David Graves does a great job of keeping us informed about UGA's admissions process. Here is another excellent post that gives us some insight as to what they are looking for in an application:
For the last fifteen years or so, my family has made an
intentional decision to try and have birthday events and gifts be focused on an
activity. We have planned scavenger hunts, rafter down several Tennessee
rivers, hit the ski slopes in West Virginia, and gone cave spelunking in
Kentucky. I vividly remember a trip early on where we went tubing down the
Chattahoochee in Helen, GA. For those who don't know what tubing is, it is the
outdoor version of a lazy river, and Helen is a wonderful location for this adventure.
You park at the tubing center, catch a quick bus ride (with your inner tube and
life vest) up river, then have a relaxing float downstream.
Unfortunately, during this middle of the summer tubing
adventure, a problem arose: a drought that year meant the water level in the
river was precariously low. In reality, nothing revolving around tubing is
precarious. The worst that can possibly happen is generally a mild sunburn or
floating a little too far away from your family. But a low level of water means
less effortless floating and more standing, walking, pushing, and annoyance. It
also means more complaining by family members, which becomes a downward spiral.
Water depth (along with bug spray and sunscreen) is key to a good tubing
adventure. Good water depth provides a smooth, consistent trip down the river.
In the same vein, depth is key in reading admissions files.
When we are reading applications, we are looking at a number of factors, and
one item we look for is depth. I love to see a student find a handful of
co-curricular activities and, over the course of three to four years, develop
both skills and leadership roles in these areas. Too many times we see files
where a student suddenly adds 12th grade only clubs, sports, volunteer work and
academic rigor in an attempt to boost their resume. To put it bluntly,
applications that "are a mile wide and an inch deep" are not viewed
as strongly as ones which show consistency. In the same way, we look for depth
in a student's curriculum. When we are looking at a student's academic rigor,
we are looking at what is available and what is then taken, and we focus on all
four years of core courses, not just on the number of AP classes taken (a myth
that I always have to correct).
In saying this, we still enjoy seeing students who try some
activity that is outside their comfort zone. I have seen "jocks" try
out for the senior play, a group of students start a diving team from scratch,
or a person finding a need in their community that they try to help. We love seeing
people step up and stretch out. But overall, we value depth in the application,
from curriculum to grades to activities.
I hope this helps in understanding a little more about our
review process. Go Dawgs!
