The University of Virginia (UVA), located in the city of Charlottesville, was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson. With a 19% acceptance rate, UVA remains a selective research institution with a preference for in-state applicants. UVA’s accomplished alumni include Tina Fey, Ted Kennedy, Robert Mueller, and Steve Huffman. Hoping to join their ranks? First, you’ll need to nail your UVA supplemental essays. Let’s dive in.
UVA’s 2024-2025 Prompts
There are two UVA supplemental essays. The first prompt is required for all applicants. The second prompt is optional and only applicable to students with “a personal or historic connection with UVA.”
Required UVA Short Essay Question
- What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (300 words or fewer)
Optional UVA Short Essay Question
- If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. (100 words or fewer)
General Tips
The UVA supplemental essays focus exclusively on who you are as a person. More specifically, you need to write about your background, identity, and/or life experiences in your UVA supplemental essays. In the case of the first prompt, you’re expected to discuss your background and life experiences more generally. Or, at least, you can focus on any aspect(s) of your background and life experiences that you wish to share. In the case of the second prompt, you’re expected to discuss your background in the context of UVA, if such a connection exists. Thus, these general tips will focus on ways you can effectively discuss your background and personal experiences in a college essay.
Get vulnerable, if you can.
It’s not easy to write a vulnerable story. It’s not easy to share with an anonymous reader the times you’ve struggled or faced obstacles. However, if you can write a story about one or more of these experiences, followed by a description of the resilience you developed and the lessons you learned, you will make a strong case for why you deserve to be accepted into UVA.
Universities like UVA seek students who can face challenges head-on. Universities like UVA seek students who are self-aware and mature enough to look back on who they once were with a thoughtful, objective eye. In other words, writing a vulnerable essay is a sign of strength, courage, and maturity. All of these are qualities universities value.
Be authentic.
Vulnerability is a start, but whether you write a vulnerable essay or not, you should write an authentic one. Authentic essays stand out for their personal touches, unique details, and specific experiences. Your story is yours, no one else’s. Thus, the only way to guarantee you’ll write UVA supplemental essays that look like no one else’s is to be authentic.
In addition, remember that admissions officers read college essays for a living. They are well-trained individuals who can sniff out inauthenticity quickly and easily. It’s in your best interest to share your authentic story for many reasons, one of which is that inauthenticity won’t help you or your application’s chances of success in the long run.
Reflect.
Telling a vulnerable story authentically is challenging, but reflecting isn’t quite as challenging for most applicants. However, many applicants forget to leave room for reflection in their college essays. In addition, many students don’t provide sufficient reflection.
Although there is no precise minimum or maximum for how much of an essay should be reflection, students should strive to address each of the main lessons they learned. In other words, if the story you tell in your essay led to two main takeaways that shaped your perspective, then you should make space in your essay to recap these takeaways and how they continue to impact you.
Required UVA Short Essay Question
What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (300 words or fewer)
This supplemental essay prompt is all about you. Consider the aspects of your background and personal experience that are not otherwise communicated in your college application. Then, take the time to determine which of these aspects are most important to the person you are today and serves as a source of strength for you. This is what your essay should focus on.
Note how the prompt refers to “any past experience or part of your background that… will be a source of strength.” UVA is looking for your experiences of resilience and learning. Past experiences that help you find strength today likely involved lessons you had to learn about yourself or others. Aspects of your identity or background that have helped you overcome challenges in your life could fit into this prompt.
Whatever parts of yourself you choose to focus on in this essay, feel encouraged to tell your unique story. This might mean employing typical “story” devices, like dialogue, scene, and descriptive language. Alternatively, you may feel that your story is better suited to a montage-like structure. Instead of telling one narrative, you share multiple anecdotes or weave together numerous details. As long as you’re specific and concise, you’ll do great.
Optional UVA Short Essay Question
If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. (100 words or fewer)
This prompt is optional, but if you do have a personal or historic connection to UVA, you should feel encouraged to answer it. This prompt has a maximum of 100 words, which is the length of a brief paragraph. Still, even this brief paragraph gives you one more chance to share who you are with UVA.
In addition, UVA does not have a “Why UVA?” essay. Perhaps you have a compelling set of reasons for choosing to apply to UVA that are grounded in your personal or historic connection to the University. If so, then sharing that set of reasons can only help your application. Furthermore, if your connection to UVA is more complicated than a legacy connection (which UVA will be able to see regardless of whether you choose to respond to this essay), then your time may be well-spent exploring that connection here.
In this response, you should describe the nature of your connection to UVA. Then, indicate how this connection has indicated that UVA will be a good fit for you. You can also illustrate the ways you’ve fostered this connection and found community at UVA. Once again, being specific and concise will go a long way toward strengthening your response.
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