With shopping carts open for the spring and enrollment for J-Term well underway, the Admissions team is sharing some helpful things as you consider applying to the Batten School. You can watch the full video below, but we have recapped the key points of the session.

First, you should focus on completing program prerequisites! These are the only classes you MUST take prior to enrolling at Batten, so make sure you make time to take these courses. Prerequisite courses CAN be taken all the way up until enrollment, so if you are applying to one of our programs for next year, you have through the summer to complete them. For the major and minor, you will need to take microeconomics (ECON 2010) and social psychology (PSYC 2600 OR LPPL 3100 which is Batten’s section of social psych through a policy lens). For the Accelerated MPP program, you will need to take microeconomics (ECON 2010) and a calculus-based math course. We like to see you take the math course at UVA to demonstrate proficiency and readiness for graduate level quantitative work, so if you intend to bring in the calculus pre-req using AP or transfer credit, consider taking STAT 1100, STAT 1601, or STAT 2120. We will accept any prerequisite coursework with a C or higher or a grade of CR.

Outside of these courses, students can explore Batten courses before applying. However, this is NOT required for evaluation - it is a good gauge for you to see if this school is an academic fit for you as you investigate other similar academic programs at the University. Additionally, any Batten course taken at the 3000-level or higher can count toward curricular requirements, such as LPPP 3230: Public Policy Challenges of the 21st Century, or a special topics requirement, such as LPPS: Poverty, Learning, and Education Policy. If you have not yet taken a Batten course, we would not recommend starting with the 4000-level courses – save those for a little further along or after you are admitted into the program. For a complete list of our spring offerings, you can check Lou’s List for a general list of courses or SIS for the most up-to-date information on remaining seats in a course.

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office at BattenAdmissions@virginia.edu or make an appointment with our undergraduate admissions team, Anne and Courtney!