In the UGA Admissions Office, there are some things we will never say
no matter what. Some people will ask questions hoping for one of these
answers, but you will not hear us give an answer (at least not the one
some people expect). I sometimes feel like Dr. Seuss in “Green Eggs and
Ham”, (paraphrasing) “I will not say that in a house, I will not say
that with a mouse. I will not say that here or there, I will not say
that anywhere.” Here are some of the top things we would never say:
- “Sure, go ahead and cut back on your academic schedule so that you can add another activity.”
Academics come first. Let me repeat, academics come first. If you are
struggling with being overloaded, I suggest looking at cutting back on
an extra-curricular activity, not academics. You will thank us sometime
during your first semester in college. - “Yes, you should completely trust the information your neighbors, friends, and online college forum people give you about college admissions.” While there are a number of well meaning people who want to help you with the college admission process, most of them do not have a background in the admissions process. Just because I had the transmission changed in my car does not make me an expert how to do this mechanically. While many people have gone through the admissions process, they are not reading files, analyzing enrollment data, reading essays, etc. They might have knowledge about how to apply, but not on how decisions are made. Trust us when we tell you how we do things, and ignore the myths.
- “Of course I can tell you what classes to take for the next year (or the next four/eight/twelve years).”
While we know a great deal about high school classes, we are not an
expert on what your school offers, when the courses are available, what
you want to take and/or your academic preparation for courses. This is
best decided upon after the student and family speak with their HS
counselor. - “Take the easiest courses so you can make the best grades possible.”
We want you to challenge yourself to the best of your ability while
still doing well in your classes. You need to prepare yourself for the
UGA classroom experience, and the best way to do that is to take strong
courses. - “Go ahead and skip some application sections such as activities, sports, etc., because those things don’t matter to UGA.” Actually, when we are reviewing files for a number of scholarships and when we are reading files in our holistic review process, we want to know how you spend your time outside of school hours. We want to know what you are like as a whole, so let us know!
- “The SAT/ACT scores are the most important thing to UGA Admissions.”
While test scores get the most publicity, our first focus is how you do
in the classroom and the courses you are taking in high school (see #3
again). In addition, we look at a great deal more than academics for during our holistic read process. - “Sure, I can tell you whether to apply Early Action or Regular Decision.”
This is a choice that needs to be made by the student, as it is a
timing issue, not an issue that impacts the chances of admission. - “You need to make XXXX on the SAT/ACT to get admitted to UGA.” UGA does not have a required SAT or ACT score needed for admission, no matter what your neighbor/friend/family member says.
- “It is no problem if you wait until the last minute to do things.”
Waiting until the last minute to apply or send in materials is just
asking for something to go wrong. Please give your counselors and
teachers time to send in items, as they have enough stressful issues on
their plates without this. - “Yes, I can guess about whether you will be admitted or not.”
Here is the big one! We cannot guess about an admission decision,
sorry. We just cannot predict what the overall applicant pool will be
like year to year and how you fall into the group. P.S.-this applies for
both freshman and transfers.
I hope this lists helps everyone understand why we will not say
certain things or answer some specific questions, or why we redirect
some questions back to the student for the best answer. If I think of
any other things we would never say, I will add them to the list!
Go Dawgs!