A terrible day turned into a great day

GTNavyNuke

GTNavyNuke

Helluva Engineer
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10,063
Location
Williamsburg Virginia
I said I'd go back and look at our scholarship listings. We had 11 scholarship applications. 8 were already accepted in January and 3 were wait listed.

Of the 8 accepted,
  • the average GPA was 4.23
  • I can't tell the number of AP classes except by the GPA - to get higher than 4.0 you have to take AP classes. 2 people had 4.0s (no AP classes?)
  • The lowest accepted GPA was a 3.95. That person was NOT legacy - legacy doesn't seem to play much. A lot of extra-curricular but not abnormal for what I saw.
  • SAT averaged 2190. Lowest was 2050 - but that person had a 4.459 GPA indicating a lot of AP. A high GPA and weaker SAT is ok. A high SAT and low GPA is not ok.
Of the 3 wait listed
  • GPA ranged from 3.75 to 4.37
  • SAT ranged from 1900 to 1960
The kick in the butt was that of our top 5 scholarship applicants, only one is going to GT. When we talk with the kids and parents, finances are the biggest reason. It is hard to pay for out of state when you can go to VT or UVa for much less. Some went to MIT or Stanford or Northwestern. Several of the kids who are going and were not on the scholarship list were ROTC for which finances are not relevant; it is only the campus they like and quality of education. It is sad the discussions with parents who have tears in their eyes who want to know how to make college work. The best we can suggest is Co-op and apply for many scholarships.

I have a feeling that two major things play into the admittance which we don't see. First is the essay that I talked about earlier. That is really important since it's a swing factor and these kids are generally superstars. The second is the high school academic reputation is probably a weighting factor - a 4.3 at one school is not considered the same as another. So that is where the SAT / ACT comes in.
 
CuseJacket

CuseJacket

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Staff member
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19,554
It's been hard for me to believe the incoming freshmen SAT numbers I've seen and heard cited during the last couple years. Sure enough, the average two-part Verbal/Math SAT score for incoming freshmen has risen almost 100 points in the last decade. Absolutely incredible how much more competitive admissions is these days. Glad I applied and got accepted before all this.

http://factbook.gatech.edu/admissions-and-enrollment/sat-scores/

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GTMom

GTMom

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
511
My eldest got accepted to Tech in 2009...the competition has become much more rigorous now with ap classes and dual enrollment being the major factors in acceptance decisions. My 2nd son got a conditional acceptance based on the legacy program. He has to go to another state university for one year then can transfer. As said before, it doesn't matter so much where the start out. What matters is where their degree is from and a degree from GT speaks volumes. Just keep all the doors open to work toward that goal.
 
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