uva magazine essays

Topic: Admissions

In early decision round, 30 percent of Virginian applicants win offers

Offers were extended to 30 percent of Virginians and 19 percent of out-of-state students who applied during the first of UVA’s three admissions cycles.

Spring 2024

UVA changes Common App after affirmative action ban

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, new essay prompts allow applicants to discuss race, ethnicity or legacy status in the context of their personal experiences.

UVA assesses affirmative action ruling’s impact

Open questions in Harvard, UNC cases leave higher ed pondering ways to build talented and diverse incoming classes

July 5, 2023

9,000 get offers for 4,000 spots at UVA

The overall acceptance rate for Virginians held relatively steady at 27 percent.

Summer 2023

From record applications, UVA extends 7,000 early offers

This year, UVA received a record 55,845 applications, up from 50,813 applications the previous year.

Spring 2023

From the Publisher: Celebrating Ridley’s Success

Celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Ridley Scholarship Program, which is dedicated to attracting Black students of the highest academic caliber to UVA.

Winter 2022

The class of 2026, by the numbers

Over 4,000 first-years have arrived on Grounds. Take a look at the demographics of the newest class of ’Hoos.

It’s now harder than ever to get into UVA

The University made offers to fewer than 1 in 5 this admissions cycle, a record low. Record-high applications tell only part of the story.

Summer/Fall 2022

Undergraduate applications break records for a second consecutive year

UVA’s decision to remain test optional is likely one reason for the continued growth.

Spring 2022

Admissions Interview

The head of enrollment talks about what UVA looks for in applicants, including when they’re children of alumni.

Winter 2021

The Class of 2025 in Their Own Words

Excerpts from admission essays for incoming first-years

The Newest ’Hoos: Who They Are and How They Got Here

How admissions officers built the Class of 2025—by the numbers, by the essays and by the seat of their pants.

Undergraduate application rates hit records

A few factors likely contributed to surging rates across all schools and from students of diverse backgrounds.

Spring 2021

Amid record applications, UVA issues 6K early offers

The admissions office has seen a record number of applications this year.

Spring 2020

UVA admissions brings back early decision

The binding option returns after a hiatus due to demand but won’t replace early action.

How to Write Your Way into UVA

How to write an admission essay so good that UVA’s deans can’t wait to meet you.

July 15, 2019

First-Gens First

Why UVA is putting new focus on students whose parents never went to college.

Spring 2019

2020 Insight

Take a by-the-numbers look at the class of 2020 as well as previous classes, with data from the University’s Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies.

August 15, 2016

Opening the Door to College

Nicole Hurd (Grad ’02) saw an opportunity to expand education to underserved populations. So she launched the College Advising Corps, now the nation’s largest college access program, here at UVA.

Spring 2016

The Best Investment

Alumnus and current graduate student Brendan Maupin Wynn discusses the importance of offering financial aid to students in need.

Winter 2015

The Engines

The men and women profiled here act as role models to co-workers and students. They're dedicated — no matter what. And each has worked behind the scenes for decades to help make UVA a safer, stronger place.

Making the Case for College

Ian Baucom, the new dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, believes that UVA can provide leadership in reframing the role of higher education in America.

Winter 2014

Help for AccessUVa

Grant will launch new scholarships and fuel financial aid endowment.

Spring 2014

Aristocracy of Talent

University President Teresa Sullivan discusses plans for recruiting and supporting a more economically diverse student body.

UVA Answers Frequently Asked Questions About AccessUVa

Answers to some of the more common questions about the changes made to AccessUVa, the University's financial aid program.

Winter 2013

UVA Admission Essays Are Posted. Learn How to Write Your Best One

• By Rob Seal , [email protected]

Want to join these students on the Lawn at UVA? The key may be crafting an authentic, original admissions essay. (Photo by Sanjay Suchak, University Communications)

High school students looking to get a jump on joining the University of Virginia’s Class of 2023 got some big news recently: This year’s essay questions have been unveiled.

Associate Dean of Admission Jeannine Lalonde shared this year’s essay prompts, then took some time to explain why the essay remains an important part of the application process and shared some writing tips for prospective applicants.

“I think that it helps us get insight into the personality, voice and style of the student,” she said. “The rest of the application consists of forms and other people telling us about the student. This is their chance to talk directly to us.”

As for the writing, Lalonde said she typically shares three tips with high school students when it comes to putting together an application essay.

1.  Don’t overthink the topic

“The questions are broad because we want the students to go in whatever direction makes sense for them,” Lalonde said. “The topic is just a vehicle that the student uses. They should pick a topic that lets them be interesting and authentic in their writing.”

2. You don’t have to write like it’s a school essay.

“Don’t feel limited to the formulaic way that most students are taught to write for class,” she said. “This is a different sort of writing. The more standard format used in academic writing is fine for school and it’s great when writing under pressure. But prospective students should feel free to use whatever format makes sense for the message or story that they want to get across.”

3. It’s smart to get advice, but be authentic.

“It’d be foolish to submit an essay without having someone you trust take a look first and give feedback, but essays shouldn’t read like they were done by committee. And if you don’t like the advice someone gives, feel free to ignore it. When you submit it, it should feel good to you, and it should sound like you.”

Here’s a look at the essay prompts for the coming application season. Stay up with news about admission by following Lalonde’s blog, Notes From Peabody , or following her Twitter, where she’s @UVADeanJ.

2018-2019 First-Year Application Essay Questions 

1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.

• College of Arts and Sciences  - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences  - If you were given funding for a small engineering project that would make everyday life better for one friend or family member, what would you design?
• School of Architecture  - Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.  
• School of Nursing  - School of Nursing applicants may have experience shadowing, volunteering, or working in a health care environment. Tell us about a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.
• Kinesiology Program  - Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major. 

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words. 

• What’s your favorite word and why?
• We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.
• Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?
• UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?

UVA students are charged with pushing the boundaries of knowledge to serve others and contribute to the common good. Give us an example of how you’ve used what you’ve learned to make a positive impact in another person’s life.

Media Contact

School of Continuing and Professional Studies

[email protected] 434-982-5315

Article Information

July 12, 2018

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6 Awesome UVA Essay Examples

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UVA is a pretty selective school, so writing strong essays is essential to improving your chances. By reading former applicants’ essays and seeing what they did right and what they did wrong, you can learn how to better impress UVA admissions officers!

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our UVA essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Essay Example #1: College of Arts & Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences—What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way? (250 words)

Cringing when thinking about human sacrifice in “Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor,” I puzzled over the motive behind the Aztec practice of killing a person to appease the gods of nature.

 After a lengthy discussion with Mexican friends, I learned that Aztec civilization considered humans just one part of the natural world, rather than the dominant species. Only when the gods of nature are satisfied, they believed, can worldly creatures live in peace.

That’s when I recognized how I’ve been looking at the world from an anthropocentric model. Whether in the Four Heavenly Kings of Chinese mythology, or in the Bible story of Noah’s Ark my Christian grandma told, these stories revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop.

The Aztec “nature-centric model,” truly challenged my perspective. Humans might not be as superior as we think; everything may not be about us. Reflecting on my motivations for advocating sustainability, I’m guilty of preserving the Earth for the sake of our human offspring, not for the Earth’s own sake.

The Aztec perception of humans’ relationship to nature inspired me to reconceptualize my own perspective. I expanded my framework from humanity to all creatures: why not consider the elephants our siblings, or the trees our cousins?

I reject the Aztec practice of human sacrifice, but their belief that we are but a tiny part of nature resonated deeply with me. Rather than protecting Earth with self-interest and fear, I now treat Earth with empathy and love.

What This Essay Did Well

This UVA essay is well-structured and well-written. It answers the prompt while providing valuable personal information about the applicant.

With the introduction, the student achieves the most important part of this essay: answering the prompt. This student identifies their topic of discussion— “Vida y muerte en el Templo Mayor,”— quickly, but keeps it interesting through using a complex sentence structure.

Rather than stating it explicitly, the author shows their desire to understand other cultures and positions themself as open-minded, as they took the time to have “lengthy discussion with Mexican friends.” 

The student also relates the story back to their interests and perspectives. They share how this book caused them to reflect on the way they’d been advocating for sustainability, and view their advocacy more holistically to benefit the earth itself rather than just humans. Presumably, this student is declaring environmental studies or environmental science as a major. That means that, while readers are learning about the student’s values, they also learn that values are the central motivation behind this student’s career choices. This self-reflection is important and looks great to admissions officers!

The conclusion of the essay perfectly summarizes the growth that the student has described. It shows the self-reflection that they have experienced, with some of their beliefs staying the same and others changing.

What Could Be Improved

While overall this essay is a great example, this paragraph is its weakest link:

That’s when I recognized how I’ve been looking at the world from an anthropocentric model. Whether in the Four Heavenly Kings of Chinese mythology, or in the Bible story of Noah’s Ark my Christian grandma told, these stories revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop. 

That’s because this paragraph makes the error of telling, not showing . The student uses the summarizing phrase “that’s when I recognized” (which should generally be avoided) then continues to tell readers what they learned. Rather, the student could have provided a piece of dialogue from their discussion with their friend or used self-reflective questions to show us the message of this paragraph.

An example of how this paragraph could be improved:

“So you’re telling me that your culture doesn’t view humans as the main characters?” I asked my friend, still slightly baffled. When I got home, I went down a Google rabbit hole, obsessively researching Aztec beliefs. I landed on a page about the anthropocentric model. Had I been learning this model all along without even knowing? I thought about my Christian grandma’s stories—Noah’s arc, the Four Heavenly Kings, Genesis. They all revolve around humans’ survival and prosperity, and nature is just a backdrop.

This revised paragraph is much more captivating and would have strengthened the overall essay.

Essay Example #2: School of Architecture

Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture. (250 words)

During my freshman year, my studio art class arranged a field trip to the National Portrait Gallery. To say I was excited was an understatement. Although I have lived near DC all my life, I never had the chance to visit its art museums. This trip would be my first time. 

When we arrived, I stood in the courtyard, waiting for directions. I don’t remember what spurred me to look up, but when I did, the sight of a floating steel and glass canopy above amazed me. It was unlike anything else in the room. The undulant form of the ceiling reminded me of being underwater, looking up to see waves dancing. What struck me the most was how its sleek and modern design juxtaposed the gallery’s Greek revival architecture. 

I’ve gone back several times since then, each time appreciating something new from the ceiling—in the shelter, it provides from the outside elements to the beautiful grid of shadows it leaves on the ground and walls on sunny days. Inspired by the relationship between the ceiling and the rest of the gallery, I have sought out ways to combine contrasting styles like classic vs. modern, organic vs. geometric, hard vs. soft, and fine art vs. crafts in my art. I’ve become hyper-aware of the physical spaces I occupy and their functional yet artistic characteristics. While studying architecture at UVA, I hope to continue exploring these relationships and apply them to my architectural style. 

This essay clearly answers the prompt and provides a tangible example for readers. 

From the intro, it is clear that the experience will be visiting the National Portrait Gallery. 

The writer uses a simple writing style for most of the essay, but shows that this straightforwardness is not due to lack of ability or effort, but is intentionally authentic. Through the phrase “ I don’t remember what spurred me to look up” the writer lets readers know that they aren’t going to tell us anything that isn’t true. This value placed on authenticity is important and tells us a lot about the student.

The student uses elaborate language to emphasize the important part of their story. The description of the ceiling—“ The undulant form of the ceiling reminded me of being underwater, looking up to see waves dancing”— is interesting and engaging. It creates an image of the ceiling in the reader’s mind, but also makes the reader want to hear more!

This final paragraph ties it all together. We learn that the National Portrait Gallery’s architecture isn’t just cool, but is inspirational for this student. Additionally, through this paragraph, admissions officers learn that this student has thought out their decision to apply to UVA’s Architecture school. They are familiar with architectural styles and already think like an architect. A student who is ahead of the game and passionate about their field of study is very important to admissions officers!

The essay could be considered unengaging at times, but there is also beauty in its simplicity that gives it an authentic feel. It lacks the bells and whistles that often accompany college essay writing and just tells the writer’s truth. While this wouldn’t be a great essay if you’re applying to creative writing, it works well for this writer and this writer’s intentions!

Still, the intro paragraph could be improved through editing the second sentence: “ To say I was excited was an understatement.” Because this writer engages with a simple style (with little imagery or elaborate descriptions), they can use descriptive language strategically to emphasize certain scenes, emotions, or aspects of their story. Because they are applying to Architecture, their excitement about art is important and this excitement could have been emphasized through more elaborate language. This would also make the essay more engaging from the start and draw the reader’s attention.

Essay Example #3

We are a community of quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are. (250 words)

I haven’t let another person cut my hair in four years. Bangs, layers, a fringe, a bob, I have been my own hairdresser. With only me, a mirror, and scissors in hand, I enjoy having complete control over my appearance. Cutting my hair is liberating; it’s like removing dead weight off my shoulders. Messing up isn’t a concern, as I know my hair will grow back. I am proud of the freedom I have with my hair, but I haven’t always been this way. 

 In traditional Quechua culture, women have long, braided hair. One braid indicates that a woman is single, while two means she is married. Growing up surrounded by women who kept their hair long, I desperately wanted to stand out but was too afraid to break tradition. I love my Quechua heritage, but as a young girl, I thought it was silly to have braids when I wasn’t even allowed to date. Why did it matter if others knew I was single?

Eventually, my parents agreed to let me cut my hair, and for a moment I’d been looking forward to for so long, I wanted to be the one to do it. Like every time I’ve cut my hair since then, I felt like a new person. Looking back to who I was then and who I am now, I know 12 year old me would think I look cool, and she’s the only person I want to impress.

This essay is fun and interesting! Readers learn about the student’s personality, family history, and values. It is well-structured, engaging, and original.

For a short essay, a lot of words are given to this introduction. That being said, this introduction also provides a lot of the essay’s content. First, the student identifies their quirk—cutting their own hair. This topic is interesting and automatically makes readers think “oh, that’s cool!” but then the student takes it a step further by engaging readers with a small cliffhanger—“ I haven’t always been this way.” Cutting your own hair isn’t a quirk that inherently requires a deeper meaning, but this student draws us in by letting us know that there is one.

This essay’s second paragraph is where we get to know the student, which should always be a priority when writing any college essay. We learn about the student’s Quechua heritage and how it affected their childhood. We also learn about the student’s capacity for self-reflection, which seems to have existed from a young age—“ I thought it was silly to have braids when I wasn’t even allowed to date. Why did it matter if others knew I was single?”

Finally, the last paragraph brings things full circle and draws a connection between the young girl’s confusion about Quechuan braids and the current writer’s passion for cutting their own hair. The last sentence of this essay is particularly powerful—“ I know 12 year old me would think I look cool, and she’s the only person I want to impress.” 

The beginning of the final paragraph is the only part of this essay that could use some rewriting. This essay is generally well-written, so the confusing sentence structure of “ Eventually, my parents agreed to let me cut my hair, and for a moment I’d been looking forward to for so long, I wanted to be the one to do it” throws off the essay’s flow. Similarly, it is difficult to parse through the sentence “ Like every time I’ve cut my hair since then, I felt like a new person.” 

After improving the language of these two sentences, this would be a top-notch essay! This student’s personality really shines through.

Essay Example #4

Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering. (250 words)

“I hope your kids have my curly hair,” quipped my mom. “As long as they have my eyes, I’m happy,” joked my dad. While my parents were casually bantering with me at the dinner table, I was closeted as bisexual, and my mind started to reel. Eventually, I knew I wanted to have kids, and the nuclear family I had previously envisioned began to crumble. What if I couldn’t have genetically related children with my partner?

As I grappled with this question, I discovered that biomedical engineering could provide me with an answer. Gene-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 could allow for a same-sex couple to have genetically related children. This tool works as a precise pair of molecular scissors to cut out targeted DNA sequences in an organism’s genome. In China, researchers experimented with CRISPR and obtained live bipaternal and bimaternal mice.

CRISPR’s potential to change the world thrills me for reasons beyond my future family. With CRISPR, researchers began to cut out human DNA sequences associated with neurodegenerative diseases, blood-related disorders, and cancer. CRISPR is on the cusp of revolutionizing the medical industry, and I want to be part of innovating and discovering new uses for the technology.

Maybe one day, I’ll share a meal at the dinner table with a husband and a child who shares our features, laughing as we talk about our day. At UVA Engineering, I will acquire the tools necessary to pioneer research that could make this possibility a reality for millions of same-sex couples around the world.

This essay does a great job infusing a personal story into an engineering feat that inspires them. The intro opens with an anecdote, which is engaging and brings us closer to the writer by showing some vulnerability, as the student shares their thoughts and fears with us.

We learn about CRISPR in easy-to-understand terms. The writer lays out how it works, what it’s done so far, and how it could benefit society.

The final paragraph brings the essay full circle, with the student imagining their future family, made possible by CRISPR and the impact it could have for other same-sex couples.

There honestly isn’t much that the writer could’ve done to strengthen this essay. It’s already extremely engaging, personal, well-written, and easy to understand.

Essay Example #5: College of Arts and Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences – What work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way? (250 words)

Every ten years the state and congressional district lines open up to the public; the only piece of art influenced by the fluctuating votes of human souls. The bold black lines, separating communities with luscious green lawns from those with concrete playgrounds, are redrawn redirecting millions of dollars and sparking waves of protests on state capitol steps. In its sum, the wonky headphones and salamander shapes reflect the imperfect art of gerrymandering. Within its components, the fabric is sewed with the sweat and tears of communities. From ones with family obligations rendering them unable to advocate for themselves to communities a five-minute walk from the state capitol. 

In its final form, the line strokes between streets, bayous, and freeways surprise me. Instead of equal representation and distribution of power, districts group communities voting in accordance to a political party with communities who do not vote – essentially maintaining an iron grip on power. To challenge it, I have gone into non-voting communities helping register voters and have taken the time to listen to families terrified of the political process. One of my most cherished memories was meeting an elderly man who had immigrated to the U.S. and became naturalized but never registered to vote. For years, he watched his community change and never understood why he could not stop the process. Now, every time I see the district lines, I sense the unsettled doubt that within each district resides one person taken advantage of and never nurtured with civic love.

The subject of this essay—gerrymandering—is a surprising choice for this essay, as most people wouldn’t consider it a “work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media,” but more of a concept. Still, the author makes it work by likening the gerrymandering lines to a work of art.

The writing in this essay is very descriptive and rich with imagery, with phrases such as “luscious green lawns” and “salamander shapes.” We can clearly visualize how unusually these districts are drawn.

The author also incorporates a personal connection through their work in registering voters. We see that they care about helping others participate in the political process and exercise their civic rights/duties.

One of the biggest weaknesses of this essay is that it spends nearly half the space describing gerrymandering, leaving not enough room to discuss how it’s impacted them personally.

The intro paragraph helps us visualize gerrymandering very well, but the wording of many sentences is confusing (some are even not grammatically correct, and it doesn’t seem that this was a conscious decision, such as this line: From ones with family obligations rendering them unable to advocate for themselves to communities a five-minute walk from the state capitol) . It takes a few sentences to even realize what the topic of the essay is, and that is a critical flaw when admissions officers need to read essays quickly. 

The author should’ve introduced their topic more simply, especially since gerrymandering is an unexpected subject for this essay. They could’ve also cut out several lines to focus more on the work they’ve done in their communities. The story about the immigrant man is underdeveloped and vague; the writer could’ve shared more specific details about their interaction or even included some dialogue.

The impact of this topic on the student’s identity and future goals is also unclear. Do they plan to try to work to end gerrymandering or increase access to voting? The last sentence of the essay is a missed opportunity: Now, every time I see the district lines, I sense the unsettled doubt that within each district resides one person taken advantage of and never nurtured with civic love . This line is not only difficult to understand, but ends on a sad note rather than looking towards the future with how the student hopes to make an impact.

Essay Example #6

We are a community with quirks, both in language and traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are. (250 words)

I sit at a booth at California Pizza Kitchen as my legs swing back and forth, barely scraping the floor. With a mischievous grin, I grab a red crayon and scribble on the black-and-white coloring book with my own mission in mind. One times two equals two, times two equals four, times two equals eight, and so on. After I fill the page, the napkins in the dispenser in front of me become my canvas. When I finish, red numbers sprawl across the workbook and neatly ordered napkins on the table, mimicking a college professor’s chalkboard. My masterpiece is complete.

At five years old, I cherished multiplying numbers by two until I reached numbers in the millions, and my love for simple math became a staple of my personality. When I entered high school, I was delighted to discover my passion for mental math reflected in the activities I pursued:

( 310 total seconds – 162 seconds ran) / 2 laps left = 74 seconds per lap. During a 1600m dash, I recalculated the average pace I needed to meet my goal after every lap and adjusted my stride accordingly. 28 rows * 36 seats per row = 1008 total seats. During a chorus class, I calculated the number of seats in the auditorium we sang in with enthusiasm.

My arithmetic may not always serve a practical purpose, yet I find comfort in making sense of the little things in my life. The math problems penned with a red crayon may seem trivial to some, but they represent my curiosity seeking a better grasp of the world around me.

This essay paints the student as intellectually-engaged and ambitious. We see all the different ways they incorporate mental math into their life.

The anecdote at the beginning shows us exactly what it may be like to spend time with the student in an everyday setting, which helps admissions officers visualize what the student may be like on-campus.

While well-written, the essay falls a bit flat since the student spends almost all the allotted space describing the quirk rather than discussing what it means to them.

They also explicitly tell us the significance of their quirk by saying it “represent[s] my curiosity seeking a better grasp of the world around me.” This is redundant since they already show their curiosity through the details they reveal, such as counting the number of seats in the auditorium during chorus.

The topic of this essay may simply not be ideal since there isn’t much of an emotional backstory, unlike the third essay example where the student cuts their own hair. As you’re selecting a quirk, you should ensure that there is an opportunity for you to share your identity, emotions, and thoughts more deeply.

Where to Get Your UVA Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your UVA essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

2023-2024 uva writing prompts.

Confession: I really liked last year's writing prompts . We had only been reading applications for a few days when I first marveled at how well students were expressing themselves in the new short answer portion of our application. During one of my live q&a sessions on Instagram , I wondered if students being able to write meaningful, concise statements was a function of growing up writing captions on social media...something for people to study one day!

In the past, a few admission officers have met to go over feedback about the application essays to see if we should tweak the writing prompts. This year, we had a lot more input during the update process. The change is pretty big: most applicants will answer one prompt for the UVA portion of the Common App. Those applying to the School of Nursing will answer two. 

So let's get to the prompts. 

All Applicants (250 words or less)

School of nursing (250 words or less).

Meridian is an annual literary magazine produced at the University of Virginia in conjunction with the university’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, whose students serve as the magazine’s editors.

Founded in 1998, Meridian has featured the works of numerous Pulitzer Prize Winners, National Book Award Winners, and established writers including Charles Wright, Rita Dove, Yusef Komunyakaa, Seamus Heaney, Ann Beattie, George Garrett, Heather McHugh, Richard Bausch, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Cathy Song, and Eric Pankey.

But don’t let the big names fool you. As a magazine edited by early career writers, we value nothing more than showcasing tomorrow’s talent, often publishing a new author’s first story or poem. We welcome and carefully read every submission that comes our way.

Meridian poetry and prose has appeared in Best American Poetry , Best American Short Stories , Best American Essays , the Pushcart Prize anthology, and New Stories from the South . Our stories have also been short-listed for the O. Henry Prize, and our fine authors and poets have gone on to win many awards.

Meridian also features regular author interviews, book reviews, photography, and artwork. The magazine’s current print run is about 300 to 400 issues. We plan POD distribution starting with issue 47.

Current Staff:

Coby-Dillon English, Editor-in-Chief & Nonfiction Editor

Gabriel Costello, Poetry Editor

Garrett Kim, Fiction Editor

Jeb Livingood, Faculty Advisor

We only accept online submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, and artwork via our Submittable site. We no longer accept postal submissions. Our open reading period for fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction is approximately September 1 through October 31. Additionally, we run two contests in the summer and fall.  

The authors we publish receive two complimentary copies of the issue in which their work appears and can purchase more at a reduced rate. We do accept simultaneous submissions; however, if we accept your work for publication, it is your responsibility to immediately notify all other magazines it is no longer available. Similarly, if someone else accepts your work, withdraw your work from Meridian  on Submittable as soon as you can.

We try to respond within six months, but we have sometimes taken longer. Please note that our offices are typically closed May 5 through August 15. 

Our editors take great pleasure in publishing new voices, so please do not submit in any genre if you’ve been published in our pages within the past three years. Once three years have passed, we hope you’ll try us again. (Note: If your work has appeared on the website only, you may feel free to submit your work for consideration in our print publication.) 

Meridian  typically asks for the rights to publish an author’s work in a single print edition and also in future retrospective editions of the magazine. We currently make our entire magazine available in a  print- and copy-protected viewer . Links to several prior issues are available on our  contributors’ page . 

After we publish poetry or prose in Meridian , all rights revert to our authors. If you wish to reprint, repost, or redistribute work  in any form , it is your responsibility to contact the writer and secure permission. You do not need  Meridian ‘s permission to reprint, though we always appreciate an acknowledgment of first publication, when feasible.

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September 14, 2023

2023-2024 University of Virginia Supplemental Essay Prompts

The University of Virginia has released its supplemental essay prompts for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle . In addition to The Common Application ’s Personal Statement, applicants to UVA’s Class of 2028 must answer one essay question. Additionally, an optional essay question is hidden at the bottom of the “General” section that we at Ivy Coach encourage students to write — even though it is the most inappropriate question posed by any of our nation’s elite universities this admissions cycle. So, what are this year’s essay prompts for Virginia’s flagship university?

2023-2024 UVA Essay Topics and Questions

Required essay.

Students should answer the following prompt in around 250 words:

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you.

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling outlawing Affirmative Action , America’s colleges are maneuvering around not being able to lawfully consider an applicant’s race in the college admissions process by capitalizing on a loophole penned in the majority opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts .

As Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

This essay is an opportunity for applicants to discuss how their race has impacted their lives. Or they could write about their faith, their community, their sexuality, or their gender identity — the possibilities are endless. 

Optional Essay

Students should answer the following prompt in up to 100 words:

If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the university, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs.

We at Ivy Coach deem this optional essay question the most  outrageously inappropriate  prompt posed by any highly selective university during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle. Why’s that?

In our experience, most UVA applicants will not choose to write a response to this optional essay prompt because they’ll think they need to be legacies , students who attended fancy shmancy UVA summer programs , or the descendants of enslaved people. Yes, the question is as jarring as it seems and, for the first two groups of people (legacies and summer camp attendees), it caters to the privileged.

It’s why we encourage  all  applicants to answer this optional essay question by writing a Why UVA essay — one filled with specific reasons why they wish to attend Virginia’s flagship. Their response should include enduring aspects of the university — programs, institutes, activities, culture, traditions, etc. — rather than names of professors and classes, which can easily be found and replaced like a game of Mad Libs from one college to the next.

So, yes, we are saying even if an applicant has no familial connection to UVA or didn’t attend a UVA summer enrichment program, they should write this essay to make their case for admission. Essays give students an opportunity to tell their stories. Legacies and summer program attendees should not be afforded more space than everyone else. Shame on UVA!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with UVA Essays

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to UVA by submitting essays that compel admissions officers to wish to offer you admission, fill out Ivy Coach ’s free consultation form , and we’ll be in touch to outline our college counseling services.

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TOWARD THE CONQUEST OF ADMISSION

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How to write the uva supplemental essays 2020-2021: the excellent guide.

Housed on a beautiful campus in Charlottesville, VA, the University of Virginia boasts a 27% acceptance rate and brings great students from across the country together based on their shared desire for an excellent education.

One way to stand out among other UVA applicants is to write amazing and unique supplemental essays.

UVA requires you to submit school-specific supplemental essays so they can get to know the parts of you that don’t show through a typical college application. These essays are often one of the ways that admissions committees make their final decisions.

What are the UVA Supplemental Essay Requirements?

There are two types of supplemental essays for the University of Virginia, and both are required for your application.

• The first is the college or program-specific essay, which will ask you to describe or respond to a situation related to the program to which you are applying.
• The second is the general essay, which gives you more creative liberty (but can also be equally as difficult to write).

The supplemental essay prompts can be found under the “University of Virginia” section on the Common Application, as well as on the University of Virginia Office of Undergraduate Admissions Website.

Click above to watch a video on UVA Supplemental Essays.

Worried? Don’t be!

In this guide, we’ll offer specific tips on how to write supplemental essays for the University of Virginia. Then, we’ll go through each of the essay questions individually, providing advice on how to approach them.

Tips from the University of Virginia

To start, UVA’s admissions team offers some advice to applicants:

• Try not to overthink your responses.
• Don’t feel like you have to use academic writing structure.
• Don’t feel like you have to take all of the advice you receive.

UVA notes that the supplemental essay questions are intentionally broad and open-ended in order to give you the opportunity to share your voice through the essay. They recommend that you ignore feedback if it doesn’t fit your writing style.

• Above all else, be sure to write essays that are true to your experiences and values .

Below, we’ll begin looking through each of the University of Virginia supplemental essay questions.

School/Program-specific Questions:

The University of Virginia begins their school/program-specific question prompt list with the following statement:

“We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.”

Keep this statement in mind as you work on the prompt that pertains to the program you are applying to, and be sure to incorporate it into your essay.

UVA College of Arts and Sciences Supplemental Essay

What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way?

If you know the specific major you’re wanting to earn, you can use it to answer this question.

• Did a recent finding in the field of biology have an impact on you?
• Maybe you read a news article on CRISPR and were so amazed that you can’t imagine working in any other field.
• Or, if you’re interested in physics, maybe you saw the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch and are interested in developing the next generation of space flight shuttles.

Whatever your future major is, relating your essay to the general field is a good idea because it shows that you’ve spent some time thinking about what you may want to major in and what kind of impact you’d like to have as an alumnus of the University of Virginia.

It also shows you’ve got a passion for the field you want to enter.

Okay, but what if you aren’t sure what you want to major in?

• Instead, pick something that occurred recently in your life related to art, music, science, math, or literature.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem particularly groundbreaking. The important thing is to pick a topic on which you can write 250 well-crafted words.

• Did your favorite band release a new album that doesn’t sound anything like their old music?
• Is there a book or magazine/newspaper column you read that shocked you?

Pick something that inspires your curiosity, and use the essay to show a bit of yourself while you explain why your finding was so awe-striking. After all, the admissions team is wanting to learn about you through your essay submission.

UVA School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Supplemental Essay

Describe an engineering feat that serves the common good and why it inspires you to study engineering.

This question is extremely broad, so you can take it almost any direction you’d like:

Simply think of an engineering feat (which could be basically anything ever built) and why it “serves the common good,” or has made a difference in the lives of people around the world.

If you’re able to, you may want to consider choosing an engineering feat that has affected your life personally. That way, you’re shining a light on various aspects of your life in one supplemental essay, allowing the admissions team to get to know you even better.

• You could talk about the most amazing bridge you’ve ever seen, and what its done for the community its located within
• Maybe you grew up in the most efficient tiny home imaginable, and it gave you an incredible childhood. How does your tiny home (and other tiny houses) affect the lives of the people who live in them?
• If you’re in need of some more inspiration, check out these 25 engineering feats from around the world. Many of them could lead to unique and creative essay prompt responses

Don’t forget the second half of this prompt; why does this specific engineering feat inspire you? Would you like to make a similar difference in the world one day? Does the structure simply blow your mind every time you see it?

Use the second half of the prompt to show your passion for engineering, and even some of your engineering experience and/or knowledge if it fits and flows well.

UVA School of Architecture Supplemental Essay

Describe a significant experience that deepened your interest in studying in the School of Architecture.

Since you’re passionate enough about Architecture to want to major in it, this question should come fairly easy.

However, that doesn’t always make starting a simple process. If that inspiration doesn’t hit right away, try not to worry; You’re still going to write an amazing essay.

First, think back on your life and your experiences with Architecture:

• Was there a “light bulb moment” that inspired your future in the field of Architecture?
• Have you loved intricate buildings since you had the chance to visit a castle on your family trip to Europe?
• Did you walk into an odd building one day and come out with a plan to improve its layout and functionality?

Your experience doesn’t have to be one-of-a-kind (though it’s great if it is). The most important thing is that you bring the admissions team with you to that place through your essay, showing them those specific details that made you fall in love with Architecture.

Show your passion and drive for your future career in the field. Share your curiosity and interests. When the admissions team sees why you love the field and when they can tell you’re truly interested in becoming the next Architectural expert, your essay is sure to stand out.

Get personalized advice!

Uva school of nursing supplemental essay.

Describe a healthcare-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.

This is an excellent prompt, as it’s not extremely specific. The admissions team simply wants to know why you want to become a nurse, and they want you to show them through a heartfelt or inspiring story.

Don’t worry if your story isn’t specifically related to nursing; just let your essay show why you’re passionate about your future as a nurse.

• Do you have a relative in a nursing home or hospital? How have your interactions with them shaped your ideas on nursing?
• Have you seen media coverage (TV, documentary, etc.) on nursing?
• Why are you interested in going into nursing rather than becoming a doctor? Was there a moment where you chose nursing over becoming a doctor?

Once you have an experience in mind, write it all down. Make bullet-points, make a list, write a three-page story; whatever you have to do to get your passions down onto a page.

Then, take what you’ve written and find the most important parts. Take the words that mean the most (and the ones that tell the story well) and turn them into an essay of no more than 250 words.

Remember to be honest about your experience (in other words, it doesn’t need to be a positive experience) and how it affected your decision to study nursing. Authenticity is unbeatable.

Show the admissions team your heart for nursing, and you’ll give them what they need to make your final admission decision.

UVA Kinesiology Program Supplemental Essay

Discuss experiences that led you to choose the Kinesiology major.

This is the most straightforward of the program-specific essay prompts, in that it tells you exactly what to write about.

If you have trouble answering this prompt, think about why you’re interested in Kinesiology and what you might want to do with a degree in Kinesiology.

• For example, you may have injured yourself playing a sport and needed physical therapy, which introduced you to the field of kinesiology.
• Maybe you’re fascinated by all things needed for athletic performance; joints, muscles, bones, etc.
• You might be passionate about continuing your sports journey without becoming a professional athlete.

Hopefully, this brainstorming will help you connect to experiences that you can write about. If you need more help brainstorming, use this excellent guide .

The UVA General Supplemental Essay Prompts

Now, we’ll take a look at the more general supplemental essay prompts. You only need to pick one of these prompts for your application.

If you are having trouble deciding on a prompt, try writing a rough draft for each of them (or any number of them that you’d like to try out).

Once you read through your drafts, it will become easier to see which prompt provides the best platform for you to make your mark on the admissions committee.

Before diving into the individual prompts, here’s a quick reminder: Try not to overthink these essays. In most cases, they are as straightforward as they seem.

UVA Supplemental Essay 1: Your Favorite Word

What’s your favorite word and why?

Before starting this essay, it might be helpful to perform the following exercise: Over the course of a few days, write down all the words you encounter that seem odd or interesting.

You might ask yourself some questions to help brainstorm as well:

• Are there certain words you use often?
• Are there certain words you use only in specific situations? Why?
• Have you read a book that contained a word you found interesting? What was it?

A problem that students usually have with this essay prompt is that they change their minds mid-essay as other potential words pop into their minds.

One day, you might think that your favorite word is “complacent,” whereas, the next day, it might be “hamster.”

This exercise helps you to list out all of the potential words you could write about. From there, you can pick the word that you like the most or find is easiest to write about.

Then it’s time to write your essay.

Share your word with the admissions team, and possibly a quick definition. Then, explain what it means to you. Remember that the admissions team wants to learn about you. Try making more of the essay about why this word is your favorite, and less about the definition of the word itself.

UVA Supplemental Essay 2: Quirks

We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.

Similarly to the last essay prompt, you may want to take a couple of days to think about this one, listing out any quirks you might have:

• Do you have any memorable habits or routines?
• Is there a phrase that you use frequently?
• Do your friends or family members comment on any of your positive personality traits? How does this trait manifest in everyday life?

Maybe you wake up every morning and have a glass of water with lemon because it helps you feel refreshed. Write about it!

Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family about your quirks , as it may reveal interesting potential essay topics you may not have considered.

Along with your quirk, share some reasons why it’s great. You are trying to get into a college with this essay, after all.

UVA Supplemental Essay 3: Flash Seminar

Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?

This prompt may seem intimidating because of its reference to a student creating an impressive organization, but try to remember that it isn’t the point of the prompt.

Instead, pick a topic that interests you!:

• What are your hobbies?
• Do you play any sports?
• What is the first random fact that pops into your head?
• What did you do last summer?
• Are there any global issues you care about and want others to know of?

For example, if you spent your last summer volunteering at a soup kitchen, you might create a Flash Seminar on the importance of volunteering based on your experiences.

The essay may even be about a topic that you feel is important for every person to think about and discuss.

The essay does not need to be related to academics. As long as you can write 250 words about the topic and why you think it is important for other people to learn about, it’ll be worth creating an essay about.

UVA Supplemental Essay 4: Beta Bridge

UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?

This might be the most difficult essay prompt for most students because of how open-ended it is, but it also gives you a lot of room to leave your own creative or intellectual mark on the admissions committee.

• What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
• What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever given?
• What is something helpful that you think more people should know about?
• Is there a public issue that you feel needs more awareness?

Even if your idea is small, don’t worry. Maybe you’ve noticed that you don’t carry enough water around, and want to remind everyone to stay hydrated!

Your message does not need to be groundbreaking or related to academics, as long as you can write about it.

Make your response unique, and try to catch the attention of the admissions team.

If your essay shines on who you are, what’s unique about you, or a topic you care about, it’s sure to stand out when it’s reviewed at UVA.

UVA Supplemental Essay 5: An Alternative to Complaining

Rita Dove, UVA English professor and former U.S. Poet Laureate, once said in an interview that “…there are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.” Describe a time when, instead of complaining, you took action for the greater good.

We all know that complaining isn’t the best way to deal with the problems we encounter; however, it sure is a natural thing to do (and it can be hard to avoid).

Think back on a time you chose to take action instead of complaining.

• Maybe you forgot about an assignment until the night it was due. Instead of complaining and asking for more time, you stayed up late to get it done.
• You may have noticed someone being treated unfairly and stood up for them right there on the spot.

No matter what the situation was, if you chose not to complain, you can turn it into a compelling essay.

Show UVA that you are an initiative taker and a difference maker. Show them you’re responsible and you don’t like to take the easy way out.

When the admissions team sees those qualities shining through the words you write, they’ve got to be impressed.

Conclusion: How to Write the UVA Supplemental Essays

Now that you’ve read through some tips on how to write the supplemental essays, it’s time to get writing!

Be sure to start early with brainstorming and planning. UVA, more so than most universities, asks you to be creative with their supplemental essays.

Even if you don’t like your first drafts, it is much easier to rewrite a draft based on the things you did not like than it is to attempt to revise an essay you haven’t yet written.

Last, remember to keep it real. Authenticity is key.

With an essay written from a place of creativity and authenticity, you’re sure to stand out.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, uva supplemental essays: any tips.

Hey, everyone! I'm currently working on my UVA supplemental essays, and I wanted to ask if anybody here has any advice on what admissions officers are looking for? Thank you in advance!

Hi there! It's fantastic that you're working on your UVA supplemental essays. The key to a successful essay is to be authentic and genuinely express your thoughts and experiences. Here are a few tips to help you out:

1. Be specific: Show that you've done your research about UVA and connect your interests to the university's academic programs, student organizations, or other unique offerings. This will demonstrate your commitment to the school and how you'll fit into the community.

2. Focus on storytelling: Engage the reader by presenting a story or anecdote that highlights your personality, interests, or experiences. This approach will help your essay stand out and make it more memorable.

3. Be concise and edit: With supplemental essays, there's usually a limited word count, so make every word count. Make sure to proofread and have others review your essay to ensure it's polished and effectively communicates your ideas.

4. Avoid cliches: Strive for an original angle or perspective in your writing. Generic and overly-used phrases or subjects might not leave a lasting impression on the reader.

For more information on this essay, click here: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-university-of-virginia-essays

Remember, UVA values genuine and thoughtful essays that showcase your personality, interest in the institution, and passion for learning. Good luck with your essays, and I hope you find these tips helpful!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

A National Journal of Literature & Discussion

Submissions

Editorial philosophy.

VQR strives to publish the best writing we can find. While we have a long history of publishing accomplished and award-winning authors, we also seek and support emerging writers. A look at one of our latest issues will show you the diversity of voices we publish.

• Poetry: All types and length.
• Short Fiction: Length is from 2,500–8,000 words. We are generally not interested in genre fiction (such as romance, science fiction, or fantasy).
• Nonfiction: Length is 3,000–7,000 words. We publish essays, memoir, and other types of literary journalism, as well as investigative reporting. 

General Guidelines

• We only consider unpublished work. Please do not submit previously published material, including work published in anthologies, chapbooks, or online.
• We only accept submissions online via Submittable. We do not accept submissions via e-mail or post.
• Please read past issues of VQR before submitting your work so you have a clear sense of our editorial focus. A portion of every issue is freely available on this site. Or you can purchase a recent issue at your local newsstand or bookstore, or directly from us.
• Submissions are limited to one prose piece and five poems per reading period. Please group poetry into one submission. Multiple submissions in the same genre will be declined unread. 
• Simultaneous submissions are  permitted.
• If work you have submitted to us is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately. For prose submissions, please use your Submittable account to withdraw your submission. For poetry submissions, please use your Submittable account to add a note to your submission listing the titles of works no longer available for consideration.
• We make every effort to respond within six months, but response time will vary according to the number of submissions. Please be patient with us; we typically receive more than 10,000 unsolicited works per year.
• Responses will be provided via Submittable.  Please do not call or e-mail regarding the status of your submission.
• Due to the high volume of submissions, we cannot respond personally to every submission.
• All files must be saved in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF formats.
• Please prepare your submission in letter-sized format, with ample margins, double-spaced, using a standard typeface (e.g., Times, Helvetica, Arial) and font size (12 point is best). Please use minimal document and font styling in your submission.

Print Magazine Payment &  Copyright

For poetry, we pay $200 per poem, up to 4 poems; for a suite of 5 or more poems, we pay $1,000.

For short fiction, we generally pay $1,000 and above. 

For other prose, such as essays and literary journalism, we generally pay $1,000 and above, at approximately 25 cents per word, depending on length. For investigative reporting, we pay at a higher rate, sometimes including pre-approved travel expenses. For long-form journalism, we often seek funders to support our writers directly, in addition to our own payments.

Our standard publishing agreement asks for the following rights in exchange: first North American print and digital magazine rights; nonexclusive online rights; and other limited rights. Copyright is retained by the author at all times. Authors are free to resell the work, though we do ask for a 90-day exclusive from our first publication of the work.

Reading Period

We read unsolicited submissions July 14 - 27, 2024, through our Submittable portal.  Due to the high volume of unsolicited work, we cannot respond to submissions outside of this reading period. We only read unsolicited works submitted through our Submittable portal. 

Please do not e-mail us to ask if we received your submission. If the online submissions system acknowledged your submission, or if you received an e-mail confirming receipt of your submission, then rest assured that we have received it.

Click here to go to our online submission form at Submittable.

UVA Admission Essays Are Posted. Learn How to Write Your Best One

High school students looking to get a jump on joining the University of Virginia’s Class of 2023 got some big news recently: This year’s essay questions have been unveiled.

Associate Dean of Admission Jeannine Lalonde shared this year’s essay prompts, then took some time to explain why the essay remains an important part of the application process and shared some writing tips for prospective applicants.

“I think that it helps us get insight into the personality, voice and style of the student,” she said. “The rest of the application consists of forms and other people telling us about the student. This is their chance to talk directly to us.”

As for the writing, Lalonde said she typically shares three tips with high school students when it comes to putting together an application essay.

1.  Don’t overthink the topic

“The questions are broad because we want the students to go in whatever direction makes sense for them,” Lalonde said. “The topic is just a vehicle that the student uses. They should pick a topic that lets them be interesting and authentic in their writing.”

2. You don’t have to write like it’s a school essay.

“Don’t feel limited to the formulaic way that most students are taught to write for class,” she said. “This is a different sort of writing. The more standard format used in academic writing is fine for school and it’s great when writing under pressure. But prospective students should feel free to use whatever format makes sense for the message or story that they want to get across.”

3. It’s smart to get advice, but be authentic.

“It’d be foolish to submit an essay without having someone you trust take a look first and give feedback, but essays shouldn’t read like they were done by committee. And if you don’t like the advice someone gives, feel free to ignore it. When you submit it, it should feel good to you, and it should sound like you.”

Here’s a look at the essay prompts for the coming application season. Stay up with news about admission by following Lalonde’s blog, Notes From Peabody, or following her Twitter, where she’s @UVADeanJ.

2018-2019 First-Year Application Essay Questions  

1. we are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words..

• College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
• School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - If you were given funding for a small engineering project that would make everyday life better for one friend or family member, what would you design?
• School of Architecture - Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.  
• School of Nursing - School of Nursing applicants may have experience shadowing, volunteering, or working in a health care environment. Tell us about a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing.
• Kinesiology Program - Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major. 

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words. 

• What’s your favorite word and why?
• We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.
• Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?
• UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message?
• UVA students are charged with pushing the boundaries of knowledge to serve others and contribute to the common good. Give us an example of how you’ve used what you’ve learned to make a positive impact in another person’s life.

University of Virginia (UVA) 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action/Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 5

You Have: 

University of Virginia (UVA) 2023-2024 First-Year Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words, 1 optional essay of 100 words, 1 essay of 250 words for applicants to the School of Nursing only

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Community

In around 250 words, please answer the following question:

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at uva  feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you..

Odds are that this isn’t the first “diversity” essay prompt you’ve come across this year—even if the prompt doesn’t explicitly use that word. If it is, however, please read on. UVA wants to accept students from a range of backgrounds who will contribute to an inclusive community. The prompt uses the phrase “source of strength” twice; this tells us that they want to hear about not only what makes you you , but also how these characteristics will support you and those around you. What you focus on here can be reflective of larger cultural constructs or specific to you and only you. Is there anything you can teach your classmates about your hometown, traditions, culture, orientation, identity, race, or ethnicity that they might not already know? Maybe you began practicing meditation and discovered Buddhism during your sophomore year and you hope to spread some wisdom and mindfulness on campus next fall. Perhaps you were raised on a farm and have a very special relationship to all living things (plants, animals, people, etc.) around you. How will you incorporate this element of your identity into your college experience? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community.

Students applying to the School of Nursing are required to answer this question in around 250 words.

School of nursing – describe a health care-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying nursing..

This prompt asks applicants to detail a specific experience to prove their interest in their chosen field of study, nursing. It is a bit closer to a traditional why essay in that students should make sure not just to discuss the experience that led them to pursue nursing, but also to connect that experience to their larger goals for the future. Perhaps you were diagnosed with diabetes as a child and the nursing care you received inspired you to go into the field yourself. Maybe your grandfather was a nurse and you were awed by his skills when your grandmother fell off a ladder. If there are elements of the UVA program that support your particular interest or connect to the experience you choose to highlight, definitely build those bridges to show admissions you are familiar with the programs UVA has to offer, and have already considered how your experiences will help you achieve future academic success.

Optional: If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the University, please share your thoughts here.  Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs. (100 words)

Now that UVA is no longer explicitly considering legacy in their admissions process, admissions has added this question to identify not only those whose parents went to UVA, but also those whose ancestors labored at UVA. This reflects the university’s ongoing reckoning with its own founding, which included the use of enslaved labor. Here, anyone with personal or historic ties to the university, including students who attended summer programs there, can describe their unique connection. If you don’t have a connection, that’s okay! Most people won’t. If you do, however, read on.

This question doesn’t just ask you to state your tie, it asks you to explore how that connection has primed you to contribute to the community. Maybe your mom was an RA and has shared all the steam tunnel routes with you, so you can initiate your roommates into this UVA tradition. Perhaps one of your ancestors built the iconic Rotunda, and you look forward to educating your classmates about their legacy. Maybe you attended a summer program and fell in love with the Jeffersonian architecture, inspiring your passion for historic preservation. Remember, your job here is to explore how your personal connection to UVA will make you a contributor to campus life. 

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The Movement Issue

Spring '24

Over the course of the months following the release of our Fall 2023 issue, we were inspired by the broad idea of movement. Think fluidity, expansion versus contraction, ebb and flow, transcending boundaries, action, violence, push and pull, metamorphosis — all of these ideas and more were welcome subjects within the scope of our issue.  We are so excited to share it with you now! 

Editor's Picks

Arts and entertainment————————.

Y’all could finally mean all: How Tyler Childers is rewriting the country star stereotype

by Scout Woronko

Poetry ————————————————

An Ode To The Queer Black Teen

by Matt Tucker

Sea, Swallow Me 

by Hira Hyder

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MUSICAL A.I.

The Shenandoah County School Board’s Terrible History Lesson

O n May 10, 2024, 161 years to the day after General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s last breath fighting for the Confederate insurrection intended to continue enslavement of human beings in America, the Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 to restore his name on a high school in rural Virginia.

More than 50 concerned community members, students, and parents, including one of the first African Americans to integrate Stonewall Jackson High School in 1963, and hundreds of their supporters, continued to advocate a new reckoning of the county’s heritage of enslavement, segregation, and racial injustice. They affirmed the names a community committee selected in 2021 renaming the school as Mountain View High and another school named after Confederate generals Turner Ashby and Robert E. Lee as Honey Run Elementary.

But the school board heard none of it. Instead, the board sided with those idolizing the faith and loyalty of “heroes” like Jackson, condemning pandemic-related processes that did not take into account the voices of “we the people,” and complaining about “woke outsiders.” At the end of the board meeting, the board had delivered a disgraceful new chapter in our community’s history and a terrible lesson for the children they are sworn to educate.

Historians will debate the consequences of the board’s vote and perhaps whether the nation’s current political mood has rekindled racial tensions. But the school board members and their embittered supporters made it clear that the shadows of our segregated past still loom large.

For context, we should look at 2020, particularly the 8 minutes and 46 seconds of video that emblazoned the truth of racial injustice in America. After George Floyd’s murder by police in May of that year, national, state, and local leaders across the nation took up resolutions against racism, including Shenandoah County’s Board of Supervisors and the county School Board.

At around the same time in our mountain-cradled county, another incident reminded us of America’s lingering racial unrest: an encounter between a white mob and a black pastor in Edinburg, Va. On June 1, 2020, Pastor McCray approached a couple illegally dumping a refrigerator on his property, asking them to leave. They left, returned with three more people and began “attacking him physically, saying ‘they don’t give a darn’ about ‘my black life and the Black Lives Matter stuff,’ and telling him they would ‘kill’ him,” according to Associated Press reports. McCray put distance between himself and the mob by brandishing a gun that he was legally licensed to carry. When the police arrived, they arrested the Black man with the gun.

The Shenandoah County Sheriff later apologized for the incident, but it reinforces the need for formal resolutions against racism and leaders willing to make difficult decisions for a more inclusive community. The Shenandoah County School Board at the time agreed. They chose action, encouraged by then-Department of Education secretary Atif Qarni and then-Governor Ralph Northam, both of whom supported statewide removal of Confederate leaders’ names of public schools.

The 2020 school board, tying in as the next step to its June “Resolution condemning racism and affirming the division’s commitment to an inclusive school environment for all,” retired the names of Confederate leaders, and developed a process for community and student input into choosing more unifying public school names. On September 10, 2020, the then school board reaffirmed the foregoing motion, as well as moving forward with renaming the schools on southern campus. Community committees met during the next three months, with new names chosen at the January 14, 2021 meeting, after seven months of public input.

By 2024, recently elected school board members focused their arguments for restoration on the former board’s “secret” process during the COVID “plan-demic,” stating that community input was not taken into account at the time. Two years before, three current school board members ran on a campaign to restore the school’s Confederate leader names, an attempt that ended at the June 9, 2022 school board meeting with a 3-3 stalemate. The current board consists of three more new school board members, elected in the fall of 2023. Like many school boards around the nation, ours has committed to reversing civil rights often under the lost-cause banner of Confederate pride.

The memory of Stonewall Jackson High School as a whites-only public institution until its integration in 1963 is not a distant echo of history but an agonizing experience for many Black residents of Shenandoah County. These individuals are not just statistics in history books; they are our neighbors, friends, and family—and they were intentionally harmed in Shenandoah County as the Civil Rights movement gained momentum in the 1950s.

Read More: Confederate Monuments and Other Disputed Memorials Have Come Down in Cities Across America. What Should Take Their Place?

And now again in 2024. Dozens of citizens, alum, parents, and current students of the schools addressed the board, offering poignant testimony about lived experiences with institutionalized discrimination or in support of others who had. Approximately two-thirds of the speakers opposed back-naming the schools. For them, returning to Confederate leader names makes the damage linger.

Aliyah Ogle, a student who represented her school in three sports this year and would be attending the renamed high school next year, said it best: “I'm a black student and if the name is restored, I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves. That makes me feel like I'm disrespecting my ancestors and going against what my family and I believe, which is that we should all be treated equally, and that slavery was a cruel and awful thing.”

Most of the board members could not have cared less about the county’s 252 year history. They were more concerned for judging the 2020 school board’s actions and recognizing the Confederate heritage of the county. Their brand of leadership consisted of telling the people they represent that we all have problems of one kind or another; it’s time to move on. “War is hell,” said Dennis Barlow, chairman of the Shenandoah County School Board. They were joined by two dozen pro-Confederacy speakers, claiming there is no evident racism in Shenandoah County, and never has been.

Board member Tom Streett used his decision to discuss pro-slavery General Jackson. “When you read about this man — who he was, what he stood for, his character, his loyalty, his leadership, how Godly a man he was — those standards that he had were much higher than any leadership of the school system in 2020,” Streett said.

Streett, however, neglected to mention that even Jackson’s descendants have weighed in on this legacy issue. For the past seven years, the general’s great-great grandsons, William Jackson Christian and Warren Edmund Christian, have said they support removing Confederate statues and other monuments—including in Shenandoah County this week—as “part of a larger project of actively mending the racial disparities that hundreds of years of white supremacy have wrought.” They added that they were “ashamed to benefit from white supremacy while our black family and friends suffer.”

Yet Shenandoah County’s school board and its grievance agenda does nothing to provide historical context, advance dialogue, or heal the feelings of well-meaning citizens. Using the same policy the 2021 school board used to name Mountain View and Honey Run, the 2024 board defiantly focused on undoing the decision and giving voice to the people they wanted to hear. The decision unfairly places our children as pawns on a rhetorical battlefield, keeping the board’s focus on vengeance and political control—not due process or heritage. But it’s more dangerous than just talk and hard feelings: The county remains on the radar of the Southern Poverty Law Center , which tracks white supremacists, including ongoing activity by the Patriot Front. To address this reality, we need better, sensible leadership from our school board. But for now, we must live with a stark reminder that elections have consequences.

Looking ahead, the many good people of our county will strive to ensure that our complete history, good and bad, remains available to students and the public. We must find a way to truly honor our whole heritage without insisting that students salute pro-slavery traitors or the treatment of their ancestors as subhuman property for almost 400 years.

If the U.S. Department of Defense can rename military bases once emblazoned with Confederate leaders’ names, then our public schools can do the same. After all, these are the spaces where the first lessons of civic duties are learned. History is complicated, no doubt, but there’s no better place to examine complex issues than in a good school. Other nations and communities reckon with difficult pasts. In Germany, for example, students still learn about Adolf Hitler, but they are not forced to wear sports jerseys and school-pride t-shirts that glorify symbols or names associated with murderous war crimes.

Our fight for what’s right in Shenandoah County is not over. We will continue to oppose historical injustices and help all constituencies in our community learn from the lessons of our past. As it has throughout our nation’s history, the work of decent people striving for a better, more united America will go on. We hope the school board here can find a way to join us along the way.

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Sophia Bush Shuts Down Ashlyn Harris Engagement Speculation After Cuddly Paris Pics: ‘I Have No News for You’

Sophia Bush is not engaged to Ashlyn Harris , despite those cozy pictures of the pair in Paris.

The One Tree Hill alum, 41, shut down proposal speculation via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, May 25, posting a selfie displaying her bare ring finger and writing, “I hear the internet is being wild? Y’all 🤣⚰️I have no ‘news’ for you.”

Engagement rumors emerged after Bush apparently hid her left hand in Harris’ jacket in a pic of the couple in front of the Eiffel Tower. “But wouldn’t you put your hands all up in her jacket if you could??” Bush added on her Story post. “(To be clear you can’t because boundaries, but I’ll continue to do it for you because I’m just generous like that).”

Bush shared another angle of the cuddly photo with Harris, 38, with the caption, “I just wanna squeeeeeeeeeze her … I get that it’s new for y’all to see me so happy and so embodied. It’s new for me too. How lucky am I.”

Related: Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris’ Relationship Timeline

Some social media sleuths also pointed out that in a group photo from their Paris trip with actress Beanie Feldstein and composer Benj Pasek , Bush seemingly strategically placed heart emojis over her ring finger as she put her arm around Harris.

To further clear the air, Bush shared another photo of her left hand sans engagement ring and said that she will “try to keep the emojis more symmetrical for you all in the future … I hope TikTok can relax now. Travel on, friends.”

The hoopla started on Friday after Bush and Harris shared their adventures in the City of Love. In one sight-seeing still, the soccer star wrapped her arm around Bush’s waist. In another, the couple posed with Feldstein, Pasek and TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Bush’s hand is, coincidentally, hidden in all the pics.

Bush and Harris have been linked since October 2023 following their respective splits from Grant Hughes and Ali Krieger . A source confirmed to Us Weekly at the time that Bush and Harris met at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity the previous June and developed a friendship. After both of their marriages ended, Bush and Harris’ connection turned romantic. (Bush filed for divorce from Hughes, 42, in August 2023, two months before Harris filed to end her and Krieger’s marriage .)

Bush, for her part, publicly came out as queer in April.

“I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is,” she wrote in a Glamour essay. “I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long.”

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Related: ‘One Tree Hill’ Storylines That Were Inspired by the Cast’s Real Lives

Bush continued, “I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down. This might sound crazy — but I think other people in trauma recovery will get it — I am taking deep breaths again.”

Harris, who shares daughter Sloane, 3, and son Ocean, 1, with Krieger, 39, commended Bush for opening up — posting the cover of the Glamour issue to her Instagram Stories on Friday, April 26, and writing, “Proud of you babe,” over the image.

The pair made their red carpet debut a day later at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

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Google wants judge, not jury, to decide upcoming antitrust case in Virginia

FILE - The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels, March 23, 2010. Google is asking that a federal judge, rather than a jury, decide whether it violated U.S. antitrust laws by building a monopoly on the technology that powers online advertising. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

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Google on Thursday asked that a judge, rather than a jury, decide whether it violated U.S. antitrust laws by building a monopoly on the technology that powers online advertising.

To bolster its case, the tech giant wrote a multimillion-dollar check to the U.S. government that it says renders moot the government’s best argument for demanding a jury trial.

The antitrust case set to go before a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, in September is one of two major lawsuits the Justice Department has brought against Google. While the Virginia case focuses on advertising technology, an ongoing case in the District of Columbia focuses on Google’s dominance as a search engine.

Both sides in the D.C. case have presented evidence and made closing arguments . A judge there will decide whether Google violated the law.

Google wants a judge to decide the merits of the case in Virginia, as well. The company argues in court papers filed Thursday that it’s unprecedented for a jury to decide a federal antitrust case brought by the government. It says that this case in particular involves “a complicated, intricate technology ecosystem, which DOJ has acknowledged to this Court is ‘highly technical, often abstract, and outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors.’”

A Department of Justice spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday evening.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, makes two primary arguments for striking the government’s demand for a jury trial. For starters, Google argues that the constitutional right to a jury trial does not apply to a civil suit brought by the government.

The right to a jury trial, based in the Bill of Rights, “protects citizens against the federal government, not the other way around,” Google’s lawyers write in their court filing.

The company acknowledges in the court papers, though, that the Justice Department has a stronger argument for demanding a jury in a case where it seeks monetary damages, as opposed to merely seeking equitable relief, like forcing Google to sell off parts of its advertising technology.

In the Virginia case, the Department of Justice seeks monetary damages on behalf of federal agencies, including the Army, that it says were harmed by Google’s monopolistic practices and overpaid for online ads that they purchased.

In its court filing, Google contends that the damage claim was tacked on to the lawsuit at the last minute for the sole purpose of allowing them to seek a jury.

The Department of Justice “manufactured a damages claim at the last minute in an attempt to secure a jury trial in a case even they describe as ‘highly technical’ and ‘outside the everyday knowledge of most prospective jurors,” the company said in a written statement Thursday.

Google’s filing Thursday said the company has cut a check to the government that is triple the amount of the losses the government can claim. The exact amount of the check is redacted, but in other court papers, Google said the maximum amount of damages the government was able to demonstrate during the discovery process was less than $1 million.

Because the law allows antitrust damages to be trebled, the check amount would be less than $3 million.

Google says it still disputes that the damages are legitimate, but says that paying the government’s claimed damages eliminates the need for a jury to decide the damages question.

While Google says it’s unprecedented for a jury to decide a government antitrust suit, Google has defended itself in front of a jury on antitrust cases brought by private companies.

Last year, a jury in San Francisco ruled in favor of Epic Games , the maker of the popular Fortnite game, in a case the company brought against Google over the Google Play store, which allows users of Android phones to download apps.

In that case, Google tried unsuccessfully at the last minute to switch the trial from a jury trial to a bench trial.

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What Is Italy’s Most Prized Stuffed Pasta?

Each region could well argue for its own, but one may have the strongest case.

Stefano Secchi, the chef and co-owner of New York City’s Rezdôra, created several types of stuffed pasta exclusively for T. Here, a Sardinian specialty, culurgiones filled with potato, pecorino and mint. Credit... Photograph by Sharon Radisch. Set design by Martin Bourne. Background images, from left: Bill Waterson/Alamy; Rubens Alarcon/Alamy

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By Dawn Davis

Photographs by Sharon Radisch

• May 13, 2024

T’s May 19 Travel issue is dedicated to pasta in Italy, diving deep into the culinary traditions, regional variations and complicated history of the country’s national symbol. Click here for a field guide to stuffed pasta, as an accompaniment to this article.

FOR MUCH OF Italy’s history, ravioli was a luxury reserved for banquet tables or feast days. All pasta was a rarefied food in the Middle Ages, but few forms captured the popular imagination as completely as stuffed pasta, considered the noblest of the species. In “The Decameron,” a 14th-century collection of stories by Giovanni Boccaccio about a group of young Florentines who abandon the city for the countryside during the plague, one of the characters, Maso del Saggio, describes an idyllic landscape to entertain the friends: “On a mountain, all of grated Parmesan cheese, dwell folk that do nought else but make macaroni and raviuoli.” Centuries later, every corner of Italy has its own version of filled pasta, which is broadly referred to as ravioli throughout the country. The “ Encyclopedia of Pasta ” (2009), the Italian food historian Oretta Zanini De Vita’s decades-long effort to catalog Italy’s most popular food, identifies more than 80 types of pasta ripiena (“stuffed pasta”), allowing for countless variations.

Listen to this article, read by Soneela Nankani

Stuffed pasta seems to particularly lend itself to creative interpretation. There are those filled with sweetbreads, pancetta, pears, chard, winter squash or mint-scented ricotta; twisted at the ends like a candy wrapper or serrated on the edges; folded into a triangle or rectangle or made to resemble a coin, a hat or a handkerchief; boiled in salt water or fried and simmered in milk. Sometimes the dough is kneaded with wine, olive oil or spinach.

Until Italy’s unification in 1861, its territory was carved up into several kingdoms, duchies and city-states, each with its own culinary practices. “Pasta may be the country’s pre-eminent food, but that doesn’t make it a unifying dish,” writes the cookbook author Carol Field in the foreword to the “Encyclopedia of Pasta.” “If anything, the hundreds of divergent shapes accentuate Italy’s regional differences and draw attention to the distinctions that define local identities.”

I’d long wondered how one species or subspecies might take hold in a certain area but not another just next door, and how a dish so deeply rooted in a place might morph over time, even if it often didn’t travel more than a few miles. I wanted to know what was behind this “fanatical attachment to tradition,” as the food historian Luca Cesari has called it . Last November in Piedmont, one of the northwestern regions especially known for its stuffed pasta, I set out to trace the origins and evolution of one local specialty, agnolotti del plin, shaped like a tiny, bulging envelope and traditionally stuffed with meat (typically a combination of veal, pork and rabbit), seasonal greens (maybe savoy cabbage, escarole, spinach or borage), eggs and Parmesan. It’s an unusually demanding type of pasta to construct and is particularly ubiquitous in the area known as the Langhe, a hilly swath of land planted with row after row of nebbiolo grapes in the southern Piedmont, about an hour’s drive south of Turin. First documented here in the mid-1800s, agnolotti del plin (in the Langhe dialect, plin means “pinch”) has only grown in popularity in the past few decades, and now populates virtually every menu, Sunday lunch or holiday feast in the area.

OPINIONS DIFFER ON how or when stuffed pasta surfaced in Italy. Karima Moyer-Nocchi , a friend and culinary historian who teaches at the University of Siena, theorizes that it’s the conceptual descendant of the tourte, a pie often found on the tables of nobility in the Middle Ages. Owing to the medieval fascination with miniaturization, the pasta for ravioli was essentially little tourtes or tortelli. The word “ravioli” itself likely derives from the Italian riavvolgere ( avvolgere literally means “to wrap”) and first appeared in the written record in the 13th century when Salimbene Di Adam, a Franciscan friar from Parma known for his chronicles of his gluttonous travels around France and Italy, mentioned eating “raviolos sine crusta de pasta” — in this case the morsel of food without the “usual envelope of pastry” during the feast of St. Clare.

Zanini De Vita suggests that stuffed pasta arrived on the continent even earlier: Brought to Sicily by Muslim conquerors as “a type of ravioli called sambusaj, a triangular pasta container filled with ground meat,” it then likely migrated north thanks to trade with the maritime republic of Genoa in Liguria, Piedmont’s neighboring region. From there, ravioli made its way into the courtly kitchens of the northern provinces.

Agnolotti del plin has its own hazy back story. Centuries before the House of Savoy ruled the Kingdom of Italy, from 1861 to 1946, the dynasty controlled the Piedmont, starting in the 1600s. Bordering the Alps in the north, south and west, the region was, and remains, home to some of the peninsula’s richest and most versatile farmland, as well as immense tracts of alpine pastures, allowing for a seemingly endless supply of ingredients. When Turin served as the seat for the House of Savoy, noble families built estates throughout the countryside. Legends ascribe the dish to a chef of one of these households, a man named Angelino (a dialect translation of Angelot) who was asked to prepare a celebratory meal after the family fended off an attack on their castle. He salvaged what he could from the pantry, roasted the meats, finely chopped the vegetables and stuffed it all into pasta dough. The sauce was a simple jus made from the roasted meats.

But Ugo Alciati, the 57-year-old head chef of Guido Ristorante at the Fontanafredda wine estate about 50 miles south of Turin, is skeptical (as is everyone else I meet in the Piedmont). “It’s a story told to create a sense of mystery,” he tells me when Karima and I stop by for dinner.

His grandmother Pierina Fogliati, born at the turn of the 20th century in the nearby village of Costigliole d’Asti to the contadini , or peasant class, learned to make agnolotti del plin at home and when she was called upon as an extra hand in the kitchens of a wealthy family. The recipe she passed down to her children has much in common with the one in the cookbook “La Cucina Sana, Economica ed Elegante Secondo le Stagioni” (“Healthy, Economical and Elegant Cuisine According to the Seasons”), published in 1846 by Francesco Chapusot, the chef to the English ambassador in Turin. Chapusot instructs the home cook to roll the dough (made of flour, fresh butter, milk and eggs) into a very thin, wide sheet and paint it, using a feather brush, with a beaten egg. Then, he writes, place hazelnut-size bits of filling about an inch apart across the entire sheet, lay another sheet of dough on top, pinch the dough around the filling to make little mounds and slice around the mounds to create many small packets the width of a half-scudo (an Italian coin discontinued in the 19th century). For the filling, Chapusot advises a blend of “fatty meats,” nutmeg, Parmesan, egg, cream, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Fogliati’s recipe calls for escarole, as well, and a combination of veal, pork and rabbit. She served hers with a meaty ragù or a simple butter sauce. Others add the agnolotti to a broth.

In 1961, Aliciati’s mother and father opened the first incarnation of Guido Ristorante in Costigliole d’Asti, with Fogliati’s agnolotti as a mainstay. When Aliciati and his brothers took over the restaurant in 1997, later moving it to Fontanafredda, he tweaked the family recipes. He serves them two ways: agnolotti in a shallow bowl with a rich veal sauce and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; or bite-size with nutmeg in the filling, heaped on a large linen napkin, a local custom. (For some Piedmontese chefs, serving the agnolotti this way nods to the Catholic Eucharist ritual, in which the priest, commemorating the Last Supper, would lay out altar linens; clergy were known to cover a table with a piece of hemp fabric and then pile it with freshly made plin.) The sauceless version brings out the flavor of the roasted meat tucked inside; infused with the nutmeg, it has an unexpected peppery sweetness.

LIKE SO MANY dishes conceived in the kitchens of the upper class — “the eating class,” as Karima calls them — agnolotti del plin eventually found its way into ordinary homes. “The laborers who made the food became the gatekeepers of the recipe,” she says. Luciano Bertello, a cookbook author who specializes in the Langhe area, adds that the dish had “sacred” value when prepared by home cooks and was reserved for Carnevale, Easter, Christmas and the patronal feast. “It symbolized — and still does — great holidays and family togetherness,” he says.

“It’s the dish of Sunday, the family day, because you spend so much time making it,” says the chef Davide Palluda, 52, who grew up in the village of Canale, across the Tanaro River from Fontanafredda. According to Piermassimo Cirio, a co-owner of Madonna della Neve in the Langhe town of Cessole and perhaps the restaurant best known for its agnolotti del plin (it’s been serving it since Piermassimo’s family took over in 1952), around the 1920s and ’30s, the contadini would also eat plin in a cup mixed with wine to fortify themselves for daily fieldwork. Instead of three meats, they might use only rabbit or whatever was available. There might not be any sauce at all.

At All’Enoteca, Palluda’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Canale, he applies a technical rigor to his old family recipe. “We prepare the meats three different ways: We cook the pig in milk, roast the rabbit and gently cook the veal on the stovetop,” he says. For the pasta itself, “you have to get the percentage of flour to eggs just right so, when preparing the dough, it’s just translucent enough that you can see the shadow of someone on the other side.” Then there’s the proportion of pasta to stuffing. In the spring, Palluda, who regularly experiments with the fillings, substitutes the usual escarole for asparagus, stinging nettles or chard, or for a mix of morels and coffee. Anytime you change the stuffing, he adds, you have to change the percentage of egg yolk to flour in the dough or risk splitting open the skin of the fragile dumpling.

Twenty miles south of Canale, in the tidy hilltop town of Roddino, Gemma Boeri, 75, is less exacting with her agnolotti and more intent on preserving the ritual of making it. Every Thursday morning, as she has for the past 38 years, Boeri enlists her friends to help her prepare a batch for the week for her Osteria da Gemma. The day I was there, three of the four volunteers were women in their 80s. They’d been helping Boeri make her agnolotti for decades. That day, they spent three hours making thousands of agnolotti before sitting down for antipasti and a lunch of fresh pasta.

Though the dish is centuries old, the allegiance to it, like that to most other locally beloved stuffed pastas, whether the tortellini of Bologna or the culurgiones of Sardinia, is a relatively new phenomenon. Bertello points out that pasta became everyday fare for most Italians, particularly Piedmontese, during the economic boom of the 1960s. Many turned to these sacred dishes as a way to stay connected to the distant past, revealing, as Cesari writes, “a powerful longing for vanished roots, and the hope of recovering them through traditional cooking.” And in the case of agnolotti and other homemade pasta, where preparing the dish can be as communal an act as eating it, stuffed pasta serves another purpose, too: binding you to the people around you.

Read by Soneela Nankani

Narration produced by Krish Seenivasan and Emma Kehlbeck

Engineered by Joel Thibodeau

Set design by Martin Bourne. Fabric printing: Dyenamix, Inc. Photo assistant: Michelle Garcia.

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