Tag: deferal

The Language of Admissions

  David Graves      September 6th, 2018

My daughter, who is a sophomore International Affairs major at UGA, probably thinks she can hold her own in a hospital operating room. Why? Because being a Grey’s Anatomy fangirl has taught her all the medical lingo she would ever need in this life. Fourteen seasons and 317 episodes of the life of Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Miranda Bailey, McDreamy, McSteamy, and all the other doctors of Seattle Grace/Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital have taught her well. Words like V-Fib, central line, metastasis, Pre and Post-Op, and phrases such as “I need a ten-blade and 100 cc’s of epi stat” can just roll off her tongue. Me, I am terrified of blood, and almost all medical terms just go right over my head, even with a wife who is a nurse. In the same way, a number of occupations and offices have their own language. If you have ever been to the Varsity (a wonderfully greasy hamburger place in Atlanta and Athens), you know they have their own lingo for food, from a Naked Dog to Chili Steak all the way (see the Varsity Lingo page for the full details). Whether you are an accountant, in construction, work in finance or are a lawyer, every field seems to have their own language. College admissions is no different, and it can sometimes get confusing. Here is a helpful guide to some of the key words and phrases in the world of admissions. Binding: While there are many “Early” terms (early decision, early action, […]

Read More

December/January Admission Notes

  David Graves      December 12th, 2016

The Holiday break is coming up, which means a large number of students will be completing their application (or part II of their deferred EA application). Here are some suggestions for Regular Decision and Deferred Early Action applicants to review. Patience. Patience is key, as this time of year brings out a rush of supporting materials. We will receive tens of thousands of documents over the next month, and we need time to match these items up, enter them into our system, and have them show up on the application status page. We have made great strides in importing documents, so the status page is almost a live feed, but mailed items take a little longer to add to a file. You do not need to call/email us if you do not see an item on your Status page. Give us 10 business days from when you applied or the document was sent (not requested but actually sent), whichever was later. As well, make sure your name on your documents matches your application data (and both name and email on test scores). Part II for Deferred applicants. For deferred EA applicants, your next step is to make sure you complete part II of the application (the 3 short essays), give us any updates on the Update section, and contact a teacher through your status page about sending in a recommendation.  Test Scores. We will take the January SAT for admissions review for this year and the February ACT (without Writing!), […]

Read More

EA Decisions are now on myStatus

  David Graves      November 22nd, 2013

Early Action decisions are now available online!  You can view the press release with some statistics about EA students who were admitted here.  For students who were deferred, please understand that this is not a denial decision.  We want to be able to have a more in-depth review of you, including short essays, activities, recommendations, etc.  Please be sure to read the deferred student FAQ page before commenting on here. If you have questions about your specific decision, please do not post them on this blog.  As well, do not give out or request personal academic information in your post, as we would then need to delete these posts. We are not able to answer questions about individual students here because we will generally not have your information in front of us and we cannot disclose individual student information in a comment.  I would recommend talking with both your family and high school counselor first, then reviewing this previous post on suggestions about how to react to an EA decision, and finally reading the FAQ’s available from your myStatus page. Please be patient, be nice and be courteous. Have a great weekend and go Dawgs!

Read More

Half Baked Reactions

  David Graves      December 5th, 2010

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 all finally able to sit down together for a great 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 is was all prepared and sitting on the table. In the same way, UGA is not done with freshman admissions decisions. We are done with the Early Action part of the process, but we are still a long way from being done with final decisions! We will still be receiving a great deal of RD applications, reviewing transcripts, reading essays, doing holistic reviews, etc. So if you were deferred, please know that we still have a lot of admission decisions to make! We will still be admitting 3,500-4,000 more freshman, but you can only be considered […]

Read More

Deferred Applicants

  David Graves      December 5th, 2010

I wrote this a short while ago as a comment to my latest post, but I thought I would also make it a new post, so here you go:  I think I have responded to all your questions as of right now, but I will continue to do so as we move forward. Remember to read the FAQ’s, read the blog, and do not compare yourself against another applicant unless you know everything about them (and I mean everything!). In addition, please remember that if you contact our office, conduct yourself in a manner that shows why you (or your child) should be considered as a strong candidate for admission. In the past, I have handled calls from people who screamed, cursed, threatened, and lied. As you can guess, these are not the best steps to take. I am sure you will conduct yourself  in the appropriate fashion if you do contact us, but I thought I would alert you to these issues. As well, review the Urban Legends/Myths web page, as I would not want you to bring up an issue that is not true only to have us tell you the real situation. Remember not to pay attention to rumors, as rumors are not reality. I have tried to give you insight into the UGA admissions process, and this is coming from 20 years of admissions and a great deal of experience in this process. Rumors are generally the product of an individual who is unhappy with a […]

Read More

Early Action Decisions are Available!

  David Graves      December 3rd, 2010

Early Action decisions are now available online, and the applicant pool was very strong! Approximately 6,100 students were admitted, and here is the link to the 2011 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, review the FAQ’s that are available off your myStatus page, and if you still think you need to communicate with our office, either call or email. Also, please be aware that I will […]

Read More

Early Action Decisions and Reactions

  David Graves      November 30th, 2010

Early Action decisions will be going out at the end of the week, so here are a few suggestions on how to react to the three different decisions: Admit: Celebrate with family, buy a lot of UGA gear to wear for the holiday season, 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. 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. 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 […]

Read More