The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Just over 17,000 students attend the school and the acceptance rate for the class of 2024 was 20.5%. It’s a big school with a lot of school pride. UVA is comprised of a set of undergraduate colleges, and you’ll answer the prompt that aligns with the specific college you’re applying to. We’re breaking it down below:
We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.
College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way?
The first thing that strikes us about this prompt are the words surprised, unsettled, and inspired. These are three distinct feelings, which means that you probably shouldn’t aim to tackle all three emotions with one piece of art. Your best bet with this prompt is to pick a piece of work that speaks to one of your unique interests that you have not represented elsewhere in your application. The most important part of this prompt to tackle is the WHY and HOW the piece of work impacted you – not the “what.” So instead of going into a lengthy description of a poem in Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel,” you should dive into how “Wintering” made you feel.
And as always, you shouldn’t be picking something because you think it will make you sound smart. Steer clear of the classics. Pick something you actually read, a math problem that actually challenged you, or a piece of art you genuinely like. Your response will read as disingenuous if you write about To Kill a Mockingbird, and UVA will also think that you only read books assigned to you in school.
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering.
This is a great question, and the best thing about it is that you don’t need to have every single detail of how your engineering feat is built to answer it. We suggest keeping things small and not trying to tackle giant complex problems that might affect you, but are impersonal. To keep it closer to home, ask yourself “What is something that could make the lives of myself, my family, and friends better?” We worked with a student last year who created a tick scanner for his beloved family dog (he got in). Explain why your problem matters to you, then go into as much detail as possible as to how you would solve it.
School of Architecture - Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.
The best advice that we can give you with this prompt is to not write about architecture that you saw while you were on vacation. It is not a good sign if you had to go to Italy to think that building design is cool and exciting. Instead, look around your hometown. Maybe your significant experience was noticing the kinds of homes in your neighborhood. While this experience doesn’t seem especially exciting, you can explain how it spurred your interest in the field. If the brainstorming process has you stumped, try thinking about small moments with significant impact, not necessarily an awe-inspiring moment that froze you in your tracks.
School of Nursing - Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.
If you want to be a nurse, something will come to mind for this question. This is a straightforward question, and you need to tell UVA a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Maybe you or one of your family members grew up with an illness or you bonded with the nurse who took care of you when you broke your arm as a child. Expand on your experience, bring the reader into the room, and remember that details make stories better.
Kinesiology Program – Discuss experiences that led you to apply to the kinesiology major.
Kinesiology also tends to be a major that is decided upon in advance. Everything we just said about nurses applies here as well. Maybe you struggled with an injury or disability or you help out the trainer at your high school. Own your story and tell it from start to finish.
For the second part of the application, you’ll answer one of the following questions:
What’s your favorite word and why?
This is a tricky one. We would love for UVA to let us know some responses they liked for this one because it’s not THE BEST question. The disconnect here for us is that choosing a word might be doable, but explaining why is hard. If you insist on answering this question, don’t use a thesaurus and stick with humor. With that being said, every aspect of your application show be showing another side of you, and there are better opportunities to do that with the questions below.
We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.
If you read this and something immediately came to mind, this might be the prompt for you. But revisit this before you start writing: a quirk is defined as a peculiar behavioral habit. This means that having a side of the bed that you like is NOT a quirk, and neither is loving a specific food. Those are preferences, not quirks. Something else to note is that sometimes we don’t realize our own quirks, and our loved ones might be better at identifying our quirky traits. We suggest making a list of ten quirks and picking the best one. The most important part of this prompt is explaining WHY it is a part of who you are, so don’t start writing until you have that figured out.
Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?
This is our favorite question. It’s terrific. Remember earlier when we discussed adding dimension to your application? This is how you do it. This question is great because it’s basically begging you to nerd out and write about that thing your parents are sick of hearing you talk about over family dinner. The more specific the better, think about YouTube rabbit holes you go down when you can’t sleep and the random google searches that you revisit every Monday. The goal? Get specific and creative, write about something that speaks to a BRAND NEW niche interest, and show how passionate you are.
In terms of actually writing the supplement, here’s what you need:
A name for your course
A reading list: aim for 3-4 suggested readings
A few questions that will guide the in-class discussion
Include all of the above, along with an explanation as to why you chose your topic. One last thing: make sure that your topic is not too close to a traditional academic subject, and check Google to make sure that someone else hasn’t beat you to the punch with your idea.
UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?
“Live, Laugh, Love.” “Eat, Pray, Love.” “A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish.” “Real eyes realize real lies.”
When we’ve worked with students in the past, they have read this prompt and started to sweat. We suggest skipping this one. As we’ve said your responses should speak to some kind of deeper thinking that you’ve done, and teenagers writing about introspective thinking and matters of the world can get gross and cringe-worthy, very quickly. At best, they’ll write cliche aphorisms like the above. Another tricky spot is that your message alone does not answer this prompt, your reason for picking it does. We’ve been doing this for a long time, and the best advice that we can give you is to skip this prompt. You have plenty of options.
Rita Dove, UVA English professor and former U.S. Poet Laureate, once said in an interview that "...there are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints." Describe a time when, instead of complaining, you took action for the greater good.
This is another good prompt but only if you think small. There is nothing worse than reading a story about a teenager who thinks they changed the world, so start by thinking about micro-stories. When was the last time you stopped your negative thinking and decided to do something about an issue at hand? Remember that this is an action for the GREATER good, which means that your “good” should have impacted someone besides yourself. We’re not suggesting that you limit yourself to something that happened during the age of Coronavirus, but an example that comes to mind here is a home improvement project (like replacing a touchy lock on the front door or finally fixing the garage door) at your house.
UVA’s prompt requires you to think logically and creatively. Before you start, look at what you’ve shown them thus far. Then, break it down and identify the prompts that will allow you to add dimension to yourself. Your supplement are just as important as your common app essay, and we suggest starting as soon as possible.
If you’re not sure where to start and want help, contact us here.