When we judged how good the food was, we based it on the finished product. We did not taste the pasta after only four minutes of boiling and decide to throw it out. In addition, we did not look at the chicken half way through cooking and throw it out because it was still pink inside. We based our decision on how the meal was after is was all prepared and sitting on the table.
In the same way, UGA is not done with freshman admissions decisions. We are done with the Early Action part of the process, but we are still a long way from being done with final decisions! We will still be receiving a great deal of RD applications, reviewing transcripts, reading essays, doing holistic reviews, etc. So if you were deferred, please know that we still have a lot of admission decisions to make! We will still be admitting 3,500-4,000 more freshman, but you can only be considered if you complete part II.
So please do not judge the UGA admission decisions half way through the process when only EA decisions have been released. Right now, UGA is still in that middle period of the cooking process, and the overall meal is still not fully done. It will not be until late March when decisions are made that we can look at the overall class and see what it is like. Again, please be patient, know that there is still a lot to be done in the review process, and put your best foot forward in the next stage of the process.
UGA is my number one university and I was deferred...My SAT/ACT scores are slightly lower than the mid range of the accepted students this year, I've taken over 6 IB courses, and I have a decent GPA. Of course I plan on completing part II of the application but I'm not sure if I should take the SAT again. I'd have to work extremely hard to increase my score enough to be within the mid range but I'm willing to do whatever I have to in order to be accepted. I was just wondering if it's possible that I would be accepted after just reviewing part II of the application. Would reviewing my extra curricular activities, volunteer work, teacher recommendations, and short answer questions get me accepted-despite having lower SAT/ACT scores? Also, I'd like to contact the head of admissions or whoever would be able to help answer some of my other questions-what email do you suggest I use in order to do so? Thank you so much!
ReplyDeletedo you have a specific date in late March to give us like you did for the EA decisions?
ReplyDeleteAnon: First, as to the question of the SAT, that is your choice, but could never lower your score by taking another SAT, only raise it, as we take the highest subscores.
ReplyDeleteTwo, we could not guess about your admission decision, because we are reviewing you in comparison with the other applicants, and we do not know how many we will have overall or what they are like. We will be looking at you as a whole, so it just depends on that (I do not guess about admission decisions). Third, I would suggest that if you have a question that I have not answered (and the people you contact in my office cannot guess about a decision either), you go to our website, select the "Meet the Staff" link on the left, and email the counselor who works with students in your area of the US. The Director of Admissions is going to be fairly busy next week and cannot speak to everyone with a question, so this is the best route.
Anon II: It is too early to guess about the March date, but when I know, I will list it on here.
I noticed that on a previous post you mentioned that ACT/SAT test scores through Jan would be taken for regular decision. The Admission calendar says that Dec. is the latest possible ACT/SAT for regular decision. Can you please clarify? I would like to take the SAT again to try to improve my scores, but I want to be certain that if I take them in January they will be included in the evaluation of my application.
ReplyDeleteMr. Graves,
ReplyDeleteI believe I have read in the past that this year's essay prompts will be the same from last year. Is this correct? I would just like to clarify. Thank you for your time. It is greatly appreciated.
are the EA applications that were deferred flagged somehow when they are changed to RD to let you know that it was originally an EA application? In other words, when you look at my application again in March, will you know that I was a deferred applicant?
ReplyDeleteMy school does the block scheduling, however two of my classes are on alternating days and won't have final grades until the end of the school year in may. Will those two in progress grades (both are AP courses) be considered since they are the only of my first semester grades that won't be final?
ReplyDeletessikitch: For a number of years, the Jan. SAT scores were not sent to UGA in time for RD. SAT has since done a better job, so we now will be able to accept them.
ReplyDeleteJWL: Yes, the essay prompts are the same as last year.
just curious: Yes, we indicate which are deferred and which are RD, but only to track which one's need part II (RD applicants already have submitted part II). But in the review process, we will treat everyone the same.
EmK: Send us the transcript, and at least we will know how you are doing so far with the course.
ReplyDeleteI have taken the SAT but not the ACT. I was deferred from EA and was considering taking the ACT before RD. Would this be beneficial?
ReplyDeleteAlso I was not able to send my AP scores in time for them to be considered for EA. Will sending these scores increase my chances of getting in RD?
Anon: We are fine if you take the ACT, but the only test date available in order to get the score in on time is next weekend. We are not able to use the Feb. ACT. As for the AP scores, we do not look at them for EA, and they are not a big factor at all in the next phase, but we are fine if you send them.
ReplyDeletehow will we know if the updated transcript and an additional counselor evaluation (if we wanted) have been received?
ReplyDeleteAnon: An updated transcript will show up with a new date on the myStatus page, but an additional counselor evaluation will not, so you will need to check with your counselor to make sure it is sent.
ReplyDeleteIs the number of times a student takes the SAT seen or considered in evaluation? For example, if a student takes the SAT six times and scores a 1400, whereas it only takes another student one time to get the same score, will they be looked at any differently?
ReplyDeleteAnon: We do not look at how many times a student has taken the SAT as part of our review. At the same time, I do not suggest you run out and take it 8 times, as it will exhaust you, your wallet, and at that point I would not expect a change in the scores.
ReplyDeleteWanted to give kudos to a young student worker in your admissions office that called our house the other day. She called asking for our daughter (who happened to answer the phone) and introduced herself. Said she was a Junior at Georgia and wanted to encourage our daughter to apply for the 2011 school year (UGA was one of 4 places our daughter has sent her SAT/ACT scores). Our daughter was caught off guard by this call but regrouped in time to explain that she had accepted an EA decision elsewhere. The UGA student (I believe she said she was a Junior) was completely understanding and wished her well. We've had other schools call to inquire whether our daughter was going to apply or not and they have been, shall I say, less than understanding. Questioning her decision and berating the other school. This young UGA student was told where our daughter was going and still was polite (although there aren't the best of feelings right now between these two SEC school). I hope this UGA student does well in her life and definitely is a nice reflection of your school.
ReplyDeletewow...how nice to get a phone call like that! how does one rate getting a personal phone call inviting them to apply when there are literally thousands already out there applying and practically begging to be accepted?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Thank you for the kind words, and I am glad the student did such a great job.
ReplyDeletehmmm: Just like any other college, our office works with students who have had interactions with our admission office to check and see how things are going, if they are going to apply, etc. When student's show interest in UGA (again, just like other colleges), we send them information, emails, etc. If for example, a student sends us strong ACT scores, and then visits our campus, etc., why wouldn't we follow up with them? We are looking to have the best applicant pool and enrolling class possible, and we are glad that we have wonderful UGA students and great HS students to work with!
i have visited your campus three times in the last several months, had my scores sent as well, ..ive never gotten an email, phone call or information mailed to me? guess i wasnt good enough...oh well, im still applying, even though i wasnt personally invited too
ReplyDeleteFor EA applicants that were deferred, will you recalculate GPA with the new transcripts sent from fall semester, for a dual enrollment student taking all dual enrollment classes? And should the student have a recommendation from one of her college professors and a high school teacher? Thanks so much for your blog!
ReplyDeleteAnon: As you can see, I gave generic examples, and much more goes into it. As well, we just started with these phone calls a short while ago, since the RD deadline is Jan. 15. No one has said you are not good enough, but when you have 60,000 prospective students (yes, this is the number that have shown an interest in UGA this year), it takes a while. We are happy that you are deciding to apply, but I ask that you also be reasonable in the reality of our admission office's time constraints (along with the sheer numbers!).
ReplyDeleteGo Dawgs: We are not able to recalculate all the GPA's of the deferred/RD students, as we do not have enough time or manpower, but we will look seriously at the first sem. grades in the file review (this goes for dual enrollment grades as well). We are fine with either a letter from the HS teacher or a college professor.
When will Ga411 users be advised the status of their applications?I sent an email this morning and have not heard back. What is the time frame for letters to go out to those who were accepted? Is it possible to tell Ga411 users over the phone whether or not they were accepted?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Please give us a little time to process your request, as we are also dealing with a large volume of other contacts (see the number of comments over the weekend just on this blog alone). As well, this is not an issue for all GA411 applicants, only for ones who did not ever check their status previously. We do not give out decisions by phone.
ReplyDeleteSorry, totally understand that you are swamped today. If my son was accepted and did not set up mystatus, will it delay an acceptance letter? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnon: The myStatus is just about showing a decision online, and will not slow down a decision letter (admit, defer or deny letter). Remember, we are sending out over 10,000 letters, so it takes a while.
ReplyDeleteSince early decisions were sent out earlier this year, does that mean that reagular decisions will also be sent out earlier?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Since I do not know how many applications we will ultimately receive, I cannot guess as to a timeframe for final decisions yet.
ReplyDeleteAfter comparing numbers (GPA, SATs, ACTs) and courses, I was deferred while a friend who has almost identical academics got accepted.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I looked at my application page and realized that my ACT score (31) was not on there, even though I called them and they confirmed that the scores were sent electronically on November 17.
Is there any possible way that since there has been some sort of mixup, and that the ACT scores were sent before you closed the servers down, that the decision can be re-evaluated?
I only ask this because my friend and I took literally the same classes and had almost identical grades, and so I believe the ACT may be able to push me over the edge.
Thanks very much for your time
Anon: In a post that I just put up about what our office will be doing next, one thing we will be doing on Wed. is to begin uploading SAT/ACT scores that we had to hold due to the scores coming after we had to shut down the import for EA decisions. The updated scores will show up on the myStatus page on Thursday, and if you do not seem them in then, contact our office. I am guessing that we received them too late for EA, but we will be able to use them for later review.
ReplyDeleteIn addition (as I have mentioned a few times in other comments), UGA has three release dates for decisions. To quote one of my other comments:
"During mid-February, our office will review any RD applicants, Incomplete EA applicants who then completed their file, and any EA applicants who have completed part II. We will look at these applicants to see if any of them meet the EA admit criteria that we used in Dec. (if an RD applicant has a 4.0 GPA, 10 AP and 1500/750 SAT's, or if a deferred applicant raised his/her test scores dramatically, for instance), and if they meet the EA criteria, we will then admit them in late Feb. This is usually not a large group, but we do have some who fall into this category. The students who do not meet the EA admission criteria will hear in late March after we have had a chance to read their files in detail, and look at them in comparison to the rest of the applicant pool."
So the new ACT scores could impact a decision in Feb. if you complete part II and get in a teacher rec.
I had a three and four point higher ACT score as well as a better GPA than both kids at my school that got accepted while I was defered. I've moved on but am curious as to how this happened when no essays were required.
ReplyDeleteAnon: I really cannot say this any clearer or any more times: YOU CANNOT COMPARE YOURSELF AGAINST OTHER APPLICANTS UNLESS YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION ON ALL THE APPLICANTS THAT UGA HAS! PERIOD!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the shouting, but when you say your ACT is X points higher, you seem to just be looking at the Composite score, not the subscores that UGA looks at. As well, they may have submitted SAT scores that you do not know about (and what those subscores are). For GPA, we do not use the GPA on the HS transcript, but instead look at the core grades on a transcript and re-calculate the GPA. Finally, we take a serious look at the rigor of a student's curriculum, not just by the number of AP courses, but by a review of the broad scope of core classes that a student had taken (or will take) from 9th through 12 grade. In other words, we look at a lot more that what you have mentioned.
Including those that have been deferred and are completing part II, how many applicants usually apply during Regular Decision?
ReplyDeleteAnon: There is no usual, as every year may be different, and just like in EA, some students will apply but not complete their files. Overall, we received about 17,000 to 18,000 total freshman applicants during each of the last two years, but I do not have exact numbers on how many were complete and how many fell within the "competitive range" to go into the read process (remember, about 500 EA applicants were denied).
ReplyDeleteI am taking the ACT again on Saturday and I have a couple questions. When superscoring the ACT will you take the high English score from one exam and match it with the high Writing score of another? Are the Reading and Science portions considered in the admission process?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Yes, UGA takes the highest subscores in our review of applications. The English, Math and English/Writing scores are key when we are comparing SAT to ACT scores, but we also use all of the subscores in the overall process.
ReplyDeleteI applied Early action and was deferred, i was just wondering how many people actually were accepted early action and how many were deferred?
ReplyDeleteabout how many people do you think uga will accept in february?
ReplyDeleteAnon: Roughly 6,100 applicants were admitted, and 3,200 deferred. There were also incomplete and denied applicants in the mix.
ReplyDeleteAnon II: I have no idea at this time how many people are still yet to apply, so I do not know how many we will admit in Feb. or March.
Do the teacher recommendation letters need to be done online or mailed? Thanks
ReplyDeleteL. Raulerson: Either online or in the mail is fine for teacher recs.
ReplyDeleteSo just to clarify,
ReplyDeleteIf we were deferred, we can take the January SAT and it will be used in the next evaluation?
Anon: Yes, we will take the Jan. SAT if you make sure you request it be sent to UGA when you sign up for it (and please make sure you use your full name, correct birthdate, and correct SSN so matching it will be easy).
ReplyDeleteI am a permanent resident of USA. My family moved to GA 7 months ago from a foreign country.Hence, my parents have not filled out the tax return claiming georgia residency for last year.However, they will be filling it this year.
ReplyDeletewhen i choose 'No' in the option box, it asks me my legal state of residency. But I haven't been to any other state .I was in a foreign country.
Please suggest what i should do?
This question is under 'required biography'
Anon: I would suggest entering in "DC" as this is both the D. of Columbia and a default in our system for out-of-country issues. You will then need to send in your perm. residency card, and a residency petition.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much!
ReplyDeleteMy son is just finishing up his application package and has gotten letters of recommendation from two teachers instead of the online version. Will this be ok or does he need them to do the online one?
ReplyDeleteAnon: We are fine to have the teacher recommendation come in by paper, but remember that it will take longer to get them into the system due to the mail, opening them, scanning them, and dropping them into his file (all steps that can be avoided for the most part by the online teacher rec.).
ReplyDelete