@ncmom2020 my daughter is a freshman at UoSC and she did not take Fine Arts in HS…she is going to be taking an art class this coming spring semester to fill a Fine Art requirement for the Core Carolina…but each major has different requirements for the Core Carolina, so depending on your son’s major, he might not have to take Fine Art at all!
Why does UofSC have all of these “requirements” for applicants if they aren’t really required? Why not just take them out, or make them “recommended”?
Would’ve been nice if USC specified this on their website instead of freaking students out days before EA acceptances come out! Other schools list requirements but will also state “recommended” next to certain courses so that we know which ones are required opposed to the ones that are recommended. There’s a big difference!
@jgwolf @SlimJim001 - UGA is getting increasingly hard to get into and like mentioned above they put much more weight on grades than test scores. According to their admission blog (which is excellent!), the 25% gpa for EA admits was a 4.0. They do not give any weight for honors, only AP. The blog discusses very clearly how to calculate your UGA GPA and puts great weight on it. This years EA class had almost no Cs, well over 90 percent of the grades submitted were As with a few B’s sprinkled in (around 5%). More than 2 or 3 Bs causes a real problem. My son’s friend was rejected with a 36. He had very high rigor but had more Bs than they like to see. It is tough but I am sure you will land in a great place. Best of luck!
I also applied to UGA but applied RD because I was hoping for a more holistic approach to my application. I have a 4.7 GPA, have taken 6 honors classes, but only have 5 AP/DE courses. Hoping the fact that I only have one B+ my entire four years of high school (rest all As), 3 different honor societies, lots of other ECs, great letters of recommendation, etc. will help push me over the “acceptance ledge”. Time will tell. Like March 13!
@VirginiaBelle @Brooklynroots Virginia Belle you are correct about the UGA blog. That guy is fantastic and offers alot of information that most schools don’t. Im surprised my son was deferred as he has several B’ B+ and the rest A and A-. His SAT was middle of range from last years acceptance. I’m not expecting him to get in. Brooklyn Roots depending what your scores were I think you have a good chance.
I do hope that USC at least gives the parameters for EA acceptance . UGA does a great job and even UVA for ED gave the stats of how many applied, were accepted, denied and deferrred
It seems like UGA is becoming ridiculously hard to get into from OOS, much like UNC. My USC daughter got Capstone and close to in-state merit award at USC but got deferred and then denied at UGA. Honestly, she wasn’t all that interested in going to a school that is over 90% in-state, anyway. Makes it hard to feel like you fit in, harder to get into Greek life, etc. That is one of the main reasons she turned down UF even though it’s a higher ranked school and had a better program for her major (my husband and I both went there and she grew up a Gator fan)–she didn’t want to feel like the only kid from OOS. A friend of mine has a freshman who is at Ohio State this year, from OOS, and she’s having a hard time being one of the only kids not from there. Definitely a great environment at USC with nearly 50% of the students from OOS.
No offense to UGA applicants, but we toured it and did not apply. We liked USC so much more (and other schools).
Sounds like my son would have not gotten in anyway, so we saved $65.
UGA rewards grade inflation, IMO…GA Tech does the same. Many times the smarter kids have gone to more rigorous high schools where there is less grade inflation…and where kids have more B/B+ grades than they “would like to see” but then those kids have 1500+ SAT or 34-36 ACT, much higher than the UGA average, and in line with GATech average.
Son didn’t apply for same reason as above…low percent OOS means too many in-state kids know each other and OOS may have harder time fitting in. IMO, UGA should not be ranked as high as it is - Eng program is new; rewards grade inflation; low geographic diversity.
USC for the win!
As to this years approach - one small wave which in retrospect I believe was intended as a test of the notification systems - followed by one general notification seems pretty much in line with every other school my son has applied to other than Western Carolina which promised a quick turnaround through their Chancellors Choice portal. While the wording varies - either a “by X date”, “by mid/late X month” or “on X date” - at least in past years all the other schools my son has applied to early action seem to generally follow one notification date more or less towards the end of whatever period they’ve published. UNC says “end of January” and have, in the past, consistently sent all notices the last Friday in January… In some cases (Appalachian State) there was a small number of notifications sent earlier, somewhat like USC this year, followed by a larger notification again towards the end of the promised period.
FWIW at least USC promised mid December. UNC was also Oct 15 and they promise late January and historically have done it as late as they can and give people a weekend “cooling off” period. The other schools are Elon (on Dec 20); App State (by Jan 25); Sewanee (in mid February); William & Mary (regular decision by April 1) so… still plenty of waiting around to do…
I am mildly envious of those who applied to so many schools that have de facto rolling admissions - it is nice to at least know.
@g8rmomk8ans I never thought of UGA like that being mostly kids from GA so harder to maybe “fit in”. Honestly i like many of the others including my son liked USC better than UGA and it is closer to VA where we live.
Hope they all get good news Friday
Did anyone ever “verify” if the “hack” works for some and not others. Or if it works fir everyone who applied?
Tastes differ…my daughter loved UGA after touring it. USC is our in-state safety option. Financially definitely the best option for us since SC gives state scholarships for their best students that are quite enticing.
@g8rmomk8ans We live in Georgia and UVA and UNC remain much much more difficult to get in out of state than UGA. As an example, this year my nephew was denied as a legacy from UVA but admitted to UGA. He is from out of state for UGA. UGA does not look at the state of residency so out of state and state are the same as admission percentage. This is not true of Georgia Tech, where last year in State admissions were about 38% and out of state were around 14%. My guess is at some point UGA will move this direction as well.
@sunnyschool Grade inflation is alive and well in some schools in Georgia for sure. I credit this to the Hope/Zell. I am told by people with connections to UGA admission that all applications from the same high school are read by the same admission officer. I have been told this is true for our high school - highly competitive private school in statewith lots of applications. They also review the school profile which shows where a particular GPA falls in the class. If the top quarter of the class has a 3.9 or above and you have a 3.75 they know you are in the second quartile. That being said, no one gets in from UGA from our high school EA without being in the top 10 percent or so of the class.
@UpstateSCmom - you are very fortunate to have USC in state as a safety. Both of our state flagship schools (Ga Tech and UGA) are no longer safeties. That makes it very stressful!!!
I totally understand that this must be super stressful! However it looks like USC is getting more and more selective as well. My daughter was told by lots of people not to consider USC a safety, she did NOT listen. I am glad it did work out and she was already accepted with the 11/15 wave. I would have started to sweat it if that was not the case since USC was the lowest ranked public school with the highest acceptance rate that she applied to.
It seems colleges can’t win. If they prefer high test scores, they are overvaluing a single test that is easy to game. If they prefer high GPA, then they are rewarding grade inflation. There will always be variables with GPA, and test scores will never be a true assessment of a student’s potential, but college admissions decisions have to be made somehow. UGA states on their website that their research indicates HS GPA to be the most reliable predictor of a student’s success at their school, so they go with it.
My S visited both UGA and UofSC, twice. We are OOS for both. Going into the admissions process UofSC was S’s clear favorite, but the scales have since tipped dramatically. Of course UofSC is driving the bus and they have no obligation to keep prospective students apprised of how their admissions process works, or how/why it has changed so much from previous years. But, there are a lot of cross-admits with UGA, and up against UGA’s unfailing honesty and transparency, UofSC’s silence amidst major changes to their process is not a good look. Lack of communication can easily be read as lack of appreciation and respect in a situation like this.
How hard would it have been, and what possible retribution could there be, to making a statement on social media—say, at the beginning of November—announcing that UofSC is making changes to the way they notify applicants, be aware that the timeline may be different than in previous years, and please be patient with us while we work this out? That would have turned a lot of angst into goodwill. At our house, at least.
I’m hoping that we get good news on Friday, and that our angst will be forgotten. But, this is my third time through the college application process, and I can tell you that how a college represents itself in this stage can significantly influence an applicant’s perception of that school. Since (for example) UGA is so upfront about everything and promptly and clearly answers questions, that gives us confidence that the university as a whole has their s*** together. When there is silence, especially amidst major changes, it is easy to assume there is chaos and confusion behind the scenes. That may or may not be the case, but perception matters. Add on that there is a new president at UofSC, and some controversy associated with him, I think better communication with prospective students would be in UofSC’s interest.
Does anyone know if the department your major is in gets a chance to look at your application or has influence in your admissions decision? Or if you have lower test scores/GPA but a less competitive major would it influence your chance of getting in?
This is mean kindly to all but please limit the UGA talk on here or move it to that section as this is for U of SC 2024 Admissions only. Thank you,