Holiday treat: UGA, Tech announce early admission decisions

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There's one question high school seniors will likely be asked at Thanksgiving dinner: What are your plans for next year.

More than 7,400 students can say they've been admitted to the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

Both colleges notified students Friday if they were accepted to the 2012 freshmen class. The good -- or in some cases bad -- news was delivered to students who applied through early action. Students apply for early action when a college is their first choice, although many of these decisions are not binding and students may consider other schools.

Jake Decker, a senior at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, applied early to UGA and Georgia Tech and got into both. He wants to major in engineering and is leaning toward Tech.

"I am just so relieved and so excited," he said. "I've been working toward this day for so long. It's a great reward for all the work I've done."

About 10,800 students applied early to UGA, an increase of about 200 students from last year. Georgia Tech has two waves of early admission -- decisions on the second will be announced Dec. 16 -- and it saw a 12 percent increase. Colleges nationwide are reporting more applicants and studies show students are applying to more colleges.

Early-action decisions are traditionally based solely on academics and both colleges accepted strong students.

Students admitted to UGA took on average six college-level Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, said Nancy McDuff, associate vice president for admissions and enrollment management. Their GPAs ranged from 3.87 to 4.09 and their SAT scores ranged from 1944 to 2074 out of 2400.

Those accepted to Georgia Tech will take on average eight college-level courses before they graduate high school, said Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admissions. Their GPAs ranged from 3.92 to 4.11 and their SAT scores ranged from 2000 to 2200.

Georgia Tech admitted 58 percent of the 3,000 students who applied early and deferred 25 percent, Clark said. Students from 71 countries and 49 states applied. No one from South Dakota has applied yet.

UGA admitted about 56 percent of those who applied and rejected about 7 percent. Others were deferred and their applications were added to the regular-decision pool. During that review admissions officers consider academics and other factors, such as volunteer work and high school activities, McDuff said.

She expects about 19,000 students will apply to UGA by the Jan. 15 deadline. UGA plans to enroll about 5,100 freshmen next year.