<p>I don't understand how someone with a 3.8 GPA and a 2290 SAT can get waitlisted while someone with a 3.7 and a 1840 can get accepted? Do EC's really play that HUGE of a difference? The gap between those 2 applicants seems pretty big to me in favor of the 2290 kid. I don't understand how these things work! Is it the fact that the 1840 SAT person applied ED as well? Does that give one an advantage over the others?</p>
<p>in state vs. out of state? maybe?</p>
<p>yeah, it’s really weird how they’re waitlisting people with far superior stats. but hey, no complaints from me! That actually gives me hope!</p>
<p>maybe they’re like uga and pick names out of a hat and/or throw darts at names on the wall:)</p>
<p>Regional Preference, Gender, Ethnicity, School Difficulty, Course Difficulty, not just any ECs, EC’s that stand out (not things like NHS, everyone on the planet is in NHS), etc.</p>
<p>This is why it is called a holistic review, not a strict, by the numbers comparison.</p>
<p>Hm, I constantly hear that gender and ethnicity don’t matter…</p>
<p>But yeah, definitely how much you stand out. With tons of high SAT+GPA, one of the only ways to differentiate between them are through essay+EC.</p>
<p>An important skill to have is being able to detect when people are spewing BS.</p>
<p>No matter how many times they say it, colleges need to look “diverse” to have a good public image, and to receive federal and state funding (if public). This causes URMs to be an important factor in admissions.</p>
<p>In the end, a college is in its entirety, a business. Businesses need to keep up their public image in order to keep the money pouring in. It is simple.</p>
<p>I suspect that it was easier to get in early, but we may never know. Many of the kids waitlisted have scholarships from other schools that they have to accept or lose before they would know whether they were admitted to Tech. So they won’t wait.</p>
<p>According to the acceptance stats given elsewhere on the board, and using the Georgia index which has no weighting and includes only “core” subjects, a 1600/1600 SAT would need a GPA of 3.544 just to be “average.” And a 4.0 needs an SAT of 1372 to be “average.”</p>
<p>Well damn, I applied Early Decision, got deferred, sent my mid term grades out (which were almost flawless), then got waitlisted. I guess I have to send my updated grades on April 15th as well.</p>
<p>I’m actually more annoyed at the constant delay of decision from GT. It is actually more nerve racking then the actual decision.</p>
<p>I hate indecision.</p>
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<p>Quality point that tells me that the Georgia Tech admissions people are just absolutely brain dead.</p>
<p>“Well damn, I applied Early Decision, got deferred, sent my mid term grades out (which were almost flawless), then got waitlisted. I guess I have to send my updated grades on April 15th as well.”</p>
<p>we’re on the same boat.</p>
<p>@vineshp</p>
<p>WE ARE THE MASTERS OF GETTING DELAYED DECISIONS!</p>
<p>ADMISSIONS OFFICERS TREMBLE WITH PROCRASTINATION AND INDECISION AT THE VERY SIGHT OF US!</p>
<p><em>Evil Laughs</em></p>
<p>Stats do not paint a good picture of a person – especially internationals (as is the case with the person with a 2290 who got rejected). It could be simply that that particular person had indicated an inability to pay without aid. It’s hard to say.</p>
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<p>The criteria for early and regular admission are the same. There is no advantage to applying early outside of consideration for PSP and the possibility of applying for the honors program. There is much more that goes into an admissions decision than scores, and scores at the level that Tech is considering really are somewhat trivial. A person with a 1900 could arguably have similar potential to someone with a 2200. At this level, things such as study habits, passion, etc… play a much larger role in success than performance on the SAT. When you apply to Georgia Tech you write an essay and fill out a form explaining what you did outside of academics during your high school years. This is not just fluff, they actually look at that stuff! And it is “that stuff” that often (at least in the eyes of many admissions committees) is a better judge of the value of someone to the school than a hundred points on the SAT or a few tenths of a point in GPA. Everyone would like to look at someone who had lower scores and got accepted and see injustice, because this makes us feel better. But the truth is that members of the admission committee have years of experience in selecting applicants for admission that they feel bring the most to the school. They know what they are looking for, and it is more than two numbers on a piece of paper. With that said, there are going to be people who were very involved, got great grades, performed very well on standardized tests and still do not get selected for admission. The more competitive a college gets, the more this happens. In Tech’s case, it is getting more competitive (over a 10% decline in acceptance in one year) and that means qualified people are not going to get in. This does not mean you are not good enough, or that in other years you would not have gotten in. In simply means that in the eyes of the admissions committee there were other people who stood out as stronger candidates for this particular admissions year. You can succeed at any of a great number of places of higher education in this country. Please don’t be put off by the admission decision of one college towards your application. And keep in mind that the decision was about your application, not you as a person. There are much more important things in your life to worry about than whether it is fair that some group of people at Tech didn’t like your application quite as much as someone else’s. Focus on succeeding wherever you go and in whatever you decide to pursue. That will be a much more worthwhile and fulfilling use of your time and energy!</p>
<p>You all should know that GT isn’t the only school with what appears to be “strange” admission practices. The top private schools (I go to one I guess) have become notorious for such practices primarily based upon the logic presented by G.P. Studies have actually been done on it. One was done in context of how the U.S. Newsweek formula for rankings influenced admissions practices. Arguably, I would claim that my school (Emory) seems to have been quite fair, or not as focused on adjusting its ranking by manipulation of incoming student body stats. as much as our peers. Class of 2013, for example, had a higher admission rate than mines (I’m class of 2012, we had 26.6 vs. their 28), with only a slightly lower SAT mid-50% range (about 10 pts from the bottom and top). Despite all of that, the incoming class was the largest ever, so I imagine the University got some much needed money. It will probably cost us in the next U.S. News Ranking, but they clearly didn’t care enough to take a risk. After all, it did have a smaller applicant pool that time. GT, is acting somewhat like Vandy at this point, who pounced on the opportunity to potentially boost its rank using it’s increased applicant numbers for the class of 2013(roughly the same amount as class of 2012 at Emory) to crash its admission rate by 7% (went from like 25% to 18%) and dramatically increase its mid-50 range. Based on that class, Vandy has one of the highest ranges (perhaps higher than many Ivies). The question is, is it really worth it? Will their rank increase (I have to wonder if this was the ultimate motive of such a move). They’ve always had higher scores than we did, yet we tie. And I’m sure they won’t suddenly jump ahead of schools like Duke b/c it suddenly acquired a higher score range. I have to wonder if it will work in either case (provided that this is a part of the motive). I can somehow see the piece of research I read in action now (I forgot where I found it). Sometimes those U.S. Newsweek rankings become a number game that may weight numerical stats. of an incoming class disproportionately more than the opportunities or overall quality of the institution itself. Sometimes, it may fail to recognize attempts to actually improve the student experience or institution as a whole (whether it be through introduction of new programs/initiatives to diversify course offerings, or more student recreational options, or Emory’s favorite, construction lol).</p>
<p>thanks for using my stats, but you do have to look at the big picture, i would have a 3.99 GT
GPA without freshman year, and I met the admission lady when she came to my high school (where half the kids go to either UGA or Tech, at least the top 100), and explained my story.</p>
<p>sorry about that!</p>