The University’s incoming Class of 2021 is going to be impressive. According to statistics provided by Dean of Admissions Gregory Roberts and Senior Assoc. Dean Christy Pratt, of the students entering the University, 89.4 percent were in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school class. Their average SAT mean score was a 1,363 based on the newly redesigned SAT scoring guide.
However, the class will be welcomed to Grounds during a difficult period for the University in the wake of a white nationalist torchlit march through Grounds Aug. 11 and the Aug. 12 “Unite the Right” rally that descended into violence in Charlottesville.
“In light of the tragic events … It’s even more important that we are bringing students who want to be active and engaged, and who speak out against bigotry, racism and hate,” Roberts said. “I am extremely excited to welcome these students to U.Va. because I am convinced they will play a critical role in this important conversation and help us address these difficult issues.”
Many first-year students were prepared to join the conversation even before arriving on Grounds.
Mackenzie Williams, a rising first-year in the College, spoke to The Cavalier Daily about viewing the events from afar.
“Living in Seattle, events of this nature felt distant, but this wake-up call made me realize racism in the U.S. is anything but,” Williams said. “However, never for a moment did I regret my decision to attend U.Va. … I can’t wait to be part of a community that remains together, unwavering, through the nightmare that was last weekend.”
Raeven Mataya, a College student from New Orleans, La., said she had just left Grounds the weekend before the rally, which made the torchlit march even more surreal.
“I just kept thinking what it would’ve been like to be there while Nazis marched on the Lawn,” Mataya said. “It felt like such a violation that they were so close to my future home.
Other incoming first-years have found comfort in the response from members of the community, making them even prouder to become a part of it.
“Overall, my sense of despair, fear and anger has been outweighed by the outpouring of support and comfort by the University administration, students and even other incoming first years,” College student Jada Wright from Suffolk, Va. said. “I know of multiple … that have reached out to each other in the wake of this weekend’s events to express solidarity, hope and an enduring sense of pride in being a Wahoo.”
“The supremacist invasion in Charlottesville was deeply upsetting, but the outpouring of love and communal support from U.Va. students and staff has made me feel unmistakably proud to be a Wahoo,” said Rob Schwartz, an Engineering student from Denver, Colo. “I’m looking forward to creating positive change and fighting white supremacy along this talented group of people.”
There are 3,808 students in the Class of 2021 and 667 transfer students, representing 47 states and 73 countries.
The Class of 2021 is also one of the most diverse classes to attend the University.
“This group is the most diverse class I’ve seen in my time here, in terms of racial and socioeconomic diversity as well as those who are the first of their family to attend college,” Roberts said.
Students from low-income households comprise about nearly eight percent of the class. Additionally, seven percent of students identify as African-American, about 15 percent as Asian and about six percent as Hispanic. First-generation college students make up just under 12 percent of first-years.
Roberts said the “extraordinarily large applicant pool” during this admissions season placed “great pressure on an admissions staff to make thoughtful decisions about students who we believe have the potential to transform this University.”
In doing so, they admitted a beekeeper, one of only 12 students in the world to receive a maximum score on each section of the AP Calculus AB exam, a builder of a prototype for a blood pump that could function as a heart replacement device, a student who bicycled across the entire United States and the developer of an app to help people detect skin cancer earlier.
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