After a second record-breaking year of applications for in the incoming freshman class, final offers of admission were posted online and mailed the last weekend in March. Nearly 17,000 applications were received for the class of 2011, an increase of 1,000 from the previous year’s record-breaking total.
“What makes things difficult for us in admissions is that UGA cannot significantly increase the size of the freshman class because our Athens campus is at capacity,” said Nancy McDuff, associate vice president for admissions and enrollment management. “So that means more disappointed applicants and families.”
The target enrollment for the incoming freshman class is 5,000 students. Offers of admission have been extended to close to 9,000 students, while another 500-600 are being offered waiting-list status. Typically, more than half of the applicants offered admission go on to enroll at UGA.
“Because we continue to see an increase not only in the quantity but also the academic quality of applicants, the pool is increasingly competitive and we end up turning away students with strong academic credentials who would have been admitted in previous years,” said McDuff. “At the same time, we recognize that we are competing with other schools for top students.”
The most important factors in admissions decisions continue to be grades in academic classes and the strength of the student’s high school course selection, coupled with scores on the SAT or ACT, said McDuff. Additional factors such as demonstrated leadership, creativity, intellectual curiosity and respect for cultural differences are used to make determinations among students with similar academic credentials.
Admitted students are required to reserve their space in the class by May 1 with a nonrefundable commitment deposit of $200. Following receipt of the deposit, invitations to new student orientation are mailed in May. At that point, admissions staff will determine if space in the class is available for those on the wait-list.