Updated: April 29, 2008

Usually it's the high school seniors who are nervous about going to college, but this year the tables are flipped. Admissions deans at the University of Virginia are the nervous ones. Students are cool, calm and collected while UVA officials are hoping they didn't over or under accept the incoming class of 2012.

The problem stems from the elimination of early decision. UVA made the change to make the process fairer. Now though, they have no formula to use to figure out how many students to admit. "It makes us nervous, very nervous," shared UVA Dean of Admissions John Blackburn.

This year is unlike any other at UVA. "Without early decision we've been trying really hard to figure out exactly what the response will be," stated Blackburn.

In the past, admissions deans had the perfect formula when it came to accepted students. Now, it's anyone's guess. The goal is to have an incoming class of 3,170. This year they put out 6,600 offers. Last year, there were 6200 offers for the same number of spots. That's 400 fewer, but a third had to say yes under early admission.

UVA is hoping they don't overbook incoming student or those students will be living in close quarters. If they don't estimate acceptances correctly and students have to room together, Blackburn says, "It can mean a few triples, which is really unfortunate when people are expecting to have a small double room."

Despite the fear, Blackburn says so far, so good. "Things seem to be going along at the right rate," he said.

But there are still two days left for envelopes to arrive. The deadline for accepting a slot in the incoming class is May 1. Admissions deans would rather undershoot their target and make up rest of class with people off the wait list.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807402&forum_id=1#9717623)