Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, the University of Virginia is a public university with a suburban campus located in Charlottesville, VA.
With its campus spanning over 1,600 acres and a total undergraduate enrollment of 17,311 as of the fall of 2022, UVA is a moderately large university.
According to the annual school rankings list published by the US News and World Report, the school is currently ranked #25 among the best colleges and universities in the United States.
Greek life is an important part of student life at UVA, with over 35% of the student body belonging to one of the school’s 63 different fraternities and sororities.
UVA’s sports teams, officially named as the Cavaliers but often referred to under the nicknames Wahoos or ‘Hoos, compete in the NCAA’s Division I Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cavaliers are especially well-known for their fiercely competitive men’s and women’s lacrosse teams.
Notable UVA alumni include poet and author Edgar Allen Poe, television producer and actress Tina Fey, and John Charles Thomas, the first ever African American Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Additionally, UVA alumni have won a total of 26 Olympic medals, including 15 gold, 5 silver, and six bronze medals.
For students who are not content at their current undergraduate institution, transferring to the University of Virginia may be a great decision to make.
Read on to learn more about the school’s acceptance rate for transfer students, their application requirements, deadlines, and some more things to consider when deciding if transferring to UVA is right for you.
University of Virginia Transfer Acceptance Rate
The school’s acceptance rate for transfer students applying to begin in the fall at the University of Virginia is about 35-40%.
The acceptance rate for those who apply to start at UVA in the spring semester is lower, however.
This is because admission for the spring semester is more competitive.
Students who are interested in applying to the College of Arts & Sciences, Architectural History, or Urban and Environmental Planning may choose to apply for the spring.
UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences generally receives more than 300 spring transfer applications, accepting only 35 of them.
This means that the college’s acceptance rate for spring semester transfer students is around 12% or lower, depending on the number of applications the university receives in whatever given year.
Application Requirements & GPA for University of Virginia Transfers
The required minimum GPA for students who wish to transfer to the University of Virginia
of 2.0.
Although the school states that GPA is far from being the sole basis on which they make admissions decisions for transfer students, the average college GPA of accepted transfer students at the University of Virginia is 3.5.
This means that in order to be a competitive UVA transfer applicant, students will need to earn at least a B+ letter grade average, or a mixture of As and Bs, in all courses at their previous undergraduate institution.
On the other hand, the mean GPA for accepted first-year students at GPA is much higher than that of accepted transfer students.
The average weighted high school GPA of first-year applicants at UVA is an impressive 4.32 out of 5.
In order to achieve this, students will need to take a number of AP or IB classes and earn nearly perfect grades in all courses.
In order to complete the UVA transfer applications, students must submit all previous college and high school transcripts. They also must be in good academic and social standing at the previous institution.
The UVA transfer application can be completed through either the Common Application or Coalition Application, accompanied by the UVA supplemental questions.
The Common or Coalition Application will include a required essay prompt.
Other required application materials include two letters of recommendation, one from a past teacher or professor and one from a school counselor. There will be a $70 application fee, although need-based fee waivers are also available.
University of Virginia Transfer Deadline
The deadline for applying to the University of Virginia as a transfer student is March 1 of each year for students who are applying to begin school in the fall.
For those who are applying to transfer to UVA in the spring semester, the deadline is October 1 every year.
UVA generally only admits transfer students for the fall semester. However, a limited number of students are accepted for spring admission to the College of Arts and Sciences, Architectural History, and Urban and Environmental Planning.
These students must have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours at their previous college or university by the end of the fall semester immediately prior to the spring semester for which they intend to apply.
What is the Decision Date for UVA Transfers?
Transfer students who apply for admission to the University of Virginia for the fall semester can expect to receive notification of their admissions decision around April 1 of each year.
For spring semester transfer applicants, decisions are generally released by the beginning of November.
This means that regardless of the semester during which the student intends to transfer to the school, there will be about two months between when the application is due and when they will be notified of the admissions decision.
While waiting to receive notification of their admissions decisions from UVA, students can pass the time by applying for financial aid, if they have not already done so. Fall transfer applicants have until April 1 to complete the FAFSA, while spring semester transfer students have until November 1.
Deciding Whether You Should Transfer to University of Virginia
Ultimately, whether transferring to the University of Virginia is the right choice for you depends on a number of factors, such as your personal preferences, your professional aspirations, what you intend to study, and more.
Still, there are a number of reasons to believe that attending UVA could transform your undergraduate experience for the better.
For one, UVA has an average first-year student retention rate — a widely accepted measure of student satisfaction — of 97%. This suggests that those who chose to transfer to the school are likely to find that they are pleased with what UVA has to offer.
UVA is known as a “public ivy,” meaning that the quality of education and overall experience they offer is similar to that of the elite private schools regarded as the Ivy Leagues.
The college is regularly ranked within the top three public universities in the country.
In addition to strong academic programs, UVA’s location is another benefit of attending the school.
Charlottesville has a lower cost of living than many other cities containing tier 1 research universities, so students can rest assured that their money will stretch further than it would have if they had attended another, similarly ranked college.
The Charlottesville area enjoys pleasant weather nearly year-round, as Virginia’s four seasons are relatively mild. The city is located only a couple of hours away from Washington, DC, and three hours away from Virginia Beach.
RECAP: How to Apply As a Transfer Student to University of Virginia
The first step of applying to the University of Virginia as a transfer student is to ensure that you are eligible.
In order to be eligible for transfer admission, applicants must complete a minimum of 24 credit hours, equal to one full year, of college coursework prior to when they intend to begin at UVA. Summer coursework, AP classes, and IB classes will not be counted toward the one-year minimum.
Transfer applicants must have a GPA of at least 2.0 at the previous college or university. They must also be in good academic and social standing at their current institution.
Those eligible to transfer to UVA can begin the application process by filling out either the Common Application or the Coalition Application and UVA’s supplemental questionnaire.
Additional application materials include official transcripts from the student’s high school and all previously attended colleges.
Other required supplemental documents include a short essay response, letters of recommendation from both a past teacher or professor and a school counselor, and the $70 application fee or fee waiver.
In light of complications set forth by the COVID-19 pandemics, UVA has decided that students who apply for admission in the fall of 2022 through the fall of 2023 will not be required to submit standardized test scores.
It is not yet known whether or not the school will reimplement the ACT or SAT score submission requirement in future application cycles.
Students who have taken the SAT or ACT and feel that their score reflects positively on their academic ability can choose to include standardized test scores as part of their application bundle. Those who opt to submit their test scores must do so before the application deadline.
The application and all required supporting materials must be submitted to UVA by no later than March 1 for those who wish to transfer for the fall semester. Spring semester transfer applicants must submit the completed application by October 1.
