University of Virginia Summer Session UVA Advance: STEM & Humanities Track

You need a GPA of at least 3.5 in a college prep curriculum, and you must be a rising junior or senior in summer 2027, at least 15 on the first day and no older than 18 on the last. Beyond that, UVA Advance looks for strong academic ability, clear communication, maturity and independence, and it wants a cohort with a mix of experiences and backgrounds. It aims for a cohort of no more than 65 to 70 students, and acceptance rates in recent years have ranged from 25% to 50%.

If English isn't your first language, you'll also need a TOEFL iBT or IELTS score from the last two years. Most admitted students score at least 4.5 on the TOEFL iBT or 7.0 on IELTS, and Duolingo scores aren't accepted. International applicants may also be asked for a phone or video interview with the program director. A parent can help with the residency questions, but the essay and short answers have to be entirely your own work.

• The essay

  350 to 500 words on one of two prompts: the best advice you've ever received, who gave it and how you've applied it, or a time you fell short of expectations and how it affected you.

• Short answers

  One to five sentences each about your interest in the program, and some are optional.

• Transcripts

  Unofficial transcripts from every high school you've attended, which you can get from your counselor. Gradebook screenshots don't count, and rising juniors applying before sophomore first-semester grades are out will need to send an updated transcript.

• One recommendation

  From a high school teacher, ideally in a core subject, or an administrator, who uploads it straight into the portal. Letters sent any other way aren't considered.

UVA faculty teach the core classes, and core sections are capped at 18 students, all from UVA Advance. In 2026 the four core options were Introduction to Oceanography with Professor Stephen Macko, Global Commerce in Culture with Professor Laura Goldblatt, Genocide with Professor Jeffrey Rossman and Introduction to Data Science with Python with Professor Harsimran (Sam) Somal. The 2027 list hasn't been posted yet, so treat these as a guide to the kind of class on offer.

Electives are regular 1000- and 2000-level undergraduate courses. Most have fewer than 20 students, though a few reach 50, and those get teaching assistants. The 2026 electives ranged from astronomy and microeconomics to the ethics of technology and an English course on Thoreau's Walden held entirely outdoors. Courses rarely have formal prerequisites, although some faculty expect a certain level of math or science. Physics of Sports, for example, asks for Algebra I and high school Physics I.

Classes run Monday to Friday, with your elective from 10:30am to 12:45pm and your core class from 2:00 to 4:15pm. Lunch and free time fill the gap between them. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the College Readiness Workshops follow from 4:30 to 5:30pm, covering topics like study skills, research and college admissions.

From 5:30pm you have dinner, free time and optional activities in the residence hall, which the cohort picks with its advisors. Recent choices have included baking nights, trivia and team sports. Curfew is 10:00pm, and from 11:00pm you have to be in your own room, although nobody enforces lights-out. Nobody wakes you up or sends you to meals either. Attendance is taken in class, at workshops and at the curfew check, but getting up and eating on time is up to you. Outside class, the cohort visits the Morven Sustainability Lab and Monticello (optional), sees a Virginia Theatre Festival play and ends with a closing dinner in the Rotunda's Dome Room.

You leave with six undergraduate credits on a University of Virginia transcript, made up of two three-credit classes, each with a letter grade. The College Readiness Workshops also appear on the transcript, as a zero-credit course called INST 1500.

UVA Advance says the credits typically transfer to other colleges but doesn't guarantee it, and colleges often ask for the course syllabus, so keep yours. If you later apply to UVA, your Advance classes won't appear on your application automatically, so you'll need to include the transcript yourself. While you're there, the Writing Center offers one-to-one sessions and will give feedback on college application essays as well as class assignments.

For 2027, Virginia residents pay $7,410 and everyone else pays $15,522. Both totals include tuition for six credits ($2,994 in-state, $11,046 out-of-state), the comprehensive fee for university services ($516 or $576) and the same $3,900 program fee, which covers housing, meals and activities. Residency follows where your parents or guardians live, so a parent should help fill in the Virginia in-state section of the application.

Course materials are billed separately by the UVA Bookstore, although many professors use digital materials. You also pay for travel to Charlottesville, laundry and spending money, and there's no shuttle from the airport, so budget for a taxi or ride service. A small number of need-based aid packages are available, and the largest covers full in-state tuition and fees ($7,097 in 2026). To apply, upload the financial aid form after you submit your application, by the 1 March 2027 priority deadline. Admission decisions don't take need into account, and international students aren't eligible for aid.

UVA Advance splits the bill into four payments, each with its own due date and refund rules. The deposit, the rest of the program fee and the comprehensive fee each fall due on a set date or when the charge posts to your account, whichever is later.

You live in an air-conditioned residence hall with trained Resident Community Advisors, in double rooms with shared bathrooms on the hall. Roommates are assigned, and UVA Advance deliberately tries to pair you with someone from a different school district, so you can't request a specific roommate. You're free to move around Grounds between 6am and 10pm, and after that a nightly curfew check keeps everyone in the hall until 6am. The Student/Family Handbook is frank that staff don't directly supervise students at all times and that Grounds are open to the public.

To leave Grounds you need staff permission and a group of at least three. Overnight leave needs a written request from a parent at least two business days ahead. Students can use Student Health and Wellness and counseling services, and staff help arrange care at the UVA medical center after hours. Breaking curfew or other rules can mean immediate dismissal with no refund, and parents then have to collect their child within 24 hours. Students traveling alone must share their itinerary in advance and are released at the end only to a taxi or car service. No student may have a car on Grounds.