<p>Hi,
I'm a rising junior in high school, and I'm going to take my SAT for the first time in Fall of 2011. My goal right now is to get into UGA Honors, and from the practice test(s) I've taken, I'm not doing so great. I got a 2040 on the official practice test on the collegeboard site, and an 1810 on another practice test I took over winter break. I'm aiming for a 2100-2200 and up to have a good chance of getting into UGA Honors EA. I do have a 4.0 GPA right now, and I'm only in 1 AP, but I do plan on taking more (at least 2 or 3 junior year). I have looked at the other forums on this topic, but I just wanted to know some recent stats (perhaps from the 2010 entering UGA Honors class or people who got admitted/rejected), like SAT scores, # of APs, and the like. Basically, I wanted to know people's SAT scores that got them accepted early or auto-admitted into UGA Honors. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I did NOT get auto admit to Honors with ACT 35 and 4.12 GPA (3.95 UW). Have tons of EC’s and awards/honors. My school does not offer a lot of AP’s. Not sure if being out of state was a factor. Have been admitted to other top schools, so not getting admitted will influence my decision on where to go.
For you, you may want to consider taking the ACT instead of the SAT. Some people do better with a different format. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks. Yeah, I’ve heard from a lot of my senior friends that they like the ACT much better than the SAT. I think they said because it was more content based? But wow, not getting in with a 35 ACT and that GPA?! That’s unheard of. A 35 is really good isn’t it? But that’s just auto-admit. Did you actually apply to Honors?</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>Here are some additional stats. published by Honors that should give you a good idea where you stand in the applicant pool:
Honors average GPA: 4.06
Honors SAT average (CR+M): 1471
Honors SAT average (W): 712
Honors mid 50%: 1440-1490
Honors average (CR+M+W): 2183</p>
<p>Thanks for the stats. I’m sure I can pull off those SAT scores if i study and put some effort into it. But, I foolishly missed out on taking AP World History and AP Human Geography in 9th and 10th grade. I can still definitely get my GPA above 4.0 because I’ll be taking 3 or 4 APs next year (and I have AP Bio this year), but do you think me not taking those 2 APs could be a deciding factor in me getting into UGA Honors or not?</p>
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<p>Might have some effect at the margins, but probably not a deciding factor. If you keep up a 4.0, score 2200+ on the SAT, and have solid ECs, I imagine you’ll be in a pretty good position when you apply to Honors.</p>
<p>Alright thanks jablalf!! I can do that… the only thing I’m not too sure about is ECs… That’s why I wanted to apply EA to Honors so all they look at is your GPA and SAT… These are the ECs I’m in right now, do you think they’re solid?
Newspaper Staff
Debate Club
Mu Alpha Theta
National Spanish Honor Society
Plan to join Robotics this week
Plan to join Beta Club and NHS this year/next year</p>
<p>Thanks for patiently answering all my questions by the way… Aren’t you in UGA Honors?</p>
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<p>I know that Honors only considers SAT+GPA for purposes of auto admissions, but if you apply to Honors, I think they also consider ECs. As long as your ECs demonstrate leadership in and passion for a subject, they’re solid.</p>
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Glad to help… and yes. Best of luck with your application.</p>
<p>@ Jablalf: While UGA Honors is still one of my top choices, I’m still not entirely convinced… Like, would I be better off going to a better school, or is UGA Honors a good experience for you so far? I know there have been other posts on this, namely vig180, but he’s an exceptional case. I wanted to get a perspective from someone currently attending UGA Honors so I know if i would be satisfied if i went there… or is a school like Duke or Vanderbilt better?</p>
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<p>Though not the best measurment… The Honor’s college of UGA has produced 8 Rhodes scholars in the last 2 decades (3 in the last couple of years, 5 in the last 10). Vanderbilt has produced one Rhodes scholar in the last two decades (back in the 90’s). Duke spits them out almost every year.</p>
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<p>I would strongly recommend Honors. If you’re instate, HOPE makes it a great deal – about 8k annually (for room, board, and misc. fees.) In my experience, the caliber of students in Honors is probably about the same as you’ll find at expensive privates like Duke, Vandy, or Emory. In fact, a lot of the people in Honors were admitted to top20/30 privates and chose to attend UGA for a variety of reasons. Also, if you ultimately plan to attend graduate school, there’s a lot to be said for saving $ in undergraduate. With HOPE, the total cost of 4 years at UGA is at maximum $40k, whereas 4 years at Duke or Emory will run close to $200k. </p>
<p>In my [somewhat limited] experience in Honors courses, there’s a clear difference in quality between the faculty who teach Honors and those who teach non-Honors courses. Honors professors generally have years of experience in teaching, are friendly, and most importantly, want to facilitate discussions in class. With Honors classes of 10 or 15 people, it’s very easy to have engaging, intelligent discussions – something that’s almost impossible in larger lectures.</p>
<p>Also, there’s a lot to be said for being “big fish in a small pond” (as opposed to the “small fish in a big pond” you’ll find at top privates). The staff and advisers in Honors are very knowledgeable and can cut away a lot of the red tape you’ll find in any bureaucracy of 30k students, making it easier to find, and take advantage of, opportunities. I mentioned to my Honors adviser that I was interested in a Congressional internship, and the next morning he forwarded me contact information for a UGA staffer who routinely arranges D.C. internships. I can’t imagine that many other schools are so helpful. </p>
<p>In short, I think Honors is definitely a better choice than many privates :), but that’s a decision you’ll have to make for yourself. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me and I’ll try to answer as best as I can.</p>
<p>Thanks jablalf! That’s a lot of useful information that will help me in my decision.</p>
<p>@jablalf: Did you get a PM from me? I sent you one, but then when i hit submit, i had to log in again, so I’m not sure if it went through…</p>
<p>No – didn’t get anything.</p>
<p>I think the extracurricular activities and essays are more important for UGA’s Honor Program than its regular undergraduate admissions. Case in point my current roommate did not get into honors first round, while I did. He had better statistics than me, while I had better extracurriculars. He scored 100 points higher on his SAT than me (2160 vs 2060), and had a better GPA with more AP credits, (3.8 vs 4.0 and 9 vs 6 respectively). I had more extracurriculars. Now my roommate did swim, but other than that he was not very involved in high school aside from a few math and science related competitions. On the other hand I took on leadership roles and won competitions in debate, FBLA, Model UN, literary meet, and orchestra. So you might want to prioritize a certain kind of activity and really get involved, personally I did alot of public speaking. This all being said you can always apply again to honors in the fall semester if your college GPA is good, my roomate is now in honors with a 4.0 GPA still. So dont give up if you dont get in first round. Essentially the faculty really wants students with initiative that are going to make campus life richer,so frame yourself as that kind of person.</p>
<p>Source: Current UGA Honors student </p>