2026 Freshman Admission Notes

 

The UGA 2026 First Year application will be opening up on August 1 on the Common App, so here are a few things to know prior to it going live:

• Should a student apply Early Action (EA) or Regular Decision (RD)?:
  • Ultimately, this question needs to be answered by you, the student/applicant. We treat Early Action and Regular Decision applicants the same, just with different timeframes. If you are comfortable applying EA, apply EA. We have created a simple flow chart (above) to help with this question, but again, it is up to you on how to proceed.
• In the admissions review process, what exactly is UGA looking at/for? In our holistic review, we are focused on six areas:
  • a review of your academic work over the past 3 years, focusing mainly on core grades but also the required SAT/ACT scores.
  • an analysis of how you have challenged yourself in your core HS classes (including senior year), with an added focus on your academic area of interest.
  • a look at your activities and involvement during your HS years in clubs, sports, activities, etc., with a focus on depth over breadth.
  • an understanding of your writing and creativity through your essays, but also through different creative outlets (music, robotics, debate, dance, etc.).
  • an examination of your work ethic and maturity in and out of the classroom through all areas of the application, including recommendations.
  • a review of how you give back to others through your volunteer work, your interaction with people, and your areas of involvement.
• UGA Admission Essays – What are the topics/prompts. See my Fall 2026 Essay Questions blog post for more details, but here is the short version:
  • For First Year students applying to UGA for Fall 2026, we will keep the same longer personal essay (250-650 words) as before, using the essay prompts from the Common App. The shorter UGA specific essay (200-300 words suggested) topic will also remain the same as last year, with the following essay prompt: “The transition from middle to high school is a key time for students as they reach new levels of both academic and personal discovery. Please share a book (novel, non-fiction, etc.) that had a serious impact on you during this time. Please focus more on why this book made an impact on you and less on the plot/theme of the book itself (we are not looking for a book report).” *(We allow for some additional words in the essays in case some students are struggling to meet the word count, and you can see the exact word count on the application).
    • FYI – We are not restricting you to the exact years of 8th-9th grades, but rather the general timeframe of the middle to high school transition, which can extend somewhat further than one year on each end. Feel free to use your discretion in your choice of the timeline focused on the shift to your high school years.
• What is UGA looking at on your HS transcript, and how do we calculate the UGA GPA we use in our review?
  • It seems like every high school has their own way of calculating a GPA, and there are hundreds of different grading scales out there. As such, UGA calculates our own UGA GPA that we reference in all the data points we share.
  • We are only looking at core courses/grades (so English, Math, Science, Social Science and World Language work).
  • We only add weight for AP, IB or AICE grades, as these are internationally standardized.
  • We do look at all courses, including honors, dual enrollment, etc. in our review of a student’s course rigor, and we do look at senior courses in this review.
  • The actual grades you received are key, as a majority of our admitted students have almost all A’s in their core courses.
• While knowing what we look at is important, it is also important to know what we don’t look at. We do not use demonstrated interest. If you apply, I assume you’re interested in UGA. That’s it for demonstrated interest by us.
  • UGA does not use race, ethnicity, gender or legacy status in our review (we haven’t for 30 or so years).
  • We do not limit admission offers based on a specific high school, county, or geographic area (we do use GA residency in our review though).
  • We do not make decisions based on your intended major. We do not have limits on the number of “X” majors we can admit, especially since enrolling students can change their major prior to orientation. We do look at the major you select in understanding how you have prepared yourself for that major (so if you are an engineering major, have you challenged yourself in rigorous upper level math and physics courses), but we look at all applicants and their majors this way.
• When will our applicants hear a decision?
  • For Early Action (EA) applicants, In-State students will hear in late November, and Out-of-State students will hear in early-mid December (more exact details will be released closer to these dates).
  • For Regular Decision and EA deferred applicants, the Final Decision date will be in early to mid-March.
  • Admission decisions are released on a student’s admission status page, and they are released on Friday afternoons at 4 pm ET.
  • The Office of Student Financial Aid will release merit scholarship offers starting in December or early January and going through early April.

Good luck and Go Dawgs!