At noon on Saturday, more than 4,600 students learned they were admitted to Georgia Tech through Early Action. A handful of students learned they got in a day early.

Tech’s admission team crisscrossed the state Friday morning to personally deliver acceptance letters to a handful of students at Gilmer High School in Ellijay, Gordon Lee Memorial High School in Chickamauga, Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Schley County High School in Ellaville and West Laurens High School in Dexter.

"We spend months reviewing applications and reading essays. Offering students admission is the culmination of that work, and it's a privilege to have the opportunity to meet a few of these incredible students in their own school and community,” said Rick Clark, director of Undergraduate Admission. “This year we personally traveled to various parts of the state to hand deliver a few acceptance letters, as a demonstration of Tech's sincere desire to enroll the very best Georgians from across our state."

This year 18,124 students applied through Early Action, a 16 percent increase over last year. The admit rate for this round is 26 percent overall - 46 percent for Georgia students and 19 percent for those from out of state.

The middle 50 percent range of SAT scores was 1390-1530 out of 1600. The middle 50 percent range of the composite ACT score was 32-35 out of 36.

Beyond strong academics, the admitted students have impacted their schools, communities and families, Clark said. They’re mentors, tutors, fencers, team captains, Eagle Scouts, student body presidents and robotics champions. They range from entrepreneurs to environmentalists, from dancers to pilots and from bee keepers to app developers.

Interestingly, 47 percent of the admitted students are non-engineering majors.

“When we look at the Class of 2022, we're excited about the character, background, insights, passion and the dynamic personalities they will add to our campus,” Clark said.

While Georgia Tech can’t enroll everyone who applies to attend as a freshman, the Institute does enroll more than 1,000 students annually through different transfer pathways.

Applications for Regular Decision for the 2018 freshman class closed Jan. 1. More than 35,600 students total have applied for admission to Georgia Tech for next year — a record high, and about a 13 percent increase from 2017.  Students applied from all 50 states, 137 countries and 121 counties in Georgia.

Regular admission decisions go out March 10.