Yesterday afternoon, March 18, 2022, the University of Georgia released its final round of admissions decisions for first-year applicants to its Class of 2026. University of Georgia did require first-year applicants to submit test scores this admissions cycle, which makes the university’s average SAT and ACT ranges particularly impressive. Interestingly, University of South Carolina to the north remains test optional heading into the 2023 admissions cycle, while University of Florida and Florida State to the south remain test-required like UGA.

Overall forty-two percent of applicants were accepted (no in-sate vs. out-of-state acceptance rate breakdown was shared, though the university did take the time to report that fifteen students accepted had the first name of Georgia; last year roughly 15% of UGA’s first-year class came from outside of Georgia), nearly eight percent waitlisted, and forty percent denied. Roughly ten percent of applications were left incomplete or cancelled.

UGA’s New Admitted Student Profile (mid 50% range):

GPA: 4.00-4.30

SAT: 1330-1480

ACT: 31-34

AP/IB/Dual Enrollment course total mid-range/avg: 7-12, avg 10

The University of Georgia releases its Early Action decisions on November 20, 2020; yet, the university has already released aggregate data on those who applied Early Action. In the process UGA has released information indented to skew the public’s view of how selective UGA really is.

For whatever reason UGA is waiting to release the average stats of those students accepted EA, and instead UGA has only released stats for those students who applied EA. Here are the stats shared:

Total EA Applications – 20,900 – This is a 27% increase over last year.

UGA GPA Average – 3.91 – This is calculated by UGA using only core classes, and not the GPA seen on the high school transcript.

ACT Average – 32 – This is based on the students who submitted ACT scores as a part of their file.

SAT Average – 1404 – This is based on the students who submitted SAT scores as a part of their file.

AP/IB/DE Courses – 8 – This is the total number of AP/IB/DE courses taken by our applicants over their 4 years in high school.

Many people who read the above information would come to the conclusion that UGA is more competitive than ever, more difficult to get into than ever before, and in huge demand by students around the world. Not so fast!

UGA is not sharing what percentage of its EA applicants even submitted SAT or ACT scores! After going test-optional this cycle, this means that the intimidating 1404 SAT score and 32 ACT score UGA is sharing is propaganda pure and simple. What if only forty percent of applicants even submitted SAT scores? What if far fewer did? This means that many students – most in fact – getting into UGA this fall have scores well below 1404 on the SAT and 32 on the ACT. If they took them at all. We wish UGA good luck going back to being a test-required institution while also keeping those averages where they are!

Similarly, with the economic turmoil caused by pandemic closures, job losses, and ravaged income streams, is it really a surprise that a public university in a well populated state would get a lot more applications from in-state students who are seeking a lower cost alternative to pricey out of sate publics or privates? A twenty-seven percent increase in total EA applications is to be expected.

Meanwhile, what does a GPA even mean anymore? Most high schools are inflating students grades gratuitously. A 3.91 is actually pretty low sounding to us. Especially when considered in context of the 1404 SAT and 32 ACT averages reported. This means a lot of students are apply test-optional. A LOT!

Finally, the “8” shared in reference to total AP/IB/DE (Dual Enrollment) courses applicants took in high school is also misleading as many applicants won’t finish all the courses they reported on their applications and UGA still will accept plenty of students from schools that don’t offer AP/IB/DE courses at all. The only reason UGA shares it is the only reason UGA is sharing any of this information: to appear highly selective when the simple reality is that UGA is selective but not particularly so.

Applicants who applied Early Action can check their Status page on Friday, November 20 in the late afternoon to learn which of the following four decisions University of Georgia has made on their applications:

• Admit
• Defer: This means the UGA admissions committee will review your extracurricular activities, essays, and recommendations during the Regular Decision review period and a final decision will be forthcoming in late March.
• Deny
• Incomplete Defer: Roughly 1% of EA students did not complete their EA file, and they are now automatically deferred to the next step, and so they will need to get in the missing materials from EA, (remember the teacher recommendation is optional but we suggest also having one sent in)

If UGA is at the top of your list and you applied Early Action, good luck! Here’s hoping UGA releases aggregate data soon for those students it accepted Early Action so we can put this first tease of data in full context.