If you’ve been waitlisted by the University of Virginia, or UVA, we’re here to help. And if you are simply trying to plan head in case of a waitlist, we can help there, too.
UVA is interesting. They don’t defer students from ED or EA, and instead bounce students to the waitlist starting much earlier in the application process. This decision came from statistical analysis. They saw that the defer review resulting in an acceptance rate under 5% for those students, so the waitlist is, they feel, more representative of likelihood of admission — which tells us a lot about the chances of getting in off the of the waitlist.
In this post, we’ll give you the tools you need to improve your chances of getting into UVA, and chart a successful course in college no matter how things work out. First, though, let’s break down the numbers.
For the fall of 2023, they accepted 9,533 applicants for just under 4,000 spots, estimating a less than 50% yield. For security, they offered a spot on the waitlist to an additional 8,899 students. Over 5,000, 5,114 to be exact, took them up on the offer. This is a very deep waitlist, and it is impossible that they ever expected to use a significant portion of it. Ultimately, 320 students were tapped to join the class off of the waitlist, or 6.3%. That isn’t a horrible percentage compared to the waitlists at comparable schools, but it also isn’t awesome.
So, let’s look further back.
A year earlier, for the fall of 2022, UVA offered a slightly smaller pool of students a spot on the waiting list, 8,368, and the waitlist was comparable in depth — 4,937. Instead of over 300 getting in off the waitlist though, only 7 did. That’s 0.14%. That is a ridiculously low percentage.
Given the massive difference between a 6.3% waitlist acceptance rate and a 0.14% one, let’s go back another year. For the fall of 2021, the UVA waitlist was about the same, 4,924 students, and 86 were accepted. This sort of splits the difference at 1.75%.
But the way they use the waitlist isn’t this transparent. They have students applying from in-state and out-of-state, and have requirements for how many students fall into each category. They also admit first year students through five different ‘points of entry’ for first years: the College of Arts and Sciences, Architecture, Engineering, Nursing, and Kinesiology. They can’t predict what type of student they’ll need more of, so they keep a deep waitlist with students representing each.
So, what can we learn from this? UVA uses their waitlist, and they have maintained a pretty uniformly deep waitlist over the past few years. They haven’t had to use it to the same level each year, though, so your likelihood of getting in as a waitlisted student can’t be confidently estimated. But you can do this, so let’s map out how to make it happen.
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Below are the four steps you absolutely must take to not just increase your chances of getting into UVA, but also to set you up for a successful college admissions experience regardless of how UVA works out.
Step 1: Accept Your Spot on the Waitlist
First, you need to join the waitlist via a form on the portal. This isn’t something to panic over time-wise, but you also shouldn’t drag your feet. The waitlist is unranked, so you can’t be at the top or bottom of it. It’s a pool, and joining the list through the opt-in form is like jumping in.
The office of admissions at UVA says that “the waiting list opt-in form submitted through the portal takes the place of a Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI).” So, if they give you room on the form to include a statement of interest in UVA, take a few days to refine your response. You’ll want to be specific and academically oriented, while reinforcing the things you emphasized in your application, whether that’s community, academic opportunity, or a particular program that fits perfectly with your ideal course of study.
Once you’ve submitted the form, it’s time to move on to Step 2.
Step 2: Pick a College for Fall
This is the most frustrating step. UVA may be your dream, but you need to pick a school that isn’t UVA.
We suggest selecting your best option from the schools you were accepted by, even if there isn’t anywhere that you’re super excited about. It is easier to transfer than to reapply completely next year. Seriously. You need to pick a school, place a deposit, and process that this may be your path — but it doesn’t mean you can’t graduate from a dream school. It’s just going to take a bit longer to get there.
When picking a second-choice school, remember to prioritize academics over emotion (or geography). If you are going to try to transfer, it’s imperative that you have built your transcript in such a way that you are a stronger applicant after a year of college than you were as a senior in high school. Simply doing well in college isn’t enough. You need to do well in your area of interest.
Step 3: Update UVA
Next, you need to strengthen your application with UVA. The Opt-in form was their version of a Letter of Continued Intent, but there is more that you can do. Below are the additional steps you can take to strengthen your application beyond the opt-in form.
Mid-Year Report
First, you need to upload a mid-year report to the UVA application portal as soon as it is available. You’ll need to communicate proactively with your college counselor, to make sure you can move quickly when this is released.
Keep Your Cool
What else can you do? First, let’s rule some things out. While UVA admissions wants to be helpful as you navigate your college admissions process, they do not want to be badgered. “Calling, writing, or visiting,” they emphasize, “won’t have any impact on your admission decision.”
Share Big News
What you should do, though, is send them information that is truly new through the application portal or a direct email to the admissions official assigned to your region. We recommend writing a short update letter (ideally less than 250 words) that provides up to 4 important, relevant, and new updates to your application. These could include awards, recognitions, research work, projects, presentations, or other things relevant to your academic profile. We do not recommend including updates that are athletic, nor updates that may feel out of tune with your initial application. For example, including an update about a club you barely mentioned in your application isn’t great, but an update about a new leadership role in a club that you emphasized in your application is.
This update being short and sweet is as important as what is in it. We’ve seen many students try to get off of the waitlist at their dream school by bombarding admissions with pages upon pages of updates. This does not work to do anything except make admissions resent you.
Step 4: Move On
If they want to offer you a spot, they will likely give you a call to confirm your high level of interest before sending an email with an official offer. But they don’t always, so keep an eye on your email. In 2024, they concluded the waitlist process in the second week of June, after having begun extending offers of admission from the waitlist in early April.
If you are a Virginia-based student and UVA is your dream school, definitely look into the UVA Wise Deferred Admission Option. You could qualify to enroll at the UVA College at Wise, in southwest Virginia, and then automatically transfer to UVA in Charlottesville for your sophomore year as long as you maintain a 3.0 GPA and complete 30 transferrable credits. This does mean dropping off of the UVA waitlist, though, so consider your options carefully.
If you are trying to get into a dream school after a waitlist decision, contact us for your strategy.