group is full of students who want to connect as well!

A lot of people on Grounds will be watching #UVA and #UVA20 so they can welcome our newest Wahoos to the UVA community.

Now, let's go over what is going to happen tonight.

What Time is the Release?

I don't have an exact time for you. Our IT folks handle the release, so I can't pinpoint a precise moment when they will appear in your SIS account. Back in the pre-SIS days, I just typed "-1" in the code a few times and it was done, but they have to run a few processes to make it all happen, so it's not instantaneous.

Where Will Decisions Appear?

The "View Decision" link at the bottom of your SIS page will go to a decision letter instead of that "April 1st" message that's there right now. If you can't find your login info for the SIS, use the links on the login page to generate a new password. Please do not open multiple windows or constantly hit refresh. Students have slowed SIS down to a crawl in the past by doing it. Use one window. Set a time tonight when you'll check and do something offline until then.

Decisions do not come by email and they are not reflected in MyUVA.

What about Scholars Programs?

Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars will be notified by email on Saturday. A follow-up letter will be mailed.

How Many People were Admitted/Denied?

I'll have a post full of unofficial statistics on Monday. For now, know that the applicant pool was a little larger this year, which resulted in us being slightly more selective. I wouldn't characterize the changes as dramatic. We've never felt pressure to drum up the numbers, so I'm happy about this.

THANK YOU for hanging with me through a tough application season. Your comments and tweets have been bright spots throughout the process. Your energy, enthusiasm, and humor has been so uplifting!

Regardless of what SIS shows you tonight, you are going to attend a great school. You're going to learn from amazing professors, administrators, and peers. You're going to meet people with whom you will stay friends for the rest of your lives. You're going to pull all-nighters studying. You're going to pull all-nighters not studying. You're going to have great successes and you're going to fail miserably at some things. What's going to make or break those experiences is your response and your openness to learning from them, not where you are when they happen.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. Most of our applicants are qualified. They are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVA. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.

Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll continue to comment and stay in touch!

It's a big night for you and for UVA. I'll be thinking about you all. Good luck and go hoos!

UVA is yours now!

You don't need to call us to verify this. It's true. We are releasing decisions tonight. The receptionists can't tell you an exact time or your decision.

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Early Action: The Offer

Admitted students can use this entry to talk. I imagine you might also want to join the UVa Class of 2020 Facebook group to chat with your future classmates. That group is just for students. Parents, you can check out the UVA Parents Page and the UVA Parents Facebook page.

I'll have post about admission statistics and Days on the Lawn (our admitted student open houses) in the coming days. Just for reference, below your letter are buttons to accept or decline your offer. If you accept, you will see a button to let you pay your tuition deposit online*. I believe orientation registration will open after April 1st, but you'll get more information about that in the future.

You have until May 1st to decide whether you'll be joining us in Charlottesville. If you decide to go elsewhere at some point in the coming weeks, I hope you'll decline the offer immediately via your self-service page.

Congratulations! We are so lucky to have you considering UVA!


Image by Sanjay Suchak

*We have an e-check system for deposits. You'll type in the numbers on the bottom of a check. The system will take certain kinds of credit cards, but it's primarily an e-check system. Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker when you go to pay the deposit!

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Early Action: The Defer

Deferred students can use this post to talk.

Your application hasn't finished it's journey yet.

Once your mid-year grades arrive, your file will be reviewed again during the Regular Decision round. At this point, you should simply make sure your mid-year report is sent when the grades are ready. Most of your counselors will do this automatically.

We know the wait is tough, but we think your mid-year grades could help your case. Hang in there! You should have already seen the link to the defer FAQ page, which answers the most common questions.

Jack hopes you can find a peaceful place to wait.

Let's Talk about #UVA20 Early Action: The Deny

Denied students can use this entry to talk.

I know this is hard to handle and some of you might not have gotten a disappointing admission decision yet. I hope you all can look at your options and get excited about your other schools. If your immediate reaction is "I'll transfer", don't let that plan keep you from getting involved in campus life at the school you choose. I think many students come to think of their next choice as "home" and can't imagine leaving it after a little while. Give yourself time to explore your options.

Some students inquire about being moved to the defer group. Please understand that we do not have an appeal process.

Please be polite and respectful of others when posting.

BTW, if you signed yourself up to read the blog by email and don't want the messages anymore, there's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.

Get Ready for a #Cavalanche of #UVA20 Hoos!

Though the instructions say that Early Action notification happens at the end of January, it's no secret that if we finish the review early, we release the decisions instead of waiting for the 31st. It seems as though everyone has analyzed my past posts every which way to figure out where we are in the process.

Our counselor friends want you checking your decision at home, where you won't have an audience of classmates and a parent can be standing by to give you a big hug regardless of your decision. That's more likely to happen in the evening (we've actually consulted a lot of counselors about this).

Waiting

With a huge snow storm poised to hit the east coast, the weekend has already started for many of our applicants. So let's just get to the announcement. We are releasing decisions tonight! Please keep reading! I have a few notes...

1. The release is always exciting, but some of you aren't going to get the decision for which you hoped. I hope you'll focus on the college options you have instead of the ones you don't at the end of the day. I hope those of you who get offers will celebrate your success, but also be gracious around those who might not have gotten good news.

2. At some point tonight (this is handled by the tech people these days and I don't control the exact time), the "View Decision" link at the bottom of your SIS page will go to a decision letter. If you can't find your login info for the SIS, use the links on the login page to generate a new password. A welcome mailing with info about next steps will come later for those who are admitted. Please do not open multiple windows or constantly hit refresh. Students have slowed SIS down to a crawl in the past by doing it. Use one window. Set a time tonight when you'll check and do something offline until then.

3. I will post blog entries where you can talk about the different decisions. I'll be back to work through any questions that are asked in the comments tomorrow. I trust you to be respectful of others in the comments. Feel free to flag a comment if you need me to step in. That notification will go to my phone. A lot of people on Grounds will be watching #UVA20 so they can welcome our newest Wahoos to the UVA community. Some of you seem to be using that tag already!

Keep an eye on the UVA Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts. There might be some nice messages!

4. Please don't post personal information in the comments (contact info, statistics, etc.). As we discussed yesterday, school-specific statistics like GPA are subjective these days and don't represent the applicant accurately. GPAs are meaningless without the high school profile's explanation of the methodology used to calculate them. What's more, there have been times when enough information about an applicant has been shared that their classmates could identify them.

5. Echols, Rodman, and College Science Scholars will be notified by mail next week. Posts about deferral, Days on the Lawn (open houses for admitted students), an EA statistics will come next week. There is no lag time in our office, so we are now reading Regular Decision applications. Please understand if my responses to questions are a little delayed.

6. You don't need to call us to verify this. It's true. We are releasing decisions tonight. The receptionists can't tell you an exact time (see #2 above) or your decision.

THANK YOU to all of you who have read and commented on the blog so far this season. This season was a tough one for me and your excitement and enthusiasm was so helpful.

Regardless of what SIS shows you tonight, you are going to attend a great school. You're going to learn from amazing, inspirational professors, administrators, and peers. You're going to meet people with whom you will stay friends for the rest of your lives. You're going to pull all-nighters studying. You're going to pull all-nighters not studying. You're going to have great successes and you're going to fail miserably at some things. What's going to make or break those experiences is your response and your openness to learning from them, not your location when they happen.

Remember that your decision is not a statement about your value. Most of our applicants are qualified. They are perfectly capable of doing the work at UVA. Our first-year class just isn't large enough to accommodate everyone.

Best wishes to those who won't be back to the blog after this (if you're reading this by email, you can unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the email). To the rest, I hope you'll continue to comment and stay in touch.

It's a big night and I'll be thinking about you all. Good luck!

A #UVA20 Non-Update Update

I don't think I've ever done this, but there are people who claim to have insider information getting our applicants worked up. Decisions won't be posted today. I know you are eager for the Early Action process to conclude, but we can't take shortcuts and sacrifice a careful, thorough review. Hang in there!

Committee work

Early Action Status Pages (and Why this Takes so Long)

It's the time of year when Early Action students get a little punchy. They're obsessively checking SIS and wondering if it will give a sneak preview of decisions and every mention of UVA has them looking like Jack waiting for a treat.

Can I have it? Can I have it? Can I have it?

First of all, UVA's SIS is a system that was created by PeopleSoft called Campus Solutions. Lots of schools around the country use the same system. When you implement a SIS, it takes a few years and a lot of resources (human and financial). Customizing parts requires even more resources. There are always going to be features that aren't used by a certain school (but might be perfect for another). I know the boxes that pop up during the application season are confusing, but we can't get around them.

As always, we will have decisions ready by the end of January. I always post an update here, on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Word spreads quickly. We also queue up a mass email to go out, but those can take a little time to land in in-boxes. You'll know when notification is coming, I promise.

Now, I want to address the timing of our process. Years ago, our early pool was pretty small, just a few thousand applicants. In those days, our review was done before students went on winter break. These days, half of the applicant pool is applying early. It just isn't possible for us to read 16,000+ files in six weeks unless we a) dramatically changed our review or b) had a way to significantly increase the size of our staff.

I like the holistic review that we use here. It means that decisions aren't just about GPAs and standardized test scores. Recommendations, essays, and activities also factor in (though academics come first!). In addition, we don't "auto" admit the top of the pool and deny the bottom. We read every application. I'm sure there are admission folks out there who might find that antiquated or quaint, but it works for us.

As for our staff size, Peabody Hall is already bursting at the seams and I don't think resources allow for more counselors or deans at this point.

So, the process continues. Hang in there, everyone. Decisions will come, but there is still a bit of work to be done.

View Decision Status in SIS for #UVA20

It seems some students have started to encounter some of the wonderful quirks (ha) of the UVA Student Information System (SIS). They are seeing "View Decision" at the bottom of their SIS status pages and are assuming their decisions are ready. Decisions are not ready.

Applications move around in our reading system. They go from incomplete, to complete and ready to read, and then they start getting passed around by the different counselors and deans who are reviewing them. We are in that third phase, the part of the reading season that takes the most time. When you see "View Decision" on your page, it means your files has reached that third stage and we're reviewing it.

On notification day, clicking on "View Decision" will take you to a decision letter instead of the message you see now about checking back on January 31st.

Waiting is so hard!

About Notification Day

January 31st is the official notification day. If you log into SIS on that day, you will be able to see your status by hitting "View Decision." That being said, we have always been able to finish a little early and post decisions before January 31st. When we are done, we release the decisions. If there are updates, I will announce them here, on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Happy Signing Day!

Have you noticed people announcing their college decisions on social media lately? We have an we've loved seeing the tweets and Instagram pictures that people have tagged with #UVA19 this year. It's as if we can see the Class of 2019 taking shape in front of our eyes!

If you are an admitted student and you still haven't accepted or declined your offer of admission, you have until midnight tonight to hit the right button (under your letter). When you go to pay your deposit, a screen will pop up (turn off your pop up blocker for this part) allowing you to type in the routing and account number on a check to pay your deposit. The system also takes a few types of credit cards, but it's primarily used for checks.

Next Steps for Admitted Students

About 72 hours after you deposit, you'll be able to register for orientation and start working down the list of things the Student Affairs folks want you to do. There's information about setting up your UVa email account, your UVa ID card, housing, dining, placement exams, and more on the Summer Orientation website.

Next Steps for Waiting List Students

Remember that you are not on the waiting list until you opt into it. To be considered for a spot, you need to hit the "accept" button under your admission letter in SIS. The accept/decline buttons remain visible so you have the option of removing yourself from the waiting list at any point. If you have anything to add to your file, send it to uvaapplicationinfo@virginia.edu right away.

I don't know how much space there is in the class at this point. Remember, the admitted students have until midnight to deposit and then their payments have to be processed.

When we make an offer to someone on the waiting list, they get a new decision letter in SIS. We always call students to give them a heads up that their status is going to change and explain what to do next. You'll have a few days to think things over and submit a deposit if you get an offer.

We try to call the number on the application between the end of the school day and 5 PM, when our office closes. It could take several weeks for this to play out. We'll make a few offers, give those students a couple days to deposit, make a few more offers, give those students a few days, etc.

Obviously, some will turn us down on the spot and that's totally fine. We realize that students on the waiting list may have deposited elsewhere and gotten excited about another school in the last few weeks. I hope those students have already removed themselves from the waiting list via SIS, but that's not always the case.