Yet every year after Early Action decisions are released, our office is hit with a swarm of emails, phone calls, and posts to this blog stating that the student/parent knows someone whose GPA/SAT/ACT/Rigor was not as strong as their own, yet the other student was admitted over themselves, and we hear about X GPA or X SAT/ACT. The believe is that somehow an applicants high school, gender, zip code, height or hair color has negatively impacted their students chances. As you may have guessed, this leads to our reply that you cannot really compare students, as you would not know everything about them, from core grades to individual test subscores to how UGA views a student's rigor, and that the rumors they hear are generally false. For fun, though, here are few odd facts that put a little different spin on our Early Action admits and facts that are just facts, nothing more.
The most popular name for admitted males was John, followed by William, Andrew, Michael and Matthew. For females, the most popular name was Sarah, followed by Emily, Elizabeth, Katherine and Mary. For last names, the most common one was Smith, followed by Patel, Williams, Lee and Davis. The most popular major was Biology, and the and the most common hometown was Atlanta. We received the most applications from Northview HS in Alpharetta, and as you can probably guess, we had the most admits, defers and denies from Northview HS. We admitted students from 38 different states in Early Action, with the most popular states (behind the big leader of GA) being NC, TX and FL.
Now, if your name is Sarah Smith, and you live in Atlanta and attend Northview HS and want to major in Biology (and you are a Libra), does this mean you are going to be admitted? I have no idea, as these are just random facts about the class, but have no bearing on the actual decision.
I hope you enjoyed this (hopefully) humorous post, and Go Dawgs!
All: Just a few more interesting notes, this time concerning deferred students and some statistics for the people who think that strong SAT scores or strong grades alone determined EA admission, 75+ students were deferred who had above a 4.00 GPA, and over 100 students were deferred who had 1400+ SAT scores (out of 1600). In other words, we looked at the combination of academic factors (grades, rigor, test scores), not just one factor alone.
ReplyDeletehi! I asked about extra-information of student i can send to UGA yesterday! I was wondering where i should send it? through email to undergraduate admission office? Thank you ! :)
ReplyDeleteRachael: You can send information to be added to your file to either the counselor that works with your high school/area of the country, see https://www.admissions.uga.edu/article/meet_the_uga_admissions_staff, or you can send it to admproc@uga.edu .
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this particular blog! You make a great point in an very humorous way! By the way, I'm sure glad my son's name is Andrew :-)
ReplyDeleteMom: Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi! I was admitted early action and have a question concerning housing, which I am not sure if you know much about. If we plan to apply to the Honors Program and will live in Meyers Hall, how do we send in our housing information before we know for sure we are accepted into Honors? Can we still put Meyers as our first choice?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Patel is the most popular last name in India. Hmm. Wonder what that means.
ReplyDeleteActually, that brings up a quick question. My son's mom is Asian, but me (his father) is caucasion. When UGA (and most other colleges) ask a student's ethnicity (for statistical purposes only, of course), I don't recall seeing a "Mixed" or "Multi-Racial" category. Just curious as to why not? (I apologize if UGA does, but I've seen so many application forms I forget.)
Anon I: Myers is not just for Honors students, so you can select it now. And you are right, this would be a good question for Housing, as I am sure this has been asked of them many times.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: I would guess that Patel being a common name in India means that we have a number of applicants with a family background from India. As for the ethnicity question, the reason you do not see Multi-Racial on almost all if not all colleges applications is that the federal government has specified how this question needs to be asked. If you remember, this is an optional question (a fair number selected not to answer it), but you were able to select more than one response. As you can see, this question is asked so we can give this information to the proper federal and state agencies, and thus they have said how to ask it.
Good evening, Mr. Graves. I was deferred to regular admission, and I have a question. Through an interniship, of sorts, I write for the local newspaper in my town. It's a small paper and is only published once weekly. I have included this information in my application. Would the admissions team have any interest in seeing the articles? If so, how would I send them? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Graves, I am applying to regular decision and I have a question I would like to ask you. I currently have a 3.89 GPA and have a 1240 CR+M SAT score. My question is, I transferred schools my senior year from a small private school (I took well above suggested course rigor) to a large public institution where i was limited in my class options thus making my senior schedule look rather lazy. Will this be frowned upon in the decision process? Also having heard my information would you say I am well qualified enough to be admitted?
ReplyDeleteNarnia: If you would like to send us a few sample pieces of your work, I would suggest that you only send a few, and email them as a pdf attachment to admproc@uga.edu.
ReplyDeleteGadawg64: I would suggest you send a letter/email to our office explaining the circumstances of your transfer so we can understand it better. As for your request, I do not guess as to admission chances, so I will pass on guessing if you are qualified to be admitted.
HI! about teachers recommendations... UGA requires two teachers recommendations, one from academic teacher and one from preferable teacher, right?? one of my teacher said she already submitted it like 2 weeks ago but the other teacher said hes working on it, and today i realized when i checked my status, there was big x sign next to teachers recommendation :( should two teachers both finish their recommendations in order for me to have check sign next to my teachers recommnedation on my status?? im kind of worried about what happened to the one already submitted:(
ReplyDeleteAnon: UGA requires one teacher recommendation, and that is all we have ever required. If you would like, you can have a second one sent in, but no more than that please. As for the one already submitted, I would suggest you ask your teacher, as I could not guess about it. Did she do it online, did she put down your correct full name, did she have the correct SSN, etc. If needed, she can email it as an attachment to admproc@uga.edu .
ReplyDeleteI have taken 5 ap classes senior year and my GPA was 3.987 till now but in my AP Calculus BC class my first semester grade is a 85. I was hoping to get into the honors program and looking at this grade, I'm not sure if I can get in anymore and if this grade will hurt my acceptance. Should I drop AP Calculus BC for AP Calculus AB or will that look bad to the admissions for honors?
ReplyDeleteThank you
Anon: I would not be able to answer for Honors, but Admissions looks at the challenge of a course in consideration with the grades. I would not suggest dropping back if you are still doing well, but I would suggest a better person to ask is your math teacher, as they would know your ability, work ethic, and how you have been doing in the class.
ReplyDeleteI'm a current freshman at UGA and my younger brother is getting ready to apply regular decision for UGA. Does the fact that I go to UGA help his chances for acceptance at all? And speaking of that, is there anything else I can do to help his acceptance?
ReplyDeleteif my teacher submitted mine online with correct full name but no social security number,(i thought only green fields were required..) UGA will not going to look at it?? is there anywhere UGA can check if its there??
ReplyDeleteAnon I: Your being a student at UGA has no impact on your younger siblings decision at UGA. As for what you can do to help him, keep on top of him to make sure he completes his application well before the deadline, make sure he keeps up with the required materials by checking his myStatus page, and make sure he does his best senior year.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: The SSN was not required on the teacher rec., but it then takes longer to match it up as we have to do it manually instead of allowing the system to do it. Make sure that the teacher received an email verifying that the recommendation was submitted, and you can email admproc@uga.edu with your information so we can check on it. Email us only if it has been a few weeks since either the materials were sent in or you applied (whichever is last), and give us your full name, birthdate, etc.
Hello. I was deffered from EA and was thinking about retaking my SAT and ACT. I previously made an 1860 on my SAT and 27 on ACT. If I retake the SAT January 22 and ACT Febuary 12th, and say I get higher scores, will this help improve my chances on being admitted? Will UGA take my scores even though they are passed RA admission dealine? Should I retake my SAT only since it is January 22?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Comments added to posts created over 10 days from the current date must be moderated by me (I must okay the comment), so please be patient and understand that you do not need to repost right away if you do not see your comment appear. As for your question, here is what I wrote in response to your previous question(s):
ReplyDeleteAnon: The last test score date UGA will be able to use is the Jan. 22 SAT. The Feb. ACT is too late, especially since it takes longer for ACT to get the scores back than SAT (which usually gets us scores in under three weeks).
And yes, a higher score on the SAT can only improve your chance for admission.
This post was delightful! No other university has information posted that is as useful and entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI have emailed a specific extra cirricular at uga and expressed interest in joining. I am also a deferred applicant. They said they are attaching a letter to my file. How much weight does that carry being that I'd commit to that club?? Also I've heard that admissions doesn't actually read all essays for regular and it is actually quite random in the selection process, is this true?? About how many deferred applicants that finish their essay get in?? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI was accepted as a Spring Transfer. Where would I send my transcripts for the fall semester so I can finish the Transfer process. Also do you think I will be denied admission because my GPA dropped to a 3.4
ReplyDeleteAnon I: Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnon II: The admission decision is not random, as we will be reading files from early January to mid-March, and we will look at everything (so please let whoever told you this know differently). Generally, a passion for joining a club at UGA will not have much impact, but your activities/work/etc. over the past 4 years is looked at, along with everything else in the file. I do not have an exact number for admits in any group, and I cannot guess about the future, but in past years, roughly 50% of the deferred and then complete applicants were admitted by the end of the process.
Anon III: Yes, send in fall grades so they can go towards your UGA degree, and no, dropping to a 3.40 transfer GPA would not change a decision.
Are joint-enrollment grades encouraged to be sent?
ReplyDeleteIf so, my name on my college transcript doesn't match the name on my uga application. Although it matches my preferred name and ssn.
Have the Honors auto-admits been sent yet? I know you say to contact the Honors folks, but they don't have a fabulous blog like this!
ReplyDeleteJoint: Go ahead and send in the transcript, and then let us know about the name issue about a week or so after we should have received it.
ReplyDeletestill waiting: I do not have Honors decision dates, but just be patient.
I have a number of Extracurricular activities and volunteer work. I also work with an organization based out of UGA. Would it be okay to send some information about my work with the organization and possibly a resume of my Extracurriculars? Also, I do joint-enrollment, did that hurt my chances at UGA?
ReplyDeleteThanks again for this blog...it's amazing.
Mpgotdeferred: We are fine for you to send in a resume, and it can include the info about your work with a UGA organization. As for dual enrollment work, we are fine with students taking these classes, so it is not a negative.
ReplyDeleteYou say that dual enrollment is not a negative, but is it a positive? I would think it shows that a student can handle higher level work in a college setting.
ReplyDeleteI have a scholarship question. My daughter just received a letter notifying her that she has been offered the One UGA Scholarship, is it still possible to get other scholarships from UGA and be notified at a later date? Thank you so much for answering all of our questions, You help many of us sleep better at night.
ReplyDeleteI have been accepted to UGA for fall of 2011. I have set up my UGA ID account and email. When I try to log on to my email account, it won't let me. I have read over the FAQ section, but nothing works. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteFor essay B (friend essay)
ReplyDeleteDoes the person have to go to my high school? or merely someone who I have connected with?
Hey D Graves I wanted to clarify something. I thought I remembered seeing that you would accept the January SAT scores but in my decision letter it says that January 15th would be the cut off for the acceptance of any scores.
ReplyDeleteHello Mr Graves !
ReplyDeleteI live in fulton county ! (north)
whos going to be my representative/counselor at UGA admissions office if i want to send him/her an email??? thank you ! :)
I was wondering if you could please guide me to the site where I can determine which of my AP classes will give me college credits.
ReplyDeleteThanks, a lot.
DGraves:
ReplyDeleteI was deferred unfortunately, but I have a very strong (I think)extracurricular profile. Will that increase my chances of getting into UGA? (Since UGA is taking a more holistic approach in RD rather than EA)
Mom: Generally, dual enrollment is a positive, as it shows advanced rigor in a student's coursework.
ReplyDeleteAnon I: We will be reviewing students throughout the admission cycle (through about mid-April) for scholarships, and we may review a student for a different one than awarded at first.
Anon II: Since the UGA email system is not run through our office, I would be of little help. Send them an email, and then be patient.
Essay: It does not have to be about someone in your school.
Zac: In the past we have had some issues with Jan. or later test scores, but we have now seen that the SAT can get us scores in about 20 days, so we are fine with the Jan. SAT (and we just did not change the communications).
Hello: I believe that Lindsey Dean is the contact person for N. Fulton schools for the most part.
Anon III: See http://www.reg.uga.edu/creditFromTesting for credit from testing for UGA.
Kellie: During the next step, we will be reading your file in detail, and one thing we do review is your extra-curricular profile.
Is it possible to get more than one scholarship offer from UGA?
ReplyDeleteAnon: If we are just talking about the scholarships awarded by Undergraduate Admissions, then you can be considered for later scholarships and may be awarded a different scholarship at a later date. If a scholarship offer is made for a different, larger scholarship, we would then send you information that we are replacing the lesser scholarship with the larger one. We will continue to review applications for scholarship purposes through mid-April.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to ask a question regarding the counselor evaluation/teacher recommedation. These can only be done after I submitted my application?
Santana2011: These can be submitted before you apply, but you need to make sure that your SSN is correct on your application, and that your counselor has your correct SSN. If the counselor does their part after you have applied, they can access a pre-populated form with your information, but if it is before you apply, they have to do one from scratch.
ReplyDeleteokay thank you :)
ReplyDeleteHow long does it usually take for a recommendation to be processed? I had a teacher send in a recommendation a week ago, and it has not yet shown up as received on my status.
ReplyDeleteAnon: If it was sent a week ago, then it may not have made it to us by Friday due to the postal service, so we may just be handling it now. I would guess that from a person mailing it out to it showing up in the system takes about 6-8 business days, give or take (if your application is already in the system). So if they sent if off last Wednesday let's say, then we are at four business days today, so give us until Friday at least. As my new post also says, UGA will be closed down from late afternoon on Friday until the morning of Jan. 4, so be patient with us during that span, as we will not be in the office or updating the myStatus page during that gap.
ReplyDelete(Same Anon from above.)
ReplyDeleteI actually had my teacher send the recommendation through the online form. Will that still be accepted, or do I need to get her to mail it in?
Anon: If the teacher did it online, first double check that they submitted it and they received an email acknowledging it was sent. Then make sure it had the correct information on it. If they put a different SSN from what is listed, then it will not match, or if they left off the SSN, then it is manually matched in about two business days. If the teacher did not get an email response, it could be it did not submit, and I would suggest they email it to admproc@uga.edu so we can drop it into your file.
ReplyDeleteHi DGraves,
ReplyDeleteI got admitted and wanted to talk to an advisor to help me choose classes for dual enrollment next semester, but I dont know where to reach them. Do you have an idea of who I need to contact?
Anon: First, we are on break this week, so you would not be able to reach an advisor at this time. Second, I would suggest going to the majors area of the bulletin, http://bulletin.uga.edu/MajorsHome.aspx, and look up your intended major. This will give you a contact person and their contact information.
ReplyDeleteHi how do I change my ethnicity on my application? My mom is Hispanic and my dad is Caucasian. I put Caucasian, but want to change it to Hispanic. I was told that I could claim Hispanic for my ethnicity. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Just send an email to admproc@uga.edu and we will make the adjustment and add the email to your file.
ReplyDeleteHI DGraves,
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine applied early admission and he got differed, I am applying regular admission. We have the same academics/scores/extras, does he have a better chance since he got differed from early admission and I am going regular?
Anon: All applicants, deferred and RD, are treated the same, and have an equal chance of admission.
ReplyDeleteIf a student applies as a freshman summer applicant, is he/she automatically accepted to stay in the fall as well or does the student have to reapply? also, where can I find information on what a summer freshman student has to do?
ReplyDeleteAshton: UGA does not have different admissions standards for summer vs. fall, so a student admitted for the summer takes summer courses, and then continues in the fall. As well, if you are admitted for the summer or fall, and then decide to change to the other term, just contact us and we will shift your application to that term. Most freshman that start in the summer at UGA are a part of the Freshman College Summer Experience, and it can be found at http://freshmancollege.uga.edu/ .
ReplyDeleteDo you consider it a plus if an applican is an eagle scout?
ReplyDeleteMitchell: We see being a part of the Boy Scouts and being an eagle scout as a very involved, very dedicated activity. This does not mean a specific decision, only that one item in one part of our review is a strong activity.
ReplyDelete