What does the admissions data for the University of Virginia look like in 2026?
The University of Virginia accepted 10,287 students into the Class of 2030 from an applicant pool of 82,118, bringing the acceptance rate to 12.5%. The total applicant pool across all cycles offered by UVA—Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision—reached 82,118 in 2025-26, a 27.4% increase from the previous year, with 19,964 applicants being Virginia residents and 62,154 coming from out-of-state. Virginia residents received 4,317 total offers of admission, reflecting a 22% in-state admit rate, while out-of-state applicants received 5,970 offers—a 10% out-of-state admit rate. Last year’s in-state offer rate was 23%, and the out-of-state offer rate was 12.5%—both numbers on a downward trajectory.
Increase in application numbers
The University of Virginia has continued to receive a record-breaking number of applications every year. Here’s a look at total UVA application numbers from the last few cycles:
Application Cycle Applications received by UVA
2022-23 56,439
2023-24 58,995
2024-25 64,463
2025-26 82,118
Regular Decision data for the University of Virginia in 2026
For the regular decision round specifically, UVA received 26,767 applications, compared to 17,568 last year—a 52.4% increase in applications. 1,895 students were admitted through regular decision, resulting in a 7% RD acceptance rate. 6,377 of RD applicants were in-state candidates. Of those, 472 Virginia residents received offers of admission—a 7% acceptance rate. Meanwhile 1,423 offers of admission were extended to out-of-state applications from a pool of 20,390—a 6.97% acceptance rate.
The rise in UVA applications this year was particularly noticeable in the regular decision cycle. According to the Cavalier Daily, “In the 2023-24 cycle, total regular decision applications stood at 16,866, and rose slightly to 17,568 in the 2024-25 cycle—an increase of 4.16 percent. This year’s jump to 26,767 represents an acceleration that mirrors the broader trend seen in the other application cycles such as the early action cycle, where out-of-state applications rose by 43.7 percent. The regular decision out-of-state pool alone grew from 14,049 to 20,390 applicants, a 45.1 percent increase.”
How does this data compare to previous years’ UVA RD acceptance rates?
According to the admissions blog Notes from Peabody run by Dean J, RD acceptance numbers are significantly down, as shown in the table below:
Application Cycle UVA RD Application Rate
2022-23 16%
2023-24 15%
2024-25 9%
2025-26 7%
This year’s 7% maintains this downward trajectory—indicating that while more students are applying to UVA, the university has continued to be selective.
What are Early Decision and Early Action numbers like for the University of Virginia?
In December 2025, UVA offered admission to 1,225 of the 5,108 students applying through the binding Early Decision route, resulting in a 24% acceptance rate. On January 30, the school announced that it had offered 7,151 students out of 57,500 admission through the non-binding Early Action path, resulting in a 12.4% acceptance rate. Similar to RD numbers, this data shows that UVA has continued to become more selective, as the ED acceptance rate last year was 25.8% and the EA acceptance rate for 2024-25 was 16%.
The 2026 numbers for each round at UVA looks like:
ED Acceptance Rate: 24%
EA Acceptance Rate: 12%
RD Acceptance Rate: 7%
What do the waitlist numbers look like for the University of Virginia?
While the University of Virginia does not have a ranked waitlist, like other schools it admits students from the waitlist for a variety of reasons, usually tied to their institutional priorities. The number of students offered a spot from the waitlist as well as the waitlist acceptance rate varies year to year, as shown in the table below:
Application Cycle Number of students who accepted a spot on the waitlist at UVA Number of waitlisted students admitted to UVA Acceptance Rate off the waitlist
2024-25 6,759 242 3.50%
2023-24 5,114 320 6.30%
2022-23 4,937 7 0.00%
As you can see, the data varies wildly. While the number isn’t out for 2025-26, we can assume it’s equally unpredictable and doesn’t follow any particular pattern.
Admission into a school that receives as many applications as the University of Virginia is never a guarantee, particularly in the RD round. If you want to maximize your chances, applying early—including EA—might give you a better shot. Make sure you work hard in the most rigorous classes and vie for leadership positions in your extracurriculars. If you have your eye on a specific college within UVA, tailor your profile according to your field of interest.
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