Tag: deadlines

Freshman Application FAQ

  David Graves      September 4th, 2020

The UGA Freshman application opened up on September 1, and in the first 4 days, thousands of students started an application. We generally have a small spike of students start the application right away, but only about 200 have actually submitted the app right now, so don’t panic if you have not started. But now that the application is open, here are a few things to think about concerning your application to UGA. Should you apply EA or RD? I have no idea, as this is really up to you. The EA and RD reviews are the same, just on a different timeline. We have an initial academic review of each applicant, and then for a number of students, we go into more detail in our holistic review process, where we look at everything. We will be reading a large number of files during the October/November EA initial process, and we will also defer a number of applicants where we want to look closer at their file holistically but we need more time to read the files (mid-October to mid-November does not give us a huge amount of time for holistic reads). The big question you should ask yourself when choosing EA vs RD is as follows: Are you comfortable with us reviewing your file on October 15, or do you need more time to work on the app, get in later test scores or fall grades? If you are good with us reviewing you somewhere around 10/15, apply EA, […]

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2020 Transfer Admissions at UGA

  David Graves      February 3rd, 2020

While the focus this time of year seems to be all about freshman admission, February is the time of year when we receive a majority of our transfer applications and our Evaluation Team begins to work on our transfer reviews, posting credit for work and helping students with any transfer issues. As such, here is some detailed information on the transfer process and the reasons for our deadlines, consideration levels and timelines. Deadlines Our most up to date deadlines for all of our applications can be found on our deadlines page, but here are some details about the transfer deadlines (for the Athens campus): Summer/Fall term transfer deadline – March 1 for both applying and for all materials to be submitted. Spring term transfer deadline – August 15 for both applying and for all materials to be submitted. The deadlines, especially the Summer/Fall March 1 deadline, are set at that time so that UGA admissions can review the transfer files in a timely manner and get decisions out to applicants early enough for students to both make plans for the future and attend orientation. If we had an application or materials deadline in June, we would not be able to turn around decisions until close to the start of the fall term. As well, if we had a later deadline in June, the consideration levels for admission would have to increase dramatically, as we would see an extremely large increase in applications, and we have limitations on how many transfers […]

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January 2020 UGA Admission Thoughts

  David Graves      January 3rd, 2020

We have now closed out the 2020 Fall Freshman application, and we will be very busy over the next few months. We have a large number of materials and test scores to connect with applications, transcripts to review and files to read, and we only have a limited number of days in which to do it. Admissions is not like Match.com, where we swipe left to admit or right to deny, so please be patient as we take time to review in detail the applications you have submitted. As such, here is some vital information for applicants and parents of applicants about the next steps in our process. The application deadline for freshman was 1/1, and the document deadline is 1/8 for materials. The required documents for freshmen are an official transcript and a counselor school report/recommendation (not a school profile). As well, any test scores must be requested to be sent to us from the testing agency by 1/8 (not an in-office deadline), and the last test scores we can use were from the December SAT/ACT. If things are sent in after 1/8, we might be able to use them, but we cannot make any promises. If the item in question shows up on the status page, that means we have imported it into your file as on time. We have a very large freshman applicant pool, with the overall number of EA and RD applicants together totaling 28,600 or so. Some of these applicants will not submit all […]

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December 2019 Admission Thoughts

  David Graves      December 4th, 2019

It is early December, and as such we are about two weeks removed from the Early Action decision releases. At this point in time, we are getting a wide range of questions from admitted freshmen, deferred EA applicants, Regular Decision applicants and potential transfer students. As such, this blog post will go into detail about the different questions that come up this time of year. Freshman Applicants What do I do now that I am deferred from Early Action? The first thing is to be patient. The next step of the review, which is the holistic read process, takes a while and we need time to look at everything within the files of the students we will be reading. Review the deferred EA FAQ for more details about what a deferral means, and what you can then send us to help in the review. If by mid-late December you know your fall grades but your school will not release an official transcript until January or later, go ahead and put your fall grades into your Update form along with any new activities or leadership roles. When will deferred EA or RD applicants hear a final decision? We have three decision dates for freshman, with the first one being in November. The next decision date is in mid-late February, and this will be a very small group of students who are mostly RD applicants, and would have been admitted in November if they had applied Early Action. A small percentage of […]

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Admission Traffic Lights

  David Graves      September 25th, 2019

I am not sure what this says about me, but I think traffic lights are awesome. Maybe I just played Red Light/Green Light a little too much as a kid. But traffic lights bring order to what could be chaos, give people subtle and not so subtle alerts about what to do, and overall they help everyone get to where they want to go. To truly appreciate traffic lights, all you have to do is drive up to one that is not working. Nothing is worse that having to deal with the flashing red light, and the fear that comes from not knowing if everyone else actually understands what to do in this situation. Because of my love of traffic signals, here are a few Admission related traffic light suggestions to help survive the admission process without any crashes, blaring of horns or polite/impolite hand gestures.   Green Light  Apply Earlier than the listed Deadline – If you are going to the airport, you always want to leave early enough to get you to the gate an hour before the plan departs. You want to leave plenty of time to deal with traffic (and malfunctioning lights), finding a parking space, a long line at security, or any other possible problem. I suggest you set a date a week prior to the actual application deadline as your unofficial deadline for submitting your application. If you are applying to UGA Early Action (deadline of 10/15), a personal deadline of 10/6 to submit […]

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So The Application Is Open, Now What

  David Graves      September 5th, 2019

The UGA Freshman application opened up on September 1, and in the first 4 days, roughly 7,000 students started an application. We generally have a small spike of students start the application right away, but only about 200 have actually submitted the app right now, so don’t panic if you have not started. But now that the application is open, here are a few things to think about concerning your application to UGA. Should you apply EA or RD? I have no idea, as this is really up to you. The EA and RD reviews are the same, just on a different timeline. We have an initial academic review of each applicant, and then for a number of students, we go into more detail in our holistic review process, where we look at everything. We will be doing more holistic reviews during the October/November EA initial process, and we will also defer a number of applicants where we want to look closer at their file holistically but we need more time to read the files (mid-October to mid-November does not give us a huge amount of time for holistic reads). The big question you should ask yourself when choosing EA vs RD is as follows: Are you comfortable with us reviewing your file on October 15, or do you need more time to work on the app, later test scores or fall grades? If you are good with us reviewing you somewhere around 10/15, apply EA, but if you need […]

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Summer/Fall 2019 Transfer Application

  David Graves      January 22nd, 2019

The Summer/Fall transfer application will open today, January 22. While the application opens today, please take your time completing it. Make sure you are applying for the correct program, the correct campus, the correct term, etc. Here are a few suggestions and updates for transfer applicants.  We project we will begin reviewing transfer files in early February, and we will start releasing decisions in early March. Once we begin releasing decisions, we will do so every Friday afternoon. If a decision is made on your application, you will receive an email late afternoon on that Friday notifying you that a decision is available on your status page. Review our transfer procedures and requirements, as well as our academic consideration levels. The summer and fall deadline for both the application and the materials is March 1.  Select the term you wish to attend, not one you have heard is easier to get in (this is a myth). If you select summer, for instance, we expect you to attend for summer, and if you do not, you cannot then attend in the fall. We are fine if you send in transcripts before or after you apply. As well, we need all transcripts from colleges ever attended as an undergraduate, even if you attended a college during HS. If a transcript has a different name than the one you applied with, please make sure to let us know so we can match up documents. The “other last name” filed is the place to […]

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Random UGA Admission Thoughts for 2019

  David Graves      January 3rd, 2019

It is the start of 2019, and a wide range of things are happening in the UGA Admissions Office. We have just closed down the freshman application for admission, we will open the transfer application for summer/fall 2019 on January 22nd, and we will be spending the next two and a half months or so hiding away in our offices as we read admission files. As such, here are some Admissions Thoughts as we move forward. The application deadline for freshman was 1/1, and the document deadline is 1/8 for materials. The required documents for freshmen are an official transcript and a counselor school report/recommendation (not a school profile). As well, any test scores must be requested to be sent to us from the testing agency by 1/8 (not an in office deadline), and the last test scores we can use were from the December SAT/ACT. If things are sent in after 1/8, we might be able to use them, but we cannot make any promises. If the item in question shows up on the status page, that means we have imported it into your file as on time.  We have a very large freshman applicant pool, with the overall number of EA and RD applicants together totaling 29,500+. Some of these applicants will not submit all the required items, so the official number of complete applications will not be known until later (but I expect it will be close to 29,000). Starting on 1/14, our office will be in […]

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Senior Year Do’s and Don’ts

  David Graves      August 3rd, 2018

It is that time of year again, when K-12 schools are starting back, students (and teachers) groan and parents quietly celebrate. Colleges are beginning to open their applications for the Class of 2023 (UGA’s app will open on September 1), and the college admissions process suddenly gets real. With the flip of the proverbial switch, applying to colleges suddenly changes from a vague future action to a reality and the tension level goes up to a seven or eight. I honor of this time of year, here is a list of do’s and don’ts for parents and students. 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. We rescinded eight offers of admission this year – please don’t be one of these next year. 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 […]

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Summer/Fall 2018 Transfer Application

  David Graves      January 22nd, 2018

The Summer/Fall transfer application will open today, January 22. While the application opens today, please take your time completing it. Make sure you are applying for the correct program, the correct campus, the correct term, etc. Here are a few suggestions and updates for transfer applicants.  We project we will begin reviewing Summer transfers in early February, and we will start with Fall transfers in late February. Review our transfer procedures and requirements, as well as our academic consideration levels. Select the term you wish to attend, not one you have heard is easier to get in (this is a myth). If you select summer, for instance, we expect you to attend for summer, and if you do not, you cannot then attend in the fall. Please send in all the required transcripts after you apply, not before. As well, we need all transcripts from colleges ever attended as an undergraduate, even if you attended a college during HS. If a transcript has a different name than the one you applied with, please make sure to let us know so we can match up documents. The “other last name” filed is the place to put any other last names, and this will catch any transcripts. If you started a freshman application earlier to set up an account, you will need to select the Freshman application you started on your admissions dashboard and change your application type to Transfer. It is much better to get everything correct before applying rather than […]

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