Thanks so much for the clarification on housing. During our campus tour (which was excellent) the tour guide talked about the need to sign a lease super early during freshman year which I thought was a little unusual considering kids have barely got their footing at that point. It’s good to know that isn’t actually the case.
I agree with both points. Definitely a fan of 4 year housing. I also don’t think the housing is a determinant factor but it’s one of the real and actual points of consideration for us.
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Has anyone seen information on the geographic area UVA Econ graduates typically go to/get hired in? I’m not looking for general information or personal experiences. I already have this outcome report, and I don’t see the information on here:
I’m comparing the information to other schools and noticed the other schools provide geographic information, so I was a bit curious.
The Alumni Association has a heat map that you can limit to a specific decade and see where alumni are. The map isn’t all that surprising when you think about where the major cities are. I don’t think one department is going to have a dramatically different return on that kind of info.
For what it’s worth, we have enough alumni to warrant clubs in most states (sometimes multiples, like eight clubs in CA) and in major cities abroad (Paris, London, Singapore, Istanbul, etc).
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@UVADeanJ Unrelated, yesterday’s update that the FAFSA delay is pushing back the enrollment deposit deadline to May 15, is it fair to say that one downstream effect of that is that all waitlist decisions from UVA will also be pushed back later than in year’s past?
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It’s hard for me to predict how this season will play out. There’s no precedent for what is happening right now.
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Thanks for saying “no precedent” for we have been shocked by all the wl/deferrals for super candidates. I keep wondering if the class of 2025 is much larger or much more talented or if the same talented people are applying to many extra schools??? The trickle down of FAFSA delay on top of the surge in qualified applications makes 2024 spring hard to anticipate.
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I had to go look it up to understand! Seems the number of US births in 2006 was the second highest in recent history. Heaven help the Fall 2025 folks (birth year 2007) as that’s even MORE and is the peak. Hard times for college admissions right now.
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In real estate, everything is local. My firm owns a “popular” student housing project at a Midwest state flagship campus. We were 92% leased for the 2024-2025 school year by December 2023. Our leasing ladder raises rents the longer you wait due to the demand. We hit 100% in mid-January.
First-year students are required to reside on campus, and I must say, the housing facilities at UVA are exceptionally impressive—far superior and more modern than those at other universities we explored. However, after the first year, staying on-campus is no longer mandatory. For reasons I struggle to understand, many students choose to move off-campus, despite the higher costs associated with off-campus housing (due to a 12-month lease instead of a 9-month one). It seems to be driven by peer pressure, and as parents (myself included), we often find ourselves accommodating our kids’ requests, even if it means higher expenses and potentially less comfort.
When I questioned my son about his decision to move off-campus, his initial response was that it’s more economical. Yet, upon demonstrating that it’s not actually cheaper, he then claimed, “only the weird kids stay on campus after the first year.” This statement is, of course, unfounded, but given the prevailing perception, it takes a resilient and confident kid to resist the trend (and this was not my son).
Once more, accommodations at UVA is very nice, with every dorm equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, in the upcoming fall term, newly constructed dorms will be available for upper-class students. However, a notable aspect that requires improvement is the dining experience. The food quality appears to be bad and monotonous. As a first-year student, buying a meal plan is mandatory, but subsequent to that, even if the student continues to reside on campus, the meal plan is no longer mandatory.
Good luck convincing your kid to stay on campus 
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My student just received an email/invitation to be an Echols Scholar. Does anyone have any knowledge of this program?
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My son got an invite as well. The email explained some of the benefits. They seem to be pretty extensive. Not having to do the gen ed requirements would be really nice. I want to know how the priority registration works.
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If someone wants to live on grounds after 1st year they can definitely get housing. However, rising 2nd years have to wait until 3rd & 4th years on grounds renew to see whats left over 2nd semester. My son did not want to risk getting an undesirable dorm. He picked a furnished privately run student housing apartment with 4 of his dorm friends from last year. It has parking and he can still walk to classes. The apartment splits up the lease so parents are not responsible for other roommates similar to a dorm. I have seen posts of parents scrambling now that friend groups split up because they cant get housing together while they waited for the dorm openings. It is more expensive but I think he saves on the food not having the meal plan.
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Yeah this reminds me and is sort of the equivalent to sorting enrollment based on geography. At many competitive schools which attract nationally and internationally, it seems like other than a local/regional bump for the state itself and maybe an adjacent one or two, the list of “# of kids from each state” is basically a list of states in order of population. Which makes sense 
Thank you! Your comment was very helpful. It’d be interesting to see how our kids navigated the “stay on campus” question. One plays a sport pretty avidly so my guess is if there’s an unofficial ‘team house’ they’d do that.
Re: the food - if there’s a Panda Express around, no amount of meal plan will keep him away unfortunately.
Inspired by a comment in another thread, I wanted to ask what if any type of programs does UVA offer for new incoming students? Maybe a few days on campus before everyone else gets there? Hiking or similar trips in small groups? That sort of thing.
There appears to be a 2 day orientation program for incoming freshman over the summer. There are various dates available and attendance is mandatory - I guess incoming students register for classes, get ID’s etc at that time. https://orientation.virginia.edu/faqs
@UVADeanJ So you don’t agree with the popular opinion among your students that the food in the dining hall sucks, and that is why students are forced to look for other options.
Thanks for that! I wish there were something additional (I’m a fan of smaller group outings in addition to on-campus stuff) but this is certainly better than nothing.
I don’t follow the argument because the quoted text was about alumni living in major cities. Maybe you are saying students leave University Housing to get off the meal plan? UVA has apartment buildings with kitchens, so many students only use the meal plan for their first year, when they are in traditional dorms.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been eating food around Grounds for 18 years and I have a somewhat common dietary restriction.
There are so many more options here than the schools I attended, where I’ve worked prior, and where I’ve spent time for conferences. Between the three traditional dining halls and all the places where you can use your card for a non-dining hall meal, there are 25 places to eat on Central Grounds (I’m not counting the dining at Darden, Med School, etc) and more like 30 if you count the different food trucks that park at the amphitheater.
I asked some of our student interns in the lobby about the food just now. One student said (I’m paraphrasing) that one dining hall won’t have variety, but there’s variety overall in the dining options. Happy food truck Friday, by the way. iykyk
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My son got notified of Echols acceptance on Thursday. It has some very nice benefits but no monetary incentive. UVA really doesn’t do merit.