Hello! UGA is my dream school but I am extremely worried about not getting in. I was wondering if someone could look at my stats and give me an idea of my chances.
I just want to preface this by saying I go to GSMST (The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology). It is the #1 high school in Georgia and known for being extremely tough. We start with 300 freshmen and end up with 180 seniors (kids drop out and go to the school they are zoned for if it is too tough for them) I have talked to a couple admissions officers for colleges in Georgia and they know how tough the school is. I am really hoping they will take that into consideration when they see my lower GPA.
In-state Female
high school GPA: 3.3
UGA GPA: 3.55
ACT: 32 (I am retaking aiming for a 34)
APs: AP Stat, AP Biology, AP World, APUSH, AP Gov, AP Calc, AP Computer Science, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Lit, possibly AP Psych as well
ExtraCurriculars: lots of volunteer hours, two internships, Youth group for a nonprofit organization, dance (12 years), piano (10 years), school representative on development committee, Lionsheart Volunteer group, one summer job
Your UGA GPA, assuming it is calculated correctly, makes UGA a high reach for you unfortunately. I am familiar with your school but doubtful that would make a difference (even at top tier private schools in Georgia that GPA would not get you a UGA admit absent some other attribute (recruited athlete, URM, first generation student, etc.)). Do you have access to Naviance? If so, as an in state school with lots of kids who apply to UGA this should tell you your chances with some degree of accuracy. Your counselor should also have a definite opinion about where you stand.
UGA is just going to get harder to get in to in my opinion due to lots of factors, not the least of which is now they accept the common app so applications should be way up again next year. I feel certain they are familiar with your school and its rigor will be taken into account, but you will also have many others in your class who apply. Will they have stronger GPAs than you?
Is your 3.3 GPA unweighted? I am having a hard time reconciling your UGA GPA with all those APs with your regular GPA. It should be higher unless your 3.3 is also weighted.
Rather than being worried about not getting in, you need to focus on a balanced list using UGA as a reach and come up with some safety and target schools you would be happy to go to.
Not as familiar with that school, but definitely less competitive admit than UGA plus they give a fair amount of merit. You can also get some money towards tuition I think if you qualify for Hope. I would run a net price calculator and see if this is something your family can afford or is willing to afford, as tuition is close to 40,000.00 a year.
UGAs acceptance rate this year was 39 percent. I don’t see Mercer’s info from this year but last year their acceptance rate was 74 percent.
Georgia College in Milledgeville has seen a rise in popularity in the past few years, and is the Georgia public liberal arts college. Kennesaw State has really grown its engineering and science programs and is a great option particularly for those who want to specialize in those fields.
There are also many people who have their heart set on UGA who transfer in every year (many starting out at UNG in Athens). They are very transparent about what it takes to do so (as far as required GPA and number of hours taken) so that is a viable option as well.