How to Write the UVA Admissions Essay

 by Sarah O'Neill, Coatesville, Supreme Editing


University of Virginia Excerpt


According to University of Virginia admissions (via their website):


Be authentic! Authenticity is critical in a strong application! These essays should be you sharing your story and perspective and why you should be a Batten student. Don’t shy away from injecting your own personal voice and style into these responses; just make sure to keep them professional!  UVA- 5 Essay Tips


Leadership is essential to UVA. The University has attracted a vibrant and capable new leadership team possessing enormous talent, energy, and creativity. These leaders are united in their efforts to sustain and further advance the University’s highest aspirations as one of the world’s truly remarkable institutions of higher learning.


UVA Diversity & Inclusion Statement



In history,  students with creative and unique stories were admitted.  Students who told stories about what they cared about and used vivid and fresh language were successful.  With these new questions, you want admissions to understand better who you are.  Don’t overthink your responses; instead, be authentic.  


Supplemental Essay Example: 

I have been a “resident” for quite some time, since sixth grade to be exact. Living in residential boarding schools for years now, I am loving it. Each new community has had its own specialness, especially getting to live with other people my age for twenty-four hours a day, which has greatly strengthened our relationships.

At my current boarding school, I am one of the only people who has lived extensively on my own, so I am someone people come to when they need something. For instance, my friend Adam, who is younger than me, lost his wallet and became panicky. Not getting much support from his mom over the phone, I told him how I’d lost all sorts of things in middle school and asked him to recall the last time he saw his wallet. He used it to buy something at the café two hours before and said never left his room after returning from there, so I told him he must have misplaced the wallet somewhere in his room, either in his blazer or in his backpack. He found his wallet lying in his blazer pocket and kindly invited me to dine out with him that weekend.

There are many other occasions in which I helped my friends and classmates, doing whatever I can for others just like this as my Jesuit education has been teaching me to do. Being a resident has become more than a physical state, it has become a way to serve others.



by Sarah O'Neill, Coatesville, Supreme Editing

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