answering uva supplemental essays

University of Virginia (UVA) 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 5

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University of Virginia (UVA) 2024-25 First-Year Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words, 1 essay of 250 words for applicants to the School of Nursing only

Supplemental Essay Type(s) : Why , Community

How to Write Compelling University of Virginia (UVA) Supplemental Essays

UVA is looking for students who not only are academically successful, but also “have the potential to make a difference in their community, in the UVA community, and in the world.” They want students who “show kindness, care, and compassion to others and demonstrate character and integrity in all they do.” Unsurprisingly, their supplemental essays focus heavily on community and service to others, so your job here is to illustrate how you will harmonize with your future cohort. Thinking about your background and identity, try to pinpoint ways you have been uniquely positioned to support others through your personal values, perspectives, or characteristics and how you’ll bring those qualities with you to grounds. By drawing on your personal history to weave together a story of kindness, compassion, and integrity, you’ll be sure to impress admissions with your supplement! Read on for more detailed guides for each essay.

UVA Prompt Breakdowns

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at uva  feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (250 words).

Odds are that this isn’t the first “diversity” essay prompt you’ve come across this year—even if the prompt doesn’t explicitly use that word. However, if it is, please read on! UVA wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to an inclusive community. This prompt uses the phrase “source of strength” twice, which tells us that they want to hear about not only what makes you you , but also how these characteristics will sustain you and support those around you. What you focus on here can be reflective of larger cultural constructs or specific to you and only you. Is there anything you can teach your classmates about your hometown, traditions, culture, orientation, identity, race, or ethnicity that they might not already know? Maybe you began practicing meditation and discovered Buddhism during your sophomore year and you hope to spread some wisdom and mindfulness on grounds next fall. Perhaps you were raised on a farm and have a very special relationship to all living things (plants, animals, people, etc.) around you. How will you incorporate this element of your identity into your college experience? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community.

Students applying to the School of Nursing are required to answer this question in around 250 words. 

In the field of nursing, you will encounter and impact real human lives. please explain why you feel this is important as you choose this field as your future..

As a nurse, you’ll need both deep medical knowledge and the ability to interact with all kinds of people. This prompt wants you to highlight the interpersonal aspect of nursing. It’s tempting to talk in grand general terms about how medicine can impact people’s lives for the better, but take note: this prompt focuses on your future. Think about what effect you want to have on your future patients. Perhaps a nurse empathetically educated you about your condition when you were hospitalized as a child, and you want to be that person for someone else. Maybe you feel strongly that non-native English speakers aren’t being served in your small hometown and strive to be the first fully bilingual nurse in your community. Whatever drives you, be sure to center your potential impact on real people as a future nurse. 

If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here.  Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. 

Now that UVA is no longer explicitly considering legacy in their admissions process, admissions has added this question to identify not only those whose parents went to UVA, but also those whose ancestors labored at UVA. This reflects the university’s ongoing reckoning with its own founding, which included the use of enslaved labor. Here, anyone with personal or historic ties to the university, including students who attended summer programs there, can describe their unique connection. If you don’t have a connection, that’s okay! Most people won’t. If you do, however, read on.

This question doesn’t just ask you to state your tie, it asks you to explore how that connection has primed you to contribute to the community. Maybe your mom was an RA and has shared all the steam tunnel routes with you, so you can initiate your roommates into this UVA tradition. Perhaps one of your ancestors built the iconic Rotunda, and you look forward to educating your classmates about their legacy. Maybe you attended a summer program and fell in love with the Jeffersonian architecture, inspiring your passion for historic preservation. Remember, your job here is to explore how your personal connection to UVA will make you a contributor to campus life. 

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University of Virginia (UVA) Supplemental Essays 2024-25 — Prompts & Advice

August 7, 2024

The University of Virginia is one of the handful of flagship public institutions in the United States that attract massive numbers of high-achieving applicants from around the country/globe each and every year. In the most recent admissions cycle, nearly 60,000 students applied and only 16% were accepted. While becoming a Cavalier is challenging for a Virginia resident, out-of-staters and international applicants face an even tougher admissions gauntlet. You’ll likely need a straight A average (or very close) to get serious consideration at the 2024 version of UVA and an SAT in the 99th percentile (or better) doesn’t hurt either. And that brings us to today’s main topic- the UVA supplemental essays.

 (Want to learn more about How to Get Into the University of Virginia? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into the University of Virginia: Admissions Data and Strategies  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

With only one supplemental essay for the majority of applicants (you’ll only need to write more than one if applying to the School of Nursing or the Dance program), UVA’s supplemental section affords applicants the chance to illustrate what makes them uniquely qualified for admission. Below are the University of Virginia’s supplemental prompts for the 2024-25 admissions cycle along with our advice for composing winning essays.

2024-2025 UVA Supplemental Essay (All Applicants)

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (300 words)

This prompt asks you to not only share a particular life experience, element of your background, or perspective but also describe why that experience, element, or perspective will help you serve as a source of strength to either yourself or those around you. Essentially, it’s asking you to take your essay’s reflection one step further—you’ll need to communicate why the experience or element you’ve chosen is important to you as well as why/how you believe it will allow you to thrive at UVA or positively impact the UVA community.

UVA Supplemental Essays (Continued)

First, choose a key aspect of your experiences, background, or identity that reveals something deep and meaningful. (Although you could choose more than one, we’d advise against it, given that you only have 300 words in which to respond.) As you brainstorm, consider the following avenues:

• Your role in your family.
• A challenge you’ve faced.
• A formative experience or realization.
• Important aspects of your upbringing.
• Cultural, religious, or community influence.
• Racial background.
• Sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Secondly, you’ll need to explain how you’ll use what you’ve learned to persist through future personal challenges or strengthen others at UVA. Will your life experiences allow you to uplift those around you? Will your unique perspective enable you to connect more deeply with others? Has your experience or background provided you with a perspective that will benefit and support you as you move on to college? Will your background make it possible for you to advocate more effectively for specific populations? If you connect with at least one of these questions, you’re headed in the right direction for this essay.

UVA Program-Specific Essays

School of nursing.

In the field of nursing, you will encounter and impact real human lives. Please explain why you feel this is important as you choose this field as your future career. (250 words)

“A nurse is not what you do, it is who you are.”

This quote from an anonymous source captures the idea that becoming a nurse is more of a calling than a profession you just stumble into. Nurses are willing to work long shifts in the service of others, be on the frontlines of a pandemic, and deal with life’s toughest challenges (e.g., suffering and death) on a regular basis. Many applicants share stories of caring for sick relatives or going through a tough medical episode themselves as inspiration for wanting to study nursing—and positively impact the lives of others in the process. This essay is a chance to show the admissions committee that you are a passionate and mature nursing candidate and that nursing is genuinely “who you are.”

Dance Program

Submit a short essay discussing your interest in dance as a practice and/or a form of scholarship. What roles have dance and movement played in your life thus far? What insights and connections have you made in your day-to-day and academic life through the practice and study of movement? What do you hope to explore further by participating in dance program courses upon entry to UVA? (275 words)

Essentially, UVA wants to understand how your participation in dance has impacted your life. How has it benefited, strengthened, and/or challenged you as a person? Moreover, they’d like to understand the connections you’ve made between dance and other academic subjects, if any—what interdisciplinary connections have you observed? How has your academic life been made richer by dance? Finally, in addition to how dance has already impacted you, UVA is looking for a brief discussion of what the future holds in regard to dance, and how you plan to pursue that future at UVA.

How important are the UVA supplemental essays?

The essays (both the Common App essay and the supplemental response(s)) are “important” to the UVA admissions committee. This places them in the same tier of importance as extracurricular activities and talent/ability. Standardized test scores are rated a notch below as “considered.” Read more about the importance of the UVA supplemental essays in the fabulous  Notes from Peabody blog .

At UVA, the rigor of your coursework, class rank, GPA, recommendations, character/personal qualities, and state residency status are the most important factors in the admissions process. However, application components like the supplemental essay can serve as a critical tie-breaker between similarly credentialed applicants.

Want Personalized Essay Assistance with the UVA Supplemental Essays?

Are you interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your UVA supplemental essays? We encourage you to get a quote  today.

Looking for additional writing resources? Consider checking out the following blogs:

• Common App Essay Prompts
• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
• College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
• How to Quickly Format Your Common App Essay
• Should I Complete Optional College Essays?
• How to Brainstorm a College Essay
• 25 Inspiring College Essay Topics
• “Why This College?” Essay Examples
• How to Write the Community Essay
• College Essay

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How to Write the UVA Supplemental Essays 2024–2025

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The University of Virginia (UVA), located in the city of Charlottesville, was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson. With a 19% acceptance rate , UVA remains a selective research institution with a preference for in-state applicants . UVA’s accomplished alumni include Tina Fey, Ted Kennedy, Robert Mueller, and Steve Huffman. Hoping to join their ranks? First, you’ll need to nail your UVA supplemental essays. Let’s dive in.

UVA’s 2024-2025 Prompts

There are two UVA supplemental essays. The first prompt is required for all applicants. The second prompt is optional and only applicable to students with “a personal or historic connection with UVA.”

Required UVA Short Essay Question

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at uva feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (300 words or fewer), optional uva short essay question.

• If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here.  Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. (100 words or fewer)

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General Tips

The UVA supplemental essays focus exclusively on who you are as a person. More specifically, you need to write about your background, identity, and/or life experiences in your UVA supplemental essays. In the case of the first prompt, you’re expected to discuss your background and life experiences more generally. Or, at least, you can focus on any aspect(s) of your background and life experiences that you wish to share. In the case of the second prompt, you’re expected to discuss your background in the context of UVA, if such a connection exists. Thus, these general tips will focus on ways you can effectively discuss your background and personal experiences in a college essay.

Get vulnerable, if you can.

It’s not easy to write a vulnerable story. It’s not easy to share with an anonymous reader the times you’ve struggled or faced obstacles. However, if you can write a story about one or more of these experiences, followed by a description of the resilience you developed and the lessons you learned, you will make a strong case for why you deserve to be accepted into UVA.

Universities like UVA seek students who can face challenges head-on. Universities like UVA seek students who are self-aware and mature enough to look back on who they once were with a thoughtful, objective eye. In other words, writing a vulnerable essay is a sign of strength, courage, and maturity. All of these are qualities universities value.

Be authentic.

Vulnerability is a start, but whether you write a vulnerable essay or not, you should write an authentic one. Authentic essays stand out for their personal touches, unique details, and specific experiences. Your story is yours, no one else’s. Thus, the only way to guarantee you’ll write UVA supplemental essays that look like no one else’s is to be authentic.

In addition, remember that admissions officers read college essays for a living. They are well-trained individuals who can sniff out inauthenticity quickly and easily. It’s in your best interest to share your authentic story for many reasons, one of which is that inauthenticity won’t help you or your application’s chances of success in the long run.

Telling a vulnerable story authentically is challenging, but reflecting isn’t quite as challenging for most applicants. However, many applicants forget to leave room for reflection in their college essays. In addition, many students don’t provide sufficient reflection.

Although there is no precise minimum or maximum for how much of an essay should be reflection, students should strive to address each of the main lessons they learned. In other words, if the story you tell in your essay led to two main takeaways that shaped your perspective, then you should make space in your essay to recap these takeaways and how they continue to impact you.

This supplemental essay prompt is all about you. Consider the aspects of your background and personal experience that are not otherwise communicated in your college application. Then, take the time to determine which of these aspects are most important to the person you are today and serves as a source of strength for you. This is what your essay should focus on.

Note how the prompt refers to “any past experience or part of your background that… will be a source of strength.” UVA is looking for your experiences of resilience and learning. Past experiences that help you find strength today likely involved lessons you had to learn about yourself or others. Aspects of your identity or background that have helped you overcome challenges in your life could fit into this prompt.

Whatever parts of yourself you choose to focus on in this essay, feel encouraged to tell your unique story. This might mean employing typical “story” devices, like dialogue, scene, and descriptive language. Alternatively, you may feel that your story is better suited to a montage-like structure. Instead of telling one narrative, you share multiple anecdotes or weave together numerous details. As long as you’re specific and concise, you’ll do great.

If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here.  Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. (100 words or fewer)

This prompt is optional, but if you do have a personal or historic connection to UVA, you should feel encouraged to answer it. This prompt has a maximum of 100 words, which is the length of a brief paragraph. Still, even this brief paragraph gives you one more chance to share who you are with UVA.

In addition, UVA does not have a “Why UVA?” essay. Perhaps you have a compelling set of reasons for choosing to apply to UVA that are grounded in your personal or historic connection to the University. If so, then sharing that set of reasons can only help your application. Furthermore, if your connection to UVA is more complicated than a legacy connection (which UVA will be able to see regardless of whether you choose to respond to this essay), then your time may be well-spent exploring that connection here.

In this response, you should describe the nature of your connection to UVA. Then, indicate how this connection has indicated that UVA will be a good fit for you. You can also illustrate the ways you’ve fostered this connection and found community at UVA. Once again, being specific and concise will go a long way toward strengthening your response.

If you need help polishing up your UVA supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.

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