If you had a wish list for AD JB what would it be?

[alagold]

This is obviously true but GT just won’t say it. They should say it if that’s the practice and explain it so 18 year old students understand that they aren’t being rejected by the team they grew up cheering on but instead are being asked to redshirt. Right now, the message is - we will take your taxes, your grandparents and parents donations, your ticket and merchandise money, but we’d rather give a spot to a kid from New Jersey who has never spent a dime on GT over you (assuming SAT/GPA/other are equal). That‘s what the citizens of this state hear and not only do the kids become resentful but GT loses the donations from the previous generations. Can anyone give an example of another state/public school that does this to their taxpayers?

And I totally know the admission numbers as my son is at GT and I spent 2 years worrying about this subject. My family got lucky probably because we live in rural GA. But to see the number of GT families who have totally turned away from GT because their stud son/daughter didn’t get in is sickening when I sit in Bobby Dodd and see the empty seats and then hear about our fundraising woes. If GT actually went back to being the “Georgia” Institute of Technology you’d see us rise in this state because people are loyal to those who are loyal to them. But to just throw an alums kid into the transfer portal is financially biting GT in the wallet when the kid ends up elsewhere and the donations from that family cease. I love GT but if my kid wasn‘t accepted so a kid from another state with lower scores could be admitted I probably would never step on campus again simply out of solidarity.

I hear U.Ala is passing on in -state kids for out-of -state tuition kids.

 

[GT33]

The answer is for GT to just get bigger. What's the harm in that? We're rejecting top notch talent, not like we have to bottom feed to grow.

 

[forensicbuzz]

#2 is not an option with the way admissions are going. The powers to be are not interested in building a future alumni or fan base. Decades of GT families are being cut off at the knees so we can admit the world. And we see the results in lack of alumni support right now. GT is reaping what they sowed thru stupid decisions. If GT were private it wouldn’t be an issue, but I can’t think of another state school that goes out of its way to alienate its taxpayers more than GT. We should just change our name to “Institute of Technology” at this point.

It's still about 60/30/10 admissions (Instate/Out-of-State/International). It just seems that once they implemented the "Conditional Transfer Pathway" there was less emphasis on legacies.

 

[GTRambler]

Start bringing in a lot of studs for the Georgia Tech football team. Do it just like Alabama does. By hook or by crook and by any and all means possible, bring ‘em in.

I mean, go out and get boatloads of top high school football talent from throughout the Nation. Do it like Bama does. Lots of 4- and 5-stars. J Batt already knows how it’s done … he’s from Bama!

This will make the Yellow Jackets’ football team into a consistent contender for the National Championship every year. It will also turn the GT football program into a huge income generator for the Institute. Just like Alabama’s football team does for its university.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

To be honest, I think this is a problem with any "elite" state/public school. Off the top of my head, schools like UC Berkely, UCLA, Michigan, UIUC fit this bill. In fact(anecdotally to this admissions year), I have heard schools like Purdue, UMass, and Rutgers have been rejecting quality in-state candidates. I don't think GT is necessarily biased against legacy applicants, I think they have fixed #s of seats for in-state and out-of-state kids. And as people start to figure out what it takes to get into college, the average applicant is more qualified, leaving many qualified candidates left out.

I'm not sure if this is accurate. On a person-to-person basis, maybe, but the out-of-state acceptance rate is 13%, while the in-state rate is 35%, so there is some favoritism shown towards in-state candidates IMO. Source

With that being said, I do agree with point 2- when I was on campus, football interest with students was at an extreme low, although I guess 3 straight 3 win seasons will do that. While I do think increasing legacy students may provide some boost to attendance, I think getting students on campus interested in football would be the biggest step.

There’s the rub. We are bringing in students who have zero interest in sports let alone GT sports. There is no gimmick promotion to change a person raised for 18/19 years in a non-sports family or non-college sports part of the country into a rabid fan. GT has proven this over the past 2 decades and it doesn’t work. What works is keeping the fans you do have and letting that family tree of fandom grow into multiple branches.

I fully accept that the train has left the station on this topic. The administrators (most of whom are hired mercenaries and have zero roots or emotions towards GT) all believe they are smarter than the next guy. They’ll always have an emotional answer as to why they do what they do and if you call them on it you are the jerk. For instance, GT will accept any student who was valedictorian at an Atlanta Public high school. What’s up with that? So you could have an 1100 on the SAT, go to a craptastic high school, and get automatic acceptance over a kid who busted his butt, studied for 2 years for the SAT who got a 1550? In what world is that rational if you want to have the best student body?

GT will continue to reap what it has sown which is an alumni base that doesn’t give back because they aren’t in the state and an athletic fanbase that dwindles with each passing year as the old generation passes away. Sure, attendance will improve some as wins increase but the overall trajectory has been established. Until the elected representatives of the people stand up to the administrators they’ll continue to line their pockets with high paying jobs while guys like JBatt will wonder why no alum are answering the phone.

 

[CINCYMETJACKET]

I'd go for some awnings like U of Washington has. I mean we are an architecture school, so why not tell the incoming class that they have to redesign BDS@HGF and the best one will get their student loans wiped out!

I would add, awnings like the Miami Dolphins have, and making sure the GT sideline is in a favorable position relative to where the sun is shining. The Dolphins stadium is situated such that the opponents sideline is in the sun for most, if not all, of an afternoon game in south Florida, while the Dolphins sideline is in the shade. Can make a big difference throughout the game. Not sure if that's possible based on the layout of BDS. Haven't been there for a football game in decades. Will be at Mac Nease Park at RCS this weekend though! Go Jackets!

 

[leatherneckjacket]

I'm very familiar with the "high achieving child of an alum not getting accepted" problem - it's a very definite pattern.

Tech offers the Conditional Pathway Transfer option for alumni kids which guarantees admission for sophomore year provided they meet certain requirements regarding classes and grades. For these smart kids, it's as good as a lock as you can get.

I wonder if many alumni kids are rejected simply because Tech admissions knows they have an almost 100% guarantee of admission in the following year. Consequently, Tech can get the demographics they desire in the published freshman admissions class.

To add to my post, my niece is both an in state student, in that Georgia is my sister's state of residence, as well as an out of state student, since she goes to High School in Texas where my sister is currently stationed. My niece did not apply to any schools in Georgia except Tech. So, the idea that she is going to switch schools to come to Tech after a year elsewhere is highly unlikely. Right now, it is between Texas A&M, Baylor, and Clemson depending on what the schools offer her.

I will say this, if my children do well enough to get into Tech and Tech tries this crap with me, I will never send another dollar to Tech.

 

[slugboy]

To be honest, I think this is a problem with any "elite" state/public school. Off the top of my head, schools like UC Berkely, UCLA, Michigan, UIUC fit this bill. In fact(anecdotally to this admissions year), I have heard schools like Purdue, UMass, and Rutgers have been rejecting quality in-state candidates. I don't think GT is necessarily biased against legacy applicants, I think they have fixed #s of seats for in-state and out-of-state kids. And as people start to figure out what it takes to get into college, the average applicant is more qualified, leaving many qualified candidates left out.

I'm not sure if this is accurate. On a person-to-person basis, maybe, but the out-of-state acceptance rate is 13%, while the in-state rate is 35%, so there is some favoritism shown towards in-state candidates IMO. Source

With that being said, I do agree with point 2- when I was on campus, football interest with students was at an extreme low, although I guess 3 straight 3 win seasons will do that. While I do think increasing legacy students may provide some boost to attendance, I think getting students on campus interested in football would be the biggest step.

There are going to be exceptions like Buford, but I saw much less interest from my son’s generation in attending high school games than we had when I was in high school, and I think that translates to college. There are some high schools where the stands are packed, but there are a lot that aren’t, and I think a generation has learned to spend their weekends doing other things before they even attend college.

 

[AUFC]

I hear U.Ala is passing on in -state kids for out-of -state tuition kids.

Their situation is a little different as a lot of in-state students stay near home (I.e. move to Atlanta) after graduation while offering nothing to the state of Alabama as far as tax revenue or job creation is concerned (or at least it’s pretty marginal - a thriving Atlanta lifts tides in Birmingham, after all).

Maybe some of the “stay near home” in-state GA crowd from Savannah ends up in Charleston, but most stick around the metro Atlanta area.

 

[GTJohn70]

I think part of the problem with student attendance at Football and baskeet all games may be the seating given students. When I was there students got East stand seats. We lined up an hour or more early to get in. For basketball we went early, sat near mid-court to watch warmups before the game but then we all played the sports too, just not on a college team. I now live in FL and have attended U of FL football and basketball games - very different than anything at GT. The students are as much of the show as the game. The entire place rocks with shakers, jumping, etc. heck it even looks choreographed.

 

[tsrich]

This is obviously true but GT just won’t say it. They should say it if that’s the practice and explain it so 18 year old students understand that they aren’t being rejected by the team they grew up cheering on but instead are being asked to redshirt. Right now, the message is - we will take your taxes, your grandparents and parents donations, your ticket and merchandise money, but we’d rather give a spot to a kid from New Jersey who has never spent a dime on GT over you (assuming SAT/GPA/other are equal). That‘s what the citizens of this state hear and not only do the kids become resentful but GT loses the donations from the previous generations. Can anyone give an example of another state/public school that does this to their taxpayers?

And I totally know the admission numbers as my son is at GT and I spent 2 years worrying about this subject. My family got lucky probably because we live in rural GA. But to see the number of GT families who have totally turned away from GT because their stud son/daughter didn’t get in is sickening when I sit in Bobby Dodd and see the empty seats and then hear about our fundraising woes. If GT actually went back to being the “Georgia” Institute of Technology you’d see us rise in this state because people are loyal to those who are loyal to them. But to just throw an alums kid into the transfer portal is financially biting GT in the wallet when the kid ends up elsewhere and the donations from that family cease. I love GT but if my kid wasn‘t accepted so a kid from another state with lower scores could be admitted I probably would never step on campus again simply out of solidarity.

The instate vs outofstate ratios have been pretty constant for a while. Out of state acceptance rates are near the single digits. I know because my daughter is OOS with a near perfect record and didn't get in and I've heard from many others.

 

[Root4GT]

This is obviously true but GT just won’t say it. They should say it if that’s the practice and explain it so 18 year old students understand that they aren’t being rejected by the team they grew up cheering on but instead are being asked to redshirt. Right now, the message is - we will take your taxes, your grandparents and parents donations, your ticket and merchandise money, but we’d rather give a spot to a kid from New Jersey who has never spent a dime on GT over you (assuming SAT/GPA/other are equal). That‘s what the citizens of this state hear and not only do the kids become resentful but GT loses the donations from the previous generations. Can anyone give an example of another state/public school that does this to their taxpayers?

And I totally know the admission numbers as my son is at GT and I spent 2 years worrying about this subject. My family got lucky probably because we live in rural GA. But to see the number of GT families who have totally turned away from GT because their stud son/daughter didn’t get in is sickening when I sit in Bobby Dodd and see the empty seats and then hear about our fundraising woes. If GT actually went back to being the “Georgia” Institute of Technology you’d see us rise in this state because people are loyal to those who are loyal to them. But to just throw an alums kid into the transfer portal is financially biting GT in the wallet when the kid ends up elsewhere and the donations from that family cease. I love GT but if my kid wasn‘t accepted so a kid from another state with lower scores could be admitted I probably would never step on campus again simply out of solidarity.

I live in Northern Virginia and getting kids into UVA or W&M from this area is extremely difficult. Virginia State schools try and take kids from ever region of the State. Kids in NOVA often have far higher test scores, GPAs, AP courses and extra circular actives yet get rejected while kids from other parts of VA get accepted.

Getting in after 1 or 2 successful years at community college is much easier than getting in straight from HS.

 

[EE95_curse EMAG!]

My sister, who is GT grad and colonel in the Army, has a daughter who scored 1510 on the SAT, has a near perfect GPA, is taking five AP classes, and has multiple after school activities including being goalie for her high school soccer team, but still did not get into tech. She was accepted at every other school to which she applied. It is baffling to me how she did not get in.

Did you email/contact the president on that one? I am curious if you did and if he responded. That is seriously bad business by GT and maybe the President isn't fully aware of what admissions is doing (you'd think so, but you never know).

 

[GTRambler]

The OP’s question was, if you had a wish list for GT Athletic Director J Batt, what would you want him to do.

So … a bunch of us Swarmers want him to fix GT’s admission problems.

Pardon me, but J Batt is the Institute’s athletic director, not its student admissions director.

This means he recruits (and should recruit) athletes. Not students.

 

[Oakland]

We don't have the money, it won't happen and many on here won't like this, but replace Bobby Dodd Stadium. That stadium is not going to last forever and we keep throwing money at it like an 89 year old woman going back every year for a face-lift and new teeth.

 

[MWBATL]

We don't have the money, it won't happen and many on here won't like this, but replace Bobby Dodd Stadium. That stadium is not going to last forever and we keep throwing money at it like an 89 year old woman going back every year for a face-lift and new teeth.

$$$$

I'd rather se us retire our existing $200 million debt that we aren't even paying down yet. And/or fund NIL deals. Let's go with "and".

 

[GTRambler]

We don't have the money, it won't happen and many on here won't like this, but replace Bobby Dodd Stadium. That stadium is not going to last forever and we keep throwing money at it like an 89 year old woman going back every year for a face-lift and new teeth.

Will not be able to earn the money to replace (or enlarge or improve?) BDS@HGF without a lot of studs to dramatically improve the football team consistently over the next decade.

 

[iceeater1969]

We don't have the money, it won't happen and many on here won't like this, but replace Bobby Dodd Stadium. That stadium is not going to last forever and we keep throwing money at it like an 89 year old woman going back every year for a face-lift and new teeth.

Opening Saturday game at Benz unless their is bigger match up then we are on road. I love the benz and students would need massive buzz bus brigades.

When the campus moved West -( at or about the 96 olympics) over their - should have built a slightly smaller luxury stadium that would holds soccer and has a central parking garage. Baylor 45,000 seat cost 266mm$. Back then big demand for high rise - could have several midsize next to 75 and dorms. Instead went for empty brnch seats
Baylor now building small luxury bb arena. .

 

[Richard7125]

To add to my post, my niece is both an in state student, in that Georgia is my sister's state of residence, as well as an out of state student, since she goes to High School in Texas where my sister is currently stationed. My niece did not apply to any schools in Georgia except Tech. So, the idea that she is going to switch schools to come to Tech after a year elsewhere is highly unlikely. Right now, it is between Texas A&M, Baylor, and Clemson depending on what the schools offer her.

I will say this, if my children do well enough to get into Tech and Tech tries this crap with me, I will never send another dollar to Tech.

I don’t think you can solve the problem of stud legacies being deferred because you have to draw the line somewhere. Even if you give more weight to legacies, that’s just moving the line. At some point someone else will be “just missing out.”

 

[ChicagobasedJacket]

I hear U.Ala is passing on in -state kids for out-of -state tuition kids.

Yep. All these state schools tend to prefer out of state students with similar academic profiles because it’s 3-4 times the money.