My grandson, along with several other Georgia Tech applicants from the same high school, applied for Early Action decisions. Although his scores are higher in every measure, his extra-curricula activities far surpassing their portfolios–concert master in high school orchestra, Governor’s Honors in Physics, National Merit winner, president of physics -related science club, Model UN, church-related community involvement, along with developing and managing his own website that features his own musical compositions and mechanical 3-d printer designs, just to name a few, are part of his achievement/accomplishment portfolio. Inexplicably, ALL of them were accepted EXCEPT MY GRANDSON.
I am seeking opinions/answers about the merit policy (or lack thereof) that was obviously ignored. He “ticks” and far exceeds all the boxes that Georgia Tech has published as measures of their ideal student who will represent the high standards o the university.
When you say “merit policy” I assume you’re not referring to their merit scholarships policy? (which is what most of us refer to when we talk about merit policy).
What I think you’re saying is that your grandson is more qualified (in your view) and therefore should have been accepted over the others.
Georgia Tech, like its peers, does not admit solely based on statistics or other achievements, but rather, practices “holistic admissions” that take into account everything in an applicant’s profile. They also clearly state that their admissions are driven by institutional priorities.
I am sorry to hear that your grandson was not accepted. I can understand how disappointing that must be for him and you all. But unfortunately none of us can say why that happened because we don’t have access to his complete package and those of his fellow applicants.
Georgia Tech has a very holistic review, with test scores only being a minor part. They look very strongly at rigor of classes taken. Rick Clark has discussed this recently, and says it comes to play particularly in math. For example, don’t opt for college algebra when you could take AP calculus instead. If you are going into engineering don’t take AB calculus over BC calculus if both are offered to you, etc. Distance math through Georgia Tech also gives students a real boost if they are doing well in the class. Even though Georgia Tech is a state school, it is often only the very top students in the class that get in. Do you know where your grandson falls in the class, ranking wise? Also the admit rate for females is quite a bit higher so that could have played a part.
I know this is a disappointment, and you don’t mention whether your son was deferred and has a chance in March, or was rejected. Even if rejected, there are many paths to Georgia Tech, and if it is truly his dream school, then he can consider a transfer option.
As the UGA admissions office often says, none of us know what are in the files of other applicants. Perhaps one has a powerhouse essay, another has a strong service commitment to community (which is very highly valued by Georgia Tech), etc.
We’ve been in your position, and it is not a fun one to be in, and very easy to second-guess the decisions. Having been through this three times, I feel confident that your grandson will end up exactly where he supposed to be and if that place is Georgia Tech or somewhere else, it will all work out!
I encourage him to get more applications in, especially if his other app isn’t an affordable safety. Even students with high stats have to have a balanced, reasonable list. Most students want choices come May 1.
You mean he has applied to only TWO colleges, total!?
Then he would have been terribly advised by his HS guidance counsellor!
There is no such thing as a “merit policy” - so no policy was being ignored.
It sounds as if your grandson had a very strong application, and likely easily passed whatever “baseline” that colleges informally might have (just like his HS peers). But once a student is part of the “closer selection”, the decision for/against certain students is no longer based on “academic rank” vs. their peers.
PS: Depends on whether he was a GA resident, last year’s acceptance rate varies between 36% and as low as 12% – so there simply is no room for 2/3rds of GA applicants, and 88% of other applicants:
I have a freshman at Tech admitted last year EA. These days lots of APs is the norm at GT. My son had 12 which is close to the max at his school and there are many there who took more (his roommate had 14). It is a very difficult admit even in state. There are many super qualified candidates who don’t get in every year. There is a pathway into Georgia Tech through transfer for those not admitted. If he wants a GT degree, he will get there!
Comparing students from the same high school is impossible for family members. You don’t know what other students are doing outside of school, what teachers are saying about them in their letters of recommendation, their essays, rigor, etc… I understand the disappointment but you are not sitting in the admissions office reading the full applications, nor do you know the institutional priorities for this cycle.
Admissions decisions are not personal. Last year Rick Clark, an admissions officer at Georgia Tech, had a great blog about institutional priorities and rejections (which a deferral is not).
Here’s an excerpt:
"If you are denied from a selective college, my hope is you won’t question your academic ability or lose sleep trying to figure out what was “wrong” with you or what you “could or should have done differently.” IPs mean admission decisions do not translate to “We don’t think you are smart” or “You could not be successful here.”
I didn’t ask 100 admission deans what words they would use to describe students they were forced to deny based on supply and demand and IPs, but here are my top three answers:
Smart
Talented
Impressive"
I’d encourage you not to dwell on the deferment either! Your grandson is no less worthy, smart, capable as he was before the EA decision.
Hopefully your grandson has other applications ready to submit as two schools isn’t enough unless he’s already been accepted at the other school and would be happy to attend. And hopefully he’ll be accepted to GT in the spring.
I realize that this must be a very bitter pill to swallow and I have no doubt that your grandson is an amazing young man, but there is fatal misunderstanding of college admissions at play here. Admissions isn’t who has the highest GPA wins, especially not at schools that use holistic review. They are looking at things like first generation college students, income level, intended major, extracuricullars that are not necessarily “better” but which fill a need (for a quarterback, a marathon runner, an oboe player rather than a violinist), a story of overcoming adversity and beating the odds, someone who speaks Italian rather than Spanish, or who knows how many other things, most of which the applicant has zero control over by the time they apply. So there is absolutely no knowing why the other students were accepted and your grandson wasn’t. Admissions decisions - holistic admissions decisions - can be unpredictable and, to outsiders, sometimes appear entirely capricious. But they know what they are looking for. A high GPA gets your foot in the door, but selection happens not based on whose GPA is the highest of all, but on all these other factors and how they relate to institutional priorities in any given year. That’s why you apply widely - nothing is guaranteed anymore.