The University of Virginia awards around 30-35 students every year the merit-based UVA Jefferson Scholarship. Students cannot apply directly for the scholarship. Instead, the students must be nominated by eligible high schools in VA.
The Award
The UVA Jefferson Scholarship will cover your entire 4 years at UVA, including coverage of the supplemental enrichment programs that Jefferson Scholars will be offered.
Total value of the scholarship exceeds:
$280,000 for non-Virginian students
$150,000 for Virginian students
Enrichment Programs
Being a Jefferson Scholar doesn’t just mean getting a full ride to UVA, they also have access to enrichment programs that are designed to support and nurture these students passions and skills. The opportunities include:
Team Challenge Program
Institute for Leadership and Citizenship
Foreign Travel Studies
Alumni Connections Program
Career Counseling
Public Service Fellows
Enrichment Dinners and Receptions
Nomination & Selection
There are over 4,500 secondary school that are eligible to nominate students for the regional competition for the Jefferson Scholarship. Each school may nominate one or two student per year from the graduating class.
Once nominated, students are required to go through a selection process. Student nominees will first be placed into regional competitions, and 120 finalists from regionals will be invited to Charlottesville for the Jefferson Scholarship Selection Weekend in late March.
Small exterior scholarships are always a good idea but many people don’t realize much-larger opportunities available. One of the main reasons (perhaps THE main reason) I chose to attend UVA is because of the Jefferson Scholarship. It not only pays all my college expenses, but also opens up an extremely strong and close-knit group of alumni connections and forges and instant community among the scholars (~35 per year). At my school, we had to apply to be nominated by our counselors for the scholarship. Many students at my school weren’t even aware of this. Other similar scholarships include the Morehead-Cain at UNC and the Robertson, which I believe entails dual-enrollment at UNC and Duke. View the full University of Virginia application file.
Bam3cq
University of Virginia ‘18
Personal Statement Excerpt:
“If your childhood was anything like mine, you remember endlessly asking your parents “why?” to unravel fundamental truths. You remember transforming your Tyson chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes into a Continental Army troop (nuggets) crossing the icy Delaware River (mashers). If you think back hard enough, your recall chopping up your older sister’s CDs for ducted fans in your latest quadrotor helicopter.”Read his full UVA personal statement.
———
Interested in reading successful essay examples that got students accepted into University of Virginia? Unlock all of them in one go with our curated package.
Our premium plans offer different level of profile access and data insights that can help you get into your dream school. Unlock any of our packages or search our undergraduate profile database to find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply!
About The Author
Frances Wong
Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.
Browse Successful Application Files
cmc9fs
UVA
Accepted to UVA, JMU, Penn State, USC
I am a first year Kinesiology major at the University of Virginia.
Last week, Prompt's CEO shared what mistakes to avoid in your college essay. In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, learn how to pick an essay topic. The key: focus on an admissions officer’s...
With an otherwise great college application, how important can college essays really be? When only 1 in 5 students applying to selective colleges have compelling essays, make sure you avoid this essay mistake....
In this second part of his two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key admissions lessons from 2020, an unprecedented year of firsts, that can help you strategize as we enter into this next application...
In Part one of this two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key lessons about 2020, “a year like no other,” that could seriously boost your chances in 2021, including smarter list building and transcript GPA...
We are so excited to announce that for this year’s scholarship, we selected five scholarship winners to maximize the impact of our $5,000 college scholarship prize money....
Back