Advice about the UGA Admission Process

Summer/Fall 2012 Transfer Admission

2012-02-02T14:32:00.002-05:00

As our review of the freshman transcripts (just the transcripts, not the entire file!) comes to an end, we will now starting up our transfer reviews. The transfer decision process is very different from the freshman process, so please take note. While the freshman decisions go out at three times during the year (November, late February and late March), the transfer decisions will go out beginning in February and ending in late May/early June, and are made on a daily basis. Here are a few notes on the Transfer Admission Process:

Transfer Deadlines
Around this time, we receive a number of questions about why our fall transfer deadline for both applications and college transcripts is April 1. Just so everyone knows, our transfer deadlines are set up as they are for a few reasons. First, the transfer review process is a very detailed and time consuming process, and we set the deadline so that students can receive a decision in enough time to make a decision about where to attend college. With 3,000 plus transfer applications expected for Fall, if we set the deadline at a later time (let's say June 1), you might not hear a decision until late July or early August. If you couple that with needed to have orientation, financial aid interaction, and making plans for moving (either to Athens or to another location), this timeline just does not work. So we need to have an early enough deadline so we can make decisions in an acceptable timeline.

The second issue is due to the fact that if we did extend the deadline to June 1 or so, we would most likely receive 1,000-2,000 additional applications, at least based on past history when June 1 was the fall deadline (the largest # of transfer apps in recent history was in 2001 with about 4,500). Besides causing even greater stress to the timeline, the additional applications would most likely cause the requirements to go up, as we can only handle so many entering students, both freshman and transfer. Some people might want this, and some might not, but it would definitely mean changes in our decisions.

Transfer Review Process
Transfer decision reviews are not a quick process. First, the file has to have all transcripts from any and all colleges an applicant has attended, and we must have any completed work through the Fall term of the previous year (so for this year, it would be Fall 2011 work). We then have to review the transcripts, see what classes transfer in, determine the number of transferable hours, and calculate a transfer GPA. If we then admit a student, we must plug in exactly how the transferable courses come into UGA, and whether they match specific UGA courses or come in as elective work. In addition, we must plug in the hours and GPA for HOPE scholarship purposes for those applicants that fall into this situation, and make sure that everything is correct. In other words, it can take a while.

In addition, the speed of the review depends upon the colleges an applicant has attended. If we have a large database of knowledge about a college and the courses from there (for instance GA State Univ.), then almost all of the equivalent courses are already in our database. But if you have attended several colleges where we have almost no information on (for instance, Green River CC and Central Washington Univ.), then it will take a while to research your classes and determine how the courses translate over to UGA courses.

Transfer Timelines
As you can guess, this means that I have no idea how many transfer applicants we can review a day, and how many decisions will go out on X date. As well, I cannot even begin to guess, beyond a rough monthly estimate, when you will receive a transfer decision. What I would suggest is that you should make sure that all transcripts are here through the status check system, that if you have any other names you have used (last name is Jones now but was Smith), you should contact us to let us know after the transcript is sent, and be patient. Remember, transfer decisions will both come in the mail and will be posted on the status check. But please do not ask me when you will hear a decision, or if you submitted your application and transcripts on X date, when you will most likely hear. I cannot guess about it, so just be patient.

I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!

Missing First-Year Documents

2012-01-31T13:07:00.000-05:00

Our office is at the point where we have caught up with the mail, the electronic documents, and the checking of our holding files for other matching materials. Over the next week or so, we will continue to match up materials that have just come in with freshman files, as well as do a thorough review of our holding files to make sure we did not miss any items that came in prior to the application being submitted, or that has a slightly different name then the one we have (hyphenated names, Jim instead of James, etc.). We will also continue to take in test scores until the January 28 SAT results are sent to us. Remember, all SAT/ACT scores MUST be sent to UGA electronically by the testing agency, as we do not take them from a paper copy, a transcript or any other document.

While saying this, I would suggest that if you are missing any required items for your application, you need to have them sent to us ASAP. This includes the application fee, SAT/ACT (with writing) scores, HS transcripts, school evaluations, and teacher recommendations. The online school evaluation and teacher recommendation forms are still open, and will be open for about 1 more week. In addition, if your teacher believes they have submitted an online teacher recommendation more than a few days ago, and it is still not showing, we suggest they mail in a recommendation letter, as some HS email systems have firewall issues with some forms.

In addition, if you submitted a GA411 transcript and it is not showing up in our system, just request a new one, as maybe 1% of these transcripts have an issue at times in downloading. We do not control the GA411 site, but we try our best to make it work (I just found about 30 transcripts from the same date , 1/9 , that had an issue downloading from GA411 and imported them one by one).

We know that applicants cannot always control school documents and when they are sent, so this is why we give some leeway to these items in relationship to our deadlines. But at a certain point, we need to move forward with the applicants who have completed their files, so make sure to take care of any missing items now if you have not already.

Oh, and by the way, do NOT fax any official documents, as they will be shredded.

Go Dawgs!

Quiet Time

2012-01-23T09:28:00.002-05:00

It is now quiet time in our office, a practice that we have done for about 6 years. The main desk will still be taking calls and answering emails, but the admissions counselors will be focused on freshman file reading, and thus will not be able to take calls or visit with students/families that visit our office. We will still be conducting information sessions and our counselors will be talking to guidance counselors, but in order to get decisions by late March, we need to focus on file reading. While our information clerks will still be taking calls and answering emails, the responses may be a little slower as we go along. For more information, please go to the Quiet Time Information page on our website.

I have enjoyed reading the limited number of files I have been able to get to so far, and I look forward to learning more about all our applicants! I will also try to give people updates and share more about my file reading through my twitter page.

Go Dawgs!

January Freshman Admission Update

2012-01-19T12:10:00.003-05:00

We are a few days out from the admissions deadlines, so I will try to give you an update on what is happening and where we are right now in the process. Over the long weekend, approximately 2,200 freshman applications were submitted, and we still have a few hundred more that we need to correct some errors and then push into our system. In other words, we have a lot of applications that just came in! The next step is that we have to check each one of these against the document holding file, which takes a while with 2,200 applications. In addition, we have received 12+ bins of mail, thousands of GA411 transcripts, thousands of paper/electronic transcripts, thousands of teacher recommendations, etc., all within the last 3 days. We now have to match these documents up with the appropriate applicants. What does this mean? We need time to get things matched up, so please be patient. As I type, I am staring at a list of 100 teacher recommendations that I will shortly be dragging and dropping into electronic files, and I know that there are more to come after that.

I do not have exact numbers on how many freshmen have applied yet, or how soon we will be done with matching up materials, but I hope to post updates soon. As I have said before, if it has not been 8-10 business days since you either applied or had a document sent in, just be patient and relax while we take care of things. The best thing to do right now is be patient, and if any documents are not showing as being received and were sent 8-10 business days ago (and if you applied before Friday, 1/13), then just check and make sure they were sent. If you applied on Friday or afterwards, be patient, as we have to check through a wide range of documents, and we have only had two business days to do it so far.

I hope this helps!!

Go Dawgs!

Patience at the Deadline

2012-01-13T11:15:00.003-05:00

During both the week before and the week after a deadline, life gets fairly crazy in our office. We are receiving tens of thousands of documents, both online and through the mail, and we have a number of people trying to match these documents as quickly (and accurately) as possible. And while we know that you want to check and see about missing items, I ask that you hold your phone calls, emails, visits, etc. for a little while, as you need to give us time to match up items. Over the past two days, I have had two people contacting me wondering why something that was submitted an hour or two ago is not showing up on the myStatus page. So here are a few tips and explanations so that you will understand the process.

The myStatus page was updated on 1/13 at 4:00 p.m., and will not be updated until the morning of Tuesday, 1/17. Items that arrived at the end of this week or later may not show up until later next week.
While the deadline is 1/17 (extended due to Sunday and holiday), we will be accepting supplemental documents for a few weeks after this date, as we know that some schools, counselors and teachers are somewhat overwhelmed at this time of year. That does not mean that you should wait to have things sent in, but that we try to work with schools on the documents.
The myStatus page does not work on a live feed. It is updated at about 3 a.m. or so every business day, so something that is submitted today will not show up automatically.
If a school evaluation is submitted online through our system, it will show up in 1-2 business days, as it goes straight into the student's file. If a teacher recommendation is submitted online through our system and the teacher uses the link off the email (it self-populates the information of the applicant), it will also show up in 1-2 business days. If the teacher just goes to the form and enters in your information, it will have to be hand matched, and it will take longer.
If an item is sent through the mail, through GA411, or through Naviance, it has to be hand matched, and it takes a few days.
If you had something sent in before you applied, it gets put into a holding file for documents awaiting matching, and then can only be matched after you apply. When we have 2,000 people apply right at the deadline, which is a lot of applicants to check against our holding file, so be patient.
We generally say to give us 8-10 business days (not just days, but business days) to get something into your file after it has been sent/submitted. It usually takes much less time, but you never know.
Make sure your teacher/counselor uses your full name, as I have seen first/last names reversed, nicknames instead of first names, or even the occasional letter with only a first name on it. These will take much longer to match up (if we are able to), as we have your official name on the application and go with that name. As well, there are a number of students with the same name, and if there is no birthdate or middle name on the letter, we may have to double check the different files for accuracy (I once had a set of twins with the same first name!).
Test scores are loaded several times a week, but your scores need to be sent officially by the testing agency, and UGA does not control when they are sent to us. As well, if the scores arrive today, it generally takes 1-2 days to then load them into our system.
If you send a fax, I will shred it. Faxed official documents are not acceptable. I don't think I can make that any clearer.
Fee waivers and checks must go through a specific financial tracking process before they are entered to make sure there is no financial misconduct, so be patient with these items getting into the system.

So my best answer is that the word of the day is PATIENCE. We hope to have a first pass of all materials matched with files within the next two weeks, and we will then search for missing items. These usually are items where there are hyphenated names, nicknames, etc., and we did not catch them the first time around.

Right now, just breath, know that we are doing our best to match up items, and have patience.

Go Dawgs!

Deadlines - Cut the Wire

2012-01-11T21:04:00.002-05:00

Since the deadline is fast approaching (because 1/15 falls on a Sunday, and the next day is a holiday, the actual deadline is 1/17), here are my thoughts on why not to apply right on the deadline. This is in addition to the added stress to your parents, counselors, admissions offices, etc. that is caused by doing things at the deadline! Enjoy!

Go Dawgs!

Admissions Thoughts - January 2012 edition

2012-01-04T11:38:00.004-05:00

We are about 2 weeks from the RD deadline (if a deadline falls on a weekend or a holiday, we move it to the next business day, so the RD deadline is January 17 this year), so here are some quick thoughts during this time:

While the deadline is about 2 weeks away, I do not suggest waiting until the deadline to submit your application. Think about it like a scene in an action movie where the timer on the bomb shows one minute, and the hero is holding a pair of wire cutters. Do you really want to wait until the timer is down to 1 second before you cut the wire? If not, don't wait until the last second to submit the application!
Tell your neighbor, tell your friends, tell your counselor and tell your teacher, NO FAXES! We will shred any official document that comes in as a fax.
Be patient as we go through the large volume of applications, transcripts, recommendations, etc. that will come in over the next few weeks. If something does not show up the day after you send it, do not panic.
If you go by a different name than is on your application (your real name is James R. Graves III, but you go by Trey), tell your school counselor and teacher that the documents they send in need your full correct name on them. We are working off your full name, so trying to find Trey will be difficult. The same goes for test scores (put your official name on the SAT/ACT when signing up for it!).
The deadline is the deadline for both the application and supporting documents. If you do not know this, then you did not read the instructions. We do give some amount of leeway with the deadline, but not much, so get your documents in on time.
The last test score we will take will be the January 28 SAT. We are not able to use any test scores taken after this date. Remember, put UGA as one of your options for colleges receiving these scores. Do not wait until you see the scores before you send them, as it may delay the scores for too long. Remember, we only use the highest subscores from all of your tests, so you can send all scores in without fear of a lower score hurting you.
When completing the different activities/sports/honors/work sections, make sure you put things in the correct sections. In addition, make sure to tell us about your involvement in the activity, when you were active in it (including projected spring 2012 activities), and list groups that are outside of school if applicable. We want to know if you volunteer at the local library, if you are active in a youth group, if you play a club sport, etc. We are not mind readers, so you need to tell us about yourself.
Do not take an academic dive second semester of your senior year. It will come back to haunt you if you do (eerie, haunting music should accompany this bullet point).
Do not over-obsess about the essays. Write them, let us know about yourself in them, let another person read them to check for errors (and then fix them), and then submit. Do not over-analyze your essays! There is no exact perfect essay or perfect word choice.
Do not use a thesaurus to write your essays. You don't sing "Propel, propel, propel your craft, lightly down the liquid solution, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, existence is but an illusion." Write it so we can read it!
Double check the eight or so items we show you on the last submission page to make sure they are correct, and make sure you use your correct SSN. Do not use the SSN for your sibling, father, mother, best friend, etc. Make sure it is correct (down to the last digit), or things might not always go smoothly, from admissions to financial aid.
Don't forget to smile and breathe.

Go Dawgs!

myStatus Transcript Issue

2011-12-29T12:30:00.001-05:00

As some of you may have noticed, there is an issue with the myStatus page displaying transcripts as received. I have communicated with the head of our technology team, and for some reason, the transcript database for the myStatus page did not load correctly the day that we left for the holidays. He is working on getting it updated, so do not panic if a transcript that was showing as in earlier in the year now has a red X beside it. We will fix the problem soon, so you do not need to email, call (we are on break, so no one would answer), or send a replacement transcript. We hope to have this fixed very shortly.

*** Update: The problem with the transcript database has now been fixed, so everything should now be showing up correctly. Please remember that we will be out of the office until Tuesday, January 3, so no materials or new applications will be input until then.

Go Dawgs!

Out for the Holidays

2011-12-24T11:48:00.001-05:00

Our office will be closed for the Holiday break, and we will not return until early January. As such, any emails, mailings, phone calls, etc. will not be acted upon until after the holiday break. As well, I will only be making sporadic checks on the blog posts, so please be patient. As well, when we return in January, we will be working for a few days on enrolling Spring students and then right into freshman application deadline issues, so any questions that can wait (summer/fall transfer issues, questions about HS juniors or younger, etc.) should be put on hold until later in January.

Go Dawgs!

What has been great with other colleges?

2011-12-22T11:36:00.002-05:00

Throughout the year, while we read files, attend college fairs, match documents, review transcripts, visit schools, answer emails and phone calls, and generally just work with students and parents, we also look around and see what other college admissions offices are doing to help students know more about themselves. As such, here is your chance to let us know what has impressed you when working with other colleges (please no negative stories!), so that we can look at it and see if we can do our jobs better at UGA. Understand that our office has a limited budget and limited staff, so we cannot do everything in the world. But if a certain program, mailing, contact, event, or action from admissions struck you as impressive, I would love to hear about it!

Thanks, and Go Dawgs!

The Fourth Quarter

2011-12-19T16:29:00.002-05:00

For a majority of students, the first semester is coming to an end, and with it comes the arrival of the dreaded disease known as senioritis. Hopefully, this video will shed a little more light on how UGA Admissions looks at a student's senior year.

Go Dawgs!

December Admissions Reminders

2011-12-12T14:10:00.002-05:00

As we get further into December, here are a few reminders concerning UGA Admissions:

Please, please, please do not wait until the last minute to send in your application and materials! Please!
We have about 13,500 students who have applied so far, so I expect we will receive about 5,000 more applications. If you are one of those that is waiting to send it in until the last minute, know that life gets hectic around deadline time, so be prepared to wait as we sort through all of the materials and match up documents.
Remember that our office will not be open from 12/26 through 1/2, so any information sent in during that time will not be matched up until we return and have a chance to start working again. In addition, we will have about 1,000 students starting in the Spring term that week, so we will have to focus on their needs as well.
Do not wait to send in your SAT/ACT scores until after you apply, as you might forget to send them! If we do not have official SAT/ACT (with Writing) scores in, we cannot move forward with your file.
Please remember that it takes time to match up items with your application, so do not contact us a day or two after you have applied wondering why your transcript is not showing up on your myStatus page.
Remember, we hate faxes!! The shredder is next to the fax (we do send and receive some faxes that are not official documents), and we will shred any transcript, recommendation letter, etc. that is sent for a student.
January 15 is the Regular Decision deadline, but if it falls on a weekend or holiday, we extend the deadline to the next business day, so January 17 is the accurate deadline this year. Please do not see this as a chance to wait two more days though, as deadlines you should shoot to get things in before a deadline, not on a deadline.
Deadlines are for the application and all other documents as well! The only two exceptions are February 1 for Fall grades, and we will take in any SAT/ACT that is taken in January (but you need to request the scores to be sent to UGA when you take the exam).
Make sure your teachers know your real name, as I had to match up a recommendation yesterday where the name on the letter was not the name on the application. I cannot guess that the name on the materials refers to your middle name or nickname.
If you are deferred, do not (I repeat DO NOT) fill out an entirely new application. Just complete part II and have a teacher recommendation sent in.
We want to see your Fall grades, so make sure you either include them in your update section of part II, enter them in your self-reported grades if you know the final grades for the term, or have an updated transcript sent in to our office.
Good luck during finals for the fall term, and have a great holiday season!

Go Dawgs!

Essays and Jokes, and How they are Similar

2011-12-06T11:35:00.001-05:00

A number of you are now starting to write the four short essays for UGA, either because your decision was deferred or because you are finishing up your Regular Decision application. As such, here is some advice on good essays, and how telling a joke well and writing a good essay are similar. Just to be clear, I am not saying to include any jokes in your essays, but instead how the the two creative processes (joke-telling and essay writing) are similar.This is my first attempt at a video blog post, I hope you enjoy it. As you can probably guess, I will be cringing and wondering if that is really how I look, and if my voice really sounds like that to everyone.

Go Dawgs!

Recommendation Letters

2011-12-01T12:51:00.001-05:00

We receive a number of questions at this time of year about teacher recommendations, so here is my (limited) advice on the subject. First, when figuring out who you should ask to write a letter of recommendation, try to find a teacher who knows you well, and has taught you within the last 1-2 years. UGA prefers teachers from core academic subjects, and we suggest you only have one teacher recommendation sent in. If you really feel like you need a second teacher recommendation (or one from a person outside the school such as a boss, a volunteer program coordinator, a minister, etc.), then I suggest the maximum should be one additional letter. Why do I say this? At a certain point, too much information starts to detract from our counselors being able to focus on the important items. If you have six recommendations in your file (and most of them will say similar things), we then start to spend more time shuffling through these letters than focusing on your other strengths.

For us, the purpose of the recommendation letters is to learn more about you from teachers/school officials who deal with you on a day to day basis, and can give us insight into what you are like in their classrooms, their hallways, and in the life of your school. Do you sleep in class, do you work well with others on projects, are you respectful to the ideas of others, do you pay attention, etc. How you act day in and day out in a HS class can give us insight into how you will be in our classrooms and in the UGA community. A recommendation letter that just gives us information that we already know, from a student's grades to activities (which are already in the file!), or holds up the applicant as the perfect student really does not help us in the review process. We are looking for insight into what the student is really like.

I still remember one of the first students I worked with in a college admissions setting, Patrick F. (almost 20 years ago!). He was a great student/person from Plano, TX, back when Plano Senior HS was the only high school in the town. One of his recommendations was from a priest/volunteer-organizer who wrote a recommendation without Patrick knowing about it. In the letter, the priest was able to give amazing insight into the type of person that Patrick was, and was able to show me what he was like when no one was watching. It talked about his positive manner of interacting with people in need of a helping hand and a kind voice, and how he was able to relate to people from a variety of backgrounds. The letter also talked about his humor, his maturity (or at times a lack of it!), and it gave me a sense of the real person. This is the type of letter that colleges desire.

So find the people that know you best, and have them share information and insights into who you truly are, warts and all.

Go Dawgs!

Officially on Twitter

2011-11-28T17:43:00.001-05:00

If you have not noticed yet (see the right hand side of the blog), I am now officially on twitter! I have absolutely no idea how I will use this within the UGA Admissions role, but I have a few ideas. Since file reading will be starting soon, and I will be overwhelmed with files, I am guessing I might share some interesting thoughts from the process. Feel free to follow me if you wish, but please be patient as I adapt to this new technology. Please let me know if you have any suggestions/ideas, but remember that I will be very limited text-wise. Now I just have to learn how to write in 140 characters or less.

Go Dawgs (and beat LSU)!

Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-22T15:28:00.001-05:00

Like most people, I will be out of the office through the Thanksgiving holiday. As such, I will not be responding to blog questions until my return late Sunday/early Monday at the earliest. My suggestion is to put aside any thoughts of admission at this time, and just celebrate the holiday season with family and friends. Hold off on your comments and questions until after the break, and have a wonderful long weekend.

As always, Go Dawgs, and beat the Yellow Jackets (sorry Dad!).

Grades vs. GPA

2011-11-21T16:29:00.001-05:00

In the wake of Early Action decisions going out, we generally have a number of questions about why a decision was made, and a great deal of confusion surrounds the concept of GPA. Most of the disappointed comments and email I am seeing have a GPA listed in them, and usually they do not match what I have as a GPA. As such, here are a few examples of why UGA looks at the grades on a transcript (and recalculates a GPA), and not on the GPA listed on a transcript. In case you have not guessed, I have written about this in the past, but this is an updated version of previous posts.

While writing this post, I have selected three files from the EA applicant pool that all have the same UGA GPA of a 3.32. Why did I select this GPA? Because it was the first random GPA to pop into my head. I then reviewed the transcript for each file and looked at the GPA listed on the top of each transcript. The first applicant has a GPA listed on their transcript as a 3.44 transcript GPA, the second has a 4.01 transcript GPA, while last one has a 4.45 transcript GPA. As you can see, what a high school has as a GPA may vary greatly from what UGA has calculated (that last one has a difference of 1.13!). Why is this, you may ask (yes, I know you are asking it right now). As I have said several times before, UGA is looking at your actual posted grades in your academic classes, whether it is semester or block or trimester, and then calculates an admissions GPA based upon these course grades.

In other words, UGA Admissions does not look at the GPA listed on your high school transcript! You can take a Sharpie pen and mark through it for all that I care, because we do not use it! And the reason why? Because most school districts in the country determine their own method of calculating a GPA, adding weight here or there, using X classes or Y classes, etc. I have even seen an Honors PE course before where the weighted grade was added into the transcript GPA. I am fine with that, as every school district has the right to calculate a GPA however they want, but please do not confuse what we list as a GPA for our purposes as what you would see on your transcript.

In the UGA Admissions Office, we try to look at all the grades in an equal method, whether you apply from Arizona or Athens, GA. We look at your academic core grades to understand how many A's, B's, C's, etc. you have earned, and then go about determining a GPA (for more details on how we calculate an admissions GPA, see an earlier post I wrote about calculating GPA's at UGA. We give out our mid-range GPA so that people will have a general baseline for where applicants fall within a certain understood range, but the reality is that you need to have a common method of calculating GPA's (as UGA does) in order to get a true understanding of the situation.

So when you submit a comment like "I have a 3.32 GPA, ...", I have no real understanding what that GPA is. My suggestion? Start looking at your grades within the A/B/C/D/F categories, and try and understand if you are a mostly A/a few B student, a mostly B with a few C's student, and so on. Go ahead and figure out what your UGA GPA would approximately be. Because the next time I hear someone say "My son is a 4.0+ student", and when I reply stating that they must have all A's, I hope that I do not see a look of confusion. Remember, it is grades that we look at on a transcript, not a GPA posted on the top corner!

Go Dawgs!

2012 EA Decisions are Now Available!

2011-11-18T10:20:00.001-05:00

Due to between 40,000-50,000 individuals trying to access the site, we are having server problems, so we suggest checking back later this evening when we have the server working correctly and the traffic is not as heavy. In addition, do not have multiple devices or people trying to access your student information, as that may slow access to your information.

Early Action decisions are now available online, and the applicant pool was very strong! Approximately 5,700 students were admitted, and here is the link to the 2012 EA admitted student press release with some statistics included. We are thrilled to have such a strong group of admitted students, but please also know that we will still be admitting a substantial number of students over the next 3-4 months.

For those of you who were deferred, please understand that this is not a denial decision, but just a situation where we wanted to look more in-depth at you as student and a person, and we want to be able to take the time to review everything in detail about you, from your short essays to activities to recommendations. Also, make sure you read the deferred student FAQ, especially before commenting on here please.

If you have questions about your specific decision, I ask that you not post them on this blog, as I truly cannot answer specific questions about individual students here (both because I generally do not have the actual student's information, and because I cannot disclose individual student information in a comment). My best suggestion is to talk with both your family and your HS counselor, review my suggestions about how to react to EA decisions,and read the FAQ's that are available off your myStatus page.

Also, please be aware that I will be at a youth retreat until Sunday evening, so a co-worker of mine, Lindsey Whittaker, will be responding to some of your comments while I am absent. Be nice, be patient, be courteous, and I hope our earlier timeframe was a help to all of you.

Have a great weekend, and Go Dawgs!

2012 Early Action Decision Reactions

2011-11-17T11:07:00.000-05:00

Since Early Action decisions will be going out in the late afternoon on Friday, November 18, here are a few suggestions on how to react to the four different decisions:

Admit: Celebrate with family, buy a lot of UGA gear to wear for the Thanksgiving break, but remember that not everyone has received a decision of admission, and so be a little more low key with friends and classmates. In other words, do not run up to you best friend during English class and scream "I got into Georgia" while 10-15 of your classmates are mentally throwing daggers into your back. In addition, be patient with the other parts of campus (commitment deposit, housing, the UGA myID system, etc.), as they might need a few days to take in your information. You will also receive materials in the mail as far as the next steps to take.

Defer: This is the most challenging one, as these are applicants who are truly strong students, but we want to see more about them (as well as the rest of the applicant pool) before making a final decision. Please remember, this is not a denial at all, but instead a way for us to be able to review you in full, from your co-curricular activities, your essays, and your recommendations. As I usually state, defer is not a four letter word (even though you might feel this way), only a delay in an admission decision. This is your chance to let us know what you are like as an overall applicant. While this is probably not the answer you would like, I would suggest you treat it as a call-back for a second audition. Some roles have already been cast (or admitted), and we now want to look at you in more detail to see how you compare to the rest of the people auditioning (or applying). One of the worst things you can do is give up and not do the essays. The second worst thing is to call us up and berate us for not admitting you. We will be happy to talk to people, but make sure to communicate in a positive tone, understand that we cannot talk about other applicants, and please remember that defer does not mean denial. In past years, about half of the deferred applicants who completed part II were later admitted. Each year, about 1000 deferred students do not complete part II, so we never even have a chance to even review them! If you are serious about UGA, take the time to complete your application, and then be patient as we review all of these files throughout Jan., Feb. and March. When completing part II (the essays), you do NOT need to do an entirely new application, and there is no new/additional application fee. You just need to go to your myStatus page after decisions are out, complete part II (the essays), and hit submit. As well, get a teacher from an academic area to write your teacher recommendation. Remember, UGA is in no way done with the overall freshman admission process. We still have a long way to go, with a great deal of files to read and admission offers to make, so make sure you do your best to show UGA what you are like as an overall student/citizen.

Deny: While this is not a fun situation at all, the reality is that if you have been denied Early Action, you are truly not competitive for admission at UGA as compared to the rest of the applicant pool. It is not easy to write that, and it is very difficult to tell this to a student or parent, but when we look at this student's application in comparison with the other 10,800 EA applicants (and remember, we expect to get over 8,000 RD applicants as well), they do not match up academically with the others. It is better to tell you now instead of waiting until late March, as this gives you time to make other plans. Unless there seems to be a serious error (you are in the top of your class, take a very challenging course load, and have a strong test score), my suggestion is to not contact us about the decision, but instead move forward with plan B. While we do not mind talking with you at all, the reality is that an Early Action denial means that the admission to UGA is not possible as a freshman.

Incomplete: For the small number of students who did not complete your EA file, you are now automatically deferred to the next step, and so you will need to get in the missing materials from EA, and also submit part II of the application and a teacher recommendation. We went three plus weeks beyond the deadline allowing you to get in the missing documents, sending reminder emails, indicating what was missing through the myStatus page, and it was your responsibility to get in the required materials. So I do not suggest contacting us to see if we can take items late, as that time has passed. Focus instead on sending in what is needed to be reviewed in the next round. When completing part II (the essays), you do NOT need to do an entirely new application, and there is no new/additional application fee. You just need to go to your myStatus page after decisions are out, complete part II (the essays), and hit submit.

I hope this helps!

Half-Baked Reactions, 2012 Edition

2011-11-15T09:15:00.001-05:00

Last year, I wrote a post shortly after the EA decisions were released, and I thought it would be a good post to revamp and have out prior to the 2012 EA decisions going out. Here it is:

Last night, my son wanted his favorite meal for dinner, fettucini alfredo with chicken. We pulled together to boil the noodles, cook the chicken and blend the sauce, along with making a salad, garlic bread and dessert. We had to put some time and effort into it, making sure not to burn anything while having every part come together to be ready at the same time. We were finally able to sit down together for a meal that everyone had a part in, and it was great.

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 was all prepared and sitting on the table.

In the same way, UGA will not be done with the entire freshman admission decisions after we make our Early Action decisions. We will be 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 large number of RD applications, deferred EA students will be completing their part II sections, we will be reviewing transcripts, reading essays, doing holistic reviews, etc. So if you are deferred, please know that we still have a lot of admission decisions to make! My rough estimate based on prior years is that will still be admitting 4,000+ more freshmen after EA decisions. As well, please know that UGA will be treating deferred EA and RD applicants the same during the next steps of the process. The rumor always hits that deferred applicants will now be "put at the back of the line behind RD applicants", so let me just cut that off now and let you know that is incorrect. Again, in the next stages of the admission process, we will look at deferred EA (who get in part II and a teacher rec!) and RD applicants in the same way.

So please do not judge the UGA admission decisions half way through the process based only on EA decisions. 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 final decisions are made that we can look at the overall class and see what it is like. Again, please be patient and know that there is still a lot to be done in the admissions review process.

2012 Early Action Decision Release Date

2011-11-11T16:21:00.001-05:00

For all of you who are waiting anxiously by your computer/mailbox, nervous about your Early Action decision, here is some good news. UGA is planning on releasing the EA decisions on the myStatus page on Friday, November 18 in the late afternoon (unless some serious problem arises, which I do not expect). We are excited about this, and I am guessing you are as well, and hopefully it will allow for a little less nerve-wracking Thanksgiving break. In addition to the decisions being available on the myStatus page, letters will go out in the mail for Accepted, Deferred and Incomplete students. Freshman denial letters will not be mailed out, as almost all applicants see their decisions online, and we (along with a number of colleges) did not want to have a letter that only served to reinforce the negative feelings they might already have.

I will not be able to access the blog for most of the decision weekend (chaperoning a youth retreat), but I will try to have someone in my office monitor the site and try to help with any questions. Please remember, though, that we cannot answer questions about other students on the blog, that an Early Action decision is based primarily on academic information, and to make sure you do not try to compare yourselves to others, as you most likely do not have all of the information that we do about the entire applicant pool. In addition, I will be sharing more details about the EA applicant pool the week after decisions are released, but I will not have the data on hand over the weekend, as we are focused on getting the decisions out first, not running statistics.

Go Dawgs!

UGA and the ACT

2011-11-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

Over the past 8-10 years, UGA has had a huge jump in the number of students submitting ACT scores. UGA treats the ACT in the same way that we do the SAT (neither one is better or worse, easier or harder, etc.), but there still seems to be a great deal of mystery about how UGA looks at the ACT. I will try my best to give you some insight into our process.

First, UGA requires that at least one ACT Writing score be submitted to UGA for us to use any ACT scores. For both the SAT and the ACT, UGA uses the Writing score information, so if we do not have an ACT Writing score, we cannot use a student's ACT scores. We are fine if one of your ACT exams has a Writing score and one does not, as we just need one (or more) Writing scores for the ACT. But we must have at least one ACT Writing score to use any ACT scores as a whole, and we cannot use the SAT Writing as a substitute.

When we look at the ACT scores, we are one of the schools that will superscore the ACT. This means that UGA will take your highest subscores in multiple ACT exams and use these highest scores both individually and in calculating the highest composite. The ACT determines the composite by adding together the English, Math, Science Reasoning and Reading subscores, then dividing by 4 (rounding to the nearest whole number). Since the Writing section is not required by the ACT, it is not used in the Composite score by the ACT. This is how you might have a higher overall Composite score than what your individual Composite scores are. Here is a quick example:

ACT 1: English-28, Math-29, Science-25, Reading-26 - Composite 27
ACT 2: English 24, Math 31, Science 27, Reading 23 - Composite 26
UGA Superscore: English 28, Math 31, Science 27, Reading 26 - Composite 28
As well, UGA will use the highest ACT Writing score if you have more than one score.

When UGA looks at the scores in more detail, though, we are focusing on the subscores that match the SAT scores. As such, our focus is on the English subscore, the Math subscore, and the Writing subscore, as these match up with the SAT subscores. If you have both SAT and ACT (with Writing) scores, we will then use whichever test has the strongest scores. In addition to these three subscores being a good match to the SAT subscores, there has also been research showing that these three subscores are the best ACT score predictors of student success in college. The Washington Post has a good article about this ACT issue, although they use harsher language that I would.

So when you look at your ACT results and are discussing them with other people, know that we are looking at specific subscores, and that a Composite Score does not always give the most accurate information. Here are two more examples to give you a good understanding of the situation:

Student A: English -29, Math -30, Science -24, Reading -24, Combined English/Writing -31
Student B: English -25, Math -22, Science -29, Reading -31, Combined English/Writing - 26

The Composite score for both students is a 27, but the eyes of UGA, Student A has a much stronger ACT, specifically in the English, Math and Combined English/Writing subscores. So if they both go out and state that they have a 27 ACT, that does not really give the full and accurate story.

I hope this helps a little bit in understanding how UGA looks at the ACT, and Go Dawgs!

1 Million Pageviews!

2011-11-04T10:40:00.001-04:00

Sometime late last night/early this morning, a prospective student (most parents are asleep before 2 a.m.) viewed a page of the blog, and the UGA Admissions blog officially had its 1 millionth pageview!! No, I cannot track down this visitor, and no gifts or prizes will be given out. But I am excited that a small idea that I had about two and a half years ago has led to the type of questions, responses, and healthy and open discussions about admission at UGA.

Thank all of you for helping make this blog what it is today!

And of course, GO DAWGS, especially for Homecoming!

Early Action Update, November Version

2011-11-01T12:25:00.003-04:00

We have made it to November 1, and we are finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as matching up recommendations, test scores, transcripts, etc. for Early Action. We are importing the last of the test scores that were requested prior to October 15 (and a few just after it), and we are trying to work out a few issues we seem to be having with the College Board/SAT as far as a few remaining test score issues (we had about 1,800 test scores come in on Friday/Saturday, and we just pushed them into our system).

Right now, we are still at about 10,800 Early Action applicants, and at this time about 9,000 are complete, and I expect about 500-700 will become complete with the test scores we just loaded today. This is looking like a very strong applicant pool for Early Action, but it is hard to tell specifics yet, and we are reviewing transcripts, checking on the rigor of applicants, and reading a few files at this time.

One big piece of news is that, due to a few minor changes in our process (self-reported grades, cutting off test scores to those requested by the 10/15 deadline, etc.), we expect that we will be releasing the EA decisions sometime between (dramatic pause) mid-late November. Take a moment to do a small dance and shout for joy, then do me one small favor; Do not ask me for a specific date or time. I do not have one, I will not know one until later, and I will not give out a date that I am not 100% sure of it. So be patient, but know that we are almost excited as you are about this.

If you are missing any documents for Early Action, you need to take care of this ASAP! If your SAT/ACT scores are not showing up, wait until later today when we do an update to the myStatus page to see if they just came in, and if they are still missing, call the testing agency to see what is going on. Remember, if your name, birth date and SSN (or if you left the SSN blank) on the SAT do not match the ones on the application, it may take longer to match up the scores, and you may want to email admproc@uga.edu with your information if you know they have been sent to UGA and if you know there is an issue with these fields.

I hope you are as happy about the mid-late November EA decision release date, and Go Dawgs!

NYC Bound

2011-10-24T15:23:00.000-04:00

For the next few days, I will be out of the office while attending a College Board meeting in NYC (my wife is very jealous!). If you have questions, please be patient, as I may or may not be able to answer them in a timely fashion. At this point, roughly 75-80% of EA applications are complete, and we are still working on the remaining documents and SAT/ACT scores. I will try to give a more complete update early next week.

Have a great week, and Go Dawgs!

Early Action Update

2011-10-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

Since we are now a few days beyond the Early Action deadline, I thought I would give everyone a few updates about the process:

2012 Early Action Applications: Approximately 10,800

Complete Early Action Applications: Approximately 6,600

Number of EA applicants without SAT/ACT (with Writing) scores: Approximately 2,500

Amount of Documents received over the past week: Approximately 1 Trillion (okay, it is really about 8,000)

We are still working on matching materials to files, so please be patient, as a large volume of items came in at the last moment. If after about 10 business days between required EA admissions documents being sent or you applying (whichever one is later), the documents are still not showing up on the myStatus page, we suggest you contact us. But remember that it is business days, so do not count weekend days.

We expect a large volume of SAT scores will come in over the next few days, as the October 1 scores will arrive shortly. At the same time, the College Board changed the layout of the download file this past week, so we are having to readjust our import system, so please be patient. We were just able to push in the scores, and we are updating the myStatus system, but the new scores may not show up until tomorrow (or if you did not include your SSN and correct name, next week). I had one email where a student said he requested the SAT scores to be sent earlier in the morning, and he was worried because they had not shown up yet on his myStatus page. Patience is a virtue!

Thank you to all the applicants for taking the 5-10 minutes to complete the self-reported grades chart, as this has been a great asset to our office. 5-10 minutes by each student means 5-10 minutes times 10,800 applications that we will be saving in part of our process, which will help us later in our EA decision timeline. I do not have an exact date when we will be releasing EA decisions, but when I do, I will let everyone know.

Make sure to check your myStatus page, your school and the testing agencies to make sure that everything has been sent to UGA. And now that the applications are submitted, take a few minutes to relax and enjoy senior year!

Go Dawgs!

Admissions Thoughts - October EA Deadline Edition

2011-10-11T10:47:00.002-04:00

As the Early Action 10/15 deadline approaches (we are less than a week away!), here are a few thoughts about the Freshman Admission process.

Please, please, please do not wait until the last minute to take care of things! If you wait until the last hour to apply, I can pretty well guess that you will have a few mistakes in your application, that your parents and counselor will put on a smile but be very frustrated inside, and that you will be worried during the following week about the supplemental materials that have not yet been matched up with your file. I expect that between today and the deadline, we will receive about 5,000+ additional applications, receive about 20,000+ pieces of mail, shred about 200 faxes (remember, no faxes!), and answer about 1,000 emails, most asking if we have received X document.
Please do not call, write, or email our office about a transcript, school evaluation, etc. if it was just sent off, or if you just applied. My rough estimate is to give us 8-10 business days (Saturday, Sunday and holidays are not business days!) from the time something is mailed until it is matched with your file. And if you had the document mailed three weeks ago but just applied yesterday, give us 8-10 business days to then match up the materials, as we will have to check on 5,000+ new applications this week and see if any materials are in our "holding" files (where we put documents that have no applications). We want to review your file, so we will do our best to help make sure you have everything in for EA review!
I cannot guess if an SAT or ACT will get to UGA in time if you send it on X date, as it depends on when the testing agency says it will get to UGA. We will taking the Oct. 1 SAT scores, which will arrive about 10/20, and we will hold open the score importing for a short while after that. But we do not control how quickly the test scores will get to us, so it depends upon you and the testing agency.
The myStatus page is generally updated one time a day, during the very early morning, so you do not need to check it multiple times a day. Documents do not need to show up on the myStatus by 10/15 to be in by the deadline, so please be patient.
If it has been over 10 business days since you both applied and any "missing" documents have been sent in, it would then be good to start inquiring about the missing document. If it is a GA411 transcript, we occasionally have one that does not come through, but it is easy to go back into the system and access it again.
If you sent your SAT/ACT scores a while ago and they have not matched up yet, make sure that you sent them to UGA. Then verify that the name, SSN and birth date on the test scores are the same as on the application, as these are important matching fields. If you have given us enough time to receive them (not overnight!),they are not showing up on the myStatus page, and some of the key fields are different (no SSN on the test scores, Jimmy instead of James), email admproc@uga.edu with your situation and we will work on manually matching the scores. Be patient though, as scores that are sent on a Monday do not get into our system on a Tuesday (or Wednesday, etc.).
We will be keeping the online school evaluation open for at least a week beyond the 10/15 deadline so that your high school counselors will not be pulling their hair out over any last minute applicants.
It is the applicant's responsibility to get in all required documents, as they are the "owner" of the documents/scores. UGA cannot call the College Board and have an SAT score sent, we do not always know who your specific high school counselor is, etc., so the responsibility lies with you.
Please understand that the next few weeks will be a little hectic in our office as we pull together all of the materials for each application, so we might be a little slower in responding to voice mails, emails, etc. If you have a question that can wait about a week (such as questions about your high school junior), I would ask that you hold these type of questions for a short while to let us the deadline deluge. Thanks!!!
In a few weeks, I will have a better handle on EA application numbers, completed files, etc., so I will then have a better idea on a rough date concerning the release of EA decisions.

October Update on 2012 Spring Applicants

2011-10-07T14:41:00.002-04:00

At this point in time, we are finished with Spring transfer decisions, and with much celebration by both the applicants and our office. We actually still have about 20 files that are being held and reviewed by our faculty, and they will hear something in about 2 weeks, but everyone else is done. We will be sending out emails this afternoon to roughly 200 Spring transfer applicants who were incomplete or late with materials, from no application fees to missing/late transcripts. Unfortunately, we are not able to move forward with any of the late/incomplete files, as we already extended the deadline out three weeks beyond the 9/1 deadline for supporting documents to be received.

As for Spring freshman applicants, we have made decisions on all complete files at the beginning of the week, and we will be sending out incomplete emails next week to the small number of students who did not send in the required materials.

The orientation site will open up in late October, and that is the next step for accepted students (transfers do not send in commitment deposits, so orientation is how you let us know you will be attending UGA).

Congratulations to all admitted Spring students, and we look forward to seeing you in January. Now, we turn our sites on the Early Action freshman applicants.

Go Dawgs!

Self-Reported Grades Walk Through

2011-09-29T16:42:00.002-04:00

This is the second year that we have asked freshman applicants to complete the self-reported grades section on our application, and for the most part, things are going well. Most everyone who has applied has understood the process, and almost everyone has been correct in their grades. We expect that this small change in the application will mean we are able to release decisions a little earlier this year (but I have no dates at this time!), and it is making part of our review process go much smoother and quicker. But for those of you who have questions about this section of the application, here are a few hints.

Before you start this section, have a copy of your transcript with you. I do not mean mid-term 9 week reports, or report cards, but a copy of your transcript just like you have sent to a college.
Review the transcript, and line out with a pencil any non-core grades, such as Health, Journalism, PE, Business courses (the only exceptions being AP/IB non-core courses such as AP Computer Science, AP Art, etc.) You can get a clearer sense of these courses on the self-reported grade section of the application and line out more based on the listing. This is only for your high school grades, so line out any middle school grades (or for you Florida folks, line out the K-8 grades that appear on your transcript).
For the self-reported grades, we are looking at the grades your teacher has given you and entering them into the chart based on your school's grading scale, so you enter in however many A's, B's, etc. that you were given by your teachers. Whatever you see as the teacher grades for the core classes, you enter into the chart. Do not enter in grades that you think you may make senior year, as we are looking at actual grades! Also, do not leave out bad grades just because you have retaken the class.
If your school uses only one type of schedule/grade system, such as semester grades for all courses or year grades for all courses, then the self-reported grades will be extremely easy. For a semester transcript, look at every core semester grade (the ones you have not lined out) and enter these into the self-reported grade chart. Most applicants with semester grades will have about 28-32 total grades in the chart. If your transcript has semester grades and then has a year-long average after that, just leave the year-long grades out of the self-reported grades, as these are an average of the two semester grades that you already have entered. For schools with only year long grades, I estimate you will have about 14-18 grades entered into the chart.
If your school uses a mixture of year-long grades and semester grades for your actual grades, it gets slightly more challenging, but it is not bad at all. First, read my post called Nickels and Dimes, which will help you understand the situation. Are you done? Good. If you have teacher grades (not a yearly average, but teacher grades!) that are both semester grades and year grades, just double the yearly grades. A year grade is the same a two semester grades, so just covert the year grades to semesters. Trust me, it works just fine.
For the question that asks "Of the above grades, how many are AP/IB", look at the chart you completed, count up how many grades were in AP or IB (International Baccalaureate) classes (not pre-AP or pre-IB), and enter that number into this field.
For the last question about how many AP/IB courses you will have completed by the end of your senior year, count up the total number of AP/IB courses you have taken from 9th through the end of 12th grade, and enter that number here.

When we received your transcript, we will do a quick but thorough check of your self-reported grades, so do not panic if you made a slight error in your self reporting. As well, do not overthink this section, just put in what you believe is the correct information. You will be fine.

I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!

Early Action Suggestions

2011-09-27T11:42:00.000-04:00

We are now about three weeks from the Early Action deadline, so I thought I should give out some suggestions about the application process:

Make sure you review the application before submitting it! We receive about 20 emails a day stating that an applicant made a mistake or left out something on the application. We can easily add updates to an applicants file (test scores that did not fit in the 6 spaces, correction to the self-reported grades, etc.), but it is easier if you double-check the application first.
Do not over-think things! It is okay to give us descriptions of your activities in bullet form or as a complete sentences, review your high school transcript and enter in the core grades from there, and do not worry so much about how to phrase your "reason for choosing major" section. Whether you put a colon or a semicolon will not make or break your chances for admission.
Remember, no faxes. I will say it again, no faxes!
The deadline is October 15, so do not wait until the last minute to apply. This will save you, your parents and your counselor a lot of worry.
We will keep the online school evaluation open for at least a week after the 10/15 deadline to help your counselors deal with last minute applicants (see previous bullet point).
UGA now accepts electronic documents through Docufide (which is linked to the program used by many high schools called Naviance), so let your counselors know about this.
Make sure to get a copy of your high school transcript to use for your self-reported grades. The transcript is what we look at and require, and it has your official grades, so this is where you should be looking in completing this section. And remember, the self-reported grades are the completed grades, so you are not to try and predict what you might get senior year for this section!
All SAT/ACT exams that can be used by UGA for Early Action must be taken by the 10/15 deadline, so we are fine with the October 1 SAT but not the late October ACT. In addition, if you have not already sent in SAT/ACT scores from previous test dates, I suggest you do it ASAP so that we will have it in time for Early Action. I cannot say how long it will take a previously taken SAT or ACT score to get to UGA, as that depends on when you request it and how long it takes to be sent. I can say that we do multiple test score downloads a week.
Be patient as we get closer to the 10/15 deadline, as we will be receiving a great deal of materials in the mail, through online submission, etc. I always say to give us about 10 business days to get things into the system. In other words, if you apply on Monday, do not contact our office on Tuesday wondering why things have not been matched up. Give us time, as I expect over 10,000 applicants for Early Action.
If you apply using the GA411 site, know that UGA does not control this site, and it is a common application for Georgia colleges. If you apply EA through GA411, you need to write the essays, as they are a part of the overall application on that site.
I have a magnet in my office that states "Your lack of planning is not my emergency." I do not mean to sound harsh, but this is your application, and as the mature, thoughtful and bright students that we believe you are, we expect you to apply on time, get in materials, and make sure that things are in by using the myStatus page.
On the Honor Code page of the application, we have about 8 application fields that are very important that you get right. Your SSN needs to be correct, your address, email, etc., so double check these very closely before submitting!
If you sent your SAT/ACT scores a while ago and they have not matched up yet, make sure that you sent them to UGA. Then verify that the name, SSN and birth date on the test scores are the same as on the application, as these are important matching fields. If you have given us enough time to receive them (not overnight!),they are not showing up on the myStatus page, and some of the key fields are different (no SSN on the test scores, Jimmy instead of James), email admproc@uga.edu with your situation and we will work on manually matching the scores. Be patient though, as scores that are sent on a Monday do not get into our system on a Tuesday (or Wednesday, etc.). This generally applies to most colleges!
Remember, college admissions offices run on business days, so if you apply on Saturday, your application will not show up in our system until the next business day (Monday), and we can then work on matching materials, reviewing transcripts and courses, etc.
Go Dawgs!

Focus on the Faculty

2011-09-22T14:54:00.002-04:00

Last week, I wrote a post about the dedication of the statue of Abraham Baldwin, the founder and first President of the University of Georgia. One of the key people in getting this statue from an idea to reality is Dr. Loch Johnson, Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and a key figure in the study of national security and the central intelligence community. In the first in a series of articles on UGA's faculty, Focus on Faculty. If you have a minute, go in and look at the specific article on Dr. Johnson, along with his thoughts on what makes an ideal college student.

Congratulations Dr. Johnson!

Myths of UGA Admissions

2011-09-20T12:25:00.000-04:00

Every year, UGA's Admissions Office works with a large number of prospective students (about 60,000 and growing for 2012), sending them materials, emailing them information, inviting them to campus events, and alerting them about our travel. A majority of these students come to our attention due to an action by the student (SAT/ACT scores sent to UGA, email our office, see us at College Fairs/School Visits, etc.), and we try to give both the student and the family the best information about UGA as possible. Last week, we received an email from the parent of one of these prospective students in response to an email announcing that we would be at a college fair in their area.

My daughter received this email message from you today viaemail. We both laughed and laughed when we read it.

To be honest with you, (XXXX) kids from where we live in (Atlanta Suburb) County with 3.7x or higher grade point averages and above average SATand ACT scores, as a general rule don’t get into UGA for Freshmanadmission. If we are admitted at all, we are admitted in the summer, haveto go to (XXXXX) State for a semester or get turned down outright or get"delayed" decision.

Frankly, we really do not not have any intention of evenapplying to the University of Georgia. She can be easily be admitted toany of the leading universities in the USA (UNC, USC, Auburn, Alabama, GeorgiaTech, Michigan, Arizona, UCLA to name a few ) we thought it best to lookbeyond the University of Georgia! Our perception of your admissionsprocess is that you accept freshman from other parts of Georgia, other states,other countries and other races and religions so that you will be able to toutimpressive diversity numbers, but how many of those admitted with lessercredentials than my daughter actually stay for 4 years?

We are not going to waste the time or money completing anapplication to the University of Georgia.

I have removed the personal information about this student so as not to target any individual, and I am not writing this post out of anger or to make fun of this family. Rather, I am writing about this to show that even though my office tries its best to give you an insight into our admission process, and we dispel the myths and urban legends about UGA Admissions, they still persist and live on year after year.

What I would ask of all of you is to help spread the word about this blog, the Top Ten Urban Legends about UGA Admissions page, and about our office in general so that the reality of what my office does gets out to the public. It gets frustrating to have to stamp out myths again and again, much less from an individual who initially contacted us for information. In the email, I count at least 7 myths, from it being easier to be admitted if a student is out-of-state, international, non-Atlanta suburb, a different race (optional on the application and asked per federal requirements) or religion (not even asked on the application!), that summer is a forced option, or that these students do poorly in 4-year graduation rates.

My suggestion to everyone is to do your own research on each college's admission process, be wary when you hear someone start a sentence with "Well I heard that UGA looks at ...", and to please share this information with your counselors, your classmates, and your friends. I try my best to give you an honest insight into UGA Admissions, but I can only stomp out so many myths.

Thank you for helping, and Go Dawgs!

The Birth of UGA

2011-09-16T11:01:00.000-04:00

A little over 14 years ago, my wife and I celebrated the birth of our first child. That initial year was tough, as for all parents, with the lack of sleep, late night feedings, tons (and believe me, it felt like tons) of dirty diapers, trips to the doctor, and a great deal of new parent confusion. Most parents look back and are amazed that both they and their children survived those early years intact and sane.

This morning, UGA celebrated the founder and first president of UGA, Abraham Baldwin, with the dedication of a statue on North Campus, and it made me think about the challenges that he must have faced in those initial years when he chartered and "gave birth" to the University of Georgia. I am guessing that he had more late nights than I did, and while he did not have to deal with diapers, I am sure he had a great deal of more challenging and messy issues than I did.

So today, we celebrate the founder of UGA, Abraham Baldwin, member of the Continental Congress, Signer of the US Constitution, US Representative, US Senator, Professor and UGA President, and Statesman!

Go Dawgs!

2012 Early Action Thoughts

2011-09-12T13:02:00.000-04:00

Mid-September is the time of year when the questions really start coming in concerning Early Action, so here is a quick post covering some of the highlights.

Required materials for Early Action applicants - Deadline October 15

Submit the online First-Year application after selecting Early Action (which makes the Part II essay section collapse, as the essays are not required for EA)
Submit the $60 application fee or have an official fee waiver sent to our office
Have your HS counselor submit a UGA School Evaluation form
Submit an official HS transcript (either electronically or by paper, but no faxes)
Have an official SAT or ACT (with Writing) score sent to UGA (we will only be able to use SAT/ACT scores for Early Action for tests taken by the October 15 Early Action deadline)

Early Action vs. Regular Decision

Every year, students and parents call our office and ask if they should apply Early Action (EA) or Regular Decision (RD). For the most part, we say that this has to be the student's call, as only the student knows if they feel comfortable with UGA reviewing their application based on their academic standing as of October 15. I have written a separate article about EA vs RD with a little more direction, and this should help you in the EA decision process, but it is still up to the applicant as to whether to apply EA or RD.

Preparation

Make sure that you have a copy of your high school transcript when you are working on your application, as you will need to refer to it when completing the self-reported grades section. As well, please do not mark that you cannot self-report your grades just because you have not taken the time to get a transcript. The self-reported grades make the admission timeline go quicker for both you and UGA, and it also helps you understand what your academic record looks like to UGA.
Make sure that you enter in correct information, but especially review the data on the Honor Code page, where we list 10 or so key data fields that you have completed (name, birthdate, etc.), as well as your SSN. Make sure these items are correct before you hit submit.
We ask for information on clubs, activities, leadership, athletics and honors. Please do not ignore these fields, as even though for the most part UGA does not use them for an EA decision, we will use them for scholarship review and in our file reading process if you are deferred.
For your peace of mind (and mine and your parents!), do not wait until just before the deadline to submit your application.

What if you are Deferred?

First, a deferred decision is not a bad result of applying Early Action. All that it means is that UGA wants more time and information on you, as well as a large number of other applicants, so that we can review your file in detail during our reading period that goes from January through mid-March. My suggestion is that if you cannot handle a deferred decision, you should not apply Early Action. Every year, between 800-1000 deferred students do not complete part II of the application (essays and teacher recommendation) because they are either too unhappy with UGA or too despondent over the deferral to move forward with completing part II. An Early Action applicant needs to go in with a positive attitude, but also with the understanding that they might be deferred. Again, a Deferral decision is not a Denial, is not a Wait-List, but is just the UGA Admissions office saying that we need more time to look at your file, and we want to give your application a more detailed review of everything in your file.

Admissions Office Update

2011-09-09T14:26:00.002-04:00

For the past two days, the UGA Admissions Office (along with the Registrar and Financial Aid) has been going through a software upgrade for our Imaging System.We expect to be up and running on either Monday or Tuesday, but please be patient as we go through this upgrade. During this process, we are not able to review files, move materials (transcripts, school evaluations, etc.) into student files, or check on certain items. When we are back up and running, we will jump in to quickly match materials to freshman files, and to continue the review of Spring transfer applicants. No time is a good time to have an update, but we felt that this was the best time over as a whole considering deadlines and decision release dates.

I will try to keep you updated in the early part of the week, but please be patient with our office in matching up documents and in making transfer decisions.

Go Dawgs!

Admissions Thoughts - September Edition

2011-09-06T12:41:00.003-04:00

It is September, which means a number of things in the world of College Admissions. The start of the applications rolling in for next fall, the sound of luggage rolling down the office hallway as counselors get ready for fall travel, the campus getting a little quieter as visitors to our office slow down as all high schools are back in session for the fall semester. Here are a few quick notes for the high school seniors/UGA applicants for next year:

Please review the Top Ten Urban Legends about UGA Admissions, so you do not have to worry about the myths about summer vs fall admission, what major you should put down, etc.
Take your time completing the application, so you do not have to send us an email asking us to fix your name, your SSN, your address, etc. Review the application, especially the 8-10 key fields we list out for you at the end of the application, before hitting submit.
Read a book for pleasure! The Help is great, Watership Down was recommended by an office worker, Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is wonderful, etc. Borders has some great deals now, so go get a few books.
Review the database of the UGA Admissions Counselors fall travel schedule (updated each week), and send your counselor a quick email with suggestions on what to do/where to eat/etc. in your hometown (see my earlier post called UGA on the Road).
Remember that if you are applying for Early Action, the deadline for taking an SAT/ACT is the EA deadline of 10/15, and that you need to have requested the scores be sent by 10/15. Also remember that if you submit an ACT, we need an ACT Writing score!
You are responsible for your application! We have a number of parents who are calling us now saying "My son/daughter and I are completing the application...". While your parents want to review the application with you, and maybe look at it before you hit submit, they should not be completing any part of the application. In addition, you need to make sure your SAT/ACT scores are sent, your counselor has submitted the School Evaluation (after you apply!) and transcript, and that you are checking the myStatus page.
See the movie Inception if you get a chance. Thought provoking, a little confusing, but very good!
Go by your favorite high school teacher's classroom and tell them how much they have meant to you. It is senior year, and I don't want this to slip by without you telling them.
If you had a conduct issue or a bad grade in high school, tell us about it, and how you have moved forward from it. As your parents would say, if you make a mistake, don't compound it by trying to cover it up.
Senior year is important, so make sure you keep up your grades. We had over twenty students last year who we had to rescind an offer of admission due to low senior grades, so do not let it happen to you!
Go out and perform a random act of kindness for a freshman in your high school! Remember what it felt like to be a freshman, then make their day a little better. My son just started his freshman year (go OCHS!), and while he is doing great, I know it will make a difference in a freshman's day!
When you are entering your self-reported grades, make sure you have a copy of your transcript in front of you. We want an accurate representation of your high school grades, and this is the best way (in addition to reading the instructions).
If you make a minor mistake on a non-crucial part of the application (punctuation error in your activities list, or forgot one senior class), do not worry.
After you submit the application, be patient. Our office still needs time to import your application, match up documents, download test scores, etc. Patience is not easy, but it is key.
Enjoy your senior year!

Spring 2012 Transfer Update

2011-08-31T11:00:00.000-04:00

The deadline for Spring is one day away (Spetember 1), so I thought all of the transfer applicants would like an update on the progress of our review. Please remember, we are evaluating transfer files daily, but it takes a while to review each transfer file, so please be patient with us as we go through this process.

As of today, we have 1300 Spring transfer applications, and we expect a few hundred more to come in over the next few days. Currently, we have made decisions on just under 500 of these files, and we are averaging about 30-40 decisions a day. Of the remaining 800 files still to review (and this will grow over the next few days as the deadline hits), we have transcripts from about 500 of the applicants. Generally, we will evaluate files based upon who completed their file earliest, so someone who submitted all of their materials (application, application fee, transcripts) on August 12 will generally hear a decision before someone who completed their file on August 13, who will hear before an August 14 completion, etc. There are some exceptions, but this is the general course that our office takes.

Please do not ask when you will hear a decision, as I cannot guess as to a date. As well, monitor your myStatus page to make sure everything is in, and if a transcript is under a different last name (if was under a maiden name, you changed your name after adoption, etc.), email admproc@uga.edu and let us know of the different names so we can track things down. Then just be patient as we review all of the transfer files.

I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!

UGA on the Road

2011-08-22T13:13:00.000-04:00

The end of August means one thing in the world of college admissions: The start of Fall travel! Every fall, droves of college admissions counselors depart from their campuses like flocks of migrating birds, heading out to college fairs, college nights, high school visits, counselor programs, and recruitment events, only to return to their college nest in late October/mid November. Some will be out for two to three weeks, while others (not UGA) will be on the road for 10+ weeks. What does this mean for prospective students and parents? You will be seeing a lot of UGA people on the road this fall. And to track where we are, go to the UGA On The Road page for more travel details.This page will be updated weekly to show any new programs or visits our admission team will be attending.

Now, here is my request for all prospective students and parents. When admissions officers are on the road, many times they are dashing from program to program, and are not always able to learn about the wonderful and unique restaurants, hotels and/or events in your community. Many times, it is easier to stop by a Subway shop on your way from High School A to High School B, and they miss the places that make your hometown great. So if you see that UGA will be visiting your area, go to the UGA Counselor Page and send the counselor assigned to your area a quick email letting them know about the hometown places they may want to visit when they are in your area. If you still are not sure who will be visiting your area (there is some overlap of travel territories), you can send an email to the most likely person and they can forward it on to the correct counselor if it is not them.

In addition, this is a great way to break the ice when communicating with a college admissions counselor. Instead of just asking about a specific major, the football team or the weather, you can now have a reason to contact the counselor, and you will be giving them insight into your community.

Check List

2011-08-17T16:40:00.001-04:00

My wife Cathy and I have taken enough trips in our life together to know that before we do any packing for a vacation, we need to have a check list for the trip. We have had more than enough times early in our marriage where we were an hour down the road when one of us suddenly uttered the famous words "Did we remember ...?" The worst times have been when we are in a rush to get everything together and hit the road in 30 minutes or less, and some bag, book or envelope is still sitting on the kitchen counter while we race out of the driveway. We have learned the hard way (urgent trips to Target or CVS) to take the time to plan out the preparations for a trip.

In the same way, I seriously suggest that you take the time to plan out the college application process. I have written about this issue before, but here is a more specific list of suggestions:

Get a copy of your transcript, your resume (or create one and then put it with your college admissions materials), your school counselor's contact information, documented verification that your official SAT/ACT scores were sent to each college, your senior schedule, and payment information (credit card information for example). One of my co-workers has also suggested a box of green tea bags for a calming cup during this stressful time.
Go out and buy a large bin, crate, or accordion style file holder to keep all of your college materials . In addition, create a section for each college where you will be applying, purchase enough folders for different sections for each college (admission, financial aid, housing, scholarships, etc.), and label each folder with the college's name.
Create a checklist for each college, which should include a section for both the deadline date and the date submitted for each item. Your list should include all the required materials, from the application, application fee, transcript, test scores, recommendations, etc. The checklist should also have a place to list any user name and password that you have for the college's application or status check.
Purchase or print out a master calendar where you can list the important dates for each college. This could include the deadline dates, the notification dates, May 1 commitment deposit date, etc. You can use different colors for the different schools (red for UGA, orange for Clemson, etc.). Post this calendar in a prominent place in your house. Shoot for taking care of things by AT LEAST two weeks prior to a deadline.
After applying, print out a copy of the application verification page(s) and any other post-application requirements that each college gives you.

This is probably not everything that you will need, but it is at least a good start. Hopefully this will help make sure that nothing will be left on the counter as you take off on your college admissions journey.

Go Dawgs!

The Freshman Application is Now Open!

2011-08-15T14:10:00.001-04:00

We have now opened up the Summer/Fall 2012 Freshman Application! As I have stated in previous posts, this does not mean you should stop whatever you are doing and submit the application as quickly as possible. Please do not do this! Instead, make sure that you have all the information you will need prior to submitting your application, such as verifying your SSN, having a copy of your transcript and a resume so that you can complete all of the information needed without errors or gaps. A majority of students who apply right after we open up the application then end up contacting our office to fix mistakes they made by rushing through the application. Here are a few items you want to make sure you complete correctly:

Make sure you have put your name in correctly. Your name called/nickname should only list "Bob", not Bob James Smith, your SSN NEEDS to be correct for our office and financial aid, and your address needs to be right for both mailing information to you and for Residency purposes.
If you are a citizen of the United States, mark citizen. A Permanent Resident is a person with an Alien Registration Card/Green Card, not anyone who lives permanently in the U.S.
When listing your high school, do the search process so that your high school's code will drop in correctly and will not slow down us importing the application. In addition, if you have attended multiple high schools, list your current one first.
Please list your senior year courses in the area provided, and you can shorthand course names/titles. This helps us in our review of your file.
Your HS counselor can only complete the online HS Evaluation form once you submit your application (so please do not wait until the last minute!), and you will be asked to give your counselor's email to alert them that you have applied. They will also be able to see this on the UGA HS Counselor Portal, and we will keep the online HS evaluation form open for about a week after the deadline.
The SAT/ACT/AP score area on the application is for our general knowledge about you, but we need the official scores to be sent to us.
The deadline for Early Action for the SAT/ACT is to take the exam by the Early Action deadline of October 15, and to request the score by October 15.
If you have any conduct or conviction issues, please be specific about the situation. As well, we do not need to know about minor traffic tickets, if you had ISS in middle school, etc.
In the Activities sections, please do not leave this blank thinking that we will never look at it. This area is important in scholarship review, when we are in our holistic review process, if we need to know more about you, etc.
Read the self-reported grades description in detail before completing this section. We are looking at your core course grades from 9th grade on, as well as how many of the grades you list are from AP/IB courses, and how many total AP/IB courses you will have completed by your HS graduation.
Do not hit the submit button unless you are sure that you (and your parents!) are ready to submit the application!
Remember that the online credit card payment option is only available from 7 am - 9:30 pm EST
UGA only has an online application, so we do not accept any paper applications that are submitted.
Do not fax our office any updates, corrections, etc. We do not like faxes!

Remember that there is no admissions advantage to submitting your application on the first day it goes live. UGA will look at you the same way as any other student who applies by the deadline, so being the first application in does not give you any bonus points. While I do not suggest waiting until the week of the deadline to apply (too many risks of problems/errors), I suggest you take your time completing the application and making sure all the information is correct before submitting it.

Go Dawgs!

New Look to the UGA Website!

2011-08-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to direct everyone to the updated and newly designed UGA website! There is a great deal of new information, but also a great deal of standard information with a new look (check out the calendar and the UGA Today section for instance!).

HOPE Changes for 2011-2012

2011-08-05T11:09:00.004-04:00

I have previously written about the changes that occurred to the GA HOPE program this year, but I wanted to give everyone a link to the Office of Student Financial Aid's HOPE changes page so everyone can see the specifics of the new regulations added by the GA legislature.

Since early August is the time of year when students need to work with the UGA Bursar's Office to take care of their enrollment costs, both the Office of Student Financial Aid and the Bursar's Office have been receiving a large number phone calls and emails. Since the changes made this year were somewhat complex, I am thrilled that the people in Financial Aid have been able to give such a great breakdown of the changes and how it impacts current and incoming students (and it also will be good for future students to review as well)!

I hope this helps answer some of the questions surrounding the HOPE changes, and we are looking forward to the start of classes in about 10 days.

Go Dawgs!

Big Dawg Welcome 2011

2011-07-26T16:46:00.000-04:00

Every year, the University of Georgia has a huge series of events during the first week back on campus. This year, there will be a huge freshman gathering at Sanford Stadium, an outdoor movie at Legion Field, live performances at the Tate theater, and a special Dawgs after Dark on Friday, August 19. I hope that the first week at UGA goes well for all incoming freshmen and transfer students, and I wish you the best for your first semester (and year!). Go to the UGA Campus Life site for more information!

Go Dawgs!

Random Admission Thoughts - July Edition

2011-07-20T15:16:00.000-04:00

As we move forward with recruiting the freshman who will be applying for the Summer/Fall 2012 term, here are a few random thoughts about the admissions process and where you are at now in the admission cycle.

Go out and get a copy of your high school transcript now (if possible), or after the first week back at your HS. If your HS uses electronic transcripts (in GA, most us the GA411 option), you may be able to get this very easily. This will allow you to look at your grades over the past three years, remember what happened, and be able to complete any self-reported grade sections on an application.
If you are invited to any special visitation programs for a college you are interested in attending, and it fits both calendar wise and financially (I am not suggesting you fork over thousands of dollars to fly to Hawaii and use me as an excuse!), go to them. These are usually set up so that you can get a wealth of information in one day, from student and/or faculty panels, academic department drop-ins, tours, etc., which is much more arranged than just going on a tour of campus.
Please remember that in this age of amazing technology, faxes have gone the way of the dinosaur. As I have said before in my Dr. Seuss voice, "I do not like Faxes, Sam I Am."
Go get a book and read it! I say this so often that I feel like I should get a tattoo of a book on my arm. My son is about to start To Kill a Mockingbird, I just finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire (re-read both), and my daughter is part way into Beautiful Creatures. They sometimes groan about my insistence on summer reading, but it is important!
Before the start of school, volunteer for at least 2-4 hours somewhere. Whether it is a food bank, Habitat for Humanity, tutoring, cleaning a neighbor's yard, etc., go out and give back. Why? First, because some people really need help. Second, volunteering helps to put things into perspective. After a week at camp, almost all of the counselors I was with saw that their issues did not seem quite as bad as they thought.
The college football season is about to kick off, but do not choose a college based just upon their football team, as everyone has ups and downs. I think the world of Coach Richt and I believe that UGA will have a great season, but athletics are only a small part of a college's overall world. Choose wisely.
It is hot, especially in the South, so go out an have some ice cream. Oh, one additional thing, take your parents with you. Take the time to sit, relax, forget about any issues, and just enjoy a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard with cookie dough (the ice cream of choice for the Graves family).

Go Dawgs!

Do's and Don'ts from Admissions

2011-07-14T20:32:00.001-04:00

We are right near the end of the cycle for one group of students (the Fall semester starts on August 15), and we will open up the 2012 Freshman application on the same day. As such, here is a list of do's and don'ts for both of these groups of students (please take with a little grain of salt):

Entering Students:
DO: Have a great rest of the summer, and know that the first week at UGA, while a little intimidating, is the start to a great year! Speak with your professors on the first day, check out some of the great events going on that week at http://www.uga.edu/campuslife/calendar.html, try to connect with a few organizations that seem interesting to you, step outside your comfort zone, etc.
DON'T: Let me see your name and/or photo on the front page of the Red and Black newspaper because you did something stupid the first week. It is the first week that you will be on your own at college and away from the parents, but be smart in the choices you make.
DO: Jump in feet first into your classes, study hard, get to know the faculty member and your peers in you First-Year Odyssey course, and be on time. The UGA iPhone app has a campus map that can direct you around campus and show you where you are using GPS, and the bus system is a lifesaver.
DON'T: Skip any classes because they are too early/too late/too far away/because you are late. Attendance is key, along with planning ahead. Map out your weeks to include study time, find people to study with, and use the available resources, from tutoring to your RA to your professors.
DO: Have a great first year, as your freshman year should be wonderful!

Rising HS Seniors:
DO: Have a wonderful senior year, as your senior year should be special. Focus on doing well in your classes, but also take time to strengthen your ties to your friends, meet new people, and enjoy your last year of HS.
DON'T: Let senioritis overtake your brain. After you are admitted to a college, they will still be reviewing your final HS transcript, and you need to make sure your grades have not dropped to a level that causes problems in enrolling at your intended college.
DO: Stay active in clubs, sports, volunteer work or other activities that you have been involved with during HS. Senior year should be a good finish to your HS years, not a count-down until you are out of there.
DON'T: Be so active in all things outside of school that you let your grades drop (see the first DON'T). Know (or learn) how to juggle different demands, and know that your academics come first.
DO: Look at the college search process as a time to learn more about yourself, what you want to do for the next four years, and find several good matches in your college search. This should be an exciting time where you are able to look into the future and see how you fit with each college, and the possibilities that are down the road.
DON'T: Listen to myths, rumors or people who say "I heard that in order to get into UGA...". Senior year and the college search should not be a time of panic or despair, and most of the stress is not necessary. College admission offices want to work with you and help you through the process, so listen to their suggestions.
DO: Pay attention to deadlines, take responsibility for your own college applications, and make sure things are in well before they need to be.
DON'T: Do things at the last minute. How you act in HS and in the application process shows us how you might be on our campus. If you do things at the last second (or later), procrastinate, and do not take care of your side of things, what do you think the colleges will be thinking about how you will handle things once you get to college.
DO: Enjoy your senior year, take time to enjoy the college selection process, and thank your parents/guardians for all that they have done.

Go Dawgs!

Spring 2012 Transfer Decisions

2011-07-12T16:51:00.000-04:00

In early July, the UGA Admissions office began reviewing Spring 2012 transfer applications and making admission decisions on files that were complete. We are still working with incoming freshman concerning final HS transcripts, and we are still posting updated transfer work for Fall transfers and freshman with dual enrollment credit, so we will not be evaluating as many applications daily as we normally do. Of the 300 or so Spring transfer applicants so far, we have made decisions on about 120 or so files, and decisions are made on a daily basis. Any decisions will show up on the myStatus page the next morning, and we only update the myStatus page once a day (in the very early AM), so you do not need to check it multiple times in a day. Spring Freshman decisions will not be made until September, so please be patient if you fall into that category.

We review transfer files based upon when an applicant has both applied and submitted all the necessary transcripts. My biggest suggestion is to make sure that all transcripts from all colleges you have attended have been both submitted and RECEIVED by the UGA admissions office. If you attended a local college for a few classes while in high school, send in the transcript. If you attended, a technical school and don't know if the work will transfer, send in the transcript. In other words, if you attended a college, send in the transcript.

The status check will show you if the transcript has been received by UGA, and it will also show a date of when we were able to match it with your file. Make sure that you have sent in any and all updated transcripts, as we cannot review a file for Spring 2012 if the last transcript you submitted does not include your most recent college work (for instance, if you sent in a transcript in March 2011, it will not include your Spring 2011 term grades). It is up to you to make sure you get everything in to our office, as we cannot request transcripts on your behalf. As well, do not fax in materials, as they will go straight to the shredder. I will say it again, DO NOT FAX MATERIALS (sorry about the shouting, but we cannot accept faxed documents, and I do not want students to think we have received transcripts when we have not).

Please be patient as we review the files, as our team has a number of jobs to complete during the late summer.

Go Dawgs!

Post for the Parents

2011-07-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

For the last few years, I have opened up a post specifically to answer questions from parents, and I thought I would revisit this theme earlier this year. While I love working with and answering questions from students, parents seem to be put in the background at times during the college admissions process. You hear the term "helicopter parent" and hear horror stories about over-zealous moms and dads, but for the most part they are just trying to help their children navigate the often confusing process of college admissions.

A number of colleges try to connect with parents, through email blasts, mailings or other connections, trying to give the family more information, including UGA. Our office wants to educate parents about the UGA admissions process, and dispel any myths that float around the HS communities and neighborhoods. Hopefully, a fair number of parents of rising seniors have seen the recent email we sent out to students letting them know about the blog, but please spread the word about this post.

So here is your chance, parents. What questions do you have that you are dying to ask? Feel free to post whatever questions you would like through the comment option, and I will try to respond as quickly as possible. Fire Away!

Camp Sunshine 2011

2011-07-01T12:55:00.000-04:00

It is that time of year again, when I will be away from the blog for a week while I volunteer at Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with cancer. This will be my 17th year volunteering for the summer camp part of Camp Sunshine (and my wife's 19th year), and I have had a wonderful time over the years working with this program. This year, I will be a cabin counselor for nine 10/11 year old boys (along with two other counselors), and I am guessing I will be involved in a great deal of mountain biking, fishing, tennis, gold panning, going up the climbing wall (or just watching as my campers go up), archery, dodgeball, arts and crafts, and a lot of singing. If you have never heard 200+ campers and 150+ volunteers singing and dancing to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time", you are missing a great event.

So, for the next week or so, I will be out of communication with this blog. But fear not, as I have asked a few of the Admissions Counselors in the office to check in and answer questions that might come up. Once I am back, I will begin posting again, but I am sure that my co-workers will be able to handle your questions, or if it gets too complicated, I will answer them when I return!

Go Dawgs!

Rising Senior Suggestions from the Director!

2011-06-14T08:26:00.001-04:00

David Graves has asked that I share some pearls of wisdom with our blog readers as rising seniors begin to plan their college application process. I have served on many panels of Admission Deans and Directors who present this type of information to students and their parents and I often gleam really good ideas from others. So, this is a summary of some of the best ideas that I have heard and some that I have shared over my many years in this role.

Students, summer time is a great time for travel, work, volunteering and other adventures which are likely to provide you with great material for those pesky essays that you will be writing in your applications. Keep a journal this summer and write in it every day. Record your thoughts, impressions, ideas, which will help jog your memory next fall when you are writing your umpteenth essay. And, you may find that it helps your writing style, also.

Parents, you may find that you become fixated on your child’s college search process to the point that all you do is talk to him/her about, ‘Did you sign up for the SAT?’,’ Have you written that essay yet?’, ‘What is the deadline for getting the FASFA in?’, etc. Pretty soon, that is all you talk to your child about. A colleague and friend, Arlene Cash from Spelman, suggests that you establish a College-Free-Zone in your home. This could be a location (the dinner table) or a day and time (Sunday afternoon) during which the parents and the students agree to not talk about the college application process. This way you know that you can have conversation on a regular basis about the other things in life that matter.

Families, as you travel this year, make an effort to swing by any colleges that you are near. It might not be one that is on the have-to-visit list, but it may just give you some comparisons of schools. If you are not able to get on the tour or official admissions office information session, spend a little time walking around the campus, get a soda at the student union and read the student newspaper. Make conversation with students, faculty and staff that you encounter. These are all ways to get a feel for the campus and broaden your knowledge of schools. There are over 4000 colleges and each is just a bit different from the others.

Students, take control of your college selection process. If you have a question, need assistance or more information, it is often best for you to contact the Office of Admissions, Financial Aid Office or your high school counselor. Sometimes that may not be possible, but with e-mail and cell phones, you should be able to reach the needed person around your class schedule. Admissions staff are glad to answer questions from parents, but we really like to see a student who owns the process and has the maturity to seek assistance when needed.

Students, set up a free e-mail account to use with all of your college applications. Use it for information, applications, and other correspondence. You will then have all of your communications about college in one location, not mixed in with your other e-mails. And, make sure to use an ID on your account which is appropriate. It is surprising what we learn about students from little things like their e-mail name. Some past ones at UGA have been sexykitten@xxx , cutiebootie@xxx, thuginluv@xxx and my favorite, bamabound@xxx.

Most importantly, remember to enjoy your time as a family as you navigate the college selection process. It can be fun and very rewarding. Again, with over 4000 colleges and schools available in the US, there is a place for everyone who wants to gain a college education. And you will find a good match.
-Nancy McDuff, Associate Vice President for Admissions and Enrollment Management, UGA

2012 Freshman Application and Essay Questions

2011-06-10T10:54:00.000-04:00

In mid-August, UGA will open up the Freshman application for the Summer/Fall 2012 terms. Some students are eager to start the application now, and we understand that, but we have to make sure we enroll the 2011 class before we begin to take in applications for the next year. In addition, most high school counselors are not yet ready to begin the steps of submitting their materials, and there will be some tweaking on our side as far as some details of the application. But in mid-August, you can start the process. Please remember, though, that being among the first students to apply for next year's freshman class does not improve your chances of admission, so there is no need to rush. My suggestion is to start preparing for the process by getting a copy of your high school transcript (with final junior year grades on it), start listing out your activities/athletics/volunteer/work details, and start looking at the essay questions for the colleges you are considering.

Over the last few years, we have been very pleased with the responses we have received to our short essay questions, so we have made only a few tweaks to the four essay prompts. While the application will not be available until mid-August, the 2012 Freshman Application Essay Questions are now available for your review. And by the way, have a great summer!

Go Dawgs!

First-Year Odyssey

2011-06-08T17:48:00.003-04:00

I am happy to announce the newest program on campus for all First-Year students starting in Fall of 2011 (and beyond), the First-Year Odyssey program! This seminar program is designed for all new freshmen, and is geared towards connecting freshmen with faculty members in a small group environment (estimated class size is 15-18 students). The First-Year Odyssey program website just opened up, and you can now search from among the wide (and wild) variety of courses available. Every freshman starting in Fall 2011 is required to take a First-Year Odyssey course by the end of their first year at UGA, so you will want to start reviewing the options and make a list of the ones that interest you. You might even have a class with the Provost, the President, or the Dean of a college. This is an amazing new opportunity, and I am excited about this program.

Here are a few examples of the 300+ FYO courses offered:

The CIA in War and Peace
Prediction: The Science of What Comes Next
Books That Changed the World
Chocolate Science
Nature versus Nurture: The Role of Genetics in Your Life
Comics in Context
And They're Off: A History of Horse Racing
Telling on Retail
AA for Uncle Sam's Oil Addiction
Chickenology: Everything You Need to Know about Chickens
Bollywood: Film, Narrative and Culture

Please remember that this is a brand new program at UGA, and the website just opened up, so please be patient if there are a few things that need to be altered or corrected over the first few days.

Final Steps

2011-06-01T10:02:00.000-04:00

Now that most of the incoming freshmen and transfers are done with their Spring terms (or at least about to be done), it is time for a few reminders about a few last items before you enroll.

All incoming freshmen need to send UGA a final HS transcript showing graduation and completion of your senior courses. We need to verify that you graduated, and that did not have any late issues with classes. You can see if we have received a transcript on the myStatus page, where it shows the high school transcript. Our system only captures the month and year for HS transcripts, so any transcript received in June will show up as 6/1/2011.
All entering transfer students (and freshmen with dual enrollment work) need to send us a final college transcript with updated grades. Our office will use this to post courses to your file, and to check on the updated grades. The transcript will show up on the myStatus page by date, so you can see when it has been received.
Please remember that we hate (and since I almost never use this word, I am serious), hate faxes, and they will be shredded, so do not send official documents to the Admissions Office by fax. You will just have to send it again officially, so I do not want to waste your time.
All incoming Fall students (freshmen, transfer and formers) should check their myStatus page (unless you have done this already) to make sure that the new state requirement, the Verification of Legal Presence, has been taken care of by any of the methods described on the myStatus page. If this is not taken care of by orientation, you will not be able to sign up for courses. This is a new requirement that has been assigned to our office by the Board of Regents, and a huge majority of students have taken care of this already. We still have about 800 or so who have not, though, so make sure to go to your myStatus page and get it done. And please know if you submit one of the items through the upload system on the myStatus page, it will show when it was uploaded, and then our office needs time to review it before it can be cleared. In other words, be patient please.
Have a great summer!!!

Go Dawgs!

Hines Ward, UGA Graduate and Dance Champion

2011-05-25T15:20:00.000-04:00

While this is for the most part an Admissions blog for the University of Georgia, I would be remiss if I did not mention the latest Dancing with the Stars winner and UGA Graduate, Hines Ward! While I am not a fan of DWTS (although my wife is), I have been drawn to this year's show due to the participation of Hines Ward. Ward was a great football player at UGA in the mid-1990's, but he has an even more remarkable personal story.

As a Korean/African-American student raised by a single mother who at first spoke little English and worked three jobs to support her family, he dealt with prejudice family turmoil. He then attended UGA, where he gave it his all by playing three different positions under two different coaching staffs. After UGA (and his college degree!), he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is now in his 15th year with the team. Throughout his professional career he has garnered numerous honors and awards (Super Bowl MVP, 4 time pro-bowl selection, most catches and receiving yards by a Steeler, etc.), and is a leader on and off the field. In 2006, he created the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation, which benefits multi-racial children in South Korea, and in 2010 he was named as a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. And last night, he was named the winner of the 2011 Dancing with Stars Competition!

Congratulations to Hines Ward, a great person and a wonderful UGA Alumnus!

Go Dawgs!

Walt Disney, the Redo

2011-05-21T19:31:00.000-04:00

It is the end of the school year (or at least close to it for most everyone), and this time of year always brings up the discussion about rising juniors and seniors and the college search process. As such, here is a re-release of my post on this issue:

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." - Walt Disney

A recent post brought up a good point for all high school junior and below students and parents about how to learn more about colleges and the opportunities at each institution. In order to start the process, you need to quit talking about colleges and actually begin the college search process. This means sending colleges your SAT/ACT scores (like the family from the recent post did), visit the campus to take a tour or attend an information session, sign up on a schools mailing list, etc. It is only then that a college will really start to know more about you, and can start to communicate with you. Every college will have a different time line concerning how and when they send you things, based upon their budget, their time lines, and the information you give them. But no matter what, a college can't really start contacting you unless you start the ball rolling!

We have a few families every year who are unhappy because we "heavily" recruited a friend or neighbor, but "barely" recruited them at all. When we go back and look at their file, it is generally due to the fact that we only learned about the student when they applied, and that was generally right around the deadline. In pulling up a random applicant for this coming fall, I see that she did a great job of contacting us early (fall of her junior year), and has since had about 10 different communications from our office. Contrast this with the following student in our recruitment database, whose first action was to send us test scores in late December of his senior year, and who applied right on the deadline. He has given us almost no time to communicate with him at all!

So the best thing you can do now is to start working with colleges early (soph. to junior year) by visiting the campus, sending SAT/ACT scores (remember, we only look at the strongest sub-scores, so there is no negative to sending us junior year test scores!), going to college fairs, and generally just letting a college know that you are interested. With 70,000+ prospects every year, I can't say that we will send you 2 or 3 letters every week, but you can at least put yourself on our radar. So as Walt Disney so succinctly uttered, "quite talking and begin doing!"

Go Dawgs!

Maturity and Admissions

2011-05-20T12:53:00.001-04:00

Every once in a while, when I have to give out tough information on this blog, there are the expected negative comments. Yesterday, after I alerted students about the wait-list situation, there were a few readers whose comments became offensive and out of line. As such, this post looks at how college admissions offices look at the concept of maturity in the overall admissions process.

Part of the freshmen file review process looks at the concept of maturity. In fact, in the six part series about file reading, here is a small portion of one of the posts that deals with this issue:

"Maturity also shows up in a person's interaction with others, be it teachers, friends or classmates. Many of these applicants will be studying in UGA's classrooms, living in our residence halls, and being a part of our community. What will they be like when they are on our campus, and how will they interact with the rest of the UGA community?"

As you can see, when possible, we are looking at the applicants as citizens and people, and what they how they will act at UGA. Do we always get this information? Sadly, no, as recommendations are generally self-selected and focused on the positive aspects, and not always the complete student. As well, people are complex, and have many different characteristics. Do I occasionally see students in the news, fans on game days, and alumni who show this lack of maturity? Oh yes, and I cringe each time. But we do look seriously when there are red flags in conduct areas, from discipline issues to arrests, honor code violations to unusual gaps in information that seem worrisome. No community is perfect, but we can strive to make it better.

But beyond the admission review process, we are also looking at maturity in our communication with a student and their family. While we are fine with working with parents, we are more impressed when students take the lead in their college admission process, as they will be the ones in the classrooms and in our buildings. In addition, when a person screams at us, swears at us, misleads us, tries to play us against another UGA office or person within our office, or makes false statements, this might be an indication that the admission decision was a good one maturity wise. When a person on this blog wrote yesterday that UGA stood for "United Group of A******", and another person wrote "Finally found out what the D in DGraves stood for, D*****", I was somewhat embarrassed for the people who wrote this. If a student wants to work with our office, the best way is for the student to contact us directly, treat us in a civil fashion, and maybe we can work on a plan to reach a student's college goals for the future. And for parents, please remember that how you respond to an admissions office makes an impression on how your student perceives you, and may impact how the interact with us as well.

Please know that we work with a great deal of wonderful, mature people, and the negative issues are limited. But every admissions office deals with these issues at times and takes them seriously. Please make sure that you represent yourself (or your student) in a way that you want to be viewed by the college, both in the admission process and later when you are a member of the university community.

"Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity." - Samuel Ullman

Wait-List Update

2011-05-19T08:10:00.000-04:00

Based on the overwhelming response of accepted freshmen submitting commitment deposits for the Summer/Fall terms of 2011, UGA will only be able to admit a very small number of freshman off the wait-list. It is expected that it will be less than 10 students who are admitted, and we will begin sending out this information in the mail to both the admitted students and the students for which we are not able to offer admission. The offers of admission will be shown on the myStatus page first (they should show up today, 5/19), followed later this week by the decisions where we could not offer admission. UGA only has a limited amount of space for freshman, from courses to residence halls and more, and we cannot move forward with any further offers of admission. Generally, the few students who were admitted were done so for Spring term and after communication with other offices on campus (for example, Landscape Architecture).

We understand that this is not the decision that wait-listed students would like to hear, but hopefully you have all moved forward with a plan B option as both the University and I advised you to do at the beginning of the wait-list process. I do not suggesting contacting our office about this situation, as we are not able to change the decision. We wish you well at your other college options.

Nashville bound to the SEC meeting

2011-05-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

For the last five years or so, I have spent a few days each May meeting with Admissions personnel from the other SEC schools to share ideas, talk about different issues, laugh, cry (okay, not too much crying), and share stories from the year. It is also a good time to plan for the future, and see how other college admissions teams run their offices. I am also going to get a behind the scenes look at Vanderbilt (my sister's alma mater), see some great Nashville locations, and hopefully learn a great deal. As such, I will have intermittent access to the blog, and to your questions. Please be patient concerning any replies, and I will try to answer questions either at sporadic times during the event, or when I return mid-week.

As well, let me know if you have any questions about admissions for the SEC group. I cannot promise any answers, but I can share your thoughts.

Go Dawgs!

Orientation Update, Part II

2011-05-09T15:17:00.000-04:00

UGA's Orientation website is now available for all admitted freshmen and transfer applicants! Please make sure to have the email that you used to apply for admission (and the accompanying password) in order to sign into the Orientation site. Here are a few things to remember about registering for Orientation:

It may take a few days for the Orientation fee to post to your student account
Payments are made to the UGA Bursar's office
Make sure to check your calendars before selecting orientation dates, and hold off on travel plans until you have received a confirmation of the session you have requested
Please review the pages leading up to the registration page, as there are key items you need to review
A confirmation letter will be mailed to you approximately two weeks prior to your orientation date
Be patient, as there may be a number of people logging into the site
Send the required Health documentation to the Univ. Health Center (not Admissions)
If you have AP/IB exam results, have them sent to UGA, and the Registrar will post the credit to your academic record as they are received. Students should review the Credit Placement web pages for more details, and be patient with any scores that will be coming into UGA in July.

Go Dawgs!

Orientation Update

2011-05-03T09:13:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick update straight from the Orientation Website:

First-year Summer Term & all Transfer Orientation Registration is now available. First-year Fall Term Orientation Registration will be available on the afternoon of May 9, 2011.

If you have questions about orientation, the best thing to do is review the orientation website, and then contact orientation with any further issues. Please remember that if you sign up for orientation, you will be charged the fee (to your student account) no matter if you attend orientation (or UGA) or not. You are reserving a place at an orientation, similar to a ticket at an event, and thus another person cannot attend that session. Please only sign up for orientation after you are sure you will be attending UGA.

Go Dawgs!

Commitment Deposit Do's and Don'ts

2011-04-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

It is almost May 1, which in the college admission world means it is time for admitted students to indicate what college they will be attending. I have always loved the "Commitment" image to the left, as it is an indication that colleges take commitment deposits seriously, and so should you. As such, here are a few do's and don'ts about the subject.

Do send in a Commitment Deposit by May 1 if it is required by the college.

Don't send in multiple Commitment Deposits (it is called double depositing), as this is considered a serious issue, and could lead to both colleges deciding to cancel your application (it is like asking two people to marry you).

Do let the other colleges on your list know that you will not be attending their institution. UGA has a form on the myStatus page, so check with the colleges to which you have applied and how they suggest submitting this information. This helps colleges know earlier about wait-lists, enrollment numbers, etc.

Don't be late with your Commitment Deposit. Most colleges will be a little flexible, but you do not want to be told that you cannot enroll because you were a week or more late with the deposit.

Do finish up the year strong academically.

Don't slack off and have your grades spiral down, as this could lead problems when a college sees your final transcript.

Do have a good summer!

Don't have such a good summer that you get into trouble. A co-worker of mine (thanks Charlie!) remembers his mother saying "The only people out from 2-5 a.m. are the cops and the bad guys. If you are not one, you are the other."

Go Dawgs!

Hit the Books!

2011-04-22T12:35:00.000-04:00

It is that time of year when I start to transition from entering UGA freshman and current transfer applicants to the next group of students, those who will be looking at UGA for 2012. And as I normally do at this time of year, I want to get on my soapbox and focus on reading. Yes, that type of hitting the books! As my two children can attest to, I am a book lover, and I do my best to make sure they both have at least one book that they are currently reading. My son just finished with one of my favorite books, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, and my daughter is currently reading Virals by Kathy Reichs. As well, the wonderful world of summer reading lists will be out soon, and I am guessing it will mean a summer filled with To Kill a Mockingbird for my son (along with a few others), and we will wait to see about my daughter's list.

Why do I post this on my blog? Why do I push reading? If you want to do better in your English classes, write better, have a stronger SAT Critical Reading, stronger SAT Writing, communicate better, etc, one great way to do this is to dig into books. Read across the spectrum, from non-fiction to thrillers to sci-fi, but no matter what, read! There are a number of other things that a student can do to prepare themselves for college, but this is by far the most available and easiest ones around. So go to your public library, download the latest Nook book, borrow a great novel from a neighbor, but no matter what, read!

Alright, now I can climb off my soapbox. And just so you know, the next book I am suggesting for my rising HS freshman son is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, a wonderful book that I am planning on re-reading this summer as well (for probably the fourth time).

Any suggestions from the blog audience?

Random Admission Thoughts - April Edition

2011-04-18T11:05:00.000-04:00

April in Admissions is in some respects a very busy/hectic time, but it is also a much more peaceful time in some areas of the office. Our office has a number of student programs over the next two weeks, both on campus and all over the country, we are working with graduating HS seniors and rising HS seniors, and we right in the middle of the Fall transfer season. But at the same time, we are waiting to see how deposits are coming in and monitoring them daily, making plans for next year both for travel and the application process, and waiting for the end of the school year for both transfers and freshmen so we can start receiving final transcripts (and then dig ourselves out of the stack). So, while we are in the middle of things, I thought I would share a few random bits of information from UGA admissions. Please feel free to ask me any questions, but remember to first do a search using the search tool in the upper right hand corner, or by using the labels option on the bottom right.

While we have made almost 1,000 Fall transfer decisions, we still have about 1,100 more to go (I always expect about 400 or so applicants to be incomplete, so that makes up our 2,500 Fall transfer applicants).
At this point in time, UGA has about 40,000 rising seniors in our recruitment database, and we have and will be sending out brochures, emails and cards to students throughout the next year. As I have said before, the only way for UGA to know about you is many times is for you to first communicate with us, either through visiting campus, sending us an SAT/ACT score, attending a college fair, etc. We cannot communicate with you if we do not know who you are.
I want to say a big thank you to the Fagin family, who made a wonderful contribution in my honor to UGA. I have never met the Fagin family or contacted them specifically, but I am guessing that this blog has helped them in the admissions process as it was mentioned in the note. Thanks!!
There have been a number of amazing students in this class, from what they have accomplished, what they have overcome, and how hard they have worked. Congratulations to all the admitted students, and we look forward to seeing you on campus.
Transfer applicants, please do not call and ask "When am I going to hear a decision?" The people on the phones (or the ones who answer the emails) can't answer this question any more than I can, and I am giving you the best information possible.
If anyone knows Mark Sanders, senior from Athens, GA, tell him I think he should go to UGA. Go Dawgs!
The Boston Red Sox are killing me this year. Still a fan, but they are killing me!
Freshman and transfers, remember to keep your grades up during the last month or so of classes and final exams.
Rising juniors and seniors, remember that reading is one of the best ways to get ready for the SAT, college classes, and life! Right now, my son (rising HS freshman!) is reading The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, a great book that I highly recommend.
We will not know about wait-list options until a week or more after the May 1 deposit date, so please be patient with this process.
Good luck to all the high school seniors graduating over the next two months, and I hope you have been able to find a great match during your college search!

Let's say you have two applicants...

2011-04-14T12:07:00.001-04:00

During the course of a year, every admissions office is bombarded with a number of similar questions, with one being the most prevalent and challenging, and it always starts with "Let's say you have two applicants ...". There are six of the most difficult words to work with for any admissions counselor! GPA's, test scores, and activities are then speculated upon, with a desire that the admissions officer can magically say who would be admitted first. But now, it is your turn to hear these six words and review two applications! First, the rules:

Both of the "applicants" are fictional characters who in no way are based on actual people (sounds like Law and Order, doesn't it).
As this focus is on first-year applicants, only current or future first-year applicants or their parents should respond.
For this exercise, you will not be determining who should be admitted, but which applicant you think is stronger overall for UGA. I have no idea if both, one or neither of the applicants would be admitted, so let's just focus on who you think is a stronger applicant. Both of these are strong applicants!!
Put yourselves in UGA's shoes, with a review of the whole student (not Early Action), and on what UGA looks at in an admission file.
Have fun, be nice, and I hope this works out well!

Applicant I

Georgia Resident, Male
International Affairs major
5 AP courses (AP Psych, AP US Hist., AP Eur. Hist, AP Lang., AP Human Geography), multiple Honors courses
3.64 GPA as calculated by UGA
SAT: 650 CR, 720 M, 530 W
Strong Essays, very organized and crisp
Involved in six clubs (Two for 4 years, two for 2 years, one - cooking club- he founded senior year), leadership roles in 2 clubs
Plays two sports (one fresh/sophomore years, one four years, captain senior year)
Wonderful, glowing recommendations
Mother and Father are alumni
2 awards (college book award and one most spirited)

Applicant II

Out-of-State Resident, Female
Undecided major
3 AP courses (AP Chem, AP Spanish, AP Calculus), numerous Honors courses, 2 dual enrollment English classes senior year at local research University
3.83 GPA as calculated by UGA
SAT: 550 CR, 560 M, 540 W - ACT: 29 Composite, 30 Engl, 29 Math, 28 Read, 29 Sci, 28 Engl/Writing
Strong essays, very personal and insightful
Involved in 3 clubs (all for four years, Editor in one, VP in another)
Plays one sport (Varsity for 4 years, Captain twice)
Volunteers at local library
Wonderful, glowing recommendations
1 award (most determined)

Some of the items I have listed are important, while others have no impact on a decision. I will monitor any responses and give you my opinion at a later date. Please respond by saying which applicant you believe to be stronger and why.
*no applicants were injured in the making of this simulation.

Go Dawgs!

UGA and Test Scores

2011-04-13T10:35:00.000-04:00

Spring is the time for HS juniors to begin their college search process in earnest, and so begins the season of doubt. "Should I send my SAT/ACT to UGA now, or wait until I see how I did?" Fear not, because this question is a non-issue at UGA.

UGA's policy on test scores is that we only look at the highest sub-scores of the SAT and the ACT, also known as "super-scoring". This means that we take the highest Critical Reading, Math and Writing SAT scores from all your SAT tests to get your best overall combination, and your best ACT scores from each section to make the highest composite score (if you take the ACT, make sure we have a Writing score!)

The one thing we do not do is overlap the SAT and ACT (we will not take your ACT English of 34 and match it with your 740 Math SAT). But remember, UGA will only look at your best scores for the SAT and ACT, and if you take both the SAT and ACT, we will use whichever test has the strongest overall best scores.

In addition, sending your scores to UGA (or any college) can start the recruitment process in detail, as this indicates your interest in UGA and lets us know better about how you may match up with UGA, the Honors program, etc. (along with your self-reported GPA on the SAT/ACT report), as this one of the only pieces of academic information we have access to at this time in the process. We occasionally have juniors who wonder why we are not "recruiting" them, and generally, it is due to not knowing about them or their academic strengths. Sending us your ACT/SAT scores can start this process, and helps both you and us.

Please remember, UGA is only focused on your best scores (I am trying to see how many different ways I can say this statement). So do not worry about which test scores to send (my best suggestion is to always request them to be sent when you sign up for the test), and enjoy your senior year!

UGA National Scholars named

2011-04-08T09:44:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months, a number of national programs have named their scholarship recipients, from the Goldwater Scholars to the new Rangel Graduate Fellowship. As such, here is a partial list of the UGA students who were named as scholars from these programs:

Victoria Akin, a third-year student from Macon, GA and a graduate of Mount de Sales Academy, was named a 2011 Goldwater Scholar. Victoria has done research in epidemiology with faculty in the UGA College of Public Health, and the National Science Foundation Research Experience.
Michael Burel, a third-year student from Acworth, GA and a graduate of Carlton J. Kell HS, was named a 2011 Goldwater Scholar. Michael has worked as a CURO apprentice in the lab of Dr. Steven Stice, was selected for the NYU Summer Undergraduate Research Program, and conducted research in France this past summer in stem cell work.
Amar Mirza, a third-year student from Hiram, GA and a graduate of Marietta HS, was named a 2011 Goldwater Scholar. Amar has conducted research in biochemistry and molecular biology in the lab of Dr. Natarajan Kannan, and participated in CURO, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Exceptional Research Opportunities Program, and has worked in the field at a health clinic in Haiti.
Ashley Bartlett, a fourth-year student from Longwood, FL and graduate of Lake Mary HS, is a Rangel Graduate Fellowship recipient, which has a focus on students pursuing careers as US Foreign Service diplomats. Ashley participated in the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms program, and studied in the UGA at Oxford study abroad program in 2009.
Todd Pierson, a fourth-year student from Zionsville, IN and graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, was named a Udall Scholar, with a focus on ecological studies. Todd has traveled to Guatemala, where he collected and studied new species of amphibians and reptiles, and has scheduled expeditions to Oman and the United Arab Emirates along with a return to Guatemala this year.
Muktha Natrajan, a fourth-year student from Martinez, GA and a graduate of Lakeside HS, was named a 2011 Gates Cambridge Scholar (after being named a 2009 Goldwater Scholar and a 2010 Udall Scholar). Muktha has done research in Dr. Steven Stice's lab, has studied at Nanjing University in China, participated in the NYU Summer Undergraduate Research Program, and was an intern with the World Health Organization in Namibia. Upon graduation in May, she will receive a BS degree in Genetics and a Master of Public Health degree in environmental health science.

Congratulations to these students, along with all the other UGA scholars who have done so much and have so many great opportunities both in graduate programs and in the workplace!

Go Dawgs!

2011 Fall Transfer Update

2011-04-07T11:32:00.000-04:00

I am back from time at the beach, and ready to dive into more admissions issues! The first question that comes up on most phone calls and emails is "When am I going to hear about my fall transfer decision?" If you are about to send that email or call us with that question, stop for a moment. First, we have received right at 2,500 fall transfer applications, and are going through them as quickly as possible. Remember, it takes a while to go through each transfer file, and it is tough to predict how long it will take to review 100 files, much less 25 times that number.

We are reviewing files for the most part based on the date they are complete (application and transcripts in), so some of the timeline depends on when you applied and sent in the transcripts. My timeline has always been mid-late February through mid-May for decisions, so just be patient as we go through the files. Right now, we are working on applications that were complete in late January/early February, but we are also putting some of the more challenging ones aside so we can focus on getting as many decisions out as possible right now.

Your job as a transfer applicant is to make sure that all transcripts are in and updated (check the date to make sure we have all the grades in from your colleges), and that you listed all colleges that you have ever attended (if you forgot about the dual-enrollment work, get that transcript in ASAP!). We cannot make decisions until we have all transcripts in from all colleges. Then, be patient, as we are moving as fast as we can. If you really want to make a dent, sent kind notes, thank you cards, candy (sugar and caffeine help!) addressed to our evaluation team to cheer them on and motivate them, as they get exhausted right about this time of year.

Go Dawgs!

Out of the Office

2011-04-01T14:09:00.000-04:00

I will be out of the office for the next five days or so (Spring Break!), so I will not be responding to any questions or comments on the blog during this time. As such, I would suggest holding your questions until I return, or search out the answers on this blog and/or the UGA Admissions website before commenting. Hopefully, I hope to return fully re-charged and ready for comments. After hearing that some people check this blog daily, I suggest that this would be a good chance to step away from the blog, take a walk, see a movie, read a book or two, relax in the sun, and play some putt-putt golf (all the things that I will be doing!), and I will be back shortly!

Online Committment Deposit now Available!

2011-03-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

After years (and years and years) of only being able to submit the $200 Freshman Commitment Deposit by mail, I am proud to announce that admitted freshman can now submit the deposit online! While this may seem minor in some respects, this is exciting for us in that we hope it makes things easier for you, the students, and for the UGA Bursar's Office. As you know, the Admissions Office has tried to become as paperless as possible, and now we can take one more step in helping the Bursar's office go this direction. Admitted freshman can see the link to the Online Commitment Deposit from their myStatus page, and you can then move forward with reserving your spot at UGA.

If you know that you will be attending a specific college, I would suggest that you move forward with sending in your commitment deposit (or whatever action your college of choice asks for), and then let the other colleges that you are considering know this decision. These actions let the colleges know who to focus their attention on, who to now stop mailing materials to (this is probably the highlight for some of you!), and at some point, it will allow the colleges to know more about the wait-list possibilities and overall enrollment numbers. May 1 is the official deposit date for most colleges, so if you still need time to review financial issues, visit campus one last time, or if you just don't want to make that decision yet, you are fine (at least until May 1!).

But if you know where you will be going to college next year, go ahead and let all of the colleges you are working with know this. It will make life easier for everyone!

Go Dawgs!

Great Essays!

2011-03-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, a recently admitted student and her parents visited the Admissions Office, and they asked to speak to me. It turned out that she was one of the students that I had mentioned in a previous post concerning the strength of her essays (see the Random Thoughts post from January 26, 2011), and they wanted to come by and say hello. They were a wonderful family, and I am glad I had the chance to speak with them about how things were going, her plans at UGA, etc.

We have so many wonderful stories about our applicants, from unique and amazing activities, interesting personal backgrounds, and amazing essays. This student, Jaynie, has given me permission to share any of her essays that I would like, so here is an example of one of her essays. Hopefully this will help future applicants in preparing their essays. We get a large number of essays about volunteer/mission trips, and my suggestion is to make the reader be able to almost feel the experience. I think Jaynie did a great job at this.

Hot, sticky air clung to my skin. Two little pairs of dirt-caked hands mercilessly pulled at my hair, fashioning sloppy braids. After trying unsuccessfully to communicate the pain my young stylists were inflicting, I decided to relish the remaining hours I had with these precious girls instead. During the nine days of my Dominican Republic mission trip, the three of us had bonded and become fast friends. The most effective Spanish teachers I have ever had, these tiny professors ushered me into a new realm of understanding, stretching me beyond my comfort zone. Immersed in a world without English, I was forced to take my 8+ years of classroom Spanish into the real world; my faithful little tutors never left my side.

On our final day, as the bus rolled in to sweep us back to homework and fast food, I promised myself that I would not forget what I had learned there. With one last goodbye hug, I tearfully climbed on board. A couple of days later I found myself walking into my all too familiar Spanish classroom, but this time-for the first time-truly eager to become fluent in the beautiful language of my new friends.

And to Jaynie and her parents, thanks for stopping by, thank you for the kind words, and our office looks forward to you being a part of the Bulldog Nation next year!

Go Dawgs!

Stats on the Class of 2015

2011-03-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

As I promised over the weekend, here are the statistics on the Admitted Class of 2015. I do not have the stats for the wait-list group ( just under 900 were offered wait-list) at this time as we do not know who will remain on the WL, so you will have to be happy with this information for now.The wait-list letter will give you more details on past years for admission off the wait-list. We are thrilled that we had such a strong applicant pool, and the admitted group is very impressive. Remember, the statistics I give out are the middle 50% ranges, so please take that into consideration when viewing the information.

Mid-50% range for GPA: 3.68-4.00 (please remember that this is not the GPA you see on your transcript, but the GPA that UGA calculates based on the core courses taken in HS, and looking at the actual grades on the transcript)
Mid-50% range for the SAT CR and M: 1170-1350
Mid-50% range for the SAT Writing: 570-680
Mid-50% range for the ACT: 27-31
Average number of AP/IB courses: over 5.6
Almost 40% of the freshman admitted to UGA had their strongest test score from the ACT, and if their ACT was then translated to the SAT, the SAT mid-ranges increase by about 30 points for the combined CR/M.

While we show the average number of AP/IB courses, we look at the entire course selection, and the accepted students have challenged themselves with a wide range of Honors and Advanced courses, summer programs, and a number of college courses taken through Joint Enrollment/Dual Enrollment programs.
Statistics can never show the other qualities that we have seen from our admitted group, from leadership capabilities to strong writing, being active in their schools and communities, to showing great growth from freshman to senior year.
Congratulations to the admitted class of 2015! Now we just have to wait and see who chooses to attend, so send in your deposit if UGA is your school of choice.

These are all the stats I can give you right now, so please do not ask for other data, as I will just have to say no. Our office is focused on phone calls, emails, WL information and transfer reviews, so I cannot always slog through the data.

Your Responses

2011-03-26T12:12:00.000-04:00

A quick thank you to all of you who have responded about your admissions decisions, as you have had great attitudes (only one post deleted!), have told some great stories, have made some great plan B's, and overall have made this process easy on me this weekend. I wish all of you well during the next stage in the college process, and make sure to keep up your good work during the last few months of school (I am sure all parents wanted me to say this!).

Go Dawgs!

2011 Admitted Freshmen

2011-03-25T13:34:00.000-04:00

Later today, we will be making decisions available to students.

For those of you who have been admitted to UGA, here is a post for you, and a chance to comment. Please remember that this is not a blog where you should post statistics, throw fellow classmates under the bus, etc. These types of comments will be deleted. As well, I will be away from a computer on Friday evening (at a wedding), so be patient as I may not be able to respond until the weekend.

Congratulations to all of the freshman who were admitted to UGA, and we look forward to you becoming a part of the Bulldog Nation. The next steps for a new student can be seen in the flyer in your admission packet titled Next Steps, so go ahead and review what you need to do next.

Remember that the Housing and myID pages may need a few business days before your information will be available, so be patient with these sites.

You have until May 1 to submit a deposit to hold a spot in our freshman class, and we hope the next stage of the admission process is a little less nerve wracking than the decision process. As you celebrate this time, make sure to be considerate of others in your school who may not have been admitted. Good luck in the next stage of the college admissions process, and Go Dawgs!

2011 Freshman Wait-list Applicants

2011-03-25T13:33:00.001-04:00

Later today, we will be making decisions available to students.

For those of you who have been wait-listed by UGA, here is a post for you and a chance to comment. Please remember that this is not a blog where you should post statistics, throw fellow classmates under the bus, etc. These types of comments will be deleted. As well, I will be away from a computer on Friday evening (at a wedding), so be patient as I may not be able to respond until the weekend.

Every year, our office has to predict approximately how many students we can admit in order to enroll our freshman class, but we can never be sure how many students will enroll until after the May 1 deposit deadline has passed. If the number of students who say they will be attending UGA is lower than we expect, we may need to go to our wait-list group in order to get the size that we want for our freshman class. Every year, we have about 1,000 students on the wait-list, and we carefully monitor the deposits coming into the University to see where we are in comparison to the predicted freshman numbers.

The Wait-List FAQ can answer some questions, but the most important thing you need to do is decide if you want to remain on the wait-list. Follow the instructions on the status check and/or the wait-list letter we mailed out, and let us know if you want to stay on the wait-list or if you want to decline this option and go forward with admission at another college. If you decide to stay on the wait-list, you still want to move forward with an alternate college plan, as we will not know about any wait-list options until May. If you select to stay on the wait-list, we then know you still want to attend UGA if an opportunity opens up.

This year, there are three options for the wait-list reply; You can say no, please do not consider me for the wait-list. The next option is to remain on the wait-list, but only if it is for the Fall term. The third option is to remain on the wait-list and be considered for both Fall and Spring term. This is so that if there is space available for the Fall term, we will look at all of the students who have asked to remain on the wait-list, but the only space available is Spring term, we will then work with only the students who said Fall or Spring.

We will not know details about the wait-list until May, so please be patient with our office, and read the FAQ before asking questions, as it can give you a great deal of information.

2011 Denied Freshman

2011-03-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

Later today, we will be making decisions available to students.

For those of you who have been denied by UGA, here is a post for you and a chance to comment. Please remember that this is not a blog where you should post statistics, throw fellow classmates under the bus, etc. These types of comments will be deleted. As well, I will be away from a computer on Friday evening (at a wedding), so be patient as I may not be able to respond until the weekend.

Unfortunately, we were not able to admit a number of strong applicants, as we are limited in the size of our freshman class. We know that you have a number of other strong college options, and I suggest you focus not on a denial from UGA, but on the other great opportunities that are ahead. As well, if your ultimate goal is to graduate from Georgia, then I would suggest you look at transfer opportunities down the road. But for now, focus on your current college options, find the one that fits you best, and have a great freshman year there. I would also suggest you go to our Denied Student FAQ if you have questions.

Decision Day 2011

2011-03-25T09:31:00.000-04:00

Yes, today is the day that final decisions are available to freshman applicants. My estimation is that the myStatus page will be open sometime around 4:30 pm EST today, but I will be out of the office this afternoon and will not be able to post the usual announcement right after it goes live. I will also not be available for most the evening to reply to any comments/questions, so be patient. Here are a few quick notes about today:

Please do no have everyone in your family try to log onto the site. It will only slow down our servers, so I suggest that just you, the student, log in. You can then share this information after you see it.
I do not have any statistics for the admitted or wait-listed group, but I will post them early next week (most likely just the mid 50% ranges). Please do not post any of your statistics on this blog, as that is not what this is site is about, and there are other places to do this (and many personal stats are not quite how we see them, ie. GPA's, balance of test scores, etc.).
I will put up three posts this afternoon, one for each of the three decision possibilities, with details about each decision and some links to FAQ's. Please read everything about a decision before commenting.
Please remember that both the other students and the admissions counselors in my office are actual people, and treat them with respect. Before hitting submit on a comment, make sure you actually want to post it.
No matter what the decision, know that there a a number of college options, and UGA is just one of them.
After decisions are out, the next steps are up to you, from depositing at a school, signing up for housing, etc. Make sure you take care of everything post-decision!
Go Dawgs!

The Elephant Parable, 2011 version

2011-03-24T08:55:00.000-04:00

After decisions last year, there were a wave of unhappy comments about specific decisions and comparisons to other applicants, and I decided to write a post about the importance of knowing everything about a situation before judging it. I thought that with decisions being released tomorrow, it would be good to re-post this message a little earlier.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived six blind men. Each of them was very wise. Each of them had gone to school and read lots of books in braille. They knew so much about so many things that people would often come from miles around to get their advice. They were happy to share whatever they knew with the people who asked them thoughtful questions.

One day these six wise blind men went for a walk in the zoo. That day the zoo-keeper was worrying about all of her many troubles. The night before she had had an argument with her husband, and her children had been misbehaving all day long. She had so much on her mind that she forgot to lock the gate of the elephant cage as she was leaving it. Now, elephants are naturally very curious animals. They quickly tried to push the gate to the cage to see if it might open. To their great surprise, the gate swung freely on its hinge. Two of the more daring elephants walked over to the gate. They looked left and right, and then quietly tip-toed out of the cage.
Just at that moment the six blind men walked by. One of them heard a twig snap, and went over to see what it was that was walking by.

"Hi there !" said the first blind man to the first elephant. "Could you please tell us the way to the zoo restaurant ?" The elephant couldn't think of anything intelligent to say, so he sort of shifted his weight from left to right to left to right. The first blind man walked over to see if this big silent person needed any help. Then, with a big bump, he walked right into the side of the elephant. He put out his arms to either side, but all he could feel was the big body of the elephant. "Boy," said the first blind man. "I think I must have walked into a wall. "

The second blind man was becoming more and more curious about what was happening. He walked over to the front of the elephant and grabbed hold of the animal's trunk. He quickly let go and shouted, "This isn't a wall. This is a snake! We should step back in case it's poisonous."

The third man quickly decided to find out what was going on, and to tell his friends what they had walked into. He walked over to the back of the elephant and touched the animal's tail. "This is no wall, and this is no snake. You are both wrong once again. I know for sure that this is a rope."

The fourth man sighed as he knew how stubborn his friends could be. The fourth blind man decided that someone should really get to the bottom of this thing. So he crouched down on all fours and felt around the elephant's legs. (Luckily for the fourth man, this elephant was very tame and wouldn't think of stepping on a human being.) "My dear friends," explained the fourth man. "This is no wall and this is no snake. This is no rope either. What we have here, gentlemen, is four tree trunks. That's it. Case closed."

The fifth blind man was not so quick to jump to conclusions. He walked up to the front of the elephant and felt the animal's two long tusks. "It seems to me that this object is made up of two swords," said the fifth man. "What I am holding is long and curved and sharp at the end. I am not sure what this could be, but maybe our sixth friend could help us."
The sixth blind man scratched his head and thought and thought. He was the one who really was the wisest of all of them. He was the one who really knew what he knew, and knew what he didn't know. Just then the worried zoo-keeper walked by. "Hi there ! How are you enjoying the zoo today ?" she asked them all. "The zoo is very nice," replied the sixth blind man. "Perhaps you could help us figure out the answer to a question that's been puzzling us." "Sure thing," said the zoo-keeper, as she firmly grabbed the elephant's collar.
"My friends and I can't seem to figure out what this thing in front of us is. One of us thinks it's a wall; one thinks it's a snake; one thinks it's a rope, and one thinks it's four tree trunks. How can one thing seem so different to five different people?"

"Well," said the zoo-keeper. "You are all right. This elephant seems like something different to each one of you. And the only way to know what this thing really is, is to do exactly what you have done. Only by sharing what each of you knows can you possibly reach a true understanding."
The six wise men had to agree with the wisdom of the zoo-keeper. The first five of them had been too quick to form an opinion without listening to what the others had to say. So they all went off to the zoo restaurant and had a really hearty lunch.

Remember, when admissions is looking at an application, we are reviewing the whole applicant in the context of their individual situation. While people might know or read of one aspect of a student, they do know know the whole of an applicant's life.

So when commenting here or looking at other applicants, please do not be blind to the fact that you might know one thing about a student, but you do not know the whole of the person. Open your eyes to the fact that admissions offices are looking at everything within the file, seeing connections, understanding strengths and weaknesses, and trying to see the overall person. You might think that you know a situation because you know of one aspect (or score) of an applicant, but you might just be holding an elephant's tail and thinking it is a rope.

2011 Final Freshman Decisions

2011-03-22T20:54:00.000-04:00

Yes, the question that all freshmen applicants (and their parents) have been asking again and again can finally be answered. Final decisions for freshmen applicants are scheduled to be released on Friday, March 25 (unless something catastrophic occurs). As normal, we will open up the status check late afternoon on Friday (please do not ask what time late Friday afternoon is, as I am saying late Friday afternoon for a reason), and applicants will be able to view their decisions. As well, decision letters will be sent out by mail.

There will be three decision groups (Admit, Deny and Wait-List), and I will try to post some information on all three of these decisions. No matter what your decision, please make sure to think before commenting, as this is an emotional time, and you probably do not want to write something you may regret later.

Please do not have multiple people in your family try to log into the myStatus page on Friday, as this will slow everything down. Just have one person (hopefully yourself) log into myStatus, be patient as it may be slower than normal (do not keep hitting enter or refresh), and tell family members who want to see your myStatus page to wait until Saturday.

Remember, we cannot and will not give out any decisions by phone or by email, and we are as happy as you are to have decision day finally get here.

Go Dawgs!

2011 Transfer Update

2011-03-17T09:49:00.000-04:00

We are finally at the finish line for Summer Transfers! While we have about 15 or so left, generally extremely challenging files with a great deal of coursework from colleges we have not worked with before, we are now starting on Fall transfer applicants. I know that this is a little later than expected, but a few things came up that pushed back our timeline. Please know that there are about 75 or so summer transfers that were incomplete, and some of these applicants will be receiving emails concerning the fact that we have old transcripts that do not have the most up-to-date work on them, and these students should get in a new transcript ASAP.

As for Fall transfers, we will begin with applicants that sent in their applications and materials first, and then work from there. I cannot give you a time estimate right now, as we still have not hit the Fall transfer deadline, so I have no idea how many overall applications there will be this year. As well, the people on the phones cannot guess about a decision timeline, so please do not call us if that is your only question.

We receive a large number of emails, calls, posts, etc. saying that applicant X needs to sign a lease in Athens, so they need to know now if they are admitted. I have good and bad news on this issue; first, there are a large number of available places to live in Athens (a buyers/renters market), so do not panic about this issue. The bad news is that stating this situation in an email, phone call, post, etc. will not change our timeline for reviewing your file, so my best answer is to just be patient.

I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!

Alternative Spring Break

2011-03-14T13:12:00.000-04:00

While a large number of college students are headed to the beach, the open seas, or some other vacation destination, over 350 UGA students are traveling throughout the country to participate in Alternative Spring Break. They will be helping to build affordable housing, interacting with children, serving the homeless, and working with various community centers. This is a great chance for our students to give back, and to also learn more about themselves. To learn more about this program, visit the UGA Alternative Spring Break site, which is under the UGA Center for Leadership and Service. In addition, there is a UGA press release that gives even more details about the program. They will be joining thousands of college students across the country who are giving their time and effort to help out those in need.

Way to go ASB Dawgs!

myStatus Page Down

2011-03-11T09:37:00.001-05:00

In preparation for the Freshmen decisions that will be sent out in late March, the myStatus page will be temporarily closed to allow our office to begin the final stages of the decision process. We will still be making transfer decisions during this time, and these applicants will still be notified by mail. Please bear with us as we move forward with decisions, and when I have a date of the release of freshmen decisions, I will post it here.

Predicting the Future

2011-03-07T15:08:00.000-05:00

I am able to do a lot things easily; I can juggle with one hand or two, I can read admissions files like nobody's business, I can make a great meatloaf (the secret is in the sour cream and dijon mustard), I can figure out most puzzles when given the time, I am very good at utilizing technology with admissions, I can throw a pretty good curve ball when my shoulder allows it. But there is one thing I cannot do, predict the future!

No matter how many times you ask me when you will hear a transfer decision, when summer transfer files will be done, what your chances are as a freshman applicant, or when fall transfers will start hearing decisions, I cannot predict the unknown. Sometimes, you just have to wait! So please, for my sanity and for yours, do not ask when or if, as I will not know until I know. As Yogi Berra was quoted, "I wish I had an answer to that because I'm tired of answering that question."

When I know details, I will post them, from when we start on Fall transfers to when freshman decisions will go out. Until then, just be patient.

P.S. Here are a few other things I am bad at: I just cannot ride a ripstick at all, my wife has to re-wash most of the dishes/pans that I hand-wash, my daughter says I cannot sing to save my life, and I cannot dance (among other things). But first on the list is predicting the future!

Majors and Admissions

2011-03-03T17:19:00.004-05:00

An academic advisor has made a request that I write a post about majors, and I think it is a great idea! I have dealt with the issue of academic majors before and how they relate to admissions in comments, but having a more detailed post seems like the best next step.

Freshman Applicants

When you apply to UGA, what you select as a major is a non- issue during the admission process. Occasionally when we are reading a file, we will see that X applicant has done a great deal of outside work towards the major of their choice (I remember the Entomology applicant who traveled to several different countries doing insect research and collection). So, for almost every applicant, your choice of major has no impact on a decision. Why? Well first, any freshman applicant can go into their myStatus page, select the Settings option, and change their intended major. Second, a large number of freshman will change their major prior to enrolling at UGA, and then again sometime during their first two years at UGA. So when you apply to UGA, select a major that interests you (or select Undecided), but do not select a major just because a cousin, a friend, or the aunt of your mom's best friend's hair stylist said that applying as (insert major name here) major would get you admitted. Once you decide to enroll at UGA, though, make sure that the major you have selected is the one you really want, especially prior to orientation. Why? Because at orientation, you will be meeting with an academic advisor, planning out your next year's classes, and getting on track for a degree. So you want to make sure you speak with the correct advisor based on your most up-to-date major plan.

Transfer Applicants

When you apply to UGA, your major will almost never have any impact on an admission decision, but you do not have the opportunity to change your major during the admission process (unlike freshman). There are numerous reasons for this, from students trying to game the system when we had some extended deadlines to programs trying to plan out how many students they will have, but the result is that transfers have to stay with their major they have selected. Why is this important? Because when you are advised at orientation, you want to make sure you are working with the correct advisor and have planned out a road map towards a degree correctly. This is more important for transfers than freshman, as most transfers have already taken a great deal of their core courses, already know what they plan on majoring in at UGA, and need to sign up for some specific classes during their first term at UGA. You do not want to be at orientation trying to change things, getting incorrect information due to selecting a major that you thought would get you admitted, or wasting the time of an advisor who you will not be working with in the future. If you apply to UGA, select the major you want, and know that we do not hold pre-Business students to a higher standard of admission than English majors, or Genetics vs. History, etc.

I hope this helps, and Go Dawgs!

American Idol and Admissions

2011-03-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

Since 2002, there has been one constant in my household; From January through March, two nights a week, my family will be watching American Idol while I read admissions files. The judges have changed, the contestants are younger, there are more Ford commercials than ever, but my family is still watching. When I take a break from reading files, it is interesting for me to look the contestants, and think about how it relates to admissions. While there are probably a number of different connections that could be made about American Idol and college admissions, I will focus on one in particular; attitude.

One of the worst (or best) parts of the show are the reactions of the contestants that are not selected for Hollywood during the first few weeks of each season. Some will say thank you, some try to sing more songs, some will cry, and some will launch into a tirade of bleeped out words and hand gestures.

In the same way, admissions offices receive a number of reactions after a student is denied admission. Some will say thank you, some will cry, and some will lash out at our admissions team. The first two reactions are just fine, as we expect both of them. But my suggestion is to make sure you do not take the third option. Too many times, whether it is comments on this blog, phone calls, emails or visits to our office, parents and students will lash out at our staff, the University, their counselors, and even their classmates if they are not admitted. While this may be a natural reaction for some, make sure you think about your actions. Remember how the contestants on American Idol look when they lash out, and ask yourself if this is how you want an admissions office to view you, and what you want to accomplish with your communication. If students or parents threaten legal action, we direct them to Legal Affairs and state that we have to now stop the conversation. If someone starts swearing or using foul language, we let them know that this conversation is no longer productive and we end the call. If a comment has foul language or inappropriate information, it will be deleted.

So during this time of waiting, make sure to hope for the best, but know how to react if the decision is a denial. I do not want this to be a depressing post, but as I have always said, I want to be honest and open with my blog, and give the best advise possible.

2011 File Reading

2011-02-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

While this is our "Quiet Time" in the office, with our counselors tied to their desks (figuratively, not literally), I thought you might appreciate a little insight into some interesting things we are seeing in the applicants we are reviewing:

One applicant is studying for a year in Germany as a part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
A GA sports stacking champion, who also holds a Guinness World record for team sports stacking
A wonderful mix of Girl Scouts (many gold awards!) and Boy Scouts (a number of Eagles!)
Founding member and judge of an extreme scootering club
Numerous study abroad trips to Europe, Asia, South and Central America on exchange programs
Miss Teen Kansas 2010
An amazing number of musicians, from marching bands to jazz bands, orchestras to personal bands
Job as assistant Pit Boss for the Atlanta Plaza Theatre Rocky Horror Picture Show showings
Several members of Quidditch clubs (I know there is a great match each year in Gwinnett County)
One student who took two years off to play international junior hockey
A number of perfect attendance records throughout high school (and I am guessing a few K-12)
A huge group of 2 and 3 sport athletes, with a few 4 sport athletes thrown in as well.
Favorite Female Member of the Black Eyed Peas Fan Club
An applicant who can solve the Rubik's Cube in 30 seconds (2 minutes if using just one hand)
Head Lumberjack of the Lumberjack Club ("and as Head Lumberjack, I make the pancakes!")

As you can guess, these are just a few of the unique things we have seen so far from our applicant pool, and these are not the norm for most of our applicants, although most of our applicants are very active in their schools and communities. Please remember that just like everything else, there is no specific "weight" that is given for activities (or essays, recommendations, etc.), as we are looking at each applicant in this group as a whole. As well, just because we mention some activity, it does not mean that this drives an admission decision, only that these are some of the interesting/creative things that make up a part of the 2011 freshman applicant pool.

Go Dawgs!

Updating the Blog - Please be Patient

2011-02-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

During this time of year, things get a little quieter than normal, as everyone on our side of things are hidden away in their offices, reading files. On the applicant side, everyone is waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for decisions to come out. As such, this is a good time to try and update a few features on the blog. I have added some tabbed pages recently, cleaned up the labels section, and now I am going to try and update the comments section. As you can tell, when comments flow at a nice steady pace, it is easy to comment, and my reply is usually right below your comments. But during the hectic times, comments roll in at such at quick pace that I am unable to keep up, and my responses are come in groups and sometimes are hard to connect with the original comment. So I hope the new comment feature will allow for an easier, more linear comment option. Wish me luck!

February Freshman Admits now available on myStatus

2011-02-18T16:07:00.001-05:00

The status check is now updated and the wave of freshman February admit decisions (roughly 1,800) that I discussed earlier are now showing up on the site. Please remember that this is a small group of admits who meet the EA criteria used in our December admits (and are mainly RD applicants due to this fact), and remember, I cannot comment/discuss specific decisions on this blog.

As I posted a few days ago, there are no set "EA critieria levels", as it is a review of the combination of grades, rigor and test scores, so please do not ask what EA SAT/ACT, GPA or rigor criteria is. There will be a few EA deferred students who are admitted in this round, mostly because of an increase in their academic standing (new test scores) or if we needed to re-review their other academic information due to another issue (change in course schedule, issue with a transcript and self-reported grades, etc.)

Do not panic if you have not been admitted in this wave, as we still have a number of files to read and numerous of decisions to make. Final decisions will be made by roughly the end of March, so try to be patient as we finish up the process over the next month or so.

As I said in my previous post, I have not run the mid-ranges on these admitted students, but they should be fairly similar to the EA admitted students.

Go Dawgs!

February Decisions

2011-02-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

In the late afternoon of Friday, February 18, we will be releasing the February wave of admission offers (please do not ask me what late afternoon is, as I put it as late afternoon instead of a specific time for a reason). As I stated in an earlier post, these admits, who are primarily Regular Decision (RD) applicants, are students who meet the criteria that UGA admissions used for Early Action (EA) admits. Just to stop any questions, there are no set "EA critieria levels", as it is a review of the combination of grades, rigor and test scores, so please do not ask what EA SAT/ACT, GPA or rigor criteria is. There will be a few EA deferred students who are admitted in this round, mostly because of an increase in their academic standing (new test scores) or if we needed to re-review their other academic information due to another issue (change in course schedule, issue with a transcript and self-reported grades, etc.)

Whenever we release these February decisions, we always get questions, ranging from "Why didn't I hear" to "Does this mean that more decisions will roll out through the month of March" and so on. The next group of decisions after this round will be in late March, and this will be the remaining freshman decisions. From now until late March, our office will be reading, and reading, and reading more files. Please do not contact us and see if you can get your decision earlier, whether due to a vacation, another college's schedule, a birthday gift for an applicant, etc., as we need to review all of the files before making final decisions.

Roughly 1,800 students will receive an offer of admission in this round (we only do admits during this round), but we have a large number of students that we will be admitting in March as well. Based on planning and projections for next year, UGA will slightly increasing the size of the freshman class slightly, so we will be admitting more students that last year as a whole. As in previous years, we will also be enrolling about 200 freshmen for the following Spring term. I do not have any specifics about this group (GPA, SAT, ACT mid-ranges), but they should be somewhat similar to the EA admitted group.

I hope this answers a fair amount of your questions, congratulations to the newly admitted freshmen, and Go Dawgs!

Summer/Fall Transfer Decisions

2011-02-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

Our evaluation team is finally at the end of checking high school transcripts (no, this does not mean we are done with freshman reviews, only the HS transcript reviews), so starting next week, we will be able to begin the transfer review process. We will begin with the Summer transfer applicants, and we will then shift to the Fall transfers when we complete summer. Right now, about 400 students have applied for Summer transfer admission, and a large number of those still need to send us transcripts, so make sure all of your material is sent to us, and let us know if a transcript is under a different name.

The review of transfer files is not a quick process, as we must determine if the applicant meets or exceeds the GPA consideration level for admission (30-59 transferable sem. hours needs a 3.20 or higher, 60+ transferable sem. hours needs a 2.80 or higher), and if admissible, we must then map out the equivalent UGA coursework for the classes that transfer into UGA. It can be as fast as 30 minutes for a file, or as slow as 10 hours, depending on how many courses, if we have seen these courses before, etc.

My rough estimation is that we will be able to do about 30-50 decisions a day, but it also will vary depending on what else appears on our plates. Decisions will go out daily by mail and on the myStatus page, and I ask that you be patient, make sure that all transcripts from all colleges attended, even dual enrollment work, are in your file and updated. By updated, I mean that if you sent us a transcript from X college in November, then completed Fall courses at X college in December, you need to send us another transcript showing this work, and the date will change on the myStatus page.

Go Dawgs!

Minor Changes

2011-02-09T11:49:00.000-05:00

After about a year and a half of managing the UGA Admissions blog, I think it is about time to make a few modifications to the site. I will be making changes slowly over the next few months, with some being functional and some being cosmetic in nature. A few days ago, I added the "Subscribe Via Email" link in the right hand column so that you can receive an email every time I add a post. In addition, there have been some requests to try to organize the comments a little better. While I do not control all aspects of the functional part of the blog (thanks Blogger!), I an able to add some new features as they become available to the blogging world. One such feature is a different style of comments that will order the responses better. In addition, while the look of the site is not bad, it could definitely use a little more excitement and color. Don't fear, I will not be making any radical changes, just some needed additions.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions for the blog as far as features, and I will see what can be done.

Go Dawgs!

Dual Enrollment and Challenging Coursework

2011-02-07T09:45:00.001-05:00

Every once in a while, the topic of dual enrollment (taking college classes while in high school) comes up on this blog. Every year, well over 1,500 of our freshman applicants will have some form of dual enrollment work, and most likely 700-900 freshmen will enroll with dual enrollment work. It ranges from 3 hours to 60+ hours of college work, from a variety of colleges, and a variety of courses taken. We are happy to work with students who have taken dual enrollment courses, and we look at this information when reviewing the rigor of an applicant's schedule, as well as all of the dual enrollment details and grades during our file reading process.

The most important thing I always focus on is that the student (and parents) should sit down with their guidance counselor and chart out a path that will challenge the student to the best of their ability. Is that taking the IB program in their school, taking Honors and AP courses, a mix of AP and dual enrollment, or if there are no advanced courses at the high school, focus on dual enrollment, etc. If you want to prepare yourself for college, and especially a competitive college like UGA, then you want to come in prepared to to the work. I sat in on a program for 8th grade parents last month that helped prepare students to register for 9th grade classes, and this same thought was stated as well by the school officials. We know the challenges of Honors and Gifted courses early on, and of AP/IB courses in the later years, as well as dual enrollment. For some students, AP courses are readily available and allow them to remain in their school throughout the day, and are a great stepping stone to the challenge they will see in a college class. For others, their high school may have limited options in school, and a local college course is the best route. At UGA, I have seen several students who were beyond their HS's capacity in the math and foreign language areas, and UGA was a great option to fill this need. But I will say again, the choice of courses needs to reside in the student's hands, not in UGA's. The only serious issue that I have seen with dual enrollment, especially if not taught on the college campus, is that a number of selective private colleges may not accept these courses as transfer work, but you would need to communicate with the colleges to which you are applying (or check their transfer equiv. charts).

Now, when UGA calculates a high school GPA, we can use the applicant's dual enrollment grades if the grades show up on the high school transcript, which most do. When we calculate a GPA, we are trying to get the best understanding of the student's core grades as possible, but we also want to have as fair a process as possible in our review. When we add weight to a student's grades, it is only for AP or IB grades, as these course are nationally and internationally standardized through the College Board and IB programs guidance. While we certainly look at Honors/Gifted/Accelerated/Dual Enrollment courses in our review of a student's rigorous schedule, these courses are not standardized within a county or state, much less internationally. I have seen dual enrollment courses that range from Ivy League colleges to 2 year technical schools, and I have seen such a wide range of Honors courses to know that there is no nationally standardized basis for the coursework (again this year I saw an Honors PE course on a transcript).

There have been a number of studies about students and challenging courses in high school (especially on AP courses), and the consensus is that a student is better prepared and has stronger college grades if they have taken advanced courses in high school. And the focus is generally not on the exam score of the course, but on the actual participation in challenging courses that has an impact on future grades.

So challenge yourself now in high school, and you will be better prepared for the future.

Go Dawgs!

February Decisions

2011-02-04T09:02:00.002-05:00

Later this month, we will be releasing acceptance letters for a small group of freshman applicants. These admits, who are primarily Regular Decision (RD) applicants, are students who meet the criteria that UGA admissions used for Early Action (EA) admits. Just to stop any questions, there are no set "EA critieria levels", as it is a review of the combination of grades, rigor and test scores, so please do not ask what EA criteria is. Whenever we release these February decisions, we always get questions, ranging from "Why didn't I hear" to "Does this mean that more decisions will roll out through the month of March" and so on. for those of you who have been following my blog, here is a quick reminder.

The three freshman decision release dates:

Mid December - EA Decisions released
Late February - Admit letters for RD or deferred EA applicants meeting EA admit criteria
Late March - Final Decisions for all remaining freshman applicants

Why do we release a small group of February acceptances? Well, if an applicant has applied Regular Decision, has a perfect 4.00 GPA, 12 AP classes in a variety of areas, and a 1540/750 SAT (an actual situation this year), why wouldn't we want to admit this student? Just like with EA admits, there are a group of Regular Decision applicants who are well above what is expected academically, and we want to move forward with admitting these students now. As well, this is a good example of the of how the rumors and myths out there, such as it is easier/harder to be admitted EA/RD, are not true. We are carefully reviewing the applicant pool, and treating them equally regardless of EA/RD.

Please remember, we still have a large amount of file reading, reviewing of the overall applicant pool, and a great deal more admission decisions to make before this year's admission cycle is done, so be patient. Ignore any wild rumors, know that there will still be a substantial number of admit letters to go out, and finish up your senior year strong!

Go Dawgs!

Almost through with matching materials

2011-02-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

At this point in time, we are caught up with the mail, and we are entering in materials as they come in to the office. As well, we have checked the entire holding file of unmatched materials (well over 5,000 items) against any incomplete files, and we are currently going through each incomplete file to check and make sure that nothing was mis-labeled or missed. By Thursday, Feb. 3, if your file is still showing something as missing, you need to take care of it ASAP. We will be waiting on the January 22 SAT scores to come in, along with any other test scores that come in by the date we receive the Jan. scores, and remember that we must have an ACT writing section to use your ACT scores. At this point in time, you need to make sure that everything is in your file and ready for us to move forward with the review. As you can guess, we are worn out, but we are glad to be caught up on things.

Now it is time to breathe, relax, and read some files.

Go Dawgs!

Random Notes from the Week After

2011-01-26T12:54:00.001-05:00

After a few days of opening mail, reading files late into the night, scanning documents, and answering emails, here are a few quick and random thoughts from me (take these with a grain of salt):

To the teacher that decided to put seven staples into your two page teacher recommendation, please do not ever do that again. Please!
I have really enjoyed reading some great essays (and a few not so great), and I hope to contact a few students to see if I can get their permission to post a few on the blog. Jaynie C. from Marietta, great essays!
To the teacher who wrote "I sent this letter 6 weeks ago and yesterday, I received a chopped up envelope in the mail with an apology from the USPS", we are fine to take the letter that you included. I love my postal service, but sometimes...
To the schools that have to staple their transcripts, at least do not staple right through your student's name (Chattahoochee among others). It is difficult enough to pull out the staples, much less try to save the name underneath. The transcripts all survived, but my calm language did not. Maybe this suggestion will help out for next year.
To the schools that sent in all their updated transcripts in one large packet with no staples, and alphabetically to boot, I love you. If I could marry a school, I would (Sayre, Walton, etc.).
Wow, some of you get to take some great classes! I wish I was able to take Science Fiction Lit. in my high school.
To the 5,000 plus teachers and 14,000 plus counselors who did their recommendations online, I love you too! I am already married, though, so I can not propose.
To the students, teachers and counselors who sent in things well before the deadlines, you are awesome! We are fine with things being sent on the deadline, but things that are sent well before the deadline are much appreciated!
Every year, I am amazed at how much you (the applicants) are able to fit into your life. I have seen a great deal of students who are very active in their schools, their communities, and in the world as a whole.
To the students, parents, counselors, teachers, etc., that call, email or send us notes and other items of thanks, we love you! To the ones that scream, yell, curse and threaten, never mind, you just do not get it.
To all the 18,000 or so freshman applicants for your interest in UGA and being a bulldog, thanks for considering UGA as one of your college options.

We are almost done opening, scanning and merging the mail into all the student files, but be patient, as our system is not a live update system. We will be double-checking incomplete files over the next few weeks to search out missing items, but if it has been 8-10 business days since something has been sent and it is still not showing up, talk to the sender. If need be, send the missing item again, and make sure it has your full name and birthdate on it!

Now back to file reading! Go Dawgs!

Quiet Time for Admissions

2011-01-24T10:29:00.001-05:00

It is now quiet time in our office, a practice that we have done for about 5 years. We will still be taking calls and answering emails, but the admissions counselors will be focused on freshman file reading, and thus will not be able to take calls or visit with students/families that visit our office. They will still be conducting information sessions and they will be talking to guidance counselors, but in order to get decisions by late March, we need to focus on file reading. Our information clerks will still be taking calls and answering emails, but responses may be a little slower as we go along. For more information, please go to the Quiet Time Information page on our website.

I have enjoyed reading the limited number of files I have been able to get to so far, and I look forward to learning more about all our applicants!

Go Dawgs!

Deadlines, myStatus and Materials - The Cliff Notes

2011-01-21T14:41:00.001-05:00

At this point in the the Admissions process, everyone (my office included) is somewhat worn out, exhausted, but glad that we have survived the deadline. Here are a few random thoughts about the process over the next few weeks.

The myStatus page is updated every business day during the early morning (and occasionally a rare afternoon), so it is not a live update. If your teacher submits a recommendation letter today, it will not appear today.
The mail takes time to get here! I received an email yesterday from a student who said that her teacher mailed the recommendation letter yesterday, and it was not showing up yet on the myStatus page yet. Reality check! We have received over 20 bins of mail, and we can only open so much, scan so much, and input so much in a day.
Faxes will be shredded!
We hate staples. We really hate staples!
A postmarked deadline means when it is put in the mail, not when it gets to us. And remember, we will work with you on missing items (up to a point).
Make sure your teacher knows your real name, and how to spell it. I have tracked down at least 5 letters today with last names spelled wrong, 10+ with the first name as something other than the official first name, and two with just a first name on the letter. It happens, and we deal with it, so be patient.
Patience, patience, patience!
We import test scores within a few business days of receiving the score reports. They do not go in instantly, as it takes several different offices to get them in correctly. If it has been a while since your scores were suppose to be in UGA's hands, look at your score report to make sure it was sent to UGA, that your name is the same on the score report and the application, that your correct SSN is on the score report, etc. If there is no SSN and the name or bdate is different (and you have been patient), then contact us about it to see if we can hand match the scores.
Did I mention that we shred faxes and hate staples?
We want to complete your application file, so make sure that all materials are sent, and work with us.
If you contact us, give us the details of the situation (when something was sent, the name it was sent under, how it was sent, etc.). As well, remember that we want to work with you, so be pleasant and patient.
Do not do a mass email to the entire admissions staff, or call 2+ admissions counselors in the hopes that this will speed up your situation. This only slows things down and causes us to become frustrated, as we are now all working with one student instead of multiple students.
You do not have to send things multiple times right away, as that slows down the process in our office. I just looked at a file where three transcripts came in within a one day period.
Did I mention patience? How about faxes?
Relax, enjoy this semester, and know that we are working hard to get all the files complete and reviewed. Make sure to track your application on the myStatus page, and give us 8-10 business days from when something is sent in to UGA to then get it into your file.
Go Dawgs!

The Next Steps!

2011-01-19T10:54:00.000-05:00

Now that the Freshman application deadline is in the past, and as all of the supporting documents roll in, here are a few of the things that will be going on in the Admissions Office over the next few months.

We have 8+ bins of mail waiting to be opened, sorted, scanned, and dropped into the proper files. I expect that we will have a fair number of items that are still in the process of being delivered, so it will take until late next week to get through everything (or even later!).
We had over 1,100 applications come in over the extended weekend, and another 700 or so on Monday (and we will have a few more straggle in today from people with application issues that we are clearing up). We now have to search through all our holding files (where we keep documents that have not been matched up yet, usually because they come in before the application), for all 1,800+ applicants. We probably have over 5,000 documents in the holding files, so this takes a while.
We will continue to import SAT and ACT scores, and we will do this until we receive the January 22 SAT scores, most likely in the second week of February.
We have begun file reading season, and we will be going to what our office calls "Quiet Time". This means that we will not have a counselor available for phone calls, but the wonderful information clerks who answer the phones will still answer them, and will still help anybody who contacts us. As well, they will be answering emails and helping visitors. We will still be doing 8 information sessions per week, and we will be helping applicants and their families, but we also need to set aside time from January through March to be able to read files.
We will still be doing limited travel, but file reading takes a lot of time, so we try to hold off on most Spring travel until after mid-March.
Our evaluation team will be working through mid-February reviewing high school transcripts and checking self-reported grades, and then they will start reviewing transfer files (working on Summer transfers first, then Fall transfers).

We ask that you have patience as we get through the mail, the surge of applications, and the large amount of files that need to be read. It is a fun time, but it is also exhausting!

Go Dawgs!

File Completion Deadline Extended to January 21

2011-01-13T13:06:00.000-05:00

Due to the school closings throughout the Southeast, UGA has (as previously stated) extended the application deadline to January 18, and we are now extending the File Completion deadline to Friday, January 21. This means that the materials that are sent in accompanying an application (transcript, teacher recommendation, school evaluation, part II, etc.) can be postmarked by January 21 and still be fine for UGA Admissions. Remember, the application deadline is still January 18 at 5 p.m. EST. We hope that since a large number of schools will be out on Friday due to icy weather, and then have a national holiday on Monday, the extended File Completion deadline will help everyone out next week.

Have a great day, and Go Dawgs!

Extended RD deadline

2011-01-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

Due to the severe weather issues surrounding UGA, Atlanta and the Southeast, the freshman Regular Decision application deadline and file completion deadline of January 15 has been extended to January 18 at 5 p.m. EST. Please remember that we will be flexible with materials coming from high schools, and we will keep the online school evaluation and teacher recommendation forms open for a short while after the deadline to assist school officials. Please be safe during this severe weather situation, and I suggest not waiting until the last minute to submit your applications!

Go Dawgs (and be safe!).

Incomplete Emails and Incoming Materials

2011-01-06T14:07:00.002-05:00

At this time of year, we send out a number of emails to freshman applicants letting them know that their files are incomplete. This is a standard email that is sent out roughly 10-15 days after a student has applied, and it is to alert the student that as of the time of the email creation, we did not have all the required materials in their file. NOW (and I put this in caps and bold letters for a reason), the email also states that an applicant should check their myStatus page to see what is in and what is missing, and that the myStatus page has the most up-to-date information. This means do not call us saying that the myStatus page shows you as complete but the email says incomplete.

There is about a one day delay between a document being put in a student's file and that information then being relayed to the email system. So, if the email is created today to be sent out early tomorrow morning, there could be a document that came in today that now completes the file, and that may be shown on the myStatus page on the next day (the same day that the incomplete email arrives). If you are one of the few people who gets an incomplete email but the myStatus page shows that everything is now in, you do not need to panic. The myStatus page is the most up-to-date system, and you should track your materials from there. The email is just a reminder to make sure you know what is going on with your file.

We will be getting a large volume of applications submitted over the next two weeks (I am guessing 3,000 or more), and a huge volume of materials (I am guessing 20,000 or more documents), so please be patient as we sort our way through everything. We will be working hard to get everything matched up with your file, but it will take a little while, especially right around the deadline. Again, be patient with us during this time.

Hopefully this helps explain the situation, and will ease your mind.

Go Dawgs!

Where's the Effin Waffle House?- A Story of Misunderstanding

2011-01-04T16:28:00.002-05:00

About 9 years ago, my wife and I were driving home after picking up our four year old son at my in-laws house, with him firmly strapped into his car seat in the back. As four year olds are prone to do, his discussion turned to bodily functions and a wonderful discussion about gas. My wife, raised as a proper southern woman, re-enforced the notion that one should not use the word "fart", even going as far as to say "remember, we do not use the F word". Of course, this turned into a wonderfully painful discussion about what other words he should not say, from the S word, the H word, and the other, dreaded "F word".

We finally made it through the "words that should never be said" talk, and focused on the drive home from Greensboro, GA to Athens. We had just reached the bridge crossing I-20, when from the back of the car we heard the statement "Where is the effin Waffle House?" My wife jerked her head around in horror and asked "What did you just say?" in a tone only a mother knows. My son grinned back at her and said "Where is the effin Waffle House?" She sat stunned, unable to speak, when he once more repeated "Where is the effin Waffle House?", only this time pointing forward and up in the sky. My wife turned to look, and saw the Waffle House sign up ahead in the dark sky, with one of the F's dark from a burned out light bulb. In other words, "Where is the F in WAFFLE HOUSE?" Luckily, I was able to keep the car on the road through all the laughter, but it was not easy.

Why do I tell you this story, other than it is the best story I have in my parental bag of stories?

Around deadline time in January (and really throughout the year), we will get phone calls and emails from students, parents and counselors asking about an application. The student will ask if the application is in the system and okay, and we will check to see if it made it into our files. When we say yes, we go away thinking that the student now knows the application has been submitted (and letting them know to check their myStatus online), but the student may hear the words "okay" and think that their file is complete. A counselor may call to say they have just sent in the high school transcript and so the applicant's file should be complete shortly (and thus we say okay), only to later find out it was sent by fax and we could not even read the name on the page, much less the grades. A parent may call to make sure UGA has received their child's ACT scores (and we would see they came in on X date), but not see the myStatus situation or see the UGA email indicating that we are still missing an ACT Writing score. As you can see, it all comes down to an issue of misunderstanding what was communicated by both sides.

So when you contact any admissions office, make sure you are asking specific questions, make sure to submit things early in the process in case there is a problem, and make sure to use the sources at hand (myStatus, your counselor, etc.), to insure that your file is complete.