Hey all. I’m currently working on my application to the Georgia Tech Honors Program but I have very little experience in this portion of the application. Any advice? Suggestions? What kind of people usually get in? Any and all information would be helpful. Thanks!
Oh goodie, an honors program applicant! I’m a class of 2019 honors program student for reference.
After having experienced the program for a good semester and talking to people. The people who get in aren’t quite different from the rest of the campus. They’re all pretty smart, diverse, but they have a slight extra drive for learning more than what the curriculum teaches. Honors very heavily weights you based on cross curriculum learning. If you can display that in your essays, you will be golden. If you would like some assistance, I can help if you pm me :D. Can’t wait to see the class of 2020 hp kids
Can @TodaysEinstein or another GT student comment on the Honors versus Grand Challenges programs and the freshman experience program? What is the difference between Honors and Grand Challenges? What would the freshman experience offer a student? I have heard from other GT parents that the dorm for the Honors program is run down and the worst on campus. Is there an advantage to living on the East versus West side of campus?
@Coloradomama I am the parent of a Grand Challenges second year student so I can only speak about that program. Every student who has done GC has told me that it was the best part of their freshman year and that they would do it again in a hard beat. In comparing GC to the Honors program, GC is more of the type of program where the students are trying to solve a problem of the world, therefore they take special leadership classes, receive special funding for their projects and do a ton of other things. There have been many other posts talking about the two programs that I suggest you do a search among this forum for those posts.
1GC has gotten very competitive for being accepted to the program. Last year they received 1400 applications from EA accepted students for the 110 spots. So many of the students accepted in EA that GC was never offered to the RD accepted students. Since the GC dorm Howell Hall is three floors, they have either 70 guys and 40 girls or this year 70 girls and 40 guys since the sexes are separated by floors. GC is also multi-year so students can be part of it for all their years at GT. This year GC reserved a floor of apartments at North Avenue so this was an added benefit since sophomore GC students could live in that location without worrying. (They could have non-GC students in their apts as well as they didn’t have to live in that block and still be part of the program).
What I also found interesting is that about 10 of the 30-40 Presidential Scholars from my DD’s year were part of the GC program. Students do not have to be outgoing since my DD is rather shy, rather they have to be interested in solving a problem that could be accomplished during their time at Georgia Tech. Look at the GC website for examples of the students’ projects.
Here are a few highlights based on my DD’s experience:
- GC is more than just a classroom experience. For the classroom experience, GC students take a 3 unit leadership course each semester. The GC faculty and staff are awesome!! In the class the students explore world problems, and how to solve them. They learn how to work as a team, how to set-up a successful research project and how to accomplish the project. At the end of each semester there is a banquet where the students present their posters and GT faculty interview them and decide on whether their project will be funded. When they are sophomores, they take a one unit class each semester. GC provides the students for funding on their projects as well as their interests. During my DD's first year, GC paid for students to attend conferences in Europe and throughout the U.S. Students who wanted to attend hackathons had GC pay their way. GC really encourages students to go outside their comfort zone and explore their ideas throughout their college experience.
- GC is a very supportive and collaborative environment. When I visited or called my DD, I would see groups of students working on homework and projects in the Howell lounge. They all looked very happy and were all friends. My DD told me she loved how in some of her freshman classes the GC students would occupy a whole row of desks so it was nice having familiar faces in those classes. GC creates student committees for just about anything such as community service, class study groups, careers or majors. This system allows a lot of support and collaboration. GC students are friends with other freshman outside of GC (especially since many are in the Greek system), but GC gives them another group of friends. I have heard students say that GC is like having a Co-ed fraternity/sorority. During FASET, GC has special luncheons for the GC students and parents. This was a huge benefit for my DD because older GC students helped her in registering and she was able to register before her assigned FASET spot. During parents weekend, we had special receptions. Plus GC has special parties for the holidays. Since GC students get to know their faculty really well, the added benefit was when my DD needed recommendations, her GC faculty really knew her and wrote great letters.
- Interaction with faculty and industry. The wonderful GC faculty arranges coffees, lunches and dinners with GT faculty and industry experts. Students receive emails all the time telling them of these offerings and the students sign up for them throughout the year. My DD has had coffee with GT's president at least twice her freshman year and the groups are always small.
- GC students can take some of the Honors classes offered in the Honors Program. I think this is where Gc is really better than Honors since GC students can take honors classes, but Honors students cannot take GC classes or offerings. GC students are notified which classes are available to them each semester, but it is a nice offering.
- GC offers the students a lot of fun and as a parent I love that GC subsidizes so many events that it really helps my DD not spend a lot of money. GC during the year organizes events throughout Atlanta such as plays, concerts, sporting events etc. Just last week GC took the students to see "Book of Mormon" at the Fox theater and my DD only had to pay $15. My DD has gone to Hawks BB games, the zoo, hiking trips etc all paid for by GC with just a small student contribution. The students have their block for Gt football games, they tailgate, BBQ and picnic. It is just a whole additional social scene for freshman students which is really nice when your child is shy. I have heard from many other non-GC freshman that they were jealous of the GC freshman because those GC freshman has such a positive year.
I hope my comments has given you a bit more info. If your child isn’t selected for GC, then I highly recommend they do freshman experience. FE gives them an additional level of social life and academic support. FE dorms will have reps that tell the students about what is going on on GT. There will be intermural teams, homecoming competition teams etc. FE dorms will organize extra tutoring and study groups. They will organize student breaks as well as off-campus field excursions. It fosters friendships among the first years and I believe it helps first years with adjusting to college and having a more successful first year.
I’m an Honors Program student. Each program is very selective - unless you’re a Presidential Scholar, don’t expect to have the opportunity to choose between them. If you live on campus, you do freshman experience, regardless of whether you’re a part of HP or GC. Freshman experience is just the programming which all freshmen dorms host.
Just like GC, HP has separate freshman dorms and a floor for HP upperclassmen, although that floor is unfortunately on West Campus and not at North Ave anymore.
While itsv finds the GC projects to be a huge benefit, plenty of clubs on campus (Engineers Without Borders, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Engineering World Health, to name a few) also allow for special projects. While I very much believe in project-based learning, GC isn’t the only way to get involved in projects.
When I was a freshman, HP housing was on East Campus, which is (in my mind) a better location than West Campus, but the West Campus buildings are newer and nicer than many of the East Campus ones. The current HP freshman housing is nicer than what it used to be on East Campus. East Campus is generally preferred because it’s closer to the football stadium, Greek houses, Publix, etc.
I will say that GC seems to have a better sense of community than HP does, although HP administrators are working on improving that.
Thank you to the parent above and @gogeorgiatech. Very helpful info. Tell me a little more about West Campus if you have time. Is one closer to the football stadium? while my son has been on campus, with my husband. I have not yet visited GT 's campus.
My daughter’s experience was a little different, but was the best option for her. She was accepted EA last year and opted not to apply to Honors or GC. I think the decision had less to do with an evaluation of the programs’ merit and more to do with the decision not to “fill out one more application or write one more essay”! She was also aware that she would have the opportunity to apply for Honors in the fall of her freshmen year and she could reconsider at that time. I do not believe that there is the same opportunity to apply for GC in the fall. She also knew that she wanted to go through sorority recruitment and there were leadership organizations she was interested in being involved with. She did pledge a sorority and was immediately thrown into a frenzy of fall activities. She also became involved with other campus activities. She tutors two students at an area high school and was selected for Tech’s Leading Edge Leadership Program. She did speak with her advisor in the fall regarding whether she should apply for Honors. Her advisor told her that she thought it more important to graduate with Honors than be in the Honors College. Of course, that’s just one person’s perspective. Anyway, she never applied for Honors and doesn’t feel that she’s missing out on a thing.
I guess it just depends on what you want your college experience to be. There are so many opportunities for students both in and out of these programs. So, if you decide not to apply - or are not accepted - you shouldn’t worry at all that it will affect your experience at GT. There are a myriad or organizations with which to become involved and constant activities in which to participate. My daughter just wanted to be able to pick and choose those activities that were most interesting or enjoyable or beneficial as they were presented to her. And that’s really not a bad thing - it’s worked out very well for her!
And by the way, she lives on West Campus. Not by choice, but because she and her roommate didn’t submit their dorm preference early enough to get one of their first choices. But, it’s not such a big deal. There are pros and cons to East and West Campus, though she would’ve preferred to be in East.
Thanks for the additional comments. Is North Avenue the place where GT students go out? Looks like there is housing also north of 10th Street, is that freshman housing too? Where do most students live after freshman year, is that still walking distance to campus? My son has been to campus, but I have not been there yet.
No, the housing north of tenth street is the Graduate Living Center - which houses undergrads too, but no freshmen.
North Avenue is the name of an on-campus apartment complex where a lot of students live. It also houses what many people to consider the best of the three Georgia Tech dining halls. The football stadium is right across the road from the North Avenue apartments, and they are on East Campus. West Campus is home to the Campus Recreation Center.
As for whether upperclassmen live within walking distance, that really depends on the person. Georgia Tech does have a lot of on-campus housing options for upperclassmen and there are several big apartment complexes near campus (Square on Fifth, Westmar, M Street, UHouse) and two slightly-sketchy areas of houses for rent (Home Park and Centennial Place) which are within walking distance.
Do people who read your Honors essays also have access to your Common App essay?
Yes they do!
Does anyone know how many (if any) students accepted into Grand Challenges are from the Ivan Allen College? Also, is there any GPA/SAT minimum for admission?
Yes, GC students are accepted from all the colleges. There are no test score or GPA minimums. It is more dependant on the essay, ecs, and demonstrating interest in the program. My DD contacted them, did an overnight with GC students in dorms and had activities that corresponds to the goals of GC.