Applications make history again

UVA’s Class of 2030 is already making history, and students haven’t even moved into their first-year dorms yet. Applications for a spot in the class hit a record 82,118 this cycle, up 27 percent from the year before—but that growth looked very different depending on how students applied.

The most popular of UVA’s three admission rounds among applicants, early action—which offers a faster, non-binding decision—saw a 37 percent increase to 57,513 submissions. In the regular decision round, submissions increased by 11 percent to 19,504 compared to last year. The binding early decision round stayed fairly static with about a 3 percent increase to 5,108.

During the regular decision round, UVA considered 26,767 total applications, including applicants deferred from the earlier rounds and those who applied for the final cycle.

UVA officials have declined to speculate on what’s driving the growth, but it comes as UVA made a significant change to the application requirements. This year, only nursing school applicants were required to submit supplemental essays beyond the Common Application’s personal statement. That makes it easier for prospective students, especially those who can afford the nonrefundable $75 application fee, to click submit.

Both in-state and out-of-state applicants had the best chance of admission during the binding early decision round, with offer rates of 25 percent for Virginians and 23 percent for out-of-state students. During the early action round, the offer rate for in-state students came in at 23 percent, while out-of-state students saw a steeper decline to 9 percent.

Regular-decision offers, announced in March, remain the most competitive with just 7.4 percent of in-state applicants and 7 percent of out-of-state applicants receiving offers. Overall, UVA extended 10,287 offers of admission and aims to seat a first-year class of about 3,995 new ’Hoos.

Source: UVA Admission blog