Charlotte Schroeder had her sights set on the University of Virginia.
“At my high school,” the Stafford resident said, “getting into UVA was the biggest accomplishment a person could have. So, I had toured UVA, and I wanted to go, of course.”
Then the admissions decision came: wait-listed, but with an asterisk. UVA offered Schroeder a little-known alternative: a deferred admission if she agreed to attend the University of Virginia’s College at Wise for a year.
“I received the ‘Year in Wise’ admissions offer,” she said.
Each year, roughly 100 UVA applicants who just missed out on admission take advantage of the Year in Wise offer. The requirements are straightforward: Enroll in UVA Wise for a year, complete 30 credits and maintain a ‘B’ average. Then, they’re guaranteed a transfer into UVA’s College of Arts & Sciences.
The program is still in its infancy and still small, but it has made a big impact on both schools. It is also helping UVA Wise further fortify its status as an academic and economic driver in Southwest Virginia, an area that largely has been left out of the financial and population growth experienced in other areas of the state.
UVA Wise Chancellor Donna Henry said the program places high-achieving students from around the state into a college many of them hadn’t heard of, which bolsters the classroom experience for all students. And it provides UVA with an avenue to enroll students from Southwest Virginia, a region underrepresented in the Charlottesville student body.
“It helps us and it helps UVA serve more Virginians,” Henry said. “It gives students on the (UVA) waitlist an opportunity to come to Wise, and they’re students we don’t normally attract to Wise, independent of UVA. And when they come, I believe we are actually elevating Southwest Virginia.”
The unique transfer program, the college’s affordability and the more intimate teaching environment are attracting a growing enrollment, Henry told the UVA Board of Visitors last week. To account for the burgeoning interest, UVA Wise recently added more dorm rooms and is considering building more housing.
When Schroeder got the Year in Wise offer, she and her family trekked south on Interstate 81 to visit the campus.
“I decided, if this is my path to Charlottesville, I’m going to take it,” she said.
Schroeder said what happened in that next year broadened her horizons and allowed her to experience a region of the state often overlooked. Other students told UVA Today the Year in Wise program changed their lives and trajectories. For some, the experience at the Wise campus was so fulfilling that when it came time to transfer, they said, “No thanks.”
Where is Wise?
Even though Greta Peterson is from Pulaski County, in the rural western part of Virginia, she’d never heard of Wise.
“I was like, ‘What is UVA Wise? Where is Wise?” Peterson wondered.
Greta Peterson, a Year in Wise student, poses on the campus just a week before her graduation. She planned to transfer to UVA and even found an apartment in Charlottesville, but enjoyed her experience in Southwest Virginia so much she decided to finish her degree at UVA Wise. (Photo by Mike Mather, University Communications)
The campus is tucked into the southwest tip of Virginia near the state’s confluence with Kentucky and Tennessee. It’s closer to West Virginia and western North Carolina than to Charlottesville.
In the early 1950s, Wise residents convinced UVA leaders to create a college there. Clinch Valley College opened in 1954. In 1999, the college’s name changed to more clearly identify its UVA connection. Now, the school serves about 2,300 students.
Peterson and her twin sister Ellie both accepted the Year in Wise offer. “We did some research on it, and realized it is about the same distance from our home as it would be driving to Charlottesville,” Greta Peterson said.
Both Schroeder and Greta Peterson said the experience pleasantly surprised them. They found the area rich in outdoor recreation and discovered the professors were personable and passionate about, among other things, Appalachian history and environmental science. One professor’s work was recently featured in the New York Times.
“I didn’t expect to have so many meaningful relationships being at Wise for just one year,” Schroeder said. “But I had them at the professional level, the academic level with professors, and then just friendships. I’m still in touch with countless people I met there. That’s been such a joy.”
Bennett Brunner stands outside an academic building on one of his final days at UVA Wise. He will transfer to UVA as a second-year student. At Wise, he found a welcoming student body and became fast friends with his cross country teammates. (Photo by Mike Mather, University Communications)
Bennett Brunner, from McLean, found his people in sports. He heard there was a cross country team on campus, so he emailed the coach.
“These are some of the closest bonds I have ever connected because we got here a week before everyone else, with all the athletes, and they were the first people I really met here,” Brunner said, adding that most of his teammates were from the Wise region. “They’ve shown me around the area.”
UVA Wise is an eight-hour drive from McLean, making trips home sometimes impractical. “But our coach hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas parties, and they really made me feel at home, even though I’d say I was one of the few people from Northern Virginia,” Brunner said. “I’ll remember that experience for the rest of my life.”
A change in format
In its first iteration, the Year in Wise program was a two-year commitment serving a handful of students. UVA President Jim Ryan brainstormed an adjustment that dramatically boosted interest, Henry said.
