You remember the feeling. Grinding out application after application. Wondering if you took enough Advanced Placement classes. Stressing over your amount of extra-curricular activities. Finally, after a year of torment, the letters began to arrive. You waited anxiously, assaulting the mail carrier in hopes of receiving a fat envelope that would seal your fate. At the end of this month, potential 'Hoos will find out if they will join the ranks of current Cavaliers.
Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said the University received approximately 200 more applications this year than last year.
"We expect to see a powerful class in the fall," he said. "The quality is superb."
Blackburn said the admissions office is currently evaluating applications, so he said he could not speculate about the number of students who will be offered admission. The office is presently assessing mid-year grade reports and applications arriving from overseas, he added.
Process tendencies
Signaling a new trend this year, there was an increase in online applications, Blackburn said. Of the early decision candidates, 70 percent applied using an online application.
The increase in online applications likely stemmed from students' level of comfort with releasing confidential data over the Internet, Blackburn said. Besides providing an efficient way of submitting applications, the online system makes admissions offers available over the Internet the day letters are sent out, so students can know if they are accepted sooner than if they applied through the mail.
Another trend has been an increase in applications for financial aid, said Yvonne Hubbard, director of student financial services.
Approximately 70 percent of students who apply for admission also apply for financial aid, Hubbard said. Typically a quarter of those applicants are determined to be eligible for aid, she added.
For students who have been offered admission, Hubbard said there are usually 1,200 eligible recipients for financial aid. This year, approximately 1,800 students who are being considered for offers of admission are eligible for financial aid.
Economic factors
This influence, which is apparent nationwide, can be attributed to several factors, Hubbard said.
"The economy has people worried," she said. "Also, we are getting the word out better about financial aid, and people are more savvy."
Although applicants often do not expect to qualify for aid, Hubbard said she encourages all prospective students to apply, adding that the University frequently is able to meet students' needs.
Hubbard said the increased demand for financial aid packages cannot be attributed to any single factor.
"We are not really sure what that means," Hubbard said.
Blackburn said he also noticed an increase in financial aid applications.
"Students could be coming from a different segment of the population, which would be good for socioeconomic diversity," Blackburn said.
Hubbard said the University wants to provide students with financial aid.
"We want to attract students who need financial aid," she said. "It's important for diversity of all kinds. A good education is founded on diversity."
Access U.Va.
The increase in financial aid packages is significant because the application deadline was reached before Access U.Va., a financial aid program, was announced, Blackburn said.
Recently, the Board of Visitors introduced Access U.Va. in an effort to keep higher education affordable, according to University Spokesperson Carol Wood. The Board allocated $16 million annually for the project.
As part of Access U.Va., Hubbard said the University has pledged to meet 100 percent of need for students who qualify for financial aid in the Class of 2008. She attributed the increase in applications to the University's determination to meet students' needs.
Wood said the initiative to provide 100 percent of need was initially launched in 2001 and phased in over a three-year period.
The full implementation of the program will begin with the incoming Class of 2008.
"It will have an impact on all of our students beginning with the incoming class this fall," Wood said. "The University has been dedicated to putting together the best possible package for students."
Hubbard said the University has been meeting all of need for about half of the students who qualify for financial aid before the initiative was implemented.
"For students with the highest need, we have been meeting 100 percent of their need," Hubbard said.
Loan limiting
Another initiative of Access U.Va. will place a cap on need-based loans, according to Hubbard.
"Basically, students will not choose a school if they need to take on a lot of debt," she said. "We do not want to graduate students who are $30,000 or $40,000 in debt."
Wood said that no student will graduate with debt higher than a quarter of the cost of a four-year education. The loan includes tuition, room and board and books, she said.
Hubbard said the University is currently working on the particulars of the program. Since tuition increases each year, she said the University will determine a projected cost of a four-year education, and students will pay 25 percent of that cost.
Tuition, endowments and private gifts provide funding for this initiative, Hubbard said.
"I hope we can find donors who might want to contribute to keeping students' debts low," she said. "We would like to excite donors with the University's best interest at heart to help."
To demonstrate how loan caps can assist students, Hubbard said 605 students in the graduating Class of 2004 have some amount of debt. Of that 605, 215 have borrowed more than what 25 percent of a four-year education would cost.
"Between those 215, they have borrowed more than $1 million," Hubbard said.
While the University is aware that students will graduate with some amount of debt, Hubbard said the University wants to eliminate excessive debt.
The formula that determines a student's amount of need is based on the cost of tuition less the amount of expected family income. This information is referenced against a formula sheet provided by the federal government, Hubbard said.
In addition to these trends in financial aid packages, Hubbard said a goal of the admissions office and the University is to foster diversity.
"We want to increase the economic diversity here at the University," she said.
Wood said the University is currently working on a marketing plan to promote awareness of Access U.Va.
"We want students to realize that U.Va. is a place that is welcoming and affordable," Wood said. "No student should think that they cannot aspire to U.Va. because of financial need."
Application basics
In spite of these trends, Blackburn said there have not been many dramatic changes to the application.
"We change the questions from time to time on the supplement for first-year and transfer students," he said.
Blackburn said the admissions office decides which questions to keep and which questions to remove based on the responses.At the same time, questions which the admissions office thinks would elicit powerful responses do not always invoke the strongest essays, he said.
"Some questions signal to students about what is important at U.Va.," Blackburn said. "An applicant can show her full range of interests, abilities and experiences."
For anxious students hoping to attend Mr. Jefferson's University, notification letters will be mailed out to first-year applicants April 1 and to transfer students in early May. Students will receive information about their financial aid packages shortly thereafter.
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