Chances of Admission/Ivan Allen College

Colleges & Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
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<p>Hi! I'm a rising high school senior from Alabama. I'm extremely interested in Tech (I don't really know why), but I am not really interested in anything outside of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.</p>

<p>If I attended, I would likely pursue Economics and International Affairs or International Affairs and Modern Languages (for French).</p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone in the college could tell me what the experience is like?</p>

<p>Also, more importantly, I was wondering if I even really stand a chance of getting into Tech.</p>

<p>My UW GPA for core classes only is 3.378 and cumulatively (including electives) it's a 3.476. If it matters, I attend a magnet school that's ranked the 20th "best" high school (4th for magnets) in the country by US News, so it's, you know, kind of hard. As I understand it, Tech half-weights AP classes only... so I did that myself and came up with Tech core of 3.578 and Tech cumulative of 3.643.</p>

<p>Overall, for my academic classes, I think I've made 6 A's and 9 B's. I made two B's in half-credit electives also (required Art I and Drivers' Ed), though I made A's in half-credit Research, Speech, and Debate and Health, as well as full year Yearbook, PE, and Creative Writing. Again, though, I have no idea if electives even matter.</p>

<p>My AP classes are as follows.
10th grade: US History (didn't take the exam)
11th grade: Lang/Comp (4?), Biology (definite pass, no idea about score), French (fail), Euro History (3-4), Cal AB (2-3) -- I also took Environmental Science (pass), though I did not take the class
12th grade: Lit, Physics or Chem (haven't decided), US Gov, Stats -- I may also take the APUSH or Comp Gov exams</p>

<p>I took the ACT once, in Oct 2009. I scored a 33 composite, with subscores of: 34 English, 33 Science, 32 Math, 32 Reading, and 31 Combined Writing and English.
I took the SAT once, in May 2010. I scored a 2250, with subscores of: 790 CR, 690 M, and 770 W.
I scored a 214 on the PSAT, which will qualify me for NM/NA. I am biracial so I will qualify for both.</p>

<p>My ECs are scholars bowl (9, 10), forensics (9-12, in which I have won numerous awards), student council (9-12), MUN (9-12, I am now chairing our school's invitational and helping to form a new annual conference), Government Club/mock trial (10), yearbook/Quill & Scroll (10, 12), Green Club (10, the only year it existed), Heritage Club (10), French Club (9-12), NHS (10-12), French Honor Society (9-12). I might also do Science/Enviro Bowl next year. I won a literary award last year for a short story I wrote. I used to volunteer at the Department of Archives and History and I might volunteer at a center for children this summer.</p>

<p>Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance!</p>

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<p>The GPA may hurt you, but you’ll still probably get in. Have you considered any other schools, especially for liberal arts? The SAT/ACT is solid, so you may want to consider some private schools. Given that you are out of state, your education will be expensive either way. Check out Emory :wink: ( international studies, political science, and History are quite amazing here and French doesn’t seem that bad either. I can only offer opinions about my school, check out the other options yourself. I recommend looking at the course offerings in particular) , Vandy, Duke, Georgetown, some other places. Again, the only thing that may ruin your chances for admission at these schools is your GPA at this point. Just stick to 4 APs senior year by the way, it’ll increase the chances for success on the exams. You seem to have some slight trouble there (I’m merely basing this off of the fact that schools really only accept 4-5s) so don’t overdo it. If you take my suggestion and are admitted into any of said universities, you will want to AP out of some of the intro. political science courses. Many do quite poorly in some of them here (comp. gov. and international are quite notorious) because of inability to write at the expected level. Strangely enough, most who have got a 4/5 on the language and/or lit. exams. I say try Georgia Tech (if you are into the whole science component which must accompany your international affairs degree) and at least 2 reaches. Your Ecs may help you out.</p>

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<p>I actually used to be really interested in Emory and Vandy, but I finally saw the campus of the former and just didn’t like it and the latter is too expensive, considering that I can get paid to go to UA (which is a top 100 school). I’m also not sure if I would like most private schools. From what I’ve read here and on College ******* and other sites, the general attitude of students seems just unappealing. But that might be a matter of finding your niche, which appears easier at a big school.
My AP scores will all be disappointing mainly because I lost it on the FRQs on every. single. one. This was my first year taking any and I did 6 without really studying for any… probably not the best decision I’ve ever made. The reason I’m considering taking Comp Gov (if that’s even a course that can be largely self-taught) is it counts for different political science credit that I’d need for International Affairs/Relations.
The schools I’m interested in really are Tech, UNC, and UA. I’m pretty sure I want to go to a public school, just because I like the larger size. UNC will probably be hard (not to mention expensive) because I’m OOS. Again, I wouldn’t be so preoccupied with the idea of student loans if it weren’t for the fact that that Alabama and Auburn give full rides for NMFs, and just short of them for people with my test scores. So I also have to figure out if there are any other schools that will feasibly give me significant scholarships…
I think the Tech approach to liberal arts sounds great in theory, but I’d like to know how it actually works, and if the students in those programs are as bogged down with the science stuff as people in other colleges.</p>

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<p>Out of curiosity, what was wrong with our campus? Was it the somewhat weird architecture Obviously, unlike most, we try to pull off something other than gothic/colonial brick. Many don’t like that. In my opinion, some buildings we do well, but others are blocks of marble so lack the architectural character of peer institutions. Also, perhaps too much modern stuff and construction (never ever stops). Makes us feel more like a city in some places than a campus. Also, it’s somewhat sprawly, lacks unity and thus community. Still very beautiful (mainly because of the green space/trees which help the buildings out a lot. Hell, in terms of overall beauty, I prefer it to Vandy and schools with similar architecture. But I honestly envy schools that do gothic architectures right), but after being here for two years, I realize most of the campus seems more for show than function (I’ve heard from many prospectives, some who were even friends, actually say that it was too much, perhaps too perfect. That felt weird to them). Or was it the atmosphere for you? Sometimes the lack of school pride can be easily detected by tourists/prospective students. Either is understandable. Despite these things, I still like (almost love) it here.</p>

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<p>I think you’ll have a good shot of admission to UNC by the way. If fortunate, you might get some scholarship/grant money. And no, I think you just have to take some intro. courses in math and maybe biology at Tech so you won’t have the intense schedule of an engineering or pre-med student. It could just be a potential thorn to your plans if you aren’t amazing at science/math.</p>

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<p>I was only at Emory for an MUN conference, not an actual tour, so I’m not personally familiar with y’all’s atmosphere, but, yeah, the architecture just wasn’t my cup of tea. Although, I thought all of the eco-friendly stuff was pretty cool. For the most part, I’m into the traditional style. Like, I really kind of love UA’s campus and I know UNC is supposed to be gorgeous too.
But I don’t see myself getting into/doing all that well at a place like Emory anyway – it was a definite reach – so that was really more of an “I need a reason to get over this” deciding factor after having already realized it was a long shot for me. Some of my classmates really liked the look, but it’s just not my preference. I might still apply though, just to see what happens!
I’m generally okay at science that doesn’t involve math (namely, chemistry) and math that’s not calculus. I finally found the Tech catalog and the only math credit I see can be satisfied by Finite (which is what I’ve been planning to do…) and there are I think two lab sciences, with more emphasis on technology. So it seems pretty reasonable.
Oh, and thank you for your help!</p>

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<p>hey is anyone on line i have a serious question</p>

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<p>I was waitlisted at tech and got a mail on the 19th saying i had an admission offer, the thing is my e-mail was conked and i couldnt see it till today, the last date the e mail said for paying the deposits was may 24th , im 6 days late , can anyone help me here , GT is my first choice</p>

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<p>First, aliyanika, call Tech first thing Tuesday and see what you can work out.</p>

<p>Second, to the person who asked to be chanced, Tech, for the last two years, has been using something called the Georgia Index. It takes your GPA from your core courses (no extra credit for AP as I understand it) multiplies your GPA by 500 and adds your math and CR scores from your SAT (or equivalent using math and English from ACT). So a perfect score is 3600 and GPA counts more than SAT. I do know of someone who was waitlisted with a 1470 and 3.6+, but that person did not accept a position on the waitlist so s/he might have been accepted from the waitlist.</p>

<p>After waitlist was closed, the average SAT accepted was 1370 and the average GPA was 3.88. The top 25% on SAT was 1440 after early admit, 1460 after regular admits, and 1450 after waitlist admits.</p>

<p>Tech says that they admit you or not - that it doesn’t depend on your selected major.</p>

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<p>Someone school is becoming serious competition lol :slight_smile: . Just kidding. I know that GPA is higher than ours though. In reality, we probably only compete for Georgia students. Most of our students come from elsewhere. Most don’t even come from the south. It’s ridiculous how both Tech and we have changed so much, from my understanding. Both schools were always far higher than average for Georgia, but now we are way ahead. The quality of both schools seems to be drastically improving too. It’s almost as if we grew together or something.</p>

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<p>It’s called the Freshman Index (FI) and can be found here: <a href=“https://www.gacollege411.org/College_Planning/Prepare_for_College/Entrance_Requirements/USG_College_Entrance_Requirements/Freshman_Student/Accredited_High_School_Student/Freshman_Index_Requirements.aspx[/url]”>https://www.gacollege411.org/College_Planning/Prepare_for_College/Entrance_Requirements/USG_College_Entrance_Requirements/Freshman_Student/Accredited_High_School_Student/Freshman_Index_Requirements.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It’s not a Georgia Tech calculation - it’s used by the state of Georgia to set minimum standards of who can be admitted to a particular school. For example, if you calculate your FI and score below 2400, you legally cannot be admitted to Georgia Tech, Georgia State, or UGA without going through an appeals process to obtain a waiver (which only happens for recruited athletes). The degree to which Tech uses the FI is unknown.</p>

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<p>Ah, thanks for the freshman index info. Using my UW Core and SAT score, I have a 3169, I think. So, for clarification, do GA schools consider that in lieu of your GPA and SAT score, or do they consider the FI and your GPA and SAT scores? Like, do the separate numbers still factor, or just the total calculation?</p>

<p>Also, I figured they didn’t factor in your intended major for admissions (alas!), but can anyone in the school (or anyone who knows people in it, I guess) tell me about it?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>No. Tech considers your SAT scores and GPA on their own (in addition to EC’s, class difficulty, essay, geographic location, etc.) and use their own classifications. It’s theoretically possible that Tech could use the FI, but they’ve said in the past that they weight Math SAT more than CR SAT and the FI calculation doesn’t do that.</p>

<p>The FI only exists to set a minimum standard for all Georgia colleges in admission. Schools need to be over 2400 FI to be considered “research universities” and get $XX million / year. If a school can’t meet the 2400 standard, it’s reduced to a “regional university” and gets less month. This essentially only exists so that when Kennesaw State complains that it gets less money from the state than Georgia State, the University System has an exact answer as to why it gives GSU more money (KSU has an FI between 1940 and 2040, and is therefore a “State University”. GSU has an FI greater than 2400 and is a “Research University”). </p>

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<p>GT has repeatedly said that they do not consider major for the purpose of admission. This is because any student can transfer to any other major at Tech freely once admitted. Other schools admit you to specific departments, but restrict your ability to transfer.</p>

<p>For example, you can be admitted to UT-Austin for business, but if you get to campus, and decide that you’d rather be an engineer, you could (and probably would be) rejected from the engineering school because that schools “fills up” fast. At Tech, anyone can switch to any other major once you’re on campus without any approvals (the first time). Majors don’t “fill up” and you can’t be rejected.</p>

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<p>Banjohitter,
Thanks for the FI clarification. As for the other part, I guess my question was badly worded. I know colleges don’t admit you based on your intended major, but I’m asking specifically about the atmosphere/experience of being in Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts as opposed to a science field since it’s a science/math/tech-intensive school?</p>

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<p>W/ a 3.58 and a 33, you should have a very good chance. Strange that you are so interested in GT w/ those majors though.</p>