FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the difference between priority and regular decision deadlines?
Priority application is an optional deadline. The benefit of applying priority is that you will find out your results earlier. If you don't get accepted priority, your application will be moved to regular decision, giving you another opportunity to be considered for Hoos First Look. It will not improve or worsen your chances if you apply priority.
Is Hoos First Look for juniors or seniors?
This program is specifically targeting students who will be juniors in the academic year 2025-2026. Therefore, if you will be a senior in high school in the academic year 2025-2026, you will not be eligible to apply for the program. This is so that students can implement the one-on-one advice received from UVA admissions counselors throughout the remainder of their high school careers.
Do I qualify as low-income and/or first-generation?
First-generation students generally do not have a parent who has graduated from a traditional 4-year college in the United States. We consider low-income as someone who currently receives free/reduced lunch, however, we also take into account the number of people in the household and use the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s income limits as a guideline. Of course, we look at each student’s application with a holistic approach and adjust our perspective according to each student’s unique situation.
What are some tips and advice for the application?
First, spend a good amount of time on those essays! They really help you share your personal story, as this program is intended for low-income and/or first-generation college students. It's helpful to copy and paste the essay questions into a Google Doc or a Word Doc and write your responses there to view your word count. And when you're ready to submit, you can just copy and paste them into the Hoos First Look application.
Second, we aren't looking for the perfect student or the person with 10 extracurriculars. We are looking for juniors who have the potential to get into and are interested in UVA, but need that extra push to help make them more competitive and learn more about the school.
When can I expect to hear a decision on my application?
We expect to release Hoos First Look decisions in August for our Priority deadline applicants and late August for our Regular deadline applicants. All applicants will be notified of their decision via email.
If I’m not selected for Hoos First Look, does that mean I’m not a good fit for UVA?
The application process for Hoos First Look is very competitive as we receive far more applications than we can admit into the limited spots we have. Unfortunately, this means that we are unable to invite every talented student to the program, even those who may be a good fit for UVA. Ultimately, your Hoos First Look decision does not directly impact your chances of being accepted into the University of Virginia and we highly encourage you to consider applying to the University of Virginia in the fall of your senior year.