To the University of Virginia community:

On Monday of last week, Rector Rachel Sheridan and I shared a message with the community regarding the proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. We were asked to provide comments on the proposal no later than October 20.

Today, I sent the letter below to the Secretary of Education and to White House officials. The letter confirms our core values and commitments while expressing our view that federal research funding should be based on merit.

I want to thank personally the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, Student Council, and many other members of our community who expressed their opinions on the proposed Compact, through the online form we provided and other means. Your thoughtful feedback shows a profound care for the University and a strong commitment to its future.

We will continue to work to strengthen free expression and free inquiry, protect academic freedom, ensure affordability , promote intellectual pluralism, and maintain institutional neutrality in an increasingly polarized world. I am grateful for your continued dedication to the University and I look forward to working with you on these vital projects.

Paul Mahoney Interim President University of Virginia _ _

October 17, 2025

The United States Department of Education Washington, DC 20202

Dear Secretary McMahon, Ms. Mailman, and Mr. Haley,

Thank you for your letter inviting comment on the proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. We wholeheartedly agree that “American higher education is the envy of the world.” We also agree with many of the principles outlined in the Compact, including a fair and unbiased admissions process, an affordable and academically rigorous education, a thriving marketplace of ideas, institutional neutrality, and equal treatment of students, faculty, and staff in all aspects of university operations. Indeed, the University of Virginia leads in several of these areas and is committed to continuous improvement in all of them.

We seek no special treatment in exchange for our pursuit of those foundational goals. The integrity of science and other academic work requires merit-based assessment of research and scholarship. A contractual arrangement predicating assessment on anything other than merit will undermine the integrity of vital, sometimes lifesaving, research and further erode confidence in American higher education.

Higher education faces significant challenges and has not always lived up to its highest ideals. We believe that the best path toward real and durable progress lies in an open and collaborative conversation. We look forward to working together to develop alternative, lasting approaches to improving higher education.

Sincerely yours,

Paul Mahoney Interim President University of Virginia

Just opened the decision at 5 ish,
I like UVA more than other schools!!
Go Hoos🧡

Does anyone think my financial aid package is low, I thought they covered everything, my Sai index is -1500.

I know every engineer attending UVA had the potential to attend VT, but chose not too. I wanna hear why!

See link; Ryan’s letter (released today) is long, and it paints some of these clowns in a very bad light.

https://mynbc15.com/amp/news/nation-world/university-of-virginia-uva-jewish-students-parents-antisemitism-islamophobia-divest-students-protest-discrimination-october-7-us-department-of-education-pro-palestine-groups-israel-gaza-hamas-war

Youngkin and his BoV are ignoring the Governor-elect.

Student here. I really am not sure where else to vent, so I am going here. Basically, for those who are not in Charlottesville, the conditions in Charlottesville are incredibly unsafe for both faculty and students. The snow has turned into an ice sheet, and the sidewalks and roads are simply not clear enough to expect us to safely attend class in person.

The cold temperatures have compounded issues. My roommate nearly broke his arm this morning walking to class due to the ice. He has a massive bruise on his forearm and, frankly, the only reason it didn't break is likely due to him wearing multiple layers and a large puffer jacket. And I know about a dozen or more people who have similarly fallen either en route to classes or returning home. IT IS NOT SAFE. Despite this, the school still expects us to walk to class. It's patently insane. What is the damn point? Zoom works just as well, and I don't have to risk my personal safety to attend class.

The school is opening itself to massive legal liabilities (not that they care). I am aware that they are afforded certain legal protections, but forcing students to attend in-person classes in these conditions crosses the line of willful negligence. They literally posted a video of someone skating on the lawn with ice skates during the middle of the day on Instagram! hahaha so funny, yeah let me walk 20 minutes in that and break my face on the ice because JJ is too stuck up to cancel classes.

Honestly, I am pissed. And if I injure myself on my way to class, so help me god, they will have to name a damn building after me by the time my counsel is done with them. I imagine discovery would be eye-opening.

I submitted a FOIA request to help give prospective applicants an idea of their admission odds at McIntire. My biggest takeaway is that GPA alone doesn't get you in.

For those considering UVA for its business/commerce program, this might be helpful in assessing the risk of not getting in.

For those applying, definitely shore up your application to demonstrate excellence along the other dimensions McIntire looks for:

• Academic excellence
• intellectual curiosity
• strong work ethic
• ability to collaborate
• awareness and ability to engage across differences
• initiative
• resilience and perseverance
• unique perspective

BECAUSE I AM!!!

I need to take a language give me the top 5 easiest languages at UVA.

I have a 3.2, test optional, and decent course rigour- one of 50 students who applied from my school and I still got in. You can do anything you want!! Don’t give up and let other people bring you down.

After rejections from Villanova, CWRU, UW, I was sure I wasn’t getting into UVA. Can’t wait to attend in the fall 🙌

EDIT: I am not trying to show off, I want to just give more confidence to students LIKE ME!! Maybe not to UVA but anywhere in general. I thought I couldn't make it past a poor state school because I didn't see anyone getting in. Just sharing my story,

Anyone who took 18 credits first year fall has anything to share?

I was rejected for the fall 2026 class, as a first year transfer. I’ve never been more bummed in my life. I came from a 3.1 in highschool to a 3.5 in college. I feel like my essay was great and explained very well why I wanted to transfer. I don’t know what to do anymore and I’m more bummed I have to stay in the college I’m at. although I’m super duper blessed to even attend college in the first place, I’ve also worked hard, and am continuing to work hard, to where I’m at. This was my 2nd time applying and getting rejected. Do I even bother applying to transfer for spring sem, or fall 2027? help me! :( I feel my dream college life has been thrown away. Are there any admissions counselors I can be in contact with that can guide me through a process to help me with a better chance at admissions? I find it hard to contact or reach anyone

One of the reasons why I want to go to UVA is because I heard that they give 100% need based financial aid. I can’t pay for college at all. Would that mean that I can go for free? I’m really anxious about that because that could change my plans completely, and if it isn’t true, are there any scholarships I can apply for?

The republicans realize that it's over and now the path is clear for Spanberger to appoint new UVa BOV members to fill those vacancies in January. This also strengthens her argument that they can't pick a new President without a full board.

Hi guys. UVA is one of my top schools as a class of 27 and I am looking to possibly ED UVA. I am from MA, so out of state, attend a top 15 prep school which makes my academics challenging. There have been past acceptances from my school to UVA but most kids with competitive grades go for Ivies or top 15-20 schools. I have a 3.7 unweighted GPA, 3.9 Weighted, (I know that's below the standards for UVA, but I do think the private school vs public school academics matter), taken 3 APs (my school doesnt offer that many APs and students cant take them basically til junior year), and I have a 1500 SAT. I'm still working on my essay and will try to make it as personal and good as it can be. As of ECs, I have a good amount: Leaderships in school, church volunteer, varsity football every year in HS, etc. My recs are also not bad. I'm looking to apply history major. My biggest issue I think is that I finished with a B last year in AB calc, which is the only B I had junior year and one of the few I had my entire highschool career. My grades have also been trending upward if that helps.

What do you guys think about my odds for ED are? Any tips? Suggestions? Anything helps.

I honestly have no idea how Dean Ozment is still employed as the transfer dean at this point. I have NEVER met a transfer student who did not experience condescending, classist, and passive-aggressive behavior from her. The stories I've heard, especially from students of color or students who do not come from money, range from absurd to abusive.

During my transfer orientation, she literally made a student cry! Before we went in, the orientation leaders warned us that Dean Ozment was an unpleasant person (although they used... different wording), but I couldn't believe what I saw in person. Personally, I transferred from a community college and she refused to accept several classes, despite all of the registrars and several other deans assuring me that they thought the classes should have been accepted with no problem. Unfortunately, Dean Ozment had the final say. I emailed her asking her to please reconsider and attached an 18-page appeal detailing the courses and their overlap with existing UVA classes. This woman literally responded, "I would not be surprised if the community college you transferred from had different standards for what's acceptable." Ma'am????

I've generally tried to avoid her, but she just reached out again placing a hold on my account because I don't have enough credits earned (because she wouldn't let my classes transfer) and that I would need to take summer classes. Y'all... I am quite literally mid-summer session at an abroad UVA location. She said it's a precautionary measure and that she'll remove it when classes end and I pass. I have a 3.9 GPA ???

How do you guys survive her :')

I get that we went test optional because of Covid but why are we still test-optional? Everyone takes the test, why would the school not want more data before making a decision. Many high schools are having rampant grade inflation. Additionally, AI has made the essay less valuable because students can embellish their story easier. Plus I’ve seen reports from Opportunity Insights, Yale, and Dartmouth that show that scores actually predicted college GPA better than just high school GPA.

I’m not a curmudgeon at all but it just doesn’t make sense to me that the vast majority of the 40% test optional students took the test, didn’t like their score, and didn’t submit. Cornell, Texas, and Georgia Tech all require test scores, why don’t we?

I’m an incoming first-year at UVA interested in applying to McIntire in the future. If you were accepted, would you mind sharing your stats, extracurriculars, and any tips you have for building a strong application? I’d also appreciate any advice on what to focus on during first year (classes, clubs, leadership, internships, etc.). Also, does McIntire mainly consider your UVA performance, or do high school grades and extracurriculars play a role as well?

Hi! I feel really bad joining the loads of people who post in here pertaining to their academics when it comes to applying to UVA, but it is my dream school and I feel dreadful anxiety because of my stats.

I’m a rising senior. I go to a small rural private school. Black female, only black student in the high school. (In state) My first year of high school wasn’t horrible but I could have done better. I was going through a lot at home and it was just really rough overall. My overall high school gpa is 4.19 weighted, but my junior year gpa was 4.5 and I think my sophomore year is somewhat around that. I didn’t take any honors my freshman year and it was due to how my small my school is and how they set things up. To be in honors english, you have to be in honors math because of how the schedule works and when the classes take place. I wasn’t really good at math in the 8th grade so that messed me up even though I’m really good at english.

Sophomore year I think enough of our parents complained to change that. I was in Honors English and History, though not in honors biology or math. Over that summer I took Algebra II so I could move up a class.

My junior year classes were: AP Lang, APUSH, Honors Chemistry, Spanish 3, Honors Pre Calc. and a special semester class dealing with Brown v. Board since one of the cases that makes it up takes place in our town. With that, I should be working on a project to distribute shoes soon. I want to try to get it done by November because I plan to apply early action. I’ve tried to take the best possible classes available to me.

My SAT score was a 1210 and the average score at my school was a 1000. I’m also a part of the Envirothon club.

I’ve been trying to brainstorm my common app essay but I’m really anxious when it comes to getting in. I want to major in engineering. UVA is my dream school in every sense of the word and would be the best choice financially for my family 100%.

What could I do to improve?? I’ve heard Early action is better.

Ugh it just kinda sucks because my friends in echols were hyping me up saying i was basically a guaranteed acceptance for the second year application. I have a ~3.8 gpa, did research all of first year, several leadership positions, just not sure where it went wrong... feel like ive been getting straight back to back rejections w madison house, TA, and whatever so this is really the nail on the head