2019-2020 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 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.
This post originally appeared on Notes from Peabody, the UVA admission blog at http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/ .
I will be back in the next week with more detailed commentary on these essay topics individually. But to start with question one, they are offering a slant on the Why You Want to Go Here/What You Plan to Study and Why essay questions, which are featured in many college apps, from Cornell on the East Side to Harvey Mudd out West—but note that here UV is looking for what you know about their programs and what inspires you rather than for a simple restatement of your activities. This means that you need to start clicking around and doing some research on UV and its specific programs. I have multiple posts on researching colleges for similar questions, under Cornell and Chicago, which can serve as examples for you to check out. Go to the website, click, read, then click some more, before writing about why you want to go to any university. There will be some overlap with activities, but this is your chance to reach out and touch someone with a heartfelt but not cheesy statement about what inspires you as well as showing what you know about them. And what you know about them can include specific classes, professors, research programs and results . . . .Anything you know after researching the essay is useful . . ..
Question two is aimed a range of possibilities in which you can express your ingenuity or integrity. More on those later.