{"512691":{"#nid":"512691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Admit Rate Drops to 25 Percent","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHigh school students from around the world received notification today of whether or not they were invited to join the class of 2020 at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, applications hit a record high of 30,520 \u2014 a 12 percent increase over last year. Of that number, around 25 percent were offered admission (between \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/01\/09\/number-early-action-applicants-hits-record-high\u0022\u003Eearly action\u003C\/a\u003E and regular decision rounds).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe academic profile of accepted students continues to be more impressive each year. This year, the average SAT is 1445 (out of 1600), with 10 college-level courses completed.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EThe Continued Rise\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u2019s application and admission rates are comparable to those of some of Tech\u2019s public university peer institutions, including the University of North Carolina, University of Michigan, and University of Virginia. In the past four years alone, the number of applications to Georgia Tech has more than doubled, and the admit rate has dropped by more than half\u0026nbsp;\u2014 meaning next year\u2019s freshmen and this year\u2019s seniors came from drastically different applicant pools.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs applications increase, more students are hearing \u201cno\u201d from Georgia Tech \u2014 a message that is not necessarily pleasant to deliver. Last year\u2019s incoming class was larger than anticipated, which means this year\u2019s class size goal is a little smaller in order to balance Tech\u2019s overall student population. Tech accepted about 1,000 fewer students this year, with the goal of a class size of 2,800 freshmen.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe selectivity is a blessing and a curse,\u201d said Rick Clark, director of Undergraduate Admission. \u201cOur staff gives great care to these decisions, and it\u2019s not always fun. We have to remind ourselves that these are all amazing kids, and they have plenty of other great options.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe admission rate for in-state students is higher than the overall rate, at 35 percent, while international students were accepted at a rate of 10 percent. Students from 299 Georgia high schools are included in the admitted pool.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdmission saw growth this year in strategic areas where it has devoted additional time or resources. One of those places is California, where it now has a full-time admission counselor and is able to have a presence in panel discussions and other college recruiting events. Another is in Latin American countries, where Admission staff participated in \u201cconsortium travel,\u201d which lets representatives from similar peer institutions travel together to meet with prospective students and high school staff.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn its second year of partnership with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/admission.gatech.edu\/aps\u0022\u003EAtlanta Public Schools\u003C\/a\u003E (APS), Georgia Tech offered admission to a student from every APS high school. Last year, five students enrolled at Tech in the first year of the program, which provides a scholarship to all APS valedictorians and salutatorians for four years of in-state tuition and mandatory fees.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMary Tipton Wooley, senior associate director for Undergraduate Admission, equates the admission process more to matchmaking than one-sided acceptance. No longer is admission simply about being able to be successful at Georgia Tech. It is now more a process of identifying mutual fits for prospective students and the Institute.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EReinforcing the Resources\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, Undergraduate Admission worked with faculty in five of Tech\u2019s six colleges to identify the best candidates for each area. Faculty members are able to apply their expertise by taking a more nuanced looks at applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, seven temporary seasonal staff members joined the team to help carry the extra load of applications. Hiring temporary staff allows Tech\u2019s permanent staff to maintain relationships with applicants and high school counselors across Georgia and beyond.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTheir presence allows our staff to actually call people back in the midst of our busiest season,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThey are crucial to our work and maintaining customer service amidst the volume increase and time compression. If you have a prospective student emailing with a question and not getting an answer back quickly, that\u2019s a problem.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EYielding the Class\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow that students have been offered admission, the task becomes getting them to choose Georgia Tech among the many offers they have received. Clark believes the Georgia Tech community is essential at this point in the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPart of the success we have had in recent years is from students, faculty, and staff encouraging those they know to come to Georgia Tech,\u201d he said. \u201cIf someone on social media from your area says they\u2019ve been accepted, or you know someone personally, congratulate them. Offer to answer questions they may have.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany students will also visit campus in the coming weeks for tours and in-person conversations, as they make their final decisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBe welcoming and friendly if you see people who are visiting,\u201d Clark said. \u201cAsk where they\u2019re from, and, if it\u2019s an admitted student, heartily congratulate them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents, faculty, staff, and alumni can find and interact with newly admitted students on social media through the #gt20 hashtag.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccepted students will receive information about financial aid packages in April. Georgia Tech also provides resources on \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/how-to-pay\u0022\u003Ehow to pay for college\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/admission.gatech.edu\/afford\/creative-ways-pay\u0022\u003Ecreative ways to seek funding\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis year, applications hit a record high of 30,520 \u2014 a 12 percent increase over last year. Of that number, around 25 percent were offered admission between early action and regular decision rounds.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This year, applications hit a record high of 30,520 \u2014 a 12 percent increase over last year. Of that number, around 25 percent were offered admission between early action and regular decision rounds."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2016-03-12 12:54:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:05","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-03-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-03-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"512701":{"id":"512701","type":"image","title":"#gt20","body":null,"created":"1458923790","gmt_created":"2016-03-25 16:36:30","changed":"1475895275","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:35","alt":"#gt20","file":{"fid":"205035","name":"gt20_ipad.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gt20_ipad_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gt20_ipad_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":858487,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gt20_ipad_0.jpg?itok=I-BAhb6s"}}},"media_ids":["512701"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/admission.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Undergraduate Admission"},{"url":"http:\/\/admission.gatech.edu\/afford\/creative-ways-pay","title":"Creative Ways to Pay"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/how-to-pay","title":"How to Pay for College"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5453","name":"admission"},{"id":"68301","name":"first-year students"},{"id":"171824","name":"gt20"},{"id":"10347","name":"undergraduate admission"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}