A number of colleges try to connect with parents, through email blasts, mailings or other connections, trying to give the family more information. In fact, I am going to have an email go out today, right before I upload this post, sent to all the parents of the students who have applied so far. Please know that since we have over 11,000 applicants, this could lead to a large number of questions, so please be patient with me as I respond.
So here is your chance, parents. What questions do you have that you are dying to ask? If possible, please do not post as Anonymous (just make up a name so you can see my reply specifically to your question), ask whatever questions you would like through the comment option, and I will try to respond as quickly as possible. Fire Away!
What is the verdict on decisions for Early Action applicants? I've heard that decisions might come early this year. Is this true? And if so, When should we expect them?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Anon: I hope to have some information for everyone later this week about the Early Action decision date. Please be patient, as we are waiting on a few more things to fall into place before making a commitment on when EA decisions will be released.
ReplyDeleteIs there a minimum SAT score used to award out of state tuition waiver? When is last time to take SAT or ACT for score to be considered for scholarships?
ReplyDeleteThanks-this blog is so helpful!
My son has applied EA and we are from NJ. He was unable to visit UGA because my husband and I were not able to take off from work. He is receiving much pressure from his guidance counselor stating that he has no chance of acceptance because he did not visit. After much research UGA seems like it would be a great fit for him. We were hoping for an acceptance and then we would visit. Is this going to be held against him when his application is reviewed?
ReplyDeleteHopeful in NC: UGA does not have a minimum SAT/ACT score for consideration for the majority of our scholarships (the exception being the Foundation Fellows/Ramsey scholarship), or for the out-of-state tuition difference waiver. We will look at the overall student in comparison to the whole of the applicant pool. As for test scores and scholarships, we want your file to be complete by Dec. 15 for both Honors and scholarships, but will will review additional test scores as they come in through late January/early February.
ReplyDeleteLiz: UGA does not use any "displays of interest", such as campus visits, multiple letters, flowers, etc. in our decision process (either Early Action or Reg. Decision). We know that some students are not able to visit campus or have other interaction with our office prior to a decision, either due to calendar overload, finances, etc., so we do not use this as a factor in our admission process. I have heard of some colleges using these factors, but not UGA.
ReplyDeleteThanks DGraves..... I will pass this along to my very nervous son and his guidance counselor!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of students is UGA looking for? Because you've mentioned that some students have the stats to get in but not the personality...?
ReplyDeleteHi. My daughter listed both her email address and my email address on her EA application. I didn't receive the email that you referenced above. And, I don't believe that my daughter receives emails from UGA either. Her status check does show that everything in her file is complete. Should we take action to be added to UGA's email lists?
ReplyDeleteAnon: There is not a set type of student that UGA is looking for, as we see a wide assortment of people who apply to UGA. In broad parameters, though, we are looking at students who are academically strong, work hard, and are a strong person both in and out of the classroom. I believe when I said something about students having the "stats" to get in, I was talking about students who academically were competitive, but when reviewed in a deeper holistic read process, there was not a great deal of depth or strength outside of their academics.
ReplyDeleteKathy: I think the email is scheduled to go out at 3 p.m. today, so it is still a few minutes before that will go out. It will be going out to the email that was listed as the parent email.
If my daughter has raised her GPA by .1 or .2 since the beginning of August, will this be acknowledged by UGA Admissions?
ReplyDeleteAnon: I am not sure what you mean by "acknowledged", but I am guessing you mean will UGA Admissions go in and update her GPA? New grades would only be possible if the student completed an actual term (mid-term grades are not official), such as a trimester schedule, but even those do not generally end until November, which is well after the EA deadline. So for EA, we would not include any updated fall grades into the review process.
ReplyDeleteWhat will happen is that any senior grades, be it fall trimester or the fall semester, will be added to the file (if sent) for the holistic review process if a student is deferred. We will then be able to see how the student has done senior year, and how they have progressed from 9th grade on in a more detailed view.
Can you explain the EA process, I have heard that the bottom 25%(of EA applicants) are sent rejection letters, the top 25% are sent acceptance letters, and the middle 50% are deferred. Is this an accurate interpretation of the EA decision process?
ReplyDeleteTony: UGA does not work on a set percentage for Early Action (EA) admission, but rather looks at the overall EA applicant pool and how applicants look in the three main academic areas (grades, rigor of curriculum, test scores). Last year, we admitted roughly 60% of the EA applicants, denied about 7%, and 33%. Each year is different though, and we have to go by the students who apply this year, and how they are looking academically.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, we have to keep in mind how many students will apply both EA and Regular Decision (RD), and make sure to have enough room to admit a good number of students later in the process. I will not know exact % numbers for this year until we actually make decisions, but I will update the blog with more details when that happens.
My daughter has applied to UGA early action. She is planning on applying to the Honors program as well. Is the Honors program application due on Feb. 1, which is what the Honors program website says, or is it due on Dec. 15, which was mentioned earlier on this webpage?
ReplyDeleteHello D.Graves!
ReplyDeleteKnowing that each year the EA pool is different, can we feel a little confident that our child has a change to be admitted in EA if they fall within the GPA and SAT/ACT ranges of the stats. of last years class?
Thank you for your time.
when will we know about the ea acceptance? pls explain to me when we need to apply for financial aid/scholarships- if 12/15 is the date how can we do this without knowing if the student has been accepted
ReplyDeletethanks
Anon: Thank you for pointing out my lack of precise language, and I will correct it shortly. Dec. 15 is what is referred to as the "Priority" deadline for the admissions application to be in for scholarships and Honors. This does not mean that the Honors application has to be in by Dec. 15, only the admission application. By priority, UGA means that these will have the main focus, but we could also look at the applicants who apply after this date.
ReplyDeleteScott: While I would not feel comfortable with saying that a student will be admitted if they fall into last year's range, they probably should feel more confident in their chances if they do fall into these ranges.
Remember, the GPA used is based on core class grades, not the GPA on a high school transcript, UGA uses the Writing portion of the SAT and ACT, and that the rigor of a student's curriculum is a major factor in our decisions.
Anon: I will update this blog when I know the exact date of the Early Action decisions, but we do not have an exact date yet. For financial aid, you would begin the FAFSA process in January, and you should speak to your guidance counselor about this. UGA scholarships (except for the Foundation Fellowship/Ramsey program) are based on the application for admission, so you would generally not need additional materials beyond the UGA admission application.
ReplyDeleteIf you are an out of state applicant-is it possible for out of state tuition to be waived? If so--do you need to file a form for a scholarship or is that automatically considered with the early action application? I filed early action but have not filed any scholarship applications.
ReplyDeleteAnon: For a limited number of students, UGA admissions offers a merit based scholarship, and either a partial or full waiver of the out-of-state tuition difference is attached to these scholarships for out-of-state students. For a vast majority of our scholarships, we use the application for admission in the review. Please remember that while admission is competitive at UGA, scholarships are even more so, as we only have a limited amount of funding for merit-based scholarships.
ReplyDeleteI read your information about changing items on an application if it was already submitted and how you cannot change the perhaps minor things such as activities. My son's activities have changed slightly from when he applied and we feel he should tell the school, is this correct or will activity changes not matter that much? And how would he do this? He just wants to make sure he's not thought to be dishonest. Thanks
ReplyDeleteJan G
Hello, has your office received the October 9th SAT scores yet? My child's new scores are not yet showing up on his application status. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi DGraves,
ReplyDeleteI applied early action for Fall 2011, and I'm anxiously waiting for decisions to be released. One of my concerns is the rigor of the classes I've taken in high school. At my school, the earliest I could've taken an AP class was sophomore year at the time, and I was afraid that if I took that one AP (World History) I would do badly. My junior year I took AP US History and AP Language (the only two possible because of my band and Spanish commitment), and by the end of this year I will have taken four semester long college courses through a dual enrollment program (Calculus, English 1101 & 1102, and sociology). I'm only at my high school for three classes a day, and planned to take AP statistics but it wasn't offered when I needed it, and the only other AP's offered during that time were either full or had summer work that was long overdue. So, I'll come out of high school with only 2 AP classes, which I know is below average, and 4 college classes (and 3 years of Spanish, if that helps). I'm not concerned about my GPA or test scores (3.935 as will be calculated by UGA, 1390/730 SAT, and 32 ACT), and I've volunteered, led a club for middle schoolers, and participated in various other extracurriculars throughout high school. Would you consider my curriculum to be lacking in the rigor department, and if so, would this prevent an acceptance to UGA? I know you don't guess on acceptances/denials, I just wanted an inside opinion. Sorry if this was incredibly long, I've just been a bit worried for a while.
Thanks so much! Your blog is great :)
Jan G: If an applicant wants to update items such as activities/honors/work, he should send this information in an email to admproc@uga.edu. We will then add this to his file. We have made it so that some of the biographical data (phone #, email, major) that might change from one time period to the next can be updated in our student information system, but for anything that is more text based (activities, senior course schedule, essays, etc.), the update should be sent to the email I listed.
ReplyDeleteAnon: We have received both the Oct. SAT and ACT scores (we added the last of the Oct. ACTs today), so if these scores are not on your child's myStatus page tomorrow, I would suggest contacting the College Board about this. As well, check your child's SAT score report to see if he used the same full name (some will put down Johnny instead of Jonathan) and SSN as on the UGA application. If not, send an email to admproc@uga.edu with the data from the score report so we can see if that is the issue and we need to match it manually.
If a student had applied early action do they need to request another set of SAT and ACT scores be sent for the Foundation Fellowship Application?
ReplyDeleteNan
MG: Although you do not mention Honors or Advanced/Accelerated courses, I am guessing you probably took these in some of your freshman/soph. year classes, and we look a these courses for rigor as well in our review. As for the courses you mentioned, it looks like you have challenged yourself in a broad spectrum of areas, and in the depth as well. I am guessing that while you might not have challenged yourself to the limit in all areas, you have come pretty close, and that (along with your other information) shows me that you are a strong applicant for UGA.
ReplyDeleteNan: The Foundation Fellowship/Ramsey program will use the scores that are in the admissions system for their review, so you do not need to send these scores a second time.
ReplyDeleteIf an applicant has submitted ACT scores, is it held against him if he does not submit SAT scores as well?
ReplyDeleteDGraves-
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting back to me so quickly! That's good to hear :) I've taken 16 semesters of gifted classes (my school doesn't have honors) since 8th grade, and of the four semester B's I've made, two were freshman year, and my grades have consistently improved. One last question: I've explained my rigor/AP situation to you and got a positive response, do you think it would be worth it to email the admissions office explaining my low number of AP's? Thanks again for your quick response!
Anon: UGA looks at the strongest test, that being either the SAT or the ACT (and the highest sub-scores within each test type), and we are fine if a student only submits one type of test, be it the SAT or the ACT.
ReplyDeleteMG: You do not need to send in an email, as we will be able to review your transcript and your counselor form to see what you have explained. Congrats on the strong gifted classes as well, and now just be patient as we take the final steps in the EA process.
I'm interested in why UGA asks for any family members who have attended, on its application. I have heard that it doesn't make a difference if parents or a sibling have gone to UGA, so just curious as to why it is on the application. Love the blog also it is so informative.
ReplyDeleteWill "first wave" Honors acceptances come along with the EA acceptance?
ReplyDeleteAnon I: We ask this so that the UGA alumni office will be able to later on work with any families where the parents are alums.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: Generally the first wave of Honors acceptances are sent out a short time after the EA decisions, but not on the same day, as Honors needs some time to review things after EA decisions are sent out.
How is the UGA honors program ranked against top honor programs in the country? What does the student gain from graduating from the honors program?
ReplyDeleteMTV: I do not know of any real ranking system for Honors programs nationally, so it depends on how it best fits your needs more than anything else. I am guessing that if you asked Honors (and I would suggest you do by visiting their website at http://www.uga.edu/honors/index.html), they would probably say that you get to interact and learn from selected professors, have the opportunity to do research through the CURO program, take part in one of the Honors Internship programs in DC, Savannah or New York, and you even get to register early for classes each term.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of other great things about Honors, but these are some of the highlights.
Are there any opportunities other than the Foundation, Ramsay, and Century scholarships to earn an out of state tuition waiver?
ReplyDeleteHi. My son sent his first two ACT scores to UGA which super-scored to a 32. He took the ACT one last time in October and earned a 32. When super-scoring all three tests he still has a 32. Would it help him to send this single high test score to UGA even though it doesn't change his overall super-score?
ReplyDeleteDebbie: There are several other scholarship opportunities with the waiver, such as the Charter, Presidential and One UGA among others. These generally use the admission application for the review process, so there are no additional applications for a majority of our scholarship programs. See https://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/scholarships_at_uga.html for more details.
ReplyDeleteBarbara: If his subscores and overall did not increase, then there would be no advantage (or disadvantage) to sending these new scores to UGA).
My son has applied for the Foundation Fellowship Scholarship. When do you notify the finalists that they are invited to the interview weekend, and/or are those who are not selected also notified?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
What exactly is counselor/school evaluation? I know it shows the courses offered, etc, but is it also opinion based?
ReplyDeleteHow do we find out if a recommendation letter was received by admissions in regards to our daughter???
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteMy daughter started of highschool with regular classes, no honors for her first two years (all A's in core classes) She decided to challenge her self by taking two AP's her junior year,received high A's in both of there classes. She continued on to take 3 more AP's her senior year with an addition to a high college English class due to her passing the AP lang exam. She is in the range with her ACT scores for testing, but I want to know if she is a strong candidate for EA, even though she did not take honors her first two years in highschool, but maintained a 3.9 average throughout her highschool career? Sorry for the long comment, I am worried about her chances.
Thank you
Sharon
Future Bulldog Mom: Generally, the FF/Ramsey applicants are notified in mid to late January about their situation, and whether they are invited to the weekend or not.
ReplyDeleteAnon I: The school/counselor evaluation form has space for the counselor to tell us about the student's senior courses, their overall rigor of curriculum as seen by the counselor, and an area to recommend the student both in checkbox areas and in space for a letter of rec.
Anon II: If it is the counselor recommendation or a teacher recommendation, the myStatus page will indicate when that arrives. If there is a different recommendation letter you are wondering about, you would need to contact our office.
Sharon: It looks like she is now challenging herself in her coursework, and we would also want to know if it is mainly in one area or in a broad spectrum of core areas (English, math, science, social studies, for. lang.). Her GPA also looks strong, and I would then take it that she made almost all A's if she has a 3.90 GPA. She seems like she has been taking the proper steps to be competitive for UGA, but I could not say based upon not knowing enough about her or the overall EA applicant pool yet.
Everyone: I will be posting information on the three different EA decisions shortly (admit, defer, deny), and I want to remind everyone that Defer is not a bad thing, as it just means we want to look at the applicant in more detail and in comparison to the entire applicant pool.
Does the profile (mid 50% range) for those students that were accepted early admission generally track with the overall student profile for all accepted students--EA and RA.? Or is it a higher subset? If it is a higher subset, can you provide the profile of last years early admits. Thx.
ReplyDeleteAnon: The mid-ranges for Early Action admits generally are a little stronger than for the overall admitted group, as the majority of our scholarship students apply during this phase, and a number of applicants self-select into EA due to the strength of their academics.
ReplyDeleteI had a post last year after Early Action decisions went out, and you can find it at http://ugaadmissions.blogspot.com/2009/12/early-action-decision-day-is-here.html. It has a link to our press release about the EA admits.
I hope this is helpful!
I'm sorry, I have another question, you mentioned above that you will be posting information about EA decisions shortly. Are they posted for students before December?
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
Future BullDawg Mom: I am hoping that by this Friday, I will be able to say an exact date that we will be releasing Early Action decisions. We have said mid-December in the past, but due to the self-reported grades, we hope to have them out earlier than that. I will let everyone know when I know something.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. Appreciate your help with everything!
ReplyDeleteAs a followup question to the counselor/school evaluation: If my son gets deferred, may I his Junior counselor send in an evaluation? Because I feel like she knows him a lot better. When my son asked his current counselor to send an evaluation, it was the second time he has ever talked to her. Also, my son says his counselor doesn't seem to like him for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you for the fast responses
Anon: If the other counselor at your son's school would like to send in an additional recommendation/evaluation, that is no problem at all for us. She can do it online or send it in by paper.
ReplyDeleteDGraves,
ReplyDeleteI applied as a transfer student on Nov 1st. How long does it normally take to hear back on a transfer application?
Could I please have the link to a printable version of the evaluation form?
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your time
Hello Mr. Graves! In the self-reported grades area, it states that we should not include middle school grades. However, if I took high school classes in middle school (Algebra I, Spanish I), should I still include those? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDo you guys look at the overall growth of a students rigor? In other words, do you guys take into factor if a student increases his/her rigor throughout their High school career for EA?
ReplyDeleteGO DAWGS! BEAT TECH!
My daughter took 2 classes at Georgetown University last summer in their College Program for High School Students. She submitted those scores to UGA. Do those scores have any factor in the EA decision?
ReplyDeleteVState: Generally, we will need your fall grades before we can review a Fall 2011 transfer applicant, so the quicker you can get this transcript to us, the quicker we can review your file. I expect we will be making a fair number of transfer admission decisions in January and February.
ReplyDeleteAnon: You can find all our our printable forms at https://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/printable_forms.html.
Maddie: Do not include middle school grades (even if they are high school courses) in the self-reported grades section of the application.
Future Dawg Dad: Yes, we do look at the growth of rigor in a student's high school years, although most of our applicants have a growth in their rigor, as this is a standard for most high school students.
Steve: Generally, summer programs such as the Georgetown one are looked at for rigor, but the grades are not a part of the overall GPA. It may have be a slight factor in EA (rigor and high school recommendations), but it is looked at in more detail during our holistic read process in Jan. - March.
My Daughter probably should have applied RD (lower end of middle 50 stats) but she was encouraged by a few people to apply EA because she is planning to major in a low-demand, low-female participation program. But after reading this blog, I'm doubting that will even be considered for EA admittance. Will it possibly help her get a deferral?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Being a female (or male) will not have an impact on a decision, either Early Action or Reg. Decision. As well, applying to a low-demand major will not play a factor in the admission process. It will not impact whether she is deferred either.
ReplyDeleteHi DGraves-
ReplyDeleteI just saw your response to Maddie that we should not include grades in high school classes taken in middle school on our application. I took algebra 1 in 8th grade and have already applied EA, will it hurt me that I included this grade? Both semesters were A's, and they're on my transcript as high school grades. Thanks!
M2011: Do not worry about this, as we know that in the first year of doing self-reported grades, there will be some confusion. Our evaluation team is double-checking every transcript against the self-reported grades and making corrections where needed, so you should not worry about this at all.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this blog. Being in CA makes us feel even more disconnected. My son applied EA, and UGA is one of his very top picks. (He knows 2 current students, and has pretty much memorized the contents of your website.) Due to the cost, we are waiting for acceptance before visiting the campus. If any tuition waivers are offered, when would we know of that?
ReplyDeleteI should add that he did not apply for any additional scholarships, so wouldn't be considered for any other than the ones that do not require a separate application.
ReplyDeleteTina from CA: For a majority of our scholarships, there is no separate application, so we would use the admission application. We will be sending out scholarship offers in groups following the decision release dates, so we will have some go out in December, some in February, and some in late March/early April. the out-of-state tuition waivers, either partial or full, would be attached to any scholarship offers if they are included in that scholarship program.
ReplyDeleteI was denied the economic advantage waiver appeal from the president. I have been accepted as a transfer student for spring 2011. Is there any other way I can get my out-of-state fee waived? Can I appear in person and explain my situation more clearly?
ReplyDeletewill ACT score of 30 and SAT score of 1380(critical reading and Math) affect applying for foundation fellow?
ReplyDeleteAsad: If you are not considered a GA resident, and if your request for a waiver based on the Board of Regents Economic Advantage program was denied, then there are no other opportunities for waiving the out-of-state fee difference. Coming to speak to UGA about it will not change the facts and requirements that have to be followed by UGA concerning these issues. UGA does not have flexibility on these requirements.
ReplyDeleteAnon: If you meet or exceed the baseline for the FF/Ramsey program for test scores, then you are fine for being considered in the process. Remember, though, that if you are right at the baseline, there are a large number of other applicants that are well above the baseline.
You stated in one of your responses above that the Admissions Office's receipt of a teacher recommendation for an applicant will be noted on that applicant's myStatus page. In this true for EA applicants? For this EA applicant, the Counselor Recommendation has been acknowledged for quite some time on the applicant's myStatus page, but teacher recommendations that were sent in and acknowledged via email from your office, have not been noted on the myStatus page. Thank you, and this Blog is extremely informative!
ReplyDeleteDGraves,
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for this blog! My daughter, Ashton Carter, and I read it daily! She applied for EA and we are hoping she will get accepted early! However, if she is deffered, she knows she has to send recommendations. She plans on having her AP lit teacher send one for her, but she also works for an alumni and feels as if she knows her well. Can this out-of-school source send a letter?
Thanks for your help and hardwork!
When considering a student's application, do you consider the number of students from that students high school that are also applying? Over 40 students from my daughter's school (a Texas private high school) applied EA to Georgia, and I curious whether they are treated the same as all other applicants, i.e., each student's application is based on his or her own merits. Is there a greater chance of being deferred in EA when a large number of students from one school are applying for admission as opposed to a student who might be the only student from his/her school applying to Georgia?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Yes, the teacher rec. should show up on the myStatus page even if you are an Early Action applicant. Remember that it at times it takes a few days from receiving a document until it shows up on the myStatus page. If needed, you can email the original email address that received the teacher rec. to double check the situation.
ReplyDeleteSo what do I need to do in order to start university from fall 2011 instead of spring 2011? Do I need to re-apply or would I have to just fill out any particular form?
ReplyDeleteAlso, if my mother have the drivers license of july 2010, would that help me get resident status for fall 2011?
Tammy: It is fine to have a non-school person add another recommendation letter, but I would not suggest any more than one of these, as too many recommendations make it hard to see the forest for all the trees.
ReplyDeleteAnon: UGA looks at the individual student as compared to the overall applicant pool. We do not have a limit based upon the applicants school, state, county zip code, etc. (I have heard all of these rumors!). This issue is usually the biggest source of mis-information out there, and that is why it is the first "urban legend" discussed in our Top 10 list, https://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/top_ten_uga_admissions_urban_legends.html.
Good advice.. Thank you
ReplyDelete-Is it true that only two recommendations are wanted? Or should she have one outside source and two teachers?
And good metaphor!
Asad: You would want to contact the admissions office at admproc@uga.edu and request a change in your starting term from spring to fall. I would then suggest you review our web page on residency, https://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/residency_for_in_state_tuition.html, to get a better understanding of what we look at. A driver's license is not a key factor in the review process, but this web page lists what we look for when reviewing a residency petition.
ReplyDeleteTammy: We ask for one teacher recommendation, so I would stick with one.
ReplyDeleteMr. Graves,
ReplyDeleteI'm new to blogs but I have enjoyed trying to keep up with this one as I hope to have a child apply soon. Question - Is there a way to have your reply show up under the question that you are answering? I don't read the blog every day and when I try to catch up on the news, I find it difficult to remember which question you are responding to when there are so many. This is especially difficult when so many people ignore your request to NOT use Annonymous as their signature. Keep up the good work!
Can applying for the Summer 2011 semester as opposed to Fall 2011 semester work as an advantage (or disadvantage) to getting accepted?
ReplyDeleteI thought EA applicants are not encouraged to send in teacher recommendations? What about it deferred? How many and can they be non school related people? Like a hospital director?
ReplyDeleteAlso, my counselor told me I probably won't be accepted because I'm ranked top 25%. She told me only the top 10% are the ones usually accepted at my school. But according to CollegeBoard, 40% of last year's class were between 10% to 25%, who should I believe?
Sitting back and waiting: The blog does not allow for the answer to appear under the question (I am just happy the blog is working!), but you can always use the search field if needed and that may help.
ReplyDeleteAnon I: Applying for the summer is the same as applying for the fall, and we let students switch back and forth between the two as needed. As such, there is no advantage to the summer or fall as far as admissions.
Anon II: Teacher Recs are not required for EA, and are not looked at in the EA process, but some applicants like to go ahead and get it out of the way (and the FF/Ramsey scholarship program does require a teacher rec). Deferred students need to send in a teacher rec, and it should be from a teacher that is in a core area class from the junior or senior year if possible. If you do have a non-school recommendation sent as well, I would suggest you keep it to one additional rec.
As far as rank in class goes, you should believe me (that sounded a little arrogant!), in knowing that we are not looking at class rank in our review. A large number of schools do not use class rank, or just use deciles or quartiles or some other tile, so it is not an accurate way of looking at a student in our process. We are looking at what your grades are like, what your curriculum is like, and what your test scores are in our EA review. As well, the College Board does not always have the most exact information or put it into the proper context.
If my son sends in a non-school recommendation as well, should he leave the course subject/course name blank? Or let it say something like MCG Volunteer Program. The person we have in mind is an MCG faculty.
ReplyDeleteAnd just to make sure, are recommendations to be mailed in by the student or by the teacher?
Is it true that valedictorians and salutatorians of each public high school are automatically accepted?
ReplyDeleteCan you explain more about the UGA scholarships? Do students get more than one or are they awarded one to a student so that more people can receive some money? If it is one to a student do you start with the larger amounts and work down? My daughter didn't apply for the foundation fellows so I am more interested in the others. Also I have a question about age does that have any bearing on a student being accepted, because my daughter graduates at 16? I would like to thank you for trying to keep the parents in the loop as well.
ReplyDeleteAnon I: If the non-school person wants to send in a recommendation, they should just write a letter of recommendation and mail it in to our office. Any recommendations that are sent in should be sent by the teacher/person, not the student, unless it is given to the student in a sealed envelope.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: UGA will guarantee admission to students graduating as the valedictorian or salutatorian of any SACS accredited Georgia high school. The students must still apply and meet the deadlines for all materials, and they must meet the Board of Regents requirements. We will not automatically admit them during the Early Action period (as most schools do not have the senior year val/sal information yet), but these students will be given a special review before final decisions if they are not a part of our normal admitted group.
kdawg: Generally, a student is only awarded one scholarship from the one's overseen by UGA Admissions. If we are reviewing them for multiple scholarships (let's say the Charter scholarship for their academics and the Presidential for leadership), we may replace a lesser amount scholarship with a higher amount scholarship if they are selected for both. It depends on when the selection process occurs for each one of the scholarships as well.
ReplyDeleteAs far as age goes, this does not come into play when reviewing students for admission or scholarships.
Does someone applying for EA need teacher recs?
ReplyDeleteHello, I just read your reply to Sharon. I was was wondering about the part of your comment that deals with "broad spectrum" of AP classes. Does that mean that UGA wants to see APs in all core classes? I would like to know because my daughter has taken APs in English, Social Studies, and Science, but not Math. Math is not her strongest subject. She did get two Bs one A and has an A in her Algebra III class now in her senior year.Will that be a problem?
ReplyDeleteAnon: No, Early Action applicants do not need teacher recs, and they would almost never be used in the Early Action decision process (unless for instance there was an unusual issue such as a D or F grade and the teacher rec explained it).
ReplyDeleteTammy: No, UGA does not expect AP courses in all of the core areas. But if a student has taken the most challenging courses in all areas, it is seen as stronger than a student who has only taken rigorous classes in one or two areas. So no, your daughter's situation will not be a problem.
ReplyDeleteIf I applied for EA, do you consider my senior courses when reviewing the rigor section? So far, I have two AP classes (Statistics and European History)and I have made A's in both of them. On top of that, I have made A's in four honor classes that I have taken and I currently have a 4.0 GPA (Core only according to UGA's standards). For my senior year, I have four AP classes (Economics, Literature, Calculus, and Biology)and two honors classes (Pre-Cal and Asian Studies). In your opinion, am I a competitive student for being admitted for EA? I know that it depends on the applicant pool right now, but I was just wondering.
ReplyDeleteCB93: When UGA looks at a student's rigor of curriculum, we look at what a student will have taken over their four years of high school. It certainly looks like you have challenged yourself, and that you are doing well with a 4.00, and with core grades and rigor being major factors in Early Action, I would say you are competitive (although I have no idea about an admission decision).
ReplyDeleteI'm a parent of a hopeful new student, and I'll ask the number one question all parents really want to ask:
ReplyDeleteIf my kid goes to UGA, is he going to wind up a hopeless drunk????
Please tell me the answer is "no!!!"
Anon: I would not say that this is the number 1 question, but it does come up occasionally. No matter what college your kid attends, no one will be able to say what they will be like except for that student. Alcohol is a reality at all colleges, and it is up to the students, the parents, and the college to make sure that this issue is dealt with properly.
ReplyDeleteUGA has a number of programs both to help students understand alcohol issues (see the John Fontaine Jr. Center for Alcohol Awareness and Education) and that provide opportunities for non-alcoholic events (see Dawgs after Dark), but it takes all three groups (students, parents, college) to make these goals a reality.
In addition, while certain publications try to make headlines by putting out Party School lists, the reality is that UGA students are smart, have good parental guidance, and make good choices. Are some going to make bad decisions? Yes. But I see that now when I read some of the misconduct cases from high school in the admissions applications for next year.
So my short answer (I never seem to have a short answer) is that most UGA students become UGA graduates that their parents and their college are proud of, and it takes work from everyone to make it happen.
Thank you mr. Graves! I have 2 sons who recently graduated from UGA, had the best times of their lives, and went on to graduate at the top of their classes at MCG and UGA Law and they are not "drunks" but successful professionals. My question and gnawing concern is that our daughter has now applied EA. She only wants to attend UGA! After her application was complete she had a school
ReplyDeletediscipline issue for the first time in her life. She felt she needed to notify UGA and she sent a letter via email explaining her situation and what she's learned. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. She truly is a great kid who made a mistake. Would this ssituation automatically prevent her from being accepted EA or will her letter and supporting info be reviewed and still allow her to be considered for EA. I think she was a strong applicant before. And know her lapse in judgement in high school will make her even less likely to get into trouble in Athens. I guess I need to prepare all of us for EA decision day. I am worried but remain hopeful.....
The virus sentence had nothing to do with the question. Sorry a double tap inserted it. I am not a good as my kids with writing/texting from phones :(
ReplyDeleteAnother concerned parent: Generally, if a student makes one mistake that is not of too serious an issue (we have serious concerns about issues that indicate danger to other people, repeated infractions, and/or serious actions in addition to other problems indicated in the application), it will not stop a decision. We will look at what occurred, how the student is now handling the situation, and what the school officials/counselors have said about the issue and the student.
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome:) As a parent you understand my concern and I truly appreciate you prompt response! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of rigor, I've seen references to Advanced and Honors. How do you classify students that are enrolled in a Magnet program at their school? The rigor is more than that of a general class, but just not sure if UGA classifies Magnet/Gifted classes as advanced or honors.
ReplyDeleteAnxious Parent: In my earlier post, I was trying to include all of the possible labels for advanced courses, but I left off "magnet". Yes, we look at magnet courses as strong courses, although generally they are not listed on the transcript as "magnet". I was just reading a file of a student in a Science Magnet program, and we were able to see the advanced courses beyond what is traditional in this field listed as "Science Research, Science Internship Courses". We see these courses where a student has really challenged themselves, especially in these selected fields.
ReplyDeleteI'm the parent that asked about whether my prospective UGA student would wind up a hopeless drunk. I think you understood I was being tongue-in-cheek, but also mildy concerned. Thank you so much for you thoughtful response.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Not a problem, although the Party School issue touches a nerve at most colleges due to the lack of research the publication does before handing out these rankings.
ReplyDeleteMy son reported 2 math classes and 1 spanish class he took in 8th grade in his self reported grades since they were on his transcript as high school classes. We realize now that this was a mistake. Should we notify the admissions office?
ReplyDeleteWorried Parent
Worried Parent: If you would like, you can have him send an email in to admproc@uga.edu, although we are doing checks of the self-reported grades in comparison to the transcripts, so I would not worry too much about it.
ReplyDeletemy daughter applied EA and she is worried that she might not get in. UGA emphasizes about rigor of class and through out highschool she has taken 5 AP classes and the rest have been honors classes. Do you consider honors classes vigourous? and she worries that her sat scores might hold her back because she recieved below of the 50%th percentile of what the students of this past year recieved. I believe my daughter is a well rounded student in the classroom and out ..but i just don't want her to worry .
ReplyDeleteconserned parent
Concerned Parent: We look at the span of courses taken from 9th grade through graduation in reviewing for rigor, and we look at what was taken by the student in the core areas vs. what is offered by the school. I am not able to guess about admission though, as it is based on the overall academics of your daughter as compared to the pool of the EA applicants.
ReplyDeleteIf one was to graduate with 7 AP classes out of a possible 16 offered at ones school, would this be considered rigorous?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
CP: UGA does not determine the rigor of a curriculum based on how many AP courses a student takes. We look at what is offered as a whole, including the span of what is offered, and what the student has taken, and then get an understanding of the rigor of a student's curriculum. I have seen student's take 5 AP courses, but they are all in social studies, while the rest of their coursework is college prep. Now, if a student is taking 7 AP's and the strong lead-in courses for them in a wide variety of core areas out of the 16 possible AP courses, I would consider this rigorous.
ReplyDeleteWhen is the deadline for the honors application? We noticed a date of Dec. 15th for test scores/scholarships on this blog but the UGA website list Feb. 1st as the deadline.
ReplyDeleteNAN
My son just received an award this week. Can we add it to his application?
ReplyDeleteNKL
Anon: As I said earlier, Dec. 15 is the priority deadline for getting in the admission application for Honors/scholarships. The deadline for the Honors application is Feb. 1.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: You can send in an email to admproc@uga.edu with the new information and we will add it to his file.
I did not receive the email that went out to parents on the 17th. Was it sent to every parent?
ReplyDeleteBandmom: It was sent out to the parents of students who applied by about Nov. 10, and where we were able to have the parent email (some students do not include this in their app, and the GA411 applicants do not have this data shifted over). It is not a serious issue, as it only stated for you to have another access point for admissions through this blog. In addition, some parents probably had the email caught up in their spam filter.
ReplyDeleteSteve
ReplyDeleteMy son has a high GPA (3.9) but only average test scores. If he is deferred for EA would it help to take the ACT again in December?
Steve: It could not hurt your son to take an ACT or SAT again, just make sure he sends UGA the scores when he signs up for the exam. As well, remember that we look seriously at a student's curriculum during both EA and RD. I would also suggest that he send us his first sem. grades when the transcript is ready (if he is deferred).
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering how you compare ACT English to SAT Verbal. My daughter is very worried because she received a 27 on the ACT English, but she feels it is too low because she doesn't know what that score would be on the SAT Verbal section.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your help Dgraves! You have helped our entire family ease some anxiety through this whole application process!
GO DAWGS! We will all be at the GA v. GA Tech game today!
Anon: I do not have the exact conversion rate, but the College Board and the ACT have some concordance tables for comparing the two. a 27 is a strong score, so tell her to be positive about it. Have a great time at the game!
ReplyDeleteDo you know what the average ACT subscores for accepted EA applicants last year?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Sorry, I do not have the breakdown of the ACT subscores from last year's EA applicants.
ReplyDeleteHow much more weight do AP classes carry over honors classes? And where does dual enrollment fall in the rigor category? Would 5 APs, 4 honors, and 1 dual enrollment class be considered rigorous? These classes cover all the cores but science. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMaddie: AP courses do not automatically carry "more weight" than other classes, as it depends on what courses are offered at a school and what is taken. Some schools do not offer AP courses due to limited budgets, while some choose to offer their own very rigorous, non-AP courses due to some AP regulations. As a whole, though, UGA is looking at the range of courses a student has taken from 9th through 12th grade, from Honors to AP/IB to dual enrollment and all other types of courses.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, AP/IB or dual enrollment courses are the most challenging courses offered (though not always), and UGA looks at the depth and breadth of a students course selection compared to what is offered at that school.
I could not guess about the rigor of your example due to not having enough details, but it does seem that the student is taking a challenging courseload.
I applied early to UGA and i am worried about what decision i will get. If i recieved at 1330/1870 on SAT and a 29 on ACT, is this considered competitive? Also, my gpa is around a 3.88. Last year you admitted 60% of early applicants and was wondering if those statistics fell within that 60%
ReplyDeleteAnon: I could not really guess about your chances, but a student that has almost all A's (as a 3.88 GPA suggests), has strong test scores AND has challenged themselves in their course choices would be competitive for admission at UGA. Competitive does not mean you will be admitted, but that you are a strong applicant.
ReplyDeleteIf an applicant is deferred EA, does UGA require mid-term grades for regular decision?
ReplyDeleteFred: If a student is deferred, I always suggest sending in mid-term grades, but it is not required.
ReplyDeleteWhen the mystatus page is updated and if someone is admitted, will it give information on housing?
ReplyDeleteAnon: When a student is admitted, one of the next steps we indicate for a student to do is to apply for housing, and the packet of materials you receive in the mail will also direct you to the UGA Housing site.
ReplyDelete