University of Tennessee Early Action for Fall 2024 Admission

This is the model at many state schools with UNC Chapel Hill perhaps being the prime example. The chances of getting in there as an OOS is equivilent to getting into an Ivy League School.

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And even in-state it is extremely competitive. We are in-state and even kids in the top 10% of our high school do not get in. Which is why we look to out of state schools. It is really frustrating.

We never received a google form. My daughter received a text that there was a system error and to check her portal at 7pm. She then got an email that she had an update in her portal.

Agree 100%. It certainly breaks trust and confidence in the University and their admissions processes. Again, our son was accepted and admitted last year with barely half the resume as our daughter, who was very excited and prepared to apply EA. The idea that a school like UTK would defer her was a far off thought. They will regret pushing away (deferring)talented kids who actually want to attend UT in favor of handing out acceptances and scholarships to applicants with no real desire to attend UTK. If they were more prepared for the concept of EA and resources to actually review applications holistically they would likely have different outcomes and a more respectable reputation as an admissions office.

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I have to disagree on this. Schools that want to limit applicants 1) require many supplimental essays - some on our list had 4, 2) do not allow the Common App - like Georgetown. Even requiring one supplimental essay beyond the Common would cut down applicants. Charging $50 an application and then complaining you don’t have enough readers to handle the volume is crocodile tears (I’m not saying UTK has claimed that, IDK, but many other schools have.)

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Yes- I feel like NC State is another one. S24 applied but pretty much zero chance he’s getting in. Same with UGA.

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University of Maryland is the same…multiple extra ā€œhoopsā€ to jump through if you will. There are many ways this is handled more effectively. I think UTK is in a weird spot of wanting to become more competitive, but not actually being there yet, and not having an effective methodology in the meantime.

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Based on my conversation with admissions, there were 2 different types of SRAR issues. One issue was students who sent SRAR to another school that uses it (like VT) after the 11/15 UTK deadline, this is the category my daughter fell into and she received acceptance last night. The second issue was students who were deferred updating their SRAR through the link that UTK added prior to releasing decisions, which inadvertently reset their SRAR date and pushed them to RD even tho technically they were already deferred. These are the students who are being sent the google form. Not sure which category you fall into, but wanted to provide the info I was given if it helps.

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We found their application process surprisingly robust. All those short answer questions took him a lot of time- they were harder for him than the longer essays for other schools. But I liked that it gave the applicant a chance to really say a little something about themself. I hope they truly mean it when they say the review ā€œall 26 parts of the applicationā€. I also heard that they accept 90% of their admits from their EA round so if you do not get admitted EA, it is extremely unlikely to be admitted. This was a high reach for him and he had to apply TO based on falling below the 25% for submitted ACT scores so he really needs them to review every part of that application to have shot. I guess we will see at the end of January!

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I think the department of admissions may want to limit the number of applications but I don’t think the school does when you’ve got 50,000 people willing to pay $50…… I just don’t think it is that bad a thing to be deferred because they let lots and lots of kids in from the deferral list

That and the more applications they get the lower the acceptance rate ends up being and their rankings climb…

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Interestingly UGA REQUIRED the Common App for ALL freshman applicants this year. But they added a supplemental essay in addition to the required Common App essay. Curious if that cut down on applications.

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Thank you for the detailed update. We received the Google form last evening but did not fill it out because we assumed that it was meant for those who were 100% affected by any updates. Interestingly enough so many who made these updates on the school form are now getting in.

We fell into both categories. And a handful of schools required the SRAR, not just VT. The SRAR appeared 3 times on the UTK portal. We did not get the email to fill out a form, but we did both call and write to the school before that email was sent out, so maybe ours had already been flagged. Email was forwarded by one of his friends, who got the email, but did not have a SRAR issue - we decided not to fill it out. Through all this, never got a single email saying that the portal had changed and to look at your admissions decision. Very happy that we have acceptances elsewhere, as this issue has made a stressful situation worse.

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Did she get in?

What do you mean by made updates to the school form? And I definitely didn’t mean just VT…that’s just an example that I know affected many because they have a later app deadline.

Emma, many schools would love to have you. Don’t take this personally, as hard as that is to do. You’re a great student, and given your determination, you will be successful in life.

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I don’t think you can fall into both categories. You either had the link added to your portal because you were deferred before dec 19th decision release or you didn’t. My personal opinion is that they had already reviewed all of the apps and then when they went to release on 12/19 the system process they ran kicked anyone with an updated SRAR date into RD because the additional date was there before decisions were released on the 19th. I haven’t heard from anyone saying they were denied admission. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that if had the link for 7th semester grades on your portal before the 19th you were deferred…if you didn’t you were admitted…or will be if they haven’t addressed the issue for you yet.

Finally got an email saying: You can add supporting materials by Friday, January 19, 2024, including seventh semester grades, academic letters of recommendation, and test scores for additional consideration.

Out Semester ends Jan31, so this is really of no help.

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Same. Second quarter for me ends the week after the 19th.

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