uva essay 2023

University of Virginia (UVA) 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action/Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 5

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University of Virginia (UVA) 2023-2024 First-Year Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words, 1 optional essay of 100 words, 1 essay of 250 words for applicants to the School of Nursing only

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Community

In around 250 words, please answer the following 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..

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. If it is, however, please read on. UVA wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to an inclusive community. The prompt uses the phrase “source of strength” twice; this tells us that they want to hear about not only what makes you you , but also how these characteristics will support you and 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 campus 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.

School of nursing – describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing..

This prompt asks applicants to detail a specific experience to prove their interest in their chosen field of study, nursing. It is a bit closer to a traditional why essay in that students should make sure not just to discuss the experience that led them to pursue nursing, but also to connect that experience to their larger goals for the future. Perhaps you were diagnosed with diabetes as a child and the nursing care you received inspired you to go into the field yourself. Maybe your grandfather was a nurse and you were awed by his skills when your grandmother fell off a ladder. If there are elements of the UVA program that support your particular interest or connect to the experience you choose to highlight, definitely build those bridges to show admissions you are familiar with the programs UVA has to offer, and have already considered how your experiences will help you achieve future academic success.

Optional: 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)

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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College Essays

Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia boasts impressive academics, competitive sports team, and a long list of notable alumni. Though about 17,000 students attend UVA, the school has an admissions rate of 19%—meaning you'll have to work hard if you want to be a Cavalier.

One of the best ways to boost your chances of admissions is by writing great UVA essays as part of your application. In this article, we'll break down what the UVA essay prompts are and how you can write responses to each prompt that will make you stand out.

What Are the UVA Supplemental Essay Prompts?

In order to apply to UVA, you'll submit the Common Application . No matter which option you choose, you'll have to complete the UVA supplement, which includes three writing prompts.

The first prompt requires a response of about 100 words, and the other two recommend 50 words each. So these are definitely more short responses than full-length essays. For the first UVA supplement essay, you're required to write a response based on the school within UVA that you're applying to. For the second and third UVA writing supplements, you get to choose the topic that resonates most with you.

UVA Essay Prompts

Here are the UVA essay prompts for 2022-2023:

We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer this question, which corresponds to the school/program you selected above in around 100 words.

• College of Arts and Sciences — If you could create a college course that all UVA students would take, what would it be about and why?
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences — How will you use an engineering degree to change the world for the better?
• School of Architecture —Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.
• School of Nursing —Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.
• Kinesiology Program — Describe an experience that has deepened your interest in studying kinesiology.

Prompts #2 and #3

Answer one of the following questions in around 50 words. (You'll answer one question from this set for prompt 2 and a different question from this same set for prompt 3).

What's your favorite word and why?

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.

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?

About what topic could you speak for an hour?

Take us to your happy place. 

You can wake up tomorrow and a skill you already have will become expert-level. What skill is that?

What is the last gift you gave someone that wasn't bought with money?

What website is the internet missing?

After a challenging experience, how do you recharge?

Tell us about a place you'd like to share with everyone, but also keep to yourself.

Tell us about a time when, faced with an opinion or perspective that differed from your own, you responded as an empathetic speaker or a generous listener.

UVA Essays, Analyzed

Looking for advice on how to write amazing UVA essays? Let's break down how to answer each prompt.

UVA Prompt #1

The instructions are the same for all of the first UVA essays:

" We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer this question, which corresponds to the school/program you selected above in around 100 words ."

Let's look at how to answer each one.

College of Arts and Sciences— If you could create a college course that all UVA students would take, what would it be about and why?

This slightly unusual prompt lets you show UVA what knowledge you think every student there should know. The prompt isn't asking what you think would be an interesting or fun course necessarily, but a course that every UVA student should need to take and pass in order to graduate. To answer this prompt, you'll need to decide: what topic is important for every UVA student to think about and know before they graduate? 

You could take this in a lot of different directions. You might choose a practical topic, like Intro to Paying Taxes, Basic Home and Car Repairs, or Financial Planning 101. Certainly everybody will need to know that information sooner or later! You could also choose a more abstract topic that you think no one should graduate college without thinking critically about. Topics in this area could include living sustainably, understanding prejudice, or how to be a good communicator.

Whichever topic you choose, be sure to give a brief overview of what the course would cover and, most importantly, why you think every UVA student should take it. The topic you choose is less important than your reasoning behind it, so make sure you make a strong argument for why your course choice is valuable to the entire UVA community.

School of Engineering— How will you use an engineering degree to change the world for the better?

This prompt is all about you and your plans for the future. What specifically do you plan on doing as an engineer? UVA asks this to understand your goals and motivations for wanting to enroll in their School of Engineering.

When answering this prompt, you might feel pressured to write something really impressive, like designing a space shuttle that'll allow humans to travel to Mars or developing a cheap water purification system that can be distributed to the millions of people living without access to clean drinking water. And if you do have those goals for yourself, then go for it! 

However, if you have more modest goals, don't feel like you need to "dress them up" in order to impress UVA. Wanting to become an engineer so you can create safe buildings, help people  manage and protect their data, or even just build cool roller coasters that people enjoy are just as valid.

The key is to be honest and enthusiastic about your career goals. Let your passion for engineering and your excitement for your future plans shine through, and you'll be all set for this prompt.

School of Architecture—Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.

Inspiration comes in many forms —what's important for this prompt is to think about an experience that has inspired you. Also, keep in mind that this prompt isn't asking you about a specific building or project that you love. Instead, it wants you to tell a personal story about how architecture has inspired you...and how that inspiration led you to choose architecture as a major.

The trick for this essay prompt is connecting your experience to architecture . For example, maybe you wanted to be an architect because you visited the Academy of Sciences in California, and you thought their underground aquarium was amazing. That inspired you to want to learn to build structures that create that sense of awe in others.

Whatever you choose, you should be sincere about your inspiration. Anything that sounds trite will be really obvious to the admissions committee. They'll read thousands of applications about wanting to make the tallest building in the world—make yours sound different.

School of Nursing—Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.

Don't feel like you need to highlight a huge moment here—rather, focus on something that's significant to you even if that experience was small!

The key to this prompt is to make sure that you're highlighting something real that happened to you or someone important to you. The more personal you can make the experience, the better.

Saying something like "I want to solve cancer for everyone" is less impactful than saying that you have seen firsthand how cancer affected your grandmother. Nursing is a personal profession—lean into that for this essay.

Kinesiology Program— Describe an experience that has deepened your interest in studying kinesiology.

For this prompt, focus on one experiences and discuss it in detail. Don't give an entire overview of your history—describing something more fully will resonate more than trying to cram a lot of experiences into a relatively short essay.

Be honest about what drove you to kinesiology— don't write what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. Write what's true for you.

UVA Prompts #2 and #3

Again, for both prompts 2 and 3, you'll choose one prompt from the list below (so two different prompts total) and write a response of roughly 50 words each.

This is quite an eclectic list! Of the 11 prompts, you only need to answer two, so don't worry if you can't think of a good response to some or even most of the prompts. Don't worry about choosing the two "best" prompts either; UVA chose each of these prompts which means they think they're all valuable. Choose the two that speak to you the most and that you can answer in a way that lets UVA learn more about you as a person.

Also aim to choose two prompts that show different sides of yourself as opposed to two prompts where your answers are quite similar. That helps UVA get more of a look into who you are as a person, which is the entire point of the prompts.

To choose your prompts, go through the list and think about potential responses for each question. Some you might not come up with anything for, but hopefully for a few an answer will jump out at you. For example, do you have a passion for collecting Minnie Mouse figurines? Do you have to run four miles every single morning? Do you stop everything you're doing whenever the Red Sox are playing? Do your parents always make fun of you for pronouncing a word strangely? Then you might want to answer the question about quirks. 

Or maybe the prompt about students writing messages on the Beta Bridge speaks to you. As with the other prompts, the "why" is the most important part of this prompt. Whatever message you land on, make sure you have a good reason for it.

Avoid trite or cliched phrases, like "Be the change you wish to see in the world." The admissions committee will have seen thousands of these—and those words are probably already written on Beta Bridge. What do you have to say? What message is personal to you? What lesson have you learned that you specifically can communicate?

For whichever prompts you choose, be honest and reflective so that your response gives a window of insight into who you are and what matters to you. Another thing to note: 50 words is not very long at all! So keep things concise in order to stay within the word count.

How to Write UVA Essays

Here are some general tips for how to write UVA essays that will wow the committee.

Your UVA supplement essays are a chance to show the admissions committee who you are. Take that opportunity to flesh yourself out. You're not simply a collection of A's and B's printed on a transcript. You're a real person! Show that in your UVA essays.

#2: Feedback Is Cool; Plagiarism Is Not

It can be tempting to bounce essay ideas off your peers, parents, and teachers. That's fine! But don't rely on them too heavily. Your work should be your own—from the ideas to the execution. There's a fine line between receiving helpful feedback and using that feedback in a way that misrepresents your work and ability . Seek out help, but know that you have the first and final say.

#3: Play With Form

Your UVA essays don't have to follow the traditional five paragraph structure. UVA encourages you to play with form. That means you can submit a poem, if you want!

Take advantage of the freedom from structure to write in a way that feels authentic to you. If that means starting every sentence with the letter "E", then go for it! As long as your work is well-written and engaging, the form doesn't matter.

What's Next?

There are over 5,000 colleges in the United States—how can you possibly decide which to apply to? Using a college finder tool can help you sort through your options and find your ideal school without having to tour every single campus.

Once you've decided on some colleges or universities that you're interested in attending , our guide will help you narrow down your list to safeties, matches, and reach school.

Still not sure what you're looking for in a college? Read our articles on whether you should go to a school close to home and whether you should attend a large or small college .

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

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University of Virginia | UVA’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Why this college short response.

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.

Diversity Short Response

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.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

UVA Admission Essays Are Posted. Learn How to Write Your Best One

High school students looking to get a jump on joining the University of Virginia’s Class of 2023 got some big news recently: This year’s essay questions have been unveiled.

Associate Dean of Admission Jeannine Lalonde shared this year’s essay prompts, then took some time to explain why the essay remains an important part of the application process and shared some writing tips for prospective applicants.

“I think that it helps us get insight into the personality, voice and style of the student,” she said. “The rest of the application consists of forms and other people telling us about the student. This is their chance to talk directly to us.”

As for the writing, Lalonde said she typically shares three tips with high school students when it comes to putting together an application essay.

1.  Don’t overthink the topic

“The questions are broad because we want the students to go in whatever direction makes sense for them,” Lalonde said. “The topic is just a vehicle that the student uses. They should pick a topic that lets them be interesting and authentic in their writing.”

2. You don’t have to write like it’s a school essay.

“Don’t feel limited to the formulaic way that most students are taught to write for class,” she said. “This is a different sort of writing. The more standard format used in academic writing is fine for school and it’s great when writing under pressure. But prospective students should feel free to use whatever format makes sense for the message or story that they want to get across.”

3. It’s smart to get advice, but be authentic.

“It’d be foolish to submit an essay without having someone you trust take a look first and give feedback, but essays shouldn’t read like they were done by committee. And if you don’t like the advice someone gives, feel free to ignore it. When you submit it, it should feel good to you, and it should sound like you.”

Here’s a look at the essay prompts for the coming application season. Stay up with news about admission by following Lalonde’s blog, Notes From Peabody, or following her Twitter, where she’s @UVADeanJ.

2018-2019 First-Year Application Essay Questions  

1. 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, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - If you were given funding for a small engineering project that would make everyday life better for one friend or family member, what would you design?
• School of Architecture - Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.  
• School of Nursing - School of Nursing applicants may have experience shadowing, volunteering, or working in a health care environment. Tell us about a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.
• Kinesiology Program - Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major. 

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words. 

• What’s your favorite word and why?
• 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.
• 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?
• 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?
• UVA students are charged with pushing the boundaries of knowledge to serve others and contribute to the common good. Give us an example of how you’ve used what you’ve learned to make a positive impact in another person’s life.

How to Write Your Way into UVA

In college admissions, essays can serve as the tipping point. Here are some tips, pointers and actual essays that recently made the cut.

To build the 3,974-member Class of 2023, UVA admission deans culled through 40,880 applications. How big a role did the student essays play in the final decision? We asked an expert: Macy Lenox (Col ’94), associate dean of undergraduate admission. Here’s our conversation, edited and condensed.

Virginia Magazine: What carries the most weight in the final admission decision?

Lenox: What we find on the transcript is going to be the first and most important aspect of the application. [Then] we’re going to start looking at impact and contribution, and we get to that through extracurricular activities and teacher recommendations.

The essay is the one time we’re going to kind of sit back in our chair and give students the opportunity to talk to us. So they want to use that time wisely. The best essays are those that you read and you don’t just want to admit the student, you want to take them out for coffee once they get to Grounds.

With that said, will an extraordinary essay make the case for a student who is not qualified? The answer is no. One of my former colleagues used to say: It can heal the sick, but it can’t raise the dead.

Are any essay topics better than another?

There’s no such thing as a golden-ticket topic. What makes the essay is not the topic; it’s how you approach your topic and what it reveals about you.

We read a lot of essays about sports and that sort of thing. And I would say most of them are solid, and they’re grammatically correct, and there are no typos, and they’re well-organized, and they tell me something about a student. It’s going to be confirming that you can write an essay.

But this is a process where you want to stand out. And so it’s a process of not just writing a confirming essay but writing an elevating essay. Don’t tell me everything that soccer has taught you. Tell me the one thing that’s been truly transformative. Tell it to me as a story. Be descriptive. Be reflective.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable—you know, to talk about shortcomings or areas where you felt weak. We all have that. It’s perfectly fine to be normal. And at no point should you say, “Soccer taught me to be a leader.” That should emerge from your essay. You know: Show me, don’t tell me.

What’s one common mistake you see in essays?

So many try to be the person they think we want them to be. Stay in your lane, if you will. If you’re a funny person, write a funny essay. But if you’re not really known as a funny person, don’t write a funny essay. It’s probably not going to be funny. If you write about something you love, it’s probably going to come through.

We are comfortable with a 17-year-old voice. We typically know when we’re hearing a 40- or 50-year-old voice.

Any final piece of advice for essay-writing?

What we caution against is what we call death by committee—where you’ve had so many people contributing little pieces of an essay [that] all of a sudden you’ve got five different voices in your essay.

I definitely recommend you get other people to read your essay for advice. But when you hand it to them, the question you should ask is, “Does this sound like me?” You should never hand a pen or pencil to someone when you give them your essay. Just have them read it, and then sit down with them afterward and talk about it, and you take notes.

We say this all the time: If it dropped out of your backpack and fell on the cafeteria floor, your friend could pick it up and, even if your name wasn’t on it, know it was yours.

Enjoy meeting a few individuals from the Class of 2023. In response to writing prompts with word limits, they each submitted several admission essays (both short and long). The ones published here, lightly edited, reveal a bit of the unique selves they will bring with them to the University of Virginia this fall.

Living Out-of-the-Box

A bead of sweat trickled down my temple. A wave of excitement crashed over me. With nimble fingers I tore the wrapping paper off of the Christmas gift before me. This is it. I was sure the box contained the Razor scooter that I had wanted for months. I envisioned myself skating through the neighborhood, Skechers lighting up with each kick off the ground, low ponytail protruding from my hot pink helmet. I would rule my cul-de-sac.

When I opened the box and dug through mounds of packing peanuts, my eyes finally fell upon the treasure beneath. But I was immediately overcome with paralyzing disappointment. My short life flashed before my eyes. Something had gone very, very wrong at Santa’s workshop. The item within the box had one less wheel than it should have had. In fact, it was not a scooter at all, but a unicycle.

Disappointment faded into acceptance and ultimately enthusiasm as I imagined the possibilities. I could learn to juggle on one wheel. I could unicycle to school. I could join the circus. Abandoning my other Christmas presents, I descended to the basement, which would become my training ground for the next three frozen months. Hugging a wall, straddling the seat and lifting my feet onto the pedals, I was ready to ride. Yet I sat frozen, unsure of how to proceed. I had read the instructions, but they were remarkably uninstructive. Awkward minutes ticked by.

Eventually I built up the courage to rock back and forth. But I never made it forth; instead, the wheel shot out from under me and I landed hard on my face. Pride and dignity extinguished, yet undeterred, I mounted again. I fell again. From dawn till dusk for days on end, I wrestled with that wheel. Eventually I learned to balance, and then to pedal.

When the snow finally melted, I was riding at lightning speed around my cul-de-sac, to the awe of friends and neighbors astride their strangely complicated two-wheeled contraptions.

Yet simply learning to unicycle did not quench my insatiable desire to expand my skillset. Uni-juggling bored me, so I taught myself to play basketball atop the wheel. And thus I developed a habit of concocting unconventional combinations, which would give birth to my most epic brainchildren.

I began performing my trademark magic shows on the unicycle. Using my black top hat, I impersonated Abraham Lincoln on the unicycle, reciting the Gettysburg Address from memory. (I wondered if Honest Abe would have been able to unicycle; considering the length of his legs, I concluded not.) I taught myself to solve a Rubik’s cube on the unicycle, a feat that required utmost focus, unwavering balance, and a street with no potholes.

I began applying that out-of-the-box mentality to my life off the wheel. I fused my love for paradoxes and poetry to create poems that could be read forward and backward to convey two contradictory messages. I layered peanut butter, avocado, and bacon atop toast to create an amalgam of my favorite foods, in the process inventing the world’s most delicious and substantial open-faced sandwich.

Conquering the unicycle made me realize that conventions need to be challenged. Just because some cycles have two wheels does not make them better. And who says that poems can only be read top to bottom? I thrive kinesthetically, learning by doing, dedicating countless hours to master anything that excites me in the slightest. But I believe there is more to life than someone else’s instruction book. I prefer to write my own instructions, try the unconventional, and explore the unknown. I am a unicyclist amongst scooterers. I make my own path, usually on just one wheel.

—Elizabeth Kilgore , Madison, New Jersey

Zoom In, Focus, Get Into the Rhythm

Cap off, shutter on. I am ready. There is a rhythm to it. I stand alone with my camera, surrounded by hundreds of people. I slowly scan the field and the stands, prepared for the unexpected scenes; the irony encourages me. Friday nights offer so many opportunities to focus on one moment, on one frame, blurring out all else around me.

There is excitement in my voice and, I have been told, a notable glimmer in my eyes when I talk about those Friday nights under the lights. These evenings challenge and excite me as I zoom in on one moment at a time, one frame at a time, quickly changing perspective and refocusing as the evening unfolds.

What am I looking for? The quarterback’s nervous focus as he stares down his targets in the face of the impending blitz, drum majors attempting to maintain a determined expression among the cacophony of the halftime festivities, and parents concealing their nerves, seemingly willing the team to a touchdown with the pressure of their clasped hands alone. Through the 200 millimeters of my lens, I am searching for the special moments that prove these are more than just games for everyone in attendance.

Endpin out, rosin my bow, tuned correctly, I am ready. There is a rhythm to it. Staring at the eighth notes that dance across the marked up score, I wait for my cue, blurring out the hushed whispers from the audience. As I anticipate the moment the curtains open, allowing me to pull my bow against the string, I am reminded of last night’s football game. I remember the way I zoomed in on each face, story and play, and now place this focus into my performance. Measure upon measure, the perspectives of the notes change, following the tone of the play, and these instant adjustments exhilarate me.

I play out; I am in the dark, but I am lit up by my desire to move someone with a strong melody that I have rehearsed time after time in my living room, until calluses are built, and I can hear the melody in my sleep.

The music that sits before me and the firm hand of the conductor are the only things I take in. Through the weight of my bow and the articulation in my left hand, I am seeking to give flight to the imagination so that the audience will be as moved as the composer intended.

Cap and gown on, Pomp and Circumstance echoing throughout the room, IB diploma in hand, I am ready. I know the rhythm. I know the rhythm because I’ve practiced all of my life. Focus on what’s important. Zoom in on what is to come. Change perspective and refocus when needed. Blur out the background noise. Through the experiences I seek out, I am invigorated and motivated by the challenges that accompany each new endeavor.

—Khuyen Dinh, Fairfax Station, Virginia

Stories From the Porch Swing

The wooden porch swing at my grandfather’s old house was very talkative. It used to creak and moan, irritated with eight-year-old me for attempting to swing so high I could touch my bare feet to the porch ceiling. It hummed as my mother gently rocked back and forth, drinking coffee. It laughed along with my little sister who used to leap off the swing as it was still moving, landing on her hands and knees with a thud. It took part in the family conversations every Sunday, faintly squeaking behind the noise of us chatting and eating dinner outside on warm nights. But when my grandfather told his stories, the swing didn't make a sound.

I remember the evening I first fell in love with stories. Under the weight of both myself and my grandfather, the swing was completely silent, careful not to interrupt. Listening earnestly with my hands resting in my lap, I was silent as well. The robin that was usually chirping in the front yard was quiet for a minute. The white oak trees with their wise faces and twisted limbs stopped whispering to each other. The world was still and listening; I could hear only my grandfather’s voice and my own soft, measured breath.

My grandfather is a storyteller. He always says that it’s his innate ability to tell a story that makes him good at his job. Whether he’s standing in front of a packed, buzzing courtroom or simply sitting on his creaky porch swing, the world listens when my grandfather speaks. From an early age, this has always been what I admire most about him. He is intelligent and kind. He is fiercely strong-willed in the way he values and fights for social justice. But most of all, he knows how to make people listen. His words inspire action. From him, I developed a strong fascination with stories.

Some of my favorite stories to hear growing up were the ones about my dad’s childhood. Although we’d heard the story hundreds of times already, my siblings and I would beg my grandfather to tell us about when my dad accidentally got stuck in a tree. My grandfather would also tell us about his own childhood during the Great Depression, his time as a drafted soldier in the Vietnam War, and the long hours he worked as a graveyard shift police officer to pay for law school.

Stories can be found anywhere. They are catalysts of social change and vehicles of shared knowledge. I find them in the pages of my history textbook, in the spirited conversations of the lunchroom, and in every person I meet. My avidity for learning has bloomed from my obsession with stories. From the fall of the Romanov Dynasty to how Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accidentally leaving out a moldy petri dish, stories prompt my active, electrified engagement in school. They have given me an unbounded curiosity about our world.

By reading my favorite novels, traveling to unfamiliar places, and even just talking to the stranger in line at the grocery store, I continue in my search for stories. That quiet evening on my grandfather’s porch swing unleashed within me a deep-seated passion for stories that has seeped into and invigorated my intellectual pursuits.

—Audrey Hicks, Fairfax, Virginia

One Small Touch 

“J’adoube,” I said, adjusting the placement of my queen to the center of her square.

My opponent looked at me with a puzzled gaze. As the game continued, there came a second time where saying j’adoube became necessary. But this time, after again seeing the puzzled look on my opponent’s face, I said, “It means the same thing as adjust.” This time it seemed to click in his head.

Since I began playing chess competitively, I have heard the word used less and less. J’adoube is announced by a player who is going to touch a piece to adjust its positioning but has no intention of moving it from its square. This one word changes the meaning of touching a piece. Without uttering j’adoube , a player must move the piece they touch, unless moving that piece would result in an illegal move.

The word is not something that you will find in a rulebook or necessarily learn from beginner chess lessons. I imagine that it has developed over time from chess players wanting to associate the beauty of perfectly aligned pieces on the board with the beauty of the French language.

When I hear the word whispered in my direction, I smile because to me it sounds so much better than “adjust.” J’adoube cannot win games, but by saying it, you can prevent yourself from making ill-advised moves. Like in life, saying j’adoube can neither fix the past nor change the future, but it does allow you to control the present.

—Kyle Goldrick, Jamison, Pennsylvania

Sea Creature #3

“Hi, my name is Marin and I’m a piece of coral.” These were my dignity’s last words as I realized I was cast in the ensemble of my high school’s production of The Little Mermaid . In spite of my consistency and experience within the department, I was a lowly sea-creature: a fish on roller blades. As rehearsals commenced, I attempted to decipher a complex emotion: jealousy.

My best friend of 11 years obtained a highly coveted principal role following her maiden high school audition, leaving me with the role of Sea Creature #3. I looked simultaneously something akin to a prepubescent middle school boy and an ’80s jazzercise instructor. I was mercilessly clad in a deep blue unitard, complete with unflattering biker shorts, neon pink fishnet crop top, and swim cap. My insecurities were further manifested in a pair of rollerblades.

My best friend, the mermaid I felt so inferior to, was adorned in a bejeweled crown, which seemed only to further emphasize our distance apart in the hierarchical class system that is high school theater. She was oceanic royalty, and I was a plebian parrot fish. I stood sheepishly in my unitard, in my swim cap, and in the most intense state of jealousy I have ever experienced. My humiliation was complete as I stumbled across the stage, fish puppet in hand, in front of my friends and family, while enviously watching her glide gracefully from stage right to stage left, singing angelic melodies.

Alongside me in this endeavor was someone completely unexpected: a cheeky, cherubic third grader who was cast not in the principal cameo role he’d hoped for, but as a humble sea snail. Wanting to make the most of a mediocre situation, I became the unofficial cast child wrangler for the duration of the show. Rhett and I spent copious amounts of time together doing schoolwork, eating various snack foods, and learning to rollerblade. For safety's sake, I chased him through the most remote stretches of Fairfax High School as he cleared flights of stairs, careened around corners and flung himself down steep ramps in his little plastic red and black roller blades.

We got along swimmingly. Our shared experience connected us. We were inseparable. Rhett was not open to forming friendships with cast members who treated him with condescension. I, however, proved to be a completely honest and consistent friend. I remained by his side, a third grader's loyal sidekick for the entirety of the show. I helped him with his schoolwork and he helped me forget my jealousy. I kept him entertained and he provided me with positive experiences to reflect back on. The attitude he helped me to embrace gave me reason to act with integrity: I assembled a nervous cast for a prayer circle before each performance, comforted mermaids in crisis, and even stepped away from myself to help the former object of my jealousy when she was struggling.

In the end, our small group of fish-wielding jazzercise instructors went on stage and took advantage of each and every moment we had. The tangible evidence that bad situations can reap surprising rewards came in the form of a D.C. area Cappie award for my contribution to our department and our show. My situation went from mildly humiliating to outwardly validating. The jealousy I had toward my friend for her seemingly endless opportunities dissipated daily as I discovered the sometimes hidden blessings found in humility, humor, friendship, and community. My unspoken fear that my value or worth was somehow in part determined by the role I secured in a show was completely and utterly demolished by an extremely sassy, blond, nine-year-old boy, dressed as a sea snail.

—Marin Bronaugh, Fairfax, Virginia

My Mom’s Gifts to Me

The scene is ingrained into my memory. It was 2nd grade, and my teacher asked all of the students in my homeroom to put up pictures of their family on the bulletin board. Kids scrambled to the front of the room to stick on their photograph. I was at the front of the pack, eager to show everyone my picture of my mom and me holding a parrot in Hawaii three years prior.

“Kendall, why don’t you have a dad?” a bewildered Sydney asked, almost skeptical.

Everyone froze and turned to me, expecting an answer. The teacher tried to lessen my humiliation saying, “Sydney, that wasn’t nice,” and some other impotent reprimands, but the damage was done. I looked at the other kids’ photos. Each of them the same: a mother, one kid, two kids, or three, and a father. A part of me was shattered. I believed that the absence of a father would deprive me of something; my life would never compare to kids who lived with two parents.

For a long time, that mindset remained. I was ashamed of having a single mother, so I went out of my way to act like my father was in my life. Talking to friends about “my parents” and fabricating stories about my dad were coping mechanisms I used to fit in. Attending independent schools for most of my life, it seemed like everyone’s family was intact and lived in mansions, so the possibility of people knowing that I never saw my dad was terrifying. It would be something else to set me apart.

Everything changed once I moved from California to Virginia, where I had no family or friends. This forced me to spend more time with my mom, giving me a new perspective on my situation. I began to understand the sacrifices my mom made, raising me on her own, providing me with the best of everything: education, opportunities, experiences, anything a child living with two parents would have.

I now acknowledge the privilege I’ve had growing up with a mother like her. She made a successful career for herself by promoting equity and diversity in education and has passed on her beliefs that all people are worthy of respect. This influenced my love of experiencing new people, cultures, and places. So far, I have traveled to Haiti on a service trip, and France on a cultural exchange. While both experiences had their own challenges, they contributed to my understanding of cultural competence and showed me the value of forming relationships with others abroad.

My mom also instilled in me a dignified work ethic that shows through my academics, athletics, and extracurriculars. I try my best in everything I do, mimicking the strength and perseverance she had while attending college without guidance from anyone. If that means having a softball game at 5pm, tutoring elementary school kids at 7pm, then studying and homework afterward, I do it all with my best effort.

One of my mother’s qualities that I admire most is the support and acceptance she continually shows me. Regardless of our differences or circumstances, I always know that my mom respects my individuality, something that, for many of my peers, is not true. And in turn, I try to treat others with the same amount of respect and compassion. Whether that translates as talking to a patient in distress while volunteering at my local hospital or simply comforting a friend during a difficult time, sympathy and understanding are traits that hold the highest value in my life.

The trust I’ve formed with my mom is something I doubt I would have experienced with my dad. She has taught me everything about what it takes to be a strong black woman.

If I could answer Sydney's question today, my response would be, “Because my single mom is able to fulfill the role better than any father could.”

—Kendall Davis, Arlington, Virginia

Transfixed by My Toaster

I think that the shower has been the birthplace of more innovative ideas than any other location. Maybe it’s the alone time, the aromatherapy, the water washing off the day, or the ability to watch your troubles go down the drain and step out brand new. I don’t know. But I wish I did. Because it is these very moments, times when a light clicks on or an apple falls on your head, that fascinate me. Even the smallest things, the seemingly insignificant details of our reality, carry with them a story that changed the world.

One day, I was making toast, a pretty mundane part of my day. But as I was staring at my toaster, trying to get the bread to the right degree of toastiness, I became captivated by the beauty of the machine that has become a certainty in my life. For months, I had a tab open on my phone about Charles Strite, the inventor of the pop-up toaster, and would read little bits and pieces about him any time I could. All the man wanted was an evenly cooked piece of toast and that quest, distant as it may seem, led him to create something that I now expect in my everyday life.

That’s magical to me. Every step in his life, every burnt piece of toast that he had to endure, led him to that idea. One defining piece of Strite’s life has become a part of so many others. The simple device that I am accustomed to was the result of a lifetime of experience. We may take his idea for granted, but I find it amazing that he managed to change the world in his own way.

Many creations that are now a fact of life were once brave new inventions. So what will be next? Could my writing down the simple phrase “snack pants” in the notes on my phone a little after midnight change the fashion industry forever? Could my restaurant idea “the Porque-sadilla” (a place with Mexican food and trivia) revolutionize the dining experience? Probably not. But one day some goofy idea might develop into something greater: my origin story. And every step that I took, every shower, every note, every essay that I wrote would have led me to that point. Because this is the one story that I get to live, not just read about.

And that’s what fascinates me. The people around me may seem distant at times, but they are each the center of their own story. You never know which one of the people you pass in the hallway or drive past on a busy road is going to change the world. It could be you or the person sitting next to you.

So every time that I see a small invention, I get caught up in the origin story and the beauty of the creation, and how the lives of others become part of our own, and how they connect us and bridge any physical or emotional gaps that arise, and all of this comes and washes over me simply because I wanted a piece of toast.

And so I thank Charles Strite and the inventors, pioneers, iPhone note-takers, and shower-thinkers. I hope one day to be among their ranks, a piece of their stories as they are a piece of mine.

(P.S. I have dibs on both “snack pants” and “the Porque-sadilla,” so don’t get any ideas.)

—Laura Boyle, Falls Church, Virginia

What Would I Paint on Beta Bridge?

“Write your story.” The phrase is printed across the face of a notebook stacked somewhere in my room. It materializes in my mind every time I read a different account of the same historical event. I mutter it under my breath for every word, every page I write of the novel I someday hope to publish. I would paint this phrase on Beta Bridge because I believe the most powerful actions start as words and I know the most intriguing adventures begin with a story.

To write your story is to hold your life in your hands. Your story is wholly yours, but it may impact your community and beyond, in more ways than you can imagine. The #MeToo survivors wrote their stories. The New York Times published them, and then the world reacted.

It’s important to first tell your story before you tell the story of others, and it’s even more pressing to write your story before someone else can write it for you. Winston Churchill once said, “History is written by the victors.” He was right. Someone will always attempt to distort a narrative; there will forever be stories written by liars, and sometimes those stories filled with half-truths will win. But they only have that chance at victory if the real story never makes it onto the page, let alone to the printer.

Write your story, even when the only light that hasn’t flickered out is the brightness from your computer screen.

Write your story, even when you think no one else will read it. Write your story, even when it’s only three words painted across a bridge on a university campus. Write your story, before someone else does.

—Alexa Clark, Vienna, Virginia

I laugh to myself all the time.

My sisters say it’s always the same thing: the near-silent, short puffs of exhalation, the shake of the shoulders, the slight rock back and forth. Realizing that no one else shares my amusement or (in some cases) even noticed that I attempted a joke, I’ll chortle all alone.

I am past wanting others to laugh with me. Quite frankly, it makes me sad how the best-received wisecracking almost always comes at someone else’s expense. I have noticed that it simply is not “cool” to find the joke about the hydrogen atom who was positive it lost an electron as entertaining as an unflattering imitation of a blundering freshman’s faux pas. I have noticed it, and I don’t like it.

I don’t want to renounce my own unique sense of humor simply because my jokes aren’t of the trendy sort.

Why must we laugh at the girl who tripped over her hand-me-down, glaringly yellow shoes on the way in? Who cares if the boy in the front row misspelled “February” and then proceeded to badly mispronounce it? Why can’t they all laugh, instead, at the grammar joke that caused so many in the classroom to collectively roll their eyes?

I want to laugh at the harmless puns and one-liners in life, the ones that make people whoop with laughter without grimacing on the inside. Even if that means looking a tad crazy as I laugh absurdly and all alone.

—Sophia Yi, Derwood, Maryland

Hi, I’m Zainab

Tugging at my shirt sleeves, I shuffle through the empty hallways of the new school. The butterflies in my stomach feel more like wasps, for my anxiety is less a nervous excitement, and more a dreaded anticipation of what’s to come. My backpack is filled with freshly sharpened pencils, new notebooks, and my mom has packed my favorite snack. I am more than prepared to thrive at this new school, but I can’t seem to get past this crushing worry: who will I sit next to at lunchtime?

The teacher pushes open the 4th grade classroom door, and all eyes immediately turn to me. She introduces me to the class, and I suddenly develop a great fascination with my fingernails. I avoid looking directly at any of the students and I quietly seat myself near the back. Midway through the year, all the other students have already created their social circles. Out of curiosity, a couple students approach me and ask for my name. Hesitantly, I introduce myself, “Hi. I’m the new kid.”

Being in a new, unfamiliar place will eventually become a normal situation for me after having changed schools nine times by the end of senior year. It would be incorrect to say that I enjoyed uprooting myself constantly, but it would also be incorrect to say that I never learned anything along the way.

From New Mexico, I learned about the magic in color. Our insufferably quaint town was filled with artwork and culture. The intricate tiles and paintings of local artisans in the Santa Fe Art Galleries, and the swirl of color and light in the sky at sunrise during the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival inspired me to surround myself with color and create art wherever I went.

From Massachusetts, I learned how hard my parents worked to ensure that my brother and I were happy. My mother would frequently come home with bags overflowing with books from the local library to keep us occupied when our one bedroom basement apartment was buried in snow. My love for reading can be traced back to her. She could turn our apartment into a wizard’s lair or a fairy forest during the cold, snowy days.

From Texas, I learned about the fragility of human life. My friend’s dad was battling with cancer, and her family became a big part of our life since they needed our support. He passed away on Christmas Eve, and while the world continued on and most people woke up to presents and holiday festivities, my friend woke up to the reality of her father’s death.

From Virginia, I learned about the importance of family. My social life was nonexistent, so instead of going out on the weekends, I stayed home for movie nights, thought-provoking conversations with my dad, and teaching my little sister her first nursery rhymes. By becoming more present in my family’s daily lives, I was able to escape my own self-centered bubble.

All these places collectively taught me two things. First, never knowing if this is the last time you ever see someone or go somewhere, you begin to appreciate everything more, including the little things in life. Second, I learned how to be adaptable and how to relate to others. In the early moves, I tended to dwell on everything I’d left behind, never stopping to reflect on what I’d gained. I’ve picked up flavors of people and places from all around the country, seeing that there is beauty in change, even if it took me more than a few moves to see it.

So, when I moved to my new school last year, instead of immediately labeling myself as “the new kid,” I started with a smile and “Hi! I’m Zainab. Is anyone sitting here?”

—Zainab Faisal, Ashburn, Virginia

Mastering UVA Supplemental Essays for the 2023-2024 Admissions Cycle

The college application journey is often full of excitement and, yes, a bit of stress. When it comes to the University of Virginia (UVA), a leading public university with a rich history and diverse academic offerings, the challenge includes creating a set of compelling supplemental essays. Don't fret! In this post, we will give you specific, actionable advice on how to ace each UVA essay prompt.

General Prompts

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. (250 words)

This prompt is about showing how your passion aligns with what UVA offers. Research is key here. Mention specific courses, professors, or opportunities available at UVA that align with your academic interests. Connect these to your past experiences and future goals. Show them that you aren't just interested in UVA; you're excited about it.

Example Essay

Growing up in a small town in Wyoming, my world was framed by snow-capped mountains and boundless sky. This isolated, rugged environment sparked my fascination with weather patterns, leading me to pursue studies in atmospheric sciences. At UVA’s Department of Environmental Sciences, I hope to explore this passion further, given the department's excellent reputation and innovative research.

What particularly excites me about UVA is the cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the environment, such as Professor Sally Pusede's research in air pollution. I'm eager to work under her guidance and explore the intersection between atmospheric sciences and public health, an area I see myself contributing to in the future. The balance of rigorous academics and collaborative community at UVA perfectly aligns with my intellectual curiosity and desire to create meaningful societal impact.

Answer one of the following questions in half a page, or roughly 250 words:

• What’s your favorite word and why?
• 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.
• 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?
• UVA students are charged with living honorably and upholding a Community of Trust. Give us an example of a community that is important to you and how you worked to strengthen that community.

These prompts all share a common goal: revealing something unique about your personality. Remember to choose the question that allows you to showcase an intriguing aspect of your character that isn't evident elsewhere in your application. Stay genuine and personable.

Prompt: 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?

If I were given the chance to paint on Beta Bridge, my message would be "Look Up". Amid the hustle of student life, it's easy to get lost in textbooks, laptops, and cell phones. "Look Up" serves as a simple reminder to engage with the world around us, to appreciate the changing seasons, the architectural beauty of UVA, and the diverse community that populates it. My message aims to encourage mindfulness, curiosity, and a renewed appreciation for our shared surroundings. I believe that this perspective can foster stronger connections among the UVA community, enriching our collective experience.

Prompts for Specific Schools

Each school within UVA has its own prompt. These are opportunities to demonstrate not just why you're interested in your chosen field, but why you're interested in studying it at UVA.

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering.

For this prompt, discuss a specific engineering achievement, how it benefits society, and how it inspires your academic journey. Make sure to connect this back to UVA's Engineering program and how it can help you contribute to the common good.

The creation of solar-powered water desalination systems is an engineering feat that never ceases to inspire me. It addresses two critical global issues: clean water scarcity and sustainable energy use. This integration of environmental concerns with engineering solutions demonstrates the profound impact this field can have on society.

Such an approach motivates me to pursue engineering at UVA. The multidisciplinary focus of the Engineering in Context course, coupled with the opportunity to collaborate with the UVA Center for Applied Biomechanics, matches my aspiration to develop technology-driven, sustainable solutions for global challenges. The chance to study engineering at UVA is not just an opportunity for personal advancement but a stepping stone towards fulfilling my commitment to the common good.

School of Architecture: Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.

Here, UVA wants to hear about your passion for architecture or design. Describe a specific instance, place, or work that inspired you and explain why. Then connect this to UVA's School of Architecture, mentioning particular courses or professors you're excited to learn from.

The iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York, with its swirling form and revolutionary design, has been a significant inspiration for me. Frank Lloyd Wright's seamless integration of architecture and environment completely transformed my understanding of what architecture could achieve.

The way the museum interacts with its urban surroundings, how it invites the visitor on a continuous journey of discovery, sparked my interest in the power of architecture to shape human experience.

I see a parallel between Wright's philosophy and the UVA School of Architecture's emphasis on integrating theory, history, and practice. I'm particularly interested in Professor Shiqiao Li's work on urban theory and the cultural interpretation of architecture. I believe studying at UVA will allow me to delve deeper into these areas, shaping me into a conscientious architect capable of creating spaces that resonate with their inhabitants and environment.

The key to acing these UVA essays is to be reflective, genuine, and precise. Show them why you are a perfect fit for UVA and how UVA is the ideal place for you to achieve your goals.

Good luck, Wahoos!

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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

2023-2024 uva writing prompts.

Confession: I really liked last year's writing prompts . We had only been reading applications for a few days when I first marveled at how well students were expressing themselves in the new short answer portion of our application. During one of my live q&a sessions on Instagram , I wondered if students being able to write meaningful, concise statements was a function of growing up writing captions on social media...something for people to study one day!

In the past, a few admission officers have met to go over feedback about the application essays to see if we should tweak the writing prompts. This year, we had a lot more input during the update process. The change is pretty big: most applicants will answer one prompt for the UVA portion of the Common App. Those applying to the School of Nursing will answer two. 

So let's get to the prompts. 

All Applicants (250 words or less)

School of nursing (250 words or less).

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June 12, 2022

UVA 2022-2023 Admissions Essay Prompts

The University of Virginia has released its 2022-2023 application essays. Applicants to the UVA Class of 2027 will be asked to complete three essays in total on the UVA supplement to The Common Application. The first essay should be about 100 words in total. The second and third essays should be about 50 words each. So, yes, UVA, one of our nation’s top public universities, has a relatively short supplement. And what questions does the Thomas Jefferson-founded school pose to applicants? Wonder no more!

University of Virginia Class of 2027 College-Specific Essay Prompt

For the first prompt, the 100-worder, applicants must select the corresponding essay for the school within UVA to which they are applying. For the College of Arts & Sciences, the prompt reads, “If you could create a college course that all UVA students would take, what would it be about and why?” For the School of Engineering, it reads, ” How will you use an engineering degree to change the world for the better?” For the School of Architecture, it goes, “Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.” For the School of Nursing, the prompt reads, “Describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying Nursing.” And for the Kinesiology Program, applicants are asked, “Describe an experience that has deepened your interest in studying kinesiology.”

University of Virginia Class of 2027 Essay Prompts for All Applicants

For the second and third prompts, applicants are directed to answer two of the following ten essay options: “(1) What’s your favorite word and why? (2) We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. What is one of your quirks? (3) About what topic could you speak for an hour? (4) Take us to your happy place. (5) You can wake up tomorrow and a skill you already have will become expert-level. What skill is that? (6) What is the last gift you gave something that wasn’t bought with money? (7) What website is the internet missing? (8) After a challenging experience, how do you recharge? (9) Tell us about a place you’d like to share with everyone, but also keep to yourself. (10) 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?”

Have a question about the 2022-2023 UVA essay prompts? Let us know your question by posting it below. And while you’re here, see how the UVA essays have changed over the years.

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University of Virginia (UVA) Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the UVA essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the UVA supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging UVA essays and maximize your chances of admission. If you need help crafting your UVA supplemental essays, create your free  account  or  schedule your no-cost advising consultation  with an Admissions Specialist by calling (844) 343-6272.

UVA  essay guide quick facts:

• With an acceptance rate of 23%,  US News  ranks UVA as the #25 research university in the nation.
• US News categorizes UVA as a  most selective  university.
• We recommend answering all UVA essay prompts—optional UVA essays included—thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Does the University of Virginia have supplemental essays?

Yes—all students must complete several UVA supplemental essays to be considered for admission. Accordingly, UVA requires all applicants to complete two required UVA essays in addition to the personal statement that you’ll encounter within the  Common App  or the  Coalition App .

One of your UVA supplemental essays will relate to the specific college where you have chosen to apply, such as UVA’s  College of Arts and Sciences ,  School of Architecture ,  School of Engineering ,  School of Nursing , or  School of Kinesiology . Your other UVA essay will relate more to your own identity.

How many essays are required for the University of Virginia?

There are two required UVA supplemental essays. The first of the UVA essays addresses your chosen field and major. The second of the UVA supplemental essays centers around your own identity. Both required UVA supplemental essays can make a major difference in admissions.

Are the University of Virginia essays important?

Yes, the University of Virginia supplemental essays are an important aspect of your application. In fact, all of the UVA essays give admissions officers a different perspective on what you’ll bring to UVA. So, think of the UVA essay prompts as an opportunity for you to show the admissions team what makes you unique and why you belong at UVA.

With an acceptance rate of just 23%, UVA is a competitive school. The UVA essay prompts give you the chance to stand out from the crowd by offering AOs a glimpse into who you are and what matters to you. To maximize your admissions odds, you’ll want to spend as much time perfecting your UVA supplemental essays as possible!

How do I write a supplemental essay for the University of Virginia?

The best UVA supplemental essays will do two things. First, they will showcase your personality, identity, and values. Second, they will draw connections between your interests and UVA itself. In short, admissions officers should finish reading your UVA supplemental essays with a clear understanding of who you are and why you belong at UVA.

Remember, your UVA supplemental essays are your chance to help admissions officers get to know you. A strong sense of personality and voice, therefore, will make your UVA essays shine. As you consider the UVA supplemental essays 2021, look for the unique stories you can tell that will help your application stand out.

In order to prepare for the UVA essay prompts, you might research UVA’s extracurricular offerings, courses, traditions, and campus culture. As you look through UVA’s website, think about what specific opportunities UVA could offer you. For example, if you are interested in medicine, you might discuss your desire to do research at UVA’s nationally recognized hospital. You could also strengthen your University of Virginia supplemental essays by describing one of UVA’s 800+  student groups . Or, you might also choose to focus on a tradition like the  Lighting of the Lawn  that you witnessed years ago and that made you excited to apply.

Whichever topic you address in the UVA essay prompts, make sure to emphasize why you want to attend UVA over any other school. By describing the specific reasons why UVA interests you, you can show the admissions team that you’ve thought carefully about your application. These details will also make your UVA essays more authentic.

How do you answer the University of Virginia essays?

In a word—authentically!

As you approach the UVA essay prompts, make sure you center your answer around your unique perspective. Avoid vague or broad statements; instead, focus on specific details about UVA (and about you!) that matter most. The strongest UVA essays will give readers a window into an applicant’s inner life while also showing them how this applicant would fit into the UVA community.

Let’s break down the UVA supplemental essays and discuss strategies to help your essay stand out. We’ll begin with the first set of prompts, of which you will choose  one .

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021 – Question 1

What is your favorite word and why? (250 words max)

At first glance, this UVA essay prompt might seem frivolous. Remember, however, that the UVA supplemental essays are intended to help the admissions team learn more about who you are. So, if you choose this question, use the first of the UVA essay prompts to show the admissions officers what makes you unique!

As you approach the UVA supplemental essays, you should think less about the actual word you choose and more about what this choice of word reveals about you. In other words, think about words that are unique, appropriate, and significant to you. Don’t choose a word just because it will stand out. Instead, focus on why a specific word matters to you. For example, you shouldn’t choose the word “lullaby” if it had no deeper meaning to you. Remember, your goal in this UVA essay is to help the admissions team learn more about your identity.

Begin your response to the first of the UVA essay prompts by stating your favorite word. Then, offer some context on why this word—and the ideas that it represents—matters to you. Finally, end the first of your UVA essays by applying your chosen word to your identity, background, or values.

UVA Supplemental Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Have you conveyed your favorite word in a clear manner?
• Does your chosen word represent your curiosity and depth?
• Have you conveyed to the reader why this word is important to you?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021- Question 2

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. (250 words max)

In the UVA supplemental essays, you have the chance to emphasize parts of your personality that the admissions team would not normally see. So, how do you make your University of Virginia supplemental essays memorable and genuine? If you choose this second of the UVA essay prompts, you’ll have a great chance to showcase what makes you unique.

This UVA essay should help your reader envision you—quirks and all—as a member of the UVA community. Think about something special that defines you. For instance, you might wear a lucky jersey before every game or always draw hearts over your lowercase i’s. Like the first of the UVA essay prompts, the success of this UVA essay depends less on what you discuss and more on how you discuss it.

All of your UVA supplemental essays should help your reader learn something new about you. So, whatever quirk you describe in your UVA essay, make sure this quirk reveals something important about your identity. Don’t include meaningless details; instead, focus on specific and significant things you do that make you unique.

• Does the quirk you describe reveal something important about you?
• Does your essay convey your quirk in a clear manner?
• Have you conveyed to the reader why it is part of who you are?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021- Question 3

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? (250 words max)

This third of the UVA essay prompts asks you to think about your interests through the lens of UVA’s culture. Like the other UVA supplemental essays, the third of the UVA essay prompt asks you to illustrate both your own identity and how you would fit in at UVA. If you’re invested in joining an intellectual community, then, you might choose this prompt!

While this UVA essay might seem purely academic, you don’t need to approach it this way. According to the prompt, UVA’s Flash Seminars revolve around “thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework.” The term “thought-provoking” can mean many things. As you prepare for this UVA essay, think about which topics you would love to discuss with a room full of intellectually engaged UVA students.

Complementary topics

The topic you choose for the third of your University of Virginia supplemental essays should complement the other aspects of your application. This doesn’t mean you can’t describe an interest that you haven’t already addressed! However, keep in mind that your responses to the UVA essay prompts should work together to give the admissions team a complete understanding of your identity, background, interests, and values. Every topic you discuss in your University of Virginia supplemental essays, therefore, should contribute to this understanding. This means that if you’ve spent your whole application describing your interest in poetry and desire to study literature, you might want to think twice before writing an essay about neuroscience (unless, of course, this topic appears elsewhere in your application).

Once again, make sure this third of your UVA essays focuses on why your chosen topic matters to you. As you structure your response, first, describe the topic that you’d explore in a Flash Seminar. Then, discuss why this topic matters to you. What about this topic excites or inspires you? What about it would you want to discuss in a Flash Seminar? How might the UVA community deepen your understanding of this topic?

In this UVA essay, you don’t necessarily have to discuss your opinion on your chosen topic. However, you can focus on how you would contribute to class discussions at UVA. The UVA supplemental essays are meant to exhibit your personality and individuality. In reading your UVA essay, therefore, the admissions team should understand how you will positively contribute to your UVA cohort.

• Do you choose a unique topic to discuss in a Flash Seminar?
• Does your chosen topic enhance the rest of your application?
• Do you clarify why this topic matters to you?
• Does your essay show how you would contribute to the intellectual life of UVA?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021 – Question 4

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? (250 words max)

Like the other University of Virginia supplemental essays, the fourth of the UVA essay prompts asks you to use UVA’s traditions to showcase what makes you unique. For this UVA essay, it might help to do some research: you might look up the  Beta Bridge  to get inspiration. However, don’t get hung up on the messages other students have painted; instead, choose a message that represents who you are.

Your topic should reflect your core values and identity. It might even relate to the qualities you’ve shown in your other University of Virginia supplemental essays. Maybe you want to share advice to future students or a phrase that connects to you. So, whatever message you choose for this UVA essay, make sure that you explain the meaning and reason for your choice. Additionally, keep in mind that Beta Bridge is used to “share information with [UVA’s] community.” The message you describe, therefore, should be impactful to a broader audience than just yourself.

Begin the fourth of your UVA supplemental essays by stating your chosen message. Then, describe the reasons why this message matters to you and what you think it would contribute to the UVA community. Don’t be tempted by clichés—the best responses to the fourth of the UVA essay prompts will be genuine and unique.

• Does your chosen message reflect your identity and values?
• Do you describe the significance of the message you would write on the Beta Bridge?
• Do you detail what this message means and what would it mean to others that view it?
• Does your essay reveal the kind of community member you would be at UVA?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021 – Question 5

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. (250 words max)

Of all the University of Virginia supplemental essays, this might be the most conventional. Simply put, this UVA essay asks you to describe a time when you chose to act to solve a problem and, in doing so, served your community.

While the other UVA supplemental essays focus on your interiority, the fifth of the UVA essay prompts allows you to share a distinct story of a time you made a difference. Choose an event that illustrates your commitment to helping others. The event you choose should also help your readers visualize how you will continue to enrich your community within UVA. Begin your UVA essay by explaining the problem you faced and how you solved it. How did solving this problem contribute to your community? What challenges did you face? How did this experience influence the broader ways you operate as a leader and community member?

If you haven’t done a lot of community organizing or leadership work, this prompt might seem intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. Strong UVA supplemental essays can address a wide variety of topics! You might have done something as large-scale as organizing a protest against police brutality or something as small-scale as lobbying your school district to serve meals during the pandemic. When it comes to the UVA supplemental essays, the most important thing is that you show your commitment to serving others in your community—whatever the scale.

• Does your essay describe how you helped others by solving a problem?
• Do you reveal how you’ll be an impactful community member at UVA?
• Do you clarify why your solution to this problem influenced the greater good?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021– College-Specific (Arts & Sciences)

What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way? (250 words max)

Generally speaking, the college-specific University of Virginia supplemental essays should show the UVA admissions team why you belong in a particular college at UVA. The best college-specific UVA supplemental essays will help the admissions team envision you on their campus. In short, use this UVA essay as your chance to show off your thoughtfulness, intellect, and dedication to your chosen field.

Pay attention to the specific language used in the first of the UVA essay prompts. UVA asks you to discuss an intellectual concept that has “surprised, unsettled, or challenged you.” This UVA essay isn’t asking you to describe your favorite book or song; instead, it asks you to discuss how you engaged on an analytical level with a particular idea or piece of work.

Keep it concise

First, describe your topic. Since you only have 250 words, you shouldn’t feel obligated to include a longwinded anecdote about your interests (though you can always include a brief story to help engage your reader). Then, move into why and how this topic “surprised, unsettled, or challenged you.” For instance, you could discuss how a novel by an author from another cultural background made you think about global issues in a different light. Or, you might discuss how a particular scientific discovery challenged your understanding of the world. Strong UVA essays will help the UVA admissions team understand how a student engages intellectually with the world.

Finally, while you can mention UVA’s specific offerings, don’t feel obligated to answer this prompt as you would a “Why UVA” essay. With only 250 words, don’t focus on the classes you hope to take at UVA or the reasons you think you’d be a good fit. Instead, show the admissions team why your thoughtfulness and intellect would make you an asset to their campus.

• Does your UVA essay describe one (and only one) concept or piece of work that surprised, unsettled, or challenged you?
• Do you explain why this concept surprised, unsettled, or challenged you?
• Does your essay foreground your intellect and critical thinking skills?
• Does your essay show why you’d be a good fit at UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021– College Specific (Kinesiology)

Discuss an experience that led you to apply to the kinesiology major. (250 words max)

When trying to choose your topics for any of the University of Virginia supplemental essays, do some research. The college-specific UVA supplemental essays address why you want to attend a particular college at UVA. Students who know specific details about the programs they’ve chosen will write the best UVA essays!

This particular UVA supplemental essay prompt asks what specific experience sparked your interest in  kinesiology  at UVA. Avoid general statements, such as “I’ve always been interested in kinesiology and that’s why I want to pursue a major in the field.” This UVA essay prompt asks you to “discuss an experience”—that is, you’ll want to cite a specific event or circumstance that made you interested in kinesiology. For instance, you might talk about how being a dancer made you interested in the body’s ability to create fluid movements. The strongest UVA supplemental essays will address the specific reasons why kinesiology interests you.

To enhance your response to this prompt for the University of Virginia supplemental essays, research what makes UVA’s kinesiology program unique. For example, you might relate the program to your own experiences to emphasize a personal connection to the program and to UVA. Avoid repeating general information—everything you share should come back to your own interests and experiences. However, with only 250 words, don’t spend the majority of this UVA essay describing UVA. Instead, focus your UVA essay on the specific reasons why you want to study kinesiology.

• Does your UVA essay illustrate the specific reasons why you want to study kinesiology?
• Do you discuss a particular experience that sparked your interest in kinesiology?
• Does your essay help your reader envision you in UVA’s kinesiology program?
• Is your essay about you?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021– College Specific (Architecture)

Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture. (250 words max)

Like the other college-specific University of Virginia supplemental essays, the UVA essay prompt for the College of Architecture asks what experience provoked your interest in the major.

Start by doing some research on the  College of Architecture . Think about any experiences you’ve had that align with UVA’s architecture program. If you do not have vast established experience with architecture, don’t worry! UVA doesn’t expect you to have a full architecture portfolio; instead, the admissions team just wants to know what experience has sparked your interest in architecture.

Think about what sparked your interest in studying architecture at UVA. To get some ideas for your UVA essay, you might brainstorm on any experiences you’ve had that relate to architecture. Strong UVA supplemental essays can come from a wide variety of places, so don’t discount any of your experiences! Perhaps you often binge shows on HGTV, or maybe you have every copy of Architectural Digest. Maybe you had an inspiring internship with a designer or structural engineer that made you want to pursue architecture. Whatever topic you choose, make sure you emphasize your personal connection to architecture alongside your desire to study in UVA’s program.

Want some extra help creating your UVA School of Architecture application? Check out CollegeAdvisor.com articles on  choosing an architecture program  and  applying to architecture schools . Listen to the UVA School of Architecture’s Dean discuss their strengths and values in this video below.

• Does your UVA essay describe a specific experience that sparked your interest in architecture?
• Do you use specific details to tell your story?
• Do the interests you describe in your essay align with UVA’s offerings?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021– College Specific (Nursing)

Describe a healthcare-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing. (250 words max)

Like the other college-specific University of Virginia supplemental essays, the College of Nursing prompt asks you to describe an experience that fostered your interest in healthcare.

As you choose a topic for this UVA essay, try to highlight an experience that shows depth. For example, avoid superficial experiences like watching Grey’s Anatomy; instead, you might focus on a shadowing experience you had in a lab or a meaningful conversation you had with a healthcare provider. You may also research the opportunities available at UVA to see what aligns with your interests. While you shouldn’t spend your whole essay discussing UVA’s programs, you should still have a strong sense of the school’s offerings to make your UVA essay as strong as possible.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to discuss formal medical experience in this UVA essay. On the other hand, think about any ways you’ve interfaced with the medical profession. This could be through formal classes, informal conversations, or anything in between; anything that piqued your interest in healthcare can make a great topic for this UVA essay. For instance, if you took a public policy course that showed you the disparities within the current healthcare structure, highlight that in your essay. Finally, remember that while your choice of topic matters, the most important element of your UVA essay is how your topic relates back to you and your interests. The best UVA supplemental essays will be the most authentic!

• Do you cite specific experiences that fostered your interest in nursing?
• Does your essay clearly represent your inspiration for pursuing nursing?
• Do you illustrate a deep engagement with the healthcare field?

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021– College Specific (Engineering and Applied Sciences)

Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering. (250 words max)

The Engineering and Applied Sciences portion of the UVA supplemental essays ask you to describe an engineering venture that serves the common good and why it inspires you. In evaluating this UVA essay, therefore, the admissions team wants to see that you’ve thought deeply about how engineering can contribute to the world.

Think about why you want to study engineering. What do you want to make, and how will the things you make help improve the world? What feats have shown you what engineering can do for the world? Remember, the engineering feat you choose doesn’t need to be large-scale. Also, if you’re struggling to find a topic, perhaps look at engineering projects that have made an impact on your own community.

Once you’ve chosen your topic for this UVA essay, it’s time to start drafting. Remember that the most important aspect of this UVA essay is  why this engineering feat inspires you . Don’t get sidetracked by describing the intricate methodologies behind your chosen topic; instead, tie your essay back to you. Like the other University of Virginia supplemental essays, this UVA essay should connect to your experiences and emphasize your desire to study engineering at UVA.

• Does your essay make it clear why you want to study engineering?
• Do you explain why your chosen feat contributed to the public good?
• Does your response clarify why engineering matters to you?

Additional Tips for Writing your University of Virginia Supplemental Essays

• Create a checklist for your UVA essays.  Try and keep an outline handy as you write each supplemental essay. Make sure that you answer each of the UVA essay prompts in full by breaking down each question.
• Prepare in advance.  UVA’s Regular Decision deadline is January 3rd, which is coming up soon! You should begin looking at the UVA essay prompts as early as possible to ensure enough time for careful editing.
• Avoid overthinking.  Since most of the UVA essay prompts give you the freedom to express yourself, many students overthink what they should write. This can impede students’ ability to craft authentic University of Virginia supplemental essays.
• Get multiple perspectives.  It’s always good to have a second pair of eyes checking your UVA essays for tone, grammar, and clarity. For example, you might ask your counselor, teacher, or a CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Expert to read over your University of Virginia supplemental essays to help make them as strong as possible.

UVA Supplemental Essays 2021 – Final Thoughts

Completing the UVA supplemental essays can seem like a daunting challenge, but don’t be discouraged from applying. Instead, view these UVA supplemental essays as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions team. Well-written UVA essays can make a huge difference in admissions, especially if you’re applying with lower grades or test scores.

While doing your research on UVA consider reading the not-so-secret  blog  written by the Associate Dean in the Office of Admissions.  Dean J  shares important application information, as well as tips and tricks on completing your UVA supplemental essays.

Use resources like the blog and this guide to help you approach the UVA essay prompts with a solid strategy and a timeline that gives you a few months to create a draft and allow for revisions. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on UVA was written by  Arianna Lee , Dartmouth ‘17. Want more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on UVA or help crafting your UVA essays? Create your free  account  or  schedule a complimentary advising assessment  by calling (844) 343-6272.

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6 Awesome UVA Essay Examples

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UVA is a pretty selective school, so writing strong essays is essential to improving your chances. By reading former applicants’ essays and seeing what they did right and what they did wrong, you can learn how to better impress UVA admissions officers!

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our UVA essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Essay Example #1: College of Arts & Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences—What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way? (250 words)

Cringing when thinking about human sacrifice in “Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor,” I puzzled over the motive behind the Aztec practice of killing a person to appease the gods of nature.

 After a lengthy discussion with Mexican friends, I learned that Aztec civilization considered humans just one part of the natural world, rather than the dominant species. Only when the gods of nature are satisfied, they believed, can worldly creatures live in peace.

That’s when I recognized how I’ve been looking at the world from an anthropocentric model. Whether in the Four Heavenly Kings of Chinese mythology, or in the Bible story of Noah’s Ark my Christian grandma told, these stories revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop.

The Aztec “nature-centric model,” truly challenged my perspective. Humans might not be as superior as we think; everything may not be about us. Reflecting on my motivations for advocating sustainability, I’m guilty of preserving the Earth for the sake of our human offspring, not for the Earth’s own sake.

The Aztec perception of humans’ relationship to nature inspired me to reconceptualize my own perspective. I expanded my framework from humanity to all creatures: why not consider the elephants our siblings, or the trees our cousins?

I reject the Aztec practice of human sacrifice, but their belief that we are but a tiny part of nature resonated deeply with me. Rather than protecting Earth with self-interest and fear, I now treat Earth with empathy and love.

What This Essay Did Well

This UVA essay is well-structured and well-written. It answers the prompt while providing valuable personal information about the applicant.

With the introduction, the student achieves the most important part of this essay: answering the prompt. This student identifies their topic of discussion— “Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor,”— quickly, but keeps it interesting through using a complex sentence structure.

Rather than stating it explicitly, the author shows their desire to understand other cultures and positions themself as open-minded, as they took the time to have “lengthy discussion with Mexican friends.” 

The student also relates the story back to their interests and perspectives. They share how this book caused them to reflect on the way they’d been advocating for sustainability, and view their advocacy more holistically to benefit the earth itself rather than just humans. Presumably, this student is declaring environmental studies or environmental science as a major. That means that, while readers are learning about the student’s values, they also learn that values are the central motivation behind this student’s career choices. This self-reflection is important and looks great to admissions officers!

The conclusion of the essay perfectly summarizes the growth that the student has described. It shows the self-reflection that they have experienced, with some of their beliefs staying the same and others changing.

What Could Be Improved

While overall this essay is a great example, this paragraph is its weakest link:

That’s when I recognized how I’ve been looking at the world from an anthropocentric model. Whether in the Four Heavenly Kings of Chinese mythology, or in the Bible story of Noah’s Ark my Christian grandma told, these stories revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop. 

That’s because this paragraph makes the error of telling, not showing . The student uses the summarizing phrase “that’s when I recognized” (which should generally be avoided) then continues to tell readers what they learned. Rather, the student could have provided a piece of dialogue from their discussion with their friend or used self-reflective questions to show us the message of this paragraph.

An example of how this paragraph could be improved:

“So you’re telling me that your culture doesn’t view humans as the main characters?” I asked my friend, still slightly baffled. When I got home, I went down a Google rabbit hole, obsessively researching Aztec beliefs. I landed on a page about the anthropocentric model. Had I been learning this model all along without even knowing? I thought about my Christian grandma’s stories—Noah’s arc, the Four Heavenly Kings, Genesis. They all revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop.

This revised paragraph is much more captivating and would have strengthened the overall essay.

Essay Example #2: School of Architecture

Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture. (250 words)

During my freshman year, my studio art class arranged a field trip to the National Portrait Gallery. To say I was excited was an understatement. Although I have lived near DC all my life, I never had the chance to visit its art museums. This trip would be my first time. 

When we arrived, I stood in the courtyard, waiting for directions. I don’t remember what spurred me to look up, but when I did, the sight of a floating steel and glass canopy above amazed me. It was unlike anything else in the room. The undulant form of the ceiling reminded me of being underwater, looking up to see waves dancing. What struck me the most was how its sleek and modern design juxtaposed the gallery’s Greek revival architecture. 

I’ve gone back several times since then, each time appreciating something new from the ceiling—in the shelter, it provides from the outside elements to the beautiful grid of shadows it leaves on the ground and walls on sunny days. Inspired by the relationship between the ceiling and the rest of the gallery, I have sought out ways to combine contrasting styles like classic vs. modern, organic vs. geometric, hard vs. soft, and fine art vs. crafts in my art. I’ve become hyper-aware of the physical spaces I occupy and their functional yet artistic characteristics. While studying architecture at UVA, I hope to continue exploring these relationships and apply them to my architectural style. 

This essay clearly answers the prompt and provides a tangible example for readers. 

From the intro, it is clear that the experience will be visiting the National Portrait Gallery. 

The writer uses a simple writing style for most of the essay, but shows that this straightforwardness is not due to lack of ability or effort, but is intentionally authentic. Through the phrase “ I don’t remember what spurred me to look up” the writer lets readers know that they aren’t going to tell us anything that isn’t true. This value placed on authenticity is important and tells us a lot about the student.

The student uses elaborate language to emphasize the important part of their story. The description of the ceiling—“ The undulant form of the ceiling reminded me of being underwater, looking up to see waves dancing”— is interesting and engaging. It creates an image of the ceiling in the reader’s mind, but also makes the reader want to hear more!

This final paragraph ties it all together. We learn that the National Portrait Gallery’s architecture isn’t just cool, but is inspirational for this student. Additionally, through this paragraph, admissions officers learn that this student has thought out their decision to apply to UVA’s Architecture school. They are familiar with architectural styles and already think like an architect. A student who is ahead of the game and passionate about their field of study is very important to admissions officers!

The essay could be considered unengaging at times, but there is also beauty in its simplicity that gives it an authentic feel. It lacks the bells and whistles that often accompany college essay writing and just tells the writer’s truth. While this wouldn’t be a great essay if you’re applying to creative writing, it works well for this writer and this writer’s intentions!

Still, the intro paragraph could be improved through editing the second sentence: “ To say I was excited was an understatement.” Because this writer engages with a simple style (with little imagery or elaborate descriptions), they can use descriptive language strategically to emphasize certain scenes, emotions, or aspects of their story. Because they are applying to Architecture, their excitement about art is important and this excitement could have been emphasized through more elaborate language. This would also make the essay more engaging from the start and draw the reader’s attention.

Essay Example #3

We are a community of quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are. (250 words)

I haven’t let another person cut my hair in four years. Bangs, layers, a fringe, a bob, I have been my own hairdresser. With only me, a mirror, and scissors in hand, I enjoy having complete control over my appearance. Cutting my hair is liberating; it’s like removing dead weight off my shoulders. Messing up isn’t a concern, as I know my hair will grow back. I am proud of the freedom I have with my hair, but I haven’t always been this way. 

 In traditional Quechua culture, women have long, braided hair. One braid indicates that a woman is single, while two means she is married. Growing up surrounded by women who kept their hair long, I desperately wanted to stand out but was too afraid to break tradition. I love my Quechua heritage, but as a young girl, I thought it was silly to have braids when I wasn’t even allowed to date. Why did it matter if others knew I was single?

Eventually, my parents agreed to let me cut my hair, and for a moment I’d been looking forward to for so long, I wanted to be the one to do it. Like every time I’ve cut my hair since then, I felt like a new person. Looking back to who I was then and who I am now, I know 12 year old me would think I look cool, and she’s the only person I want to impress.

This essay is fun and interesting! Readers learn about the student’s personality, family history, and values. It is well-structured, engaging, and original.

For a short essay, a lot of words are given to this introduction. That being said, this introduction also provides a lot of the essay’s content. First, the student identifies their quirk—cutting their own hair. This topic is interesting and automatically makes readers think “oh, that’s cool!” but then the student takes it a step further by engaging readers with a small cliffhanger—“ I haven’t always been this way.” Cutting your own hair isn’t a quirk that inherently requires a deeper meaning, but this student draws us in by letting us know that there is one.

This essay’s second paragraph is where we get to know the student, which should always be a priority when writing any college essay. We learn about the student’s Quechua heritage and how it affected their childhood. We also learn about the student’s capacity for self-reflection, which seems to have existed from a young age—“ I thought it was silly to have braids when I wasn’t even allowed to date. Why did it matter if others knew I was single?”

Finally, the last paragraph brings things full circle and draws a connection between the young girl’s confusion about Quechuan braids and the current writer’s passion for cutting their own hair. The last sentence of this essay is particularly powerful—“ I know 12 year old me would think I look cool, and she’s the only person I want to impress.” 

The beginning of the final paragraph is the only part of this essay that could use some rewriting. This essay is generally well-written, so the confusing sentence structure of “ Eventually, my parents agreed to let me cut my hair, and for a moment I’d been looking forward to for so long, I wanted to be the one to do it” throws off the essay’s flow. Similarly, it is difficult to parse through the sentence “ Like every time I’ve cut my hair since then, I felt like a new person.” 

After improving the language of these two sentences, this would be a top-notch essay! This student’s personality really shines through.

Essay Example #4

Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering. (250 words)

“I hope your kids have my curly hair,” quipped my mom. “As long as they have my eyes, I’m happy,” joked my dad. While my parents were casually bantering with me at the dinner table, I was closeted as bisexual, and my mind started to reel. Eventually, I knew I wanted to have kids, and the nuclear family I had previously envisioned began to crumble. What if I couldn’t have genetically related children with my partner?

As I grappled with this question, I discovered that biomedical engineering could provide me with an answer. Gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 could allow for a same-sex couple to have genetically related children. This tool works as a precise pair of molecular scissors to cut out targeted DNA sequences in an organism’s genome. In China, researchers experimented with CRISPR and obtained live bipaternal and bimaternal mice.

CRISPR’s potential to change the world thrills me for reasons beyond my future family. With CRISPR, researchers began to cut out human DNA sequences associated with neurodegenerative diseases, blood-related disorders, and cancer. CRISPR is on the cusp of revolutionizing the medical industry, and I want to be part of innovating and discovering new uses for the technology.

Maybe one day, I’ll share a meal at the dinner table with a husband and a child who shares our features, laughing as we talk about our day. At UVA Engineering, I will acquire the tools necessary to pioneer research that could make this possibility a reality for millions of same-sex couples around the world.

This essay does a great job infusing a personal story into an engineering feat that inspires them. The intro opens with an anecdote, which is engaging and brings us closer to the writer by showing some vulnerability, as the student shares their thoughts and fears with us.

We learn about CRISPR in easy-to-understand terms. The writer lays out how it works, what it’s done so far, and how it could benefit society.

The final paragraph brings the essay full circle, with the student imagining their future family, made possible by CRISPR and the impact it could have for other same-sex couples.

There honestly isn’t much that the writer could’ve done to strengthen this essay. It’s already extremely engaging, personal, well-written, and easy to understand.

Essay Example #5: College of Arts and Sciences

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? (250 words)

Every ten years the state and congressional district lines open up to the public; the only piece of art influenced by the fluctuating votes of human souls. The bold black lines, separating communities with luscious green lawns from those with concrete playgrounds, are redrawn redirecting millions of dollars and sparking waves of protests on state capitol steps. In its sum, the wonky headphones and salamander shapes reflect the imperfect art of gerrymandering. Within its components, the fabric is sewed with the sweat and tears of communities. From ones with family obligations rendering them unable to advocate for themselves to communities a five-minute walk from the state capitol. 

In its final form, the line strokes between streets, bayous, and freeways surprise me. Instead of equal representation and distribution of power, districts group communities voting in accordance to a political party with communities who do not vote – essentially maintaining an iron grip on power. To challenge it, I have gone into non-voting communities helping register voters and have taken the time to listen to families terrified of the political process. One of my most cherished memories was meeting an elderly man who had immigrated to the U.S. and became naturalized but never registered to vote. For years, he watched his community change and never understood why he could not stop the process. Now, every time I see the district lines, I sense the unsettled doubt that within each district resides one person taken advantage of and never nurtured with civic love.

The subject of this essay—gerrymandering—is a surprising choice for this essay, as most people wouldn’t consider it a “work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media,” but more of a concept. Still, the author makes it work by likening the gerrymandering lines to a work of art.

The writing in this essay is very descriptive and rich with imagery, with phrases such as “luscious green lawns” and “salamander shapes.” We can clearly visualize how unusually these districts are drawn.

The author also incorporates a personal connection through their work in registering voters. We see that they care about helping others participate in the political process and exercise their civic rights/duties.

One of the biggest weaknesses of this essay is that it spends nearly half the space describing gerrymandering, leaving not enough room to discuss how it’s impacted them personally.

The intro paragraph helps us visualize gerrymandering very well, but the wording of many sentences is confusing (some are even not grammatically correct, and it doesn’t seem that this was a conscious decision, such as this line: From ones with family obligations rendering them unable to advocate for themselves to communities a five-minute walk from the state capitol) . It takes a few sentences to even realize what the topic of the essay is, and that is a critical flaw when admissions officers need to read essays quickly. 

The author should’ve introduced their topic more simply, especially since gerrymandering is an unexpected subject for this essay. They could’ve also cut out several lines to focus more on the work they’ve done in their communities. The story about the immigrant man is underdeveloped and vague; the writer could’ve shared more specific details about their interaction or even included some dialogue.

The impact of this topic on the student’s identity and future goals is also unclear. Do they plan to try to work to end gerrymandering or increase access to voting? The last sentence of the essay is a missed opportunity: Now, every time I see the district lines, I sense the unsettled doubt that within each district resides one person taken advantage of and never nurtured with civic love . This line is not only difficult to understand, but ends on a sad note rather than looking towards the future with how the student hopes to make an impact.

Essay Example #6

We are a community with quirks, both in language and traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are. (250 words)

I sit at a booth at California Pizza Kitchen as my legs swing back and forth, barely scraping the floor. With a mischievous grin, I grab a red crayon and scribble on the black-and-white coloring book with my own mission in mind. One times two equals two, times two equals four, times two equals eight, and so on. After I fill the page, the napkins in the dispenser in front of me become my canvas. When I finish, red numbers sprawl across the workbook and neatly ordered napkins on the table, mimicking a college professor’s chalkboard. My masterpiece is complete.

At five years old, I cherished multiplying numbers by two until I reached numbers in the millions, and my love for simple math became a staple of my personality. When I entered high school, I was delighted to discover my passion for mental math reflected in the activities I pursued:

( 310 total seconds – 162 seconds ran) / 2 laps left = 74 seconds per lap. During a 1600m dash, I recalculated the average pace I needed to meet my goal after every lap and adjusted my stride accordingly. 28 rows * 36 seats per row = 1008 total seats. During a chorus class, I calculated the number of seats in the auditorium we sang in with enthusiasm.

My arithmetic may not always serve a practical purpose, yet I find comfort in making sense of the little things in my life. The math problems penned with a red crayon may seem trivial to some, but they represent my curiosity seeking a better grasp of the world around me.

This essay paints the student as intellectually-engaged and ambitious. We see all the different ways they incorporate mental math into their life.

The anecdote at the beginning shows us exactly what it may be like to spend time with the student in an everyday setting, which helps admissions officers visualize what the student may be like on-campus.

While well-written, the essay falls a bit flat since the student spends almost all the allotted space describing the quirk rather than discussing what it means to them.

They also explicitly tell us the significance of their quirk by saying it “represent[s] my curiosity seeking a better grasp of the world around me.” This is redundant since they already show their curiosity through the details they reveal, such as counting the number of seats in the auditorium during chorus.

The topic of this essay may simply not be ideal since there isn’t much of an emotional backstory, unlike the third essay example where the student cuts their own hair. As you’re selecting a quirk, you should ensure that there is an opportunity for you to share your identity, emotions, and thoughts more deeply.

Where to Get Your UVA Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your UVA essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Admissions , Darden News , Full-Time MBA

15 June 2023

Essays and Deadlines Announced for 2023-24 Full-Time MBA Application

T he application deadlines and short answer essay prompts for applicants who plan to apply in 2023-24 to join the Full-Time MBA Class of 2026 are now available. The complete Full-Time MBA application will be released in the coming weeks and we look forward to sharing further details soon!

Application Deadlines

Darden offers four application rounds for the Full-Time MBA:

• Early Action (the only round in which we offer open interviews!): Thursday, 7 September 2023
• Round 1: Wednesday, 4 October 2023
• Round 2: Thursday, 4 January 2024
• Round 3: Wednesday, 3 April 2024

Short Answer Essay Prompts

Our team is excited to introduce the 2023-24 short answer essays, which allow applicants to highlight their experiences and perspectives through multi-dimensional narratives. We look forward to getting to know you through the application process!

Community of Belonging

What would you want your classmates to know about you that is not on your resume? (100 words)

Inclusive Impact

Please describe a tangible example that illuminates your experience promoting an inclusive environment and what you would bring to creating a welcoming, global community at Darden. (300 words)

Careers With Purpose

At this time how would you describe your short-term, post-MBA goal in terms of industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission and how does it align with the long-term vision you have for your career? (200 words)

Ways to Connect

“introducing the application” webinar.

Senior Assistant Dean Dawna Clarke and Managing Director Whitney Kestner will host an introduction to the application on 25 July. Register here for the webinar to save your spot and receive a link to the recording.

Visit Charlottesville

Darden Tour and First Coffee: Students may be on summer break, but our Admissions Team looks forward to welcoming you to Grounds! Sign up for a tour and First Coffee for an opportunity to meet with members of the Admissions Committee and Career Center for a brief, small-group conversation and a tour of the Darden Grounds.

Prospective Student Programming: We look forward to offering both virtual and on-Grounds opportunities to experience what makes Darden a unique place to earn your MBA. Save the date for the following “Day With Darden” events. Registration to open soon for the September and October dates.

• 18-20 September: Virtual Day With Darden in Charlottesville, Virginia
• 2 October: Day With Darden in Charlottesville, Virginia
• 13 November: Day With Darden in Charlottesville, Virginia
• Early December: Day With Darden at UVA Darden DC Metro in Arlington, Virginia

Class Visits:  As soon as school is in session, our community is excited to once again offer opportunities for visitors to be paired with a student host, participate in First Coffee and observe a Darden class.

Connect Over Coffee

After learning about Darden’s MBA on our website, we invite you to register for a virtual or in-person coffee chat with a member of our admissions team.

The admissions team will be representing Darden at many partner events and chats around the world throughout the summer. Please view our events web page to find an upcoming event near you!

Upcoming Events

Connect with our team virtually and across the globe this summer, related posts.

15 July 2022

Executive MBA , Full-Time MBA

30 December 2021

Esther Edoho (Class of 2022)

Admissions , Application Tips , Guest Posts , Student Profile or Feature

30 August 2023

Admissions , Application Tips , Executive MBA , Full-Time MBA , Part-Time MBA

Are you seeking one-on-one college counseling and/or essay support? Limited spots are now available. Click here to learn more.

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays 2023-24

August 28, 2023

Unlike many other public institutions with notable strengths in the areas of business, computer science, and engineering, Virginia Tech’s acceptance rate does not yet strike fear into the hearts of prospective applicants (although it has fallen from 70% to 56% in the past three years). However, it is important for wannabe Hokies to be aware that the admissions process at this university is becoming highly selective. This is particularly true for the aforementioned popular majors. Thus, prospective Virginia Tech students need to take advantage of every component of the application in order to stand out. This includes the Virginia Tech supplemental essays.

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

Virginia Tech’s motto “Ut Prosim” is Latin for “That I May Serve.” The school requires all undergraduates to complete the “Ut Prosim Profile” which consists of four service-related essay prompts. These essays are “very important” to the admissions committee. Therefore, it is vital that all Tech applicants dedicate a significant amount of time to these short answer questions.

Below are Virginia Tech’s supplemental prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle along with our advice for composing winning essays.

2023-2024 University of Virginia Tech Essay Questions

Virginia Tech’s motto is “Ut Prosim” which means ‘That I May Serve.’ Share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. How long have you been involved? What have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at Virginia Tech? (120 words)

Pretty much everyone applying to Virginia Tech is deeply involved in some semblance of a “community.” The term “community” can have many meanings. In this instance, it could be an ethnic, religious, or neighborhood community or a group of individuals who gather for a club, sport, or service project. You could discuss how you have engaged with your high school local/community and what you have learned from interacting with people of a different ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual identity, etc. Or, perhaps you are the captain of a team, the editor-in-chief of your school paper, the president of a club, or simply a valuable contributing member. Regardless of whether you are a leading man/woman or a still-essential bit player, make sure that you use your writing ability to  show  the admissions officer what type of community member you are rather than merely  telling  them.

Whatever you choose, be sure to draw on past evidence of your commitment to being a positive force in your community and speculate how that is likely to manifest on Virginia Tech’s campus. Research and cite  Virginia Tech student-run organizations  or local nonprofit groups. The admissions committee wants to understand precisely how you will contribute to their campus community of 30,000+ undergrads. Drawing the link between your past efforts and future aims is critical here.

For example, if you’ve done work with Habitat for Humanity throughout your teens, it will be most impactful if you express your commitment to joining Tech’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity in the future.

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays (Continued)

Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community supports access and inclusion by affirming the dignity and value of every person, respecting differences, promoting mutual understanding and open expression, and strives to eliminate bias and discrimination. Reflect on a time when you were not able or allowed to express a different or diverse position or opinion (or you witnessed another person or group experience the same situation)? How did you respond or wish you would have responded? Did your viewpoint change in any way after this experience? (120 words)

The U.S. presently finds itself in an extreme state of polarization. There seems to be little agreement even as to what constitutes “truth” or “facts” Within this divided world, it can be hard for individuals with competing viewpoints to engage in civil and productive dialogue. Here, Virginia Tech is giving you the chance to reflect on a time when your voice may have been silenced (or when you observed someone else’s voice being silenced). What was the outcome? How do you feel about your reaction, and what did you learn from it? This is your opportunity to show that you are an open-minded, intellectually curious, self-aware young person. One key thing to remember when addressing this prompt is that you don’t have to be the hero of the anecdote. In fact, you may be one who learned to expand their thinking.

Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time? (120 words)

Leadership is an admirable quality, but it can manifest in many different forms. This essay is not only for those who captained a varsity team to a state title, started a charitable organization, or made sweeping changes as student body president. Teamwork and collaboration are also valued leadership skills both in academia and in the workplace, and students with strong interpersonal skills and a high EQ can be an asset to any university. Think beyond the title that you may have held and more about the action(s) of which you are most proud.

To sum up, this essay is about leadership, broadly defined. You can chronicle anything from mentoring others on your debate team to a simple instance of conflict resolution within your peer group. Along the way, just make sure that you provide answers to each question embedded in the prompt. This includes what you learned about yourself through this role modeling/leadership moment.

Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from as you work on this goal? (120 words)

Through this prompt, Virginia Tech wants to know more about your goal-setting, work ethic, and level of executive functioning. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that becoming a master or expert at anything takes 10,000 hours of practice. Consider talking about the grind and sacrifice it will take you to become great at a given skill. Further, explain how you see that skill becoming even more finely tuned/developed over time. If this goal fits into your future academic/career plans, all the better—share that too! As with the other three prompts, #4 packs in a lot of questions into a single prompt.

Ultimately, you’ll need to produce a well-edited, concise piece of writing that chronicles not only your goal, the steps you will take to achieve it, and the timeline of the steps, but also who will help you along the way. Answering the last question is key in showing that you are a mature learner who understands that you will need mentorship, assistance, and other resources along the path toward achieving your dreams.

How important are the Virginia Tech supplemental essays?

The essays are “very important” to the Virginia Tech admissions committee. This places them in the same tier of importance as the rigor of your coursework, GPA, first-generation status, geographical residence, state residency, and race/ethnicity.

Want personalized essay assistance with your Virginia Tech supplemental essays?

Lastly, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Virginia Tech supplemental essays, we encourage you to  get a quote  today.

• College Essay

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Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).

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Celebrating a Year of UVA Today Weekend

May 16, 2024 • By Traci Hale, [email protected] Traci Hale, [email protected]

• Traci Hale, [email protected]

UVA Today Weekend’s top 10 stories entertained, informed and made an impact on readers. (Photo illustration by John DiJulio, University Communications)

We are just hours away from the official conclusion to the 2023-24 school year, a year that saw the introduction of our newest product, UVA Today Weekend, to an audience of 280,000 readers. 

Since August, we’ve been dropping into your inbox each Saturday morning with stories of determination, achievement and appreciation for the University of Virginia. 

Today, we’re looking back at the top 10 stories that grabbed your attention.

The story of a UVA student who formed a successful partnership after a chance meeting in a McLeod Hall hallway garnered the most attention from readers of any weekend story after it appeared on Oct. 28.

For Griffin Spolansky, a 2019 UVA alum, and Coco Sotelo, a mother of three who lives in Crozet, an entrepreneurship course in the fall of 2018 was a life-changing event.

Sotelo was there to share her experience starting a business. Spolansky was hoping to pick up some business pointers; instead, he picked up a business partner.

They Met Outside a UVA Classroom. Then They Started a Multimillion-Dollar Business

An entrepreneurship course on Grounds changed the lives of alumnus Griffin Spolansky and his business partner, Coco Sotelo.

The duo founded  Mezcla , a plant-based protein bar that can be purchased online and in various coffee shops and grocery stores, including Whole Foods.

Mezcla’s success led to Spolansky earning a spot on the 2023  “Forbes 30 Under 30” list.

In March, the term “photo kill” became part of the modern lexicon. UVA Today Weekend readers, and those around the world, were asking questions about a doctored photo and the whereabouts of Kate, Princess of Wales.

Q&A: Why Media Outlets Took Down Princess Kate’s Photo – and Why It Matters

Journalistic ethics were called into question this week after The Associated Press removed a doctored image from Kensington Palace.

UVA Today turned to Kate Sweeney, a UVA professor of practice and former National Geographic producer, to talk about ethics in visual journalism and if it was the right call to “kill” the photo. 

“It’s a step away from truth. While the public may not understand why it’s an issue because they’re so accustomed to seeing filtered and doctored photos on Instagram, this is the same public that has a lack of trust in the news today,” Sweeney said.

In December, UVA Today Weekend brought readers the story of UVA alumna-turned-Christmas movie star Jen Lilley, who has made a name for herself appearing in festive films on Hallmark, Lifetime and the Great American Family channel.

A Walk Through Grounds Brought Her to Acting. Now, She’s a Christmas Movie Star

What would make a good holiday film set at UVA? We asked an alumna with years of experience in the genre.

While the Roanoke native came to UVA to study Spanish, a routine walk across Grounds changed her plans.

“I found acting by happenstance at UVA because there were posters all over for an open audition for an independent film called ‘The Loss of Life,’” Lilley said. “I ended up booking the female lead opposite Alexis Ohanian.”

It’s not everyone whose wedding day photos appear in the Washington Post, but that’s exactly what happened for UVA alumni Jenna and Dave Stolldorf back in 2019. UVA Today Weekend readers loved catching up with the crowd-surfing bride on her anniversary in March.

The couple’s wedding weekend included many Hoo highlights – a rehearsal dinner at the Colonnade Club in the Academical Village, photos on the Lawn and a Rotunda-themed wedding cake. 

Five Years After the Ride: How UVA’s Crowd-Surfing Bride and Her Groom Continue To Cherish the Memory

Moments after an epic UVA win, these Wahoo newlyweds created a legendary moment amid a boisterous Corner crowd. What’s the couple up to now?

But it’s what happened after the ceremony and the reception that drew the most attention. A celebration of a monumental victory for their alma mater’s men’s basketball team led the newlyweds to the Corner and into history.

“It wasn’t really any more complicated than that,” Dave said. “Like, if you’re at a rock concert and someone starts crowd-surfing, there’s not a lot of discussion; it kind of just happens and it’s totally acceptable. That’s what this was. She just went up and everyone knew what to do.”

The story of another big Cavalier victory and one of the players who made it happen landed in the fifth spot of our most popular weekend stories.

The Championship Lesson That Sticks With Anthony Gill 10 Years After ACC Title

He’s an NBA veteran now, but the former UVA star routinely taps into what he learned from his time under Tony Bennett.

In February, we caught up with Anthony Gill to reflect on the 10th anniversary of  the Cavaliers’ 72-63 win over Duke University and the program’s  first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in 38 years .

Gill has vivid memories of the 2013-14 season.

“That year, we just all came together as a group. It really showed me how to serve – sacrifice your own game – for the greater good. And that’s kind of helped me to where I am now. I’ve been in the NBA for a few years and my role is, again, servanthood. And I love it. And I learned that at UVA,” Gill said.

In January, UVA Today gave readers a sneak peek at the renovated Alderman Library, now known as the Shannon Library. The University’s main library had been closed for renovations since early 2020.

The renovated library includes more study spaces, increased seating, a new designated lounge for graduate students and a lighter feel, thanks to new and larger windows.

Get Ready for the Reopening of Alderman Library

The renovated library includes new study spaces, changes for accessibility and a full-service café.

“The stacks went from being these really dark, confined, cramped spaces to beautiful, high-ceiling, light-filled spaces,” Brenda Loewen, senior project manager, said.

In March, the Board of Visitors  voted to rename the library  in memory of Edgar F. Shannon, the University’s fourth president, who served from 1959 to 1974.

UVA Today turned its attention to the return of Mike Hollins to the football field and the classroom in October. Hollins survived a shooting that killed teammates Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry on a bus outside Culbreth Garage in November 2022.

Mike Hollins’ Return to Football Has Been Inspiring. His Return to the Classroom Is Even More So

The national media focus on Hollins has been on his athletic comeback. But no one has asked about his academic comeback.

Hollins, shot after returning to the bus to try to save his teammates, spent a week in the hospital in critical condition. Early in his recovery, he finished his bachelor’s degree with a double major in American studies and African American and African studies. For Hollis, UVA was always more than a place to play football.

“I could have picked anywhere to go play football,” Hollins said, “but I didn’t want to be remembered as just a football player, because I knew (football) was just a short time in your life.”

In March, UVA Today set out to make spring more enjoyable for allergy sufferers.

Dawn Bourne, a family nurse practitioner, assistant professor in UVA’s School of Nursing and a triple Hoo, had tips to stop the sniffles.

Q&A: Here’s How To Survive Allergy Season

You don’t have to sneeze your way through spring. Our expert is here to help.

Even with the helpful hints, Bourne had bad news for those who call Virginia home.

“It seems in Virginia, allergy season is almost year-round now, thanks to climate change,” Bourne said.

The good news, as an ode to the season, we created a fun musical playlist so you could at least step into spring, sneezes and all, with a good beat.

Our ninth-most-read weekend story detailed the annual release of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service’s population estimates.

Remote Workers Becoming Even More Remote

Working from home could be a major factor in the movement from urban centers to more rural communities, according to UVA demographers.

UVA researchers say Virginians are migrating away from the state’s traditional population centers and into rural areas as the ability to work remotely has made it easier to live farther from the office.

According to the study, Winchester has become Virginia’s fastest-growing metro area, with population increasing at nearly five times the rate of Virginia as a whole.

Rounding out the top 10 was a group of rockers who have been taking the stage and shocking audiences since the 1980s.

As GWAR, a punk-influenced, over-the-top art rock band that performs while clad in grotesque and bizarre costumes, prepared for a March show at Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theater, UVA Today caught up with the band’s lead singer, alumnus Michael Bishop.

The Music Beat: GWAR’s Shock-Rock Singer Takes UVA Degree Onstage

The veteran intergalactic rocker relies on his doctorate degree in music when crafting songs, storylines and explaining why the band exists.

Bishop, who earned a doctoral degree in music at UVA, explained how he uses his education even when clad as Blöthar – his character who, as the band’s fictitious backstory goes, is part of an intergalactic special forces team that screwed up so badly they were exiled to Earth.

Blöthar and his musical minions were part of our new series, The Music Beat, focused on bringing you the sounds from Grounds and the latest news from the music world.

Thank you for coming along with us on this first year of UVA Today Weekend. We look forward to a Hoo-filled future.

Media Contact

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May 21, 2024

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There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

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By Dani Blum

For most of this year, the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus accounted for an overwhelming majority of Covid cases . But now, an offshoot variant called KP.2 is taking off. The variant, which made up just one percent of cases in the United States in mid-March, now makes up over a quarter.

KP.2 belongs to a subset of Covid variants that scientists have cheekily nicknamed “FLiRT,” drawn from the letters in the names of their mutations. They are descendants of JN.1, and KP.2 is “very, very close” to JN.1, said Dr. David Ho, a virologist at Columbia University. But Dr. Ho has conducted early lab tests in cells that suggest that slight differences in KP.2’s spike protein might make it better at evading our immune defenses and slightly more infectious than JN.1.

While cases currently don’t appear to be on the rise, researchers and physicians are closely watching whether the variant will drive a summer surge.

“I don’t think anybody’s expecting things to change abruptly, necessarily,” said Dr. Marc Sala, co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center in Chicago. But KP.2 will most likely “be our new norm,’” he said. Here’s what to know.

The current spread of Covid

Experts said it would take several weeks to see whether KP.2 might lead to a rise in Covid cases, and noted that we have only a limited understanding of how the virus is spreading. Since the public health emergency ended , there is less robust data available on cases, and doctors said fewer people were using Covid tests.

But what we do know is reassuring: Despite the shift in variants, data from the C.D.C. suggests there are only “minimal ” levels of the virus circulating in wastewater nationally, and emergency department visits and hospitalizations fell between early March and late April.

“I don’t want to say that we already know everything about KP.2,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System. “But at this time, I’m not seeing any major indications of anything ominous.”

Protection from vaccines and past infections

Experts said that even if you had JN.1, you may still get reinfected with KP.2 — particularly if it’s been several months or longer since your last bout of Covid.

KP.2 could infect even people who got the most updated vaccine, Dr. Ho said, since that shot targets XBB.1.5, a variant that is notably different from JN.1 and its descendants. An early version of a paper released in April by researchers in Japan suggested that KP.2 might be more adept than JN.1 at infecting people who received the most recent Covid vaccine. (The research has not yet been peer-reviewed or published.) A spokesperson for the C.D.C. said the agency was continuing to monitor how vaccines perform against KP.2.

Still, the shot does provide some protection, especially against severe disease, doctors said, as do previous infections. At this point, there isn’t reason to believe that KP.2 would cause more severe illness than other strains, the C.D.C. spokesperson said. But people who are 65 and older, pregnant or immunocompromised remain at higher risk of serious complications from Covid.

Those groups, in particular, may want to get the updated vaccine if they haven’t yet, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. The C.D.C. has recommended t hat people 65 and older who already received one dose of the updated vaccine get an additional shot at least four months later.

“Even though it’s the lowest level of deaths and hospitalizations we’ve seen, I’m still taking care of sick people with Covid,” he said. “And they all have one unifying theme, which is that they’re older and they didn’t get the latest shot.”

The latest on symptoms and long Covid

Doctors said that the symptoms of both KP.2 and JN.1 — which now makes up around 16 percent of cases — are most likely similar to those seen with other variants . These include sore throat, runny nose, coughing, head and body aches, fever, congestion, fatigue and in severe cases, shortness of breath. Fewer people lose their sense of taste and smell now than did at the start of the pandemic, but some people will still experience those symptoms.

Dr. Chin-Hong said that patients were often surprised that diarrhea, nausea and vomiting could be Covid symptoms as well, and that they sometimes confused those issues as signs that they had norovirus .

For many people who’ve already had Covid, a reinfection is often as mild or milder than their first case. While new cases of long Covid are less common now than they were at the start of the pandemic, repeat infections do raise the risk of developing long Covid, said Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University. But researchers are still trying to determine by how much — one of many issues scientists are trying to untangle as the pandemic continues to evolve.

“That’s the nature of the virus,” Dr. Tafesse said. “It keeps mutating.”

Dani Blum is a health reporter for The Times. More about Dani Blum