uga essay prompts 2022

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 4 tips for writing stellar uga essays.

College Info , College Essays

The University of Georgia is an excellent public school ranked in the top 50 universities nationwide . If you're applying here, you'll need to submit two amazing essays. So what are the UGA essay prompts? And how can you ensure your UGA essays will make you stand out?

In this in-depth guide, we give you all the current UGA essay prompts and tips for choosing and approaching the best prompt for you. We also look at an actual UGA application essay example to give you an idea of what your own essay can and should look like.

Feature Image: Boston Public Library /Flickr

What Are the UGA Essay Prompts?

The UGA application, which you can submit via the Common Application or the Coalition Application , requires all first-year applicants to submit two essays.

The first essay is the personal essay that's part of the Common App or Coalition App. You can find a list of the Common App prompts and how to answer them here (and you can find the same information for the Coalition App here) .

The second essay you'll submit is unique to the University of Georgia application. The first UGA essay must answer the following prompt:

The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.

This essay prompt is pretty different from what you'd expect in a college application; it offers you many possibilities, both content-wise and stylistically. But don't worry: we're going to break it down for you below!

How to Write the UGA Supplement Essay

All applicants must respond to this prompt in 200-350 words. Here it is again for reference:

As noted above, this prompt isn't like most other college essay prompts in that instead of asking about your academic goals, skills, or accomplishments, it's trying to loosen you up by having you write about something fun and unique in your life.

In other words, UGA wants to tease out your less serious, less academic side to get a better sense of who you are as a person and not just as a student. Specifically, they want to know what holds meaning in your life and what kind of experience you think is worthy enough to share with the admissions committee.

Therefore, your first UGA essay must accomplish the following:

• Should be different from what you've talked about elsewhere on your application
• Should highlight your sincerity and personality
• Should reveal something important about who you are and/or what you value
• Should NOT be too serious—remember that UGA wants an "amusing" story!

Some of these qualities might go against everything you thought you knew about college essays, but it's important here to really try to be sincere, write with an authentic voice, and not shy away from showcasing your more irreverent side.

Here are some examples of possible topics you could write about:

• A time you made a faux pas or silly mistake (in or outside of school), how others reacted, and what you did to remedy the situation and/or learn from it
• A funny misunderstanding you had with someone, such as a teacher, friend, or parent, and what this experience taught you about the importance of clear communication
• Something amusing or thought-provoking you watched, listened to, read, or did, and why you found this particular thing so fascinating (this shouldn't be any old movie or book but something a little more unique)
• A unique hobby or interest you have, how you developed it, and why it's important to you

As you can see, you have a lot of options for what you can write about for this UGA essay. That said, make sure to avoid the following topics:

• Politics, religion, or any other overly serious or potentially controversial topic
• Death, illness, or any other grave event or moment from your life
• Something everyone has experienced or heard of—your topic should be unique to you
• Anything you've already mentioned in a different section of your application
• Stories about bodily functions (UGA specifically mentioned getting too many of these stories, so have some pity on them and choose a different topic!)

A Real UGA Application Essay Example + Analysis

Below is an actual UGA application essay example written by an admitted applicant named Micaela B. This essay, which is a response to an older prompt (" Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it" ), was taken from the UGA undergraduate admissions website where it was used as "an example of what we [UGA] consider a strong essay."

Here is the essay, at just around 300 words long (the word limit):

It's unassuming, the tiled top square table with mismatched chairs, its lacquer wearing thin from dishes being passed back and forth, room for four but always crowded by eleven. It may be unassuming but its power is undeniable.

As I grew older, the after-dinner conversations grew more intriguing to me. I began to stay and listen, to the politics I didn't understand and the adult gossip I shouldn't have been privy to. The dynamic of the debate shifted almost every time the topic changed, but the one thing that was consistent was that after all the plates were cleared and the chairs were pushed back in, everyone came together for dessert; pizzelles and biscotti. No afterthoughts, no bitterness.

I admire my family's ability to embrace each other for their differences, instead of letting it break us apart. There was no greater example of the lesson in acceptance than when my family learned of the change in sexuality of one of our relatives. After the dissolution of a marriage and a traditional family, the initial resentment towards her for the challenge to our family values was difficult to digest, yet unavoidable. It was the first dispute that ever brought tears to that weathered table with the peeling laquer. Instead of allowing differing lifestyles to drive a wedge between us, our family challenged each other's misconceptions, we discussed, we cried and we accepted.

Being raised in such a racially, economically and religiously diverse community, I am lucky to have developed the skill set to empathize with the people around me and understand that not everyone thinks the same way. In fact life would be pretty boring if everyone acted in uniformity; in a more harmonious world, everyone should be able to voice their opinions and speak their minds, and still come together for dessert.

Here's what makes this UGA essay work:

• It opens with a captivating description: This essay, especially the first two paragraphs, is undeniably attention-grabbing. The vivid image of the "tiled top square table" and how it is "always crowded by eleven" thrusts us directly into Micaela's boisterous life, making us feel as though we're sitting right there beside her and her family.
• It's tightly focused and easy to follow: From the beginning, we can tell that the crux of this essay is family, specifically the challenges that come with being a member of a large, diverse group. The story here really begins to open up by the third paragraph, where Micaela relates a surprising event—the "change" in a relative's sexuality—and shows how her family learned a valuable lesson in acceptance as a result.
• It's got a positive spin: Even though the essay discusses the challenges for a family to come together, it ultimately ends on a high note. This reveals to us a lot about Micaela's character, especially her commitment to harmony and her open-mindedness toward others.

4 Essential Tips for Your UGA Essays

Now, it's time to wrap up with some final helpful tips for your UGA essays.

#1: Be as Specific as Possible

Specificity is key to producing an effective and compelling college essay. In both your UGA essays, make sure you're being as specific as you can be: use real names of people or places, describe the emotions you felt at the time, and tell us what was said, both by whom and to whom.

Details are what will ultimately make the UGA admissions committee be able to more easily relate to your experiences, passions, and point of view. So don't forget to include them!

#2: Use an Authentic Voice

The essays are the time for your personality to shine, so don't hold back— use your natural voice to tell your story. It's OK to tell some jokes or emphasize your love of flowery language with a few poetic metaphors, for example.

That said, essays don't give you free rein to be impolite or to completely break the conventions of English grammar, so know what your limits are as you write.

#3: Write Concisely

You only have up to 350 words for the supplemental UGA essay, so it's important to focus on being concise. If one of your rough drafts exceeds the word limit by a lot, you can try to trim it down by deleting any irrelevant or wordy passages.

#4: Remember to Edit and Proofread

Finally, don't forget to edit and proofread your UGA essays! As you edit, spend time looking for the following:

• Irrelevant passages, phrases, and/or sentences
• Redundant words, phrases, and/or descriptions
• Awkward-sounding or misplaced phrases/passages
• Errors in spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation

Once you've done your own edit of your UGA essays, give them to someone to look over, such as a teacher, parent, or older sibling. Ask this person to proofread the essays and to offer you any advice they might have on how you can improve them in terms of organization, examples or details, word choice, etc.

What's Next?

Applying to other colleges in the eastern United States? Then check out our in-depth guides for tips on how to write the Georgia Tech essays , the Duke essays , and the Johns Hopkins essay .

Lots of colleges use the Common App and require an essay submitted through this system. Read our guide to learn all about the Common App essay prompts and how you can ensure your essay will impress admissions committees.

Still want to know more about UGA? Take a look at our UGA admissions requirements page to get info on the GPA and test scores needed to secure admission to this popular school.

Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar.

Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges.

Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now :

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

Student and Parent Forum

Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

• For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

The Ultimate Guide to the University of Georgia's Supplemental Essays

Applying to the University of Georgia (UGA)? You're on the right path! UGA's beautiful campus, renowned academic programs, and spirit of community make it a top choice for many students. The college application process often comes with writing supplemental essays, and UGA is no exception. This blog post aims to guide you on how to best approach these UGA supplemental essays for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #1

The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.

Approach: This prompt invites you to share a unique aspect of your high school life. It could be an anecdote about a memorable event, a surprising hobby, or an unusual skill you have. Keep the tone light and enjoyable to read. Show your personality through this essay; let your sense of humor or interesting perspective shine!

During my sophomore year of high school, I decided to try out for the school's ultimate frisbee team, despite never having touched a frisbee before. In my first practice, my throws looked more like lopsided boomerangs than smooth, flat discs. At the team’s first game, I was given the task of throwing the first "pull," the ultimate frisbee equivalent of a kickoff. My nerves took over, and instead of the frisbee soaring downfield, it flew straight up and then veered right, landing in the nearby tennis court. This sparked a roaring laughter from both teams, and even the referee couldn’t contain his chuckles. I was mortified but joined the laughter because of the absurdity of the situation. That moment of shared laughter taught me the value of not taking myself too seriously and helped me bond with my teammates. By the end of the season, my throws had improved, and while I'll never be an ultimate frisbee champion, I'll always be the champion of good humor on the team.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #2

The University of Georgia community creates, contributes, and applies knowledge in many ways. Describe an example of your leadership and the impact it had on others.

Approach: Here, UGA wants to understand how you lead and contribute to a community. Reflect on moments when you stepped up to take charge—maybe in an academic setting, a club, a sports team, or volunteering. How did your leadership make a difference? Remember, leadership isn't just about being the president of a club. You could have demonstrated leadership through initiative, teamwork, or problem-solving.

In my junior year, I served as the project manager for our school's Robotics Club. Our team was tasked with designing a robot for a local competition, but we hit a snag when our design kept failing during tests. As project manager, I decided to take a new approach. I organized a brainstorming session, where everyone, including the newest members, was encouraged to propose solutions. One of the freshman members suggested a minor adjustment to the weight distribution, which many had overlooked. His solution turned out to be the key to fixing our design! By fostering an environment where every voice was valued, we not only built a successful robot but also strengthened our team cohesion.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #3 (Optional)

In our diverse and interdependent world, please tell us about an experience that demonstrated or gave you the opportunity to understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Approach: UGA values diversity and inclusion, and this prompt asks you to share an experience where you came to understand its significance. It could be a personal encounter, an event, or a revelation from a book or film. The key is to convey your ability to learn from diverse perspectives and experiences and to contribute to an inclusive campus culture.

In high school, I volunteered for a local organization that supports refugee resettlement. One of my primary tasks involved tutoring a young girl from Syria. The language barrier and cultural differences made the task challenging at first, but I gradually found ways to connect with her through visuals, storytelling, and games. The experience showed me the value of patience, empathy, and open-mindedness in understanding and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and experiences of others. It also reinforced the importance of equity in access to education, regardless of one's origins.

UGA Supplemental Essay Short Answer Question

UGA’s 2023 First-Year Odyssey Program offers more than 300 seminar courses for new students. Which do you find most appealing and why?

Approach: Research is key here. Explore the First-Year Odyssey program, select a seminar that genuinely interests you, and articulate why. Link it back to your academic interests, career goals, or intellectual curiosity.

Sure, let's dive into example responses for each of the University of Georgia supplemental essays.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #3

I find "Unleashing Creativity Through Visual Storytelling" particularly appealing among UGA's First-Year Odyssey seminars. As a budding filmmaker, this course aligns with my passion for storytelling and my desire to delve deeper into the techniques of visual narration. The opportunity to analyze the work of acclaimed filmmakers and apply those insights to a project of my own is thrilling. Moreover, it would be invaluable in preparing me for my intended major in Film Studies.

Remember, your essays are a chance to showcase your personality, experiences, values, and goals. Be authentic, thoughtful, and concise. Tailor your responses to UGA, showing why you're a good fit for their community.

Related posts

Master the Georgia Tech Supplemental Essays for 2023-2024 Admissions

Demystifying Georgetown University's Supplemental 2023-2024 Essays

The Comprehensive Guide to the University of Georgia

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

University of Georgia Essay Example by an Accepted Student

The University of Georgia is a large public research institute and one of the top public schools in the nation. If it is one of your school choices, it’s important to write strong essays to help your application stand out. In this post, we’ll share an essay a real student has submitted to the University of Georgia. (Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved).

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our University of Georgia es say breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts.

Prompt: Tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years.

Cooking is one of those activities at which people are either extremely talented or completely inept. Personally, I’ve found that I fall right in the middle, with neither prodigal nor abhorrent talents. After all, it’s just following instructions, right? Unfortunately, one disastrous night in my kitchen has me questioning that logic.

The task was simple enough: cook a turkey stir fry. In theory, it’s an extremely simple dish. However, almost immediately, things went awry. While I was cutting onions, I absentmindedly rubbed at my eyes and smeared my mascara. (Keep this in mind; it’ll come into play later.) I then proceeded to add the raw turkey to the vegetable pot. Now, as any good chef knows, this means that either the vegetables will burn or the turkey will be raw. I am admittedly not a good chef.

After a taste test, I decided to take a page out of the Spice Girls’ book and “spice up my life”, adding some red chili paste. This was my fatal mistake. The bottle spilled everywhere. Pot, counter, floor, I mean everywhere . While trying to clean up the mess, my hands ended up covered in sauce.

Foolishly, I decided to taste my ruined meal anyway. My tongue felt like it was on fire and I sprinted to the bathroom to rinse my mouth. I looked in the mirror and, noticing the raccoon eyes formed by my mascara, grabbed a tissue. What I had neglected to realize was that chili paste had transferred to the tissue—the tissue which I was using to wipe my eyes. I don’t know if you’ve ever put chili paste anywhere near your eyes, but here’s a word of advice: don’t. Seriously, don’t .

I fumbled blindly for the sink handle, mouth still on fire, eyes burning, presumably looking like a character out of a Tim Burton film. After I rinsed my face, I sat down and stared at my bowl of still-too-spicy and probably-somewhat-raw stir fry, wondering what ancient god had decided to take their anger out on me that night, and hoping I would never incur their wrath ever again.

What the Essay Did Well

This is a great essay for the prompt! Don’t assume that the admissions committee wants deep, personal stories with hard-earned lessons in every essay. They are people too, and they want to be engaged with  amusing stories. This essay does a great job of being light, playful, and funny, while still revealing a lot about the student who wrote it.

Starting off with the story the student chose, it works so well because it is so specific. Focusing the essay on a short period of time—making dinner—allows the student to include a lot of details that wouldn’t have fit in an essay that tried to explain their entire history with cooking. This is proof that zeroing in on what might seem like a mundane experience can make for a really strong essay.

Another thing this essay does really well is structure the story in a clear, sequential manner. The essay starts by setting expectations for the student’s cooking abilities, which builds anticipation for the reader. Then, the essay follows the various steps of the cooking process almost like following a recipe. The beginning of each paragraph establishes each new step of the story—”The task was simple enough”; “After a taste test”; “Foolishly, I decided to taste my ruined meal anyway”; “I fumbled blindly for the sink handle”—which creates momentum for the essay that makes reading it quick and easy.

Perhaps what makes this essay so stellar is how much the student’s voice shines through. This student is unapologetically themselves and admits to their shortcomings as a chef. By sharing a funny and embarrassing story, the admissions committee reading the essay gets a much better sense of the student’s character and personality than if they had shared a story about the time they scored the winning goal at the soccer game. The language is casual and informal and it feels much more like the student is telling a story than writing an essay, which should be the goal of any college essay.

Another aspect of this essay that really allows the student’s voice to shine and makes it so enjoyable to read is the humor. Including humor into essays can sometimes be hard, but when it’s done successfully it give the reader a sense of your personality and can brighten their day. Including interjections like “(Keep this in mind; it’ll come into play later.)” and references to pop culture like “I decided to take a page out of the Spice Girls’ book and ‘spice up my life'” gave the audiences little chuckles as they read. Especially for a prompt that wants an amusing story, the humorous tone and inclusion of jokes throughout the essay really made this essay stand out.

What Could Be Improved

There isn’t much this student could do to improve the essay. It’s very well-written and a perfect response to the prompt. However, to really strengthen the essay, the student could remove the first paragraph. The first paragraph isn’t bad, and it starts to introduce some of the humor seen throughout the essay, but it doesn’t directly relate to the story being told. Removing the first paragraph would allow the student to jump right into the action of the story and have more words to add details and more jokes during the rest of the essay.

Where to Get Your University of Georgia Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your University of Georgia  essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, thoughts on uga essay prompts for 2023.

I'm beginning to work on my University of Georgia application, and I wanted to get some opinions on the essay prompt for this year. Any tips or ideas on how to approach this topic would be much appreciated!

Luckily for you, CollegeVine has a blog post breaking down UGA's supplemental essay prompt for this year, to help guide you in putting your best foot forward: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-university-of-georgia-essays. Also remember that CollegeVine offers both free peer essay reviews and paid reviews by expert college admissions advisors, if you get to a stage with your draft where you think getting a second set of eyes on it would be beneficial.

Good luck with your application to UGA!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

• Search All Scholarships
• Exclusive Scholarships
• Easy Scholarships to Apply For
• No Essay Scholarships
• Scholarships for HS Juniors
• Scholarships for HS Seniors
• Scholarships for College Students
• Scholarships for Grad Students
• Scholarships for Women
• Scholarships for Black Students
• Scholarships
• Student Loans
• College Admissions
• Financial Aid
• Scholarship Winners
• Scholarship Providers

Apply to vetted scholarship programs in one click

Student-centric advice and objective recommendations.

Higher education has never been more confusing or expensive. Our goal is to help you navigate the very big decisions related to higher ed with objective information and expert advice. Each piece of content on the site is original, based on extensive research, and reviewed by multiple editors, including a subject matter expert. This ensures that all of our content is up-to-date, useful, accurate, and thorough.

Our reviews and recommendations are based on extensive research, testing, and feedback. We may receive commission from links on our website, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our marketing partners don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted. You can find a complete list of our partners here .

How to Ace the 2023/2024 UGA Supplemental Essays

Ginny Howey is a former content writer at Scholarships360. Ginny graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2022 with a degree in Media and Journalism (Advertising/PR focus) and minors in Entrepreneurship and Spanish. Ginny’s professional experience includes two summers as a writer intern at global creative consultancy BCG BrightHouse. More recently, Ginny worked as a content marketing intern for Durham-based software engineering bootcamp Momentum, where she gained SEO skills. She has also written freelance articles on emerging tech for A.I. startup Resultid.

Learn about our editorial policies

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Many colleges’ supplemental essay questions touch on common themes, such as your academic interests or what communities you belong to. The UGA supplemental essays, however, are a different story. The University of Georgia asks students to answer a unique, playful prompt that asks you to share a memorable high school story. 

Let’s explore this unconventional prompt and how to craft an excellent response. 

Also see:  How to write an essay about yourself

“The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application (200-350 words)” 

Try not to roll your eyes at an essay prompt saying it hopes to de-stress the college process. Seriously, embrace this message! There is still expectation to write a nice essay, of course; but trust that admissions wants you to stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Treat this space as an enjoyable opportunity to share a story reflective of your personality. Brainstorming with this more relaxed mindset ensures your voice comes across natural and authentic. 

At the same time, the openness of this response can be overwhelming. After all, high school comes with four years of ‘interesting’ and ‘amusing’ stories–how can you pick just one? Start by making a list of stories that stand out when you reflect on high school. Next, look at what you’ve conveyed about yourself through your personal statement and activities section. Which character traits have you not revealed that are key to who you are? Or, is there a value you emphasize throughout your application that another story can strengthen? 

Sample story ideas

One example could be writing about the time you completely bombed your tenth grade piano recital performance. This anecdote definitely ticks the ‘amusing’ response. Describing a cringe-worthy moment which you now laugh about showcases humility. It also reveals that you have hobbies, took a risk to play on-stage, and handled the embarrassment with composure and perseverance. 

Another route might be related to your intended major, graphic design. You could talk about making a mock-up of an album cover for your favorite artist. After DM’ing it to them on Instagram, the fact that they used your work on their next record is truly remarkable! This definitely qualifies as an ‘interesting’ story. It shows your initiative, talent, and genuine love for your area of study, as well. 

What is awesome about this prompt is the creative freedom it gives your writing. For the first example, you should set the scene by describing the iconic chords of “Bennie and the Jets” struck so egregiously so off-key. Then the panic that set in. Your mind going blank, fingers sweating. Almost throwing in the towel. The awkward applause. For the second example, the inspiration for the album. The hours spent tweaking the message you’d send in your favorite artist’s inbox. Show off your writing and storytelling skills here! 

Also see:  What looks good on college applications?

Questions to consider: 

• Have you had any interactions with famous people or your role models?
• What is a stroke of bad luck you’ve experienced? How did you deal with it? 
• Do you have any impactful stories from traveling? 
• What is your go-to icebreaker or fun fact? 

Also see:  How to write a 250 word essay

Additional resources

As you’re working on college applications, we’re sure that you’ve juggling a lot of tasks at once. There are many decisions to be made and things to accomplish. Luckily, we can help. Check out our guide on how many colleges to apply to , how to find safety, reach, and match schools , and how to get a college application fee waiver . We can also help you fill out your Common App Activities and Additional Information sections to ensure that you present every aspect of your application as best you can. Finally, check out our insider’s perspective of what happens inside a college admissions office to get an idea of how your application will be reviewed. Good luck!

Other colleges to consider

• Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
• Tulane University (New Orleans, LA)
• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)

Next steps for students

We hope you feel ready to rock the UGA supplemental essays after reading our guide. By now, you should have all the tools to take a successful trip down high school memory lane. Have fun with this prompt and your sincerity will be evident! Make sure that you apply for all the scholarships you qualify for too!

Start your scholarship search

• Vetted scholarships custom-matched to your profile
• Access exclusive scholarships only available to Scholarships360 members

Scholarships360 Recommended

10 Tips for Successful College Applications

Coalition vs. Common App: What is the difference?

College Application Deadlines 2023-2024: What You Need to Know

Trending now.

How to Convert Your GPA to a 4.0 Scale

PSAT to SAT Score Conversion: Predict Your Score

What Are Public Ivy League Schools?

3 reasons to join scholarships360.

• Automatic entry to our $10,000 No-Essay Scholarship
• Personalized matching to thousands of vetted scholarships
• Quick apply for scholarships exclusive to our platform

By the way...Scholarships360 is 100% free!

How to Get Into UGA: Acceptance Rate & Strategies

May 24, 2023

Fifteen years ago, becoming a University of Georgia Bulldog was a pretty routine venture. The average successful applicant had a GPA of 3.6 and an SAT score of right around 1200—more than 75% of those who applied were welcomed to Athens. In 2023, the average UGA admit possesses SATs within a mid-50% range of 1270-1470 and a GPA above 4.0. Only “A” students need apply and they better bring standardized test scores at or above the 90th percentile as well. It’s no wonder the UGA acceptance rate has been on the decline. This prestigious flagship university remains a genuine bargain, with tuition & fees alone costing just over $12,000 in 2022-23. A picturesque college town, big-time athletics, and a thriving Greek life attract many high-achieving teens, as do the top-notch academics at this widely-respected public institution.

Given the rising selectivity of UGA, the intent of this article is to give those considering applying to the university an understanding of the following topics:

• UGA’s Class of 2027 acceptance rate
• SAT, GPA, and number of advanced courses among accepted UGA applicants
• Admissions trends from the Class of 2027
• UGA’s system for rating applicants
• A look at the demographics of current UGA undergraduates
• The percent of accepted students that attend UGA (yield rate)
• Tips for applying to UGA
• Advice for the UGA supplemental essay
• How to assess whether applying to UGA is even worth the $70 application fee (for you)

Many students applying to UGA may also find the following blogs to be of interest:

How to Get Into:

• University of Florida
• Duke University
• UNC Chapel Hill

Let’s begin with an examination of the most recent admissions data.

UGA Acceptance Rate – Class of 2027

There were roughly 43,700 applicants and 15,340 acceptances in the most recent admissions cycle. This would work out to a 35% acceptance rate. It is important to note that it is far more difficult to gain acceptance into this university if you are not a Georgia resident. The breakdown is as follows:

• UGA In-State Acceptance Rate: 48%
• UG Out-of-State Acceptance Rate: 26%

Historical overall University of Georgia acceptance rates are as follows:

• Class of 2026: 42%

UGA Admissions – SAT, GPA, and Number of AP/IB Courses

According to the most recent statistics available (Class of 2027), the mid-50% SAT range for admitted freshmen was 1270-1470; the ACT range was 29-34. Test scores were required at UGA in the 2022-23 admissions cycle. The average weighted GPA was higher than a 4.0. (4.19). The middle-50% for the number of AP/IB/dual enrollment courses taken by admitted first-year students was 8-13. The average number of advanced courses was 10+.

Admissions Trends & Notes – Class of 2027

• 1,000+ admitted freshmen were either the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school class.
• Students were admitted from 146 counties.
• Additionally, there were 1,902 first-generation students admitted to the Class of 2027.
• UGA admitted international students from 42 countries.
• Lastly, for fun–11 admitted students were named Georgia.

How UGA Rates Applicants

UGA considers only two factors as “very important” to the admissions process: rigor of high school course load and GPA. Standardized test scores are the lone “important” factor. Essays, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, character/personal qualities, first-generation status, and paid and volunteer work are all “considered” by the university.

The UGA admission staff feels that: “Academics come first, with a focus on how you have challenged yourself over your 4 years in HS and how you have done in those classes. While we do look at the SAT/ACT scores, what you do over 3-4 years is much more important than what you do in 3-4 hours on a Saturday morning. In addition, for many applicants we will also look at your extra-curricular activities, essays, recommendations, etc.”

University of Georgia Acceptance Rate (Continued)

This university also greatly values rigor of courses taken, rating that factor even higher than GPA. They “expect students to take advantage of the most challenging courses offered at their high schools. It is possible that a student with a 4.0 GPA who has avoided the challenging courses offered at their high school may not be admitted while a student with a lower GPA who has attempted the most rigorous courses at their school is offered admission.”

It is also worth highlighting that recruited athletes enjoy a huge edge. This is because UGA takes great pride in their 19 NCAA Division I sports teams. Fans of college football are already well aware of the stellar athletics on display in Athens. Overall, approximately 680 student-athletes are presently attending the university.

For advice about how to stand out on the extracurricular front, check out our previous blog entitled How Many Extracurricular Activities Do I Need for College?

Demographics

Let’s look at the demographics of the Class of 2026. Geographically, this cohort was comprised of the greatest numbers of students from the following U.S. states:

• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania

Among non-residents, competition is stiffest among those hailing from states with endless streams of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast & the West Coast). If you hail from a less-populated state like Wyoming or North Dakota, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances at UGA.

The greatest number of international students come from:

• Netherlands

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown was as follows:

• Caucasian/White: 68%
• Hispanic: 7%
• African American: 7%

UGA Acceptance Rate 2023 (Continued)

Looking at the gender breakdown, the school presently enrolls far more women than men:

Most popular intended majors for first-year students:

• BS Psychology
• BBA Marketing
• BBA Management
• BS Computer Science
• Undecided- Business
• Undecided-Arts & Sciences
• BSED Exercise & Sports Science

“Yield Rate”

UGA’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted is 37%. This figure is comparable to other powerhouse state universities like the University of Michigan, UVA, and UCLA.

Tips for Applying to UGA

If you plan on joining the 43,000+ UGA hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

• UGA does not use interviews as part of their evaluation process. Therefore you will need to find alternative ways to make a personal connection to an admissions officer through your essays and recommendations.
• Legacy does not play any role in the admissions process. They are one of the rare institutions to publicly state that having a parent (or other relative) who attended UGA does not factor into admissions decisions.
• UGA also does not consider “demonstrated interest” so you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit, contacted an admissions officer, etc.
• Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the lone supplemental essay required by UGA. In the 2022-23 cycle, the prompt is as follows:

The shorter essay prompt will be the following – “The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.”

For a detailed look at how to master this essay, visit our blog entitled: UGA Essay Prompt and Tips .

UGA Acceptance Rate 2023 – Final Thoughts

Those with SAT/ACT scores within the mid-50% mark for UGA who have earned a place in the top 10% of their high school class are absolutely viable candidates to UGA. If you live in Georgia, your road to acceptance will be less bumpy than if you are an out-of-state or international applicant. You will likely need to bring higher test scores and superior overall credentials if you are not a resident of the Peach State. All teens applying to a school of UGA’s ilk also need to also have a proper mix of “target” and “safety” schools on their college list. More on creating a balanced college list can be found here .

• Application Strategies
• College Search/Knowledge

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Best Colleges by Major
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Dental School Admissions
• Extracurricular Activities
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Private High School Spotlight
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

Sign Up Now

College essay resources

How to write outstanding u georgia essays | guide & examples, 2022-2023, school supplements.

Brad Schiller

We’re so glad you’re here.

That’s because one of the University of Georgia’s two required essays is among the trickiest of any school we know. Here it is: 

The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.  

Oh, we know. It seems chill. Relaxed, fun, breezy. 

But that’s exactly the trap — it will lull you into telling a funny story that doesn’t actually boost your chances of admission. Or worse, lowers them. 

Join us below if you want a guide to:

• the traps for the unwary in this UGA question and 
• step-by-step advice for how to ace both it and the “Common App” personal statement prompt that’s also required.

(For help with all aspects of your college application, head to our College Essay Help Center .)

Think of your best “experiences” before you start answering either of these prompts

College essays are tools that serve a specific purpose — admissions officers use them to see if you’ll be successful at college and beyond . Sometimes, they do it with straightforward essay questions. Sometimes, as with UGA, they do it with a “fun” question. But what they’re actually looking for in the answer doesn’t really change. It’s about your potential.

With “fun” questions, it’s all the more important that you keep the focus of your answers on what you’ve done that shows you can be successful. You don’t want to get distracted. 

As you’ll learn if you walk through our free brainstorming materials in our dashboard (create a free account), Prompt’s method is first to spend time writing down all the experiences you’ve had in high school — think broadly of everything you’ve done academically, extracurricularly, with your family, at a job, over the summer, and independently. 

Your experiences will form the basis of your essays. As you develop your answers, start thinking about which of the 5 Traits you demonstrated in each experience. (The traits are: Drive, Initiative, Intellectual Curiosity, Contribution, and Diversity of Experiences.) 

The more you write with the traits in mind, the more you’ll add details that impress your admissions officers — and stay away from details that don’t add value. By the end of this process, you should have a lot of valuable info to share. 

Next, take the best experiences you’ve come up with — the ones that most exemplify one (or more) of the 5 traits and slate them in your two UGA slots:

• Common App personal statement prompts (7 choices) — 250-650 words
• Tell an “amusing story” about yourself — 200-300 words

We’ll tackle each below. 

Don’t take our examples too seriously — there are many “right” ways to answer UGA’s prompts

Quick interruption: at Prompt, we’re on record as being against modeling yourself on influencers , New York Times college essay writers , and, really, anyone who isn’t you.

On the other hand, we know that you want concrete examples of what our brilliant but (we’ll admit it) abstract advice can actually look like in practice. So, we’re illustrating with some made-up examples.

Please read them with a big grain of salt. You can have a different writing style. You can go a million other directions. And if the example sounds too impressive, it just might be — our examples are generally loosely based on real examples, but still fictional. You’re working with reality, and that tends to be harder.

With that caveat out of the way, back to our regularly scheduled programming. 

Q1 — Choose the right Common App prompt and write it fast and well using our proven method

Alright. Prompt has you so, so, so, so covered when it comes to the Common App personal statement.

First, here’s a really fun, quick article on how to choose the best of the 7 prompts (and avoid the trickier ones). 

Second, here’s the most comprehensive article you’ve ever read on how to write a personal essay that’s not only super-strong and acceptance-worthy but also doesn’t take forever to get done!

Yup. That’s it for #1. 

Let’s move on to #2. 

Q2 — Be light-hearted in your “amusing story” essay — but don’t lose sight of the goal to impress!

For the other UGA application essay, all applicants respond to the same prompt:

‍ The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application. (300 words max)

As we see it, there are two parts to acing this:

• Answer in the spirit the question is asked — be “interesting or amusing,” not serious or pedantic, but also
• Choose a story that shows off 1 or more of (you guessed it) the 5 traits

First, to be “interesting or amusing:”

• Don’t aim for funny.
• Unless it just comes out funny and other grownup people, ideally an essay coach , agree it’s funny.
• Otherwise, don’t aim for funny. Funny is a lot harder than it seems. Just read any comedian’s memoirs , and you’ll know what we’re trying to say. 
• “Interesting” is a better target to shoot for than “amusing.” “Quirky” or “unusual” could also be better guideposts than “amusing” to get you in the right spirit. 

True story: UGA has gone on record as lamenting the large number of recent essays that touched on “bodily functions.” Steer clear! Admissions officers aren’t into “gross-out” moments.

Second, to show off your traits: 

• Ignore the prompt, and go to your brainstormed list of experiences.
• Choose the best one that can reasonably fit this question.  
• Feel good knowing you’re giving the admissions team exactly what they want.
• And, we can’t say this too many times: what they want isn’t gross-out humor. 

Every morning, I make toast for my little sister before school. My parents are constantly worried: “Did Isabel eat this morning?” my mom will ask (she works an early shift, and can’t be home for breakfast). But I always make sure my sister eats. “You fed Isabel, right?” my dad will ask on the phone (he travels for work, and is rarely home on weekdays). But I never forget to feed Isabel.

Sometimes, Isabel says she’s not hungry, so we negotiate. Sometimes, she sleeps in, so I make it to-go. But always I make sure it happens. It’s a small, but deeply satisfying win for me — a way to set up larger wins for the day. 

Reflecting on how much I love these daily moments made me realize that they’re at the heart of what I want to build my life around: helping others. 

It’s why I re-started the Tutoring Club, which currently has 32 members who help younger students with homework 2 or more times per week. It’s why I tutor 3 students myself — and why I’m more proud of helping to raise their GPAs from an average of 3.1 to an average of 3.6. It’s why I survey tutors and tutored students every semester, to keep making the Club better — we now play soft music that everyone loves (I would never have thought of that!); we raised enough money for after-school snacks (good for concentration), and it’s why I had to “fire” a tutor once — a really hard thing to do, but a necessary one.

I want my life to be about helping people as tangibly and concretely as I do every morning when I make toast for my little sister: sometimes it’s a joy, sometimes it’s a challenge, but it’s never not meaningful. 

• This essay focuses on contribution , one of the 5 traits.
• The first part focuses on a small, intimate moment — you don’t need to be flashy.
• The essay moves on to action steps the student took, with lots of specifics about Tutoring Club, showing more of the 5 traits ( drive to keep it successful; initiative to get it going). 

Helpful info on all the “other” stuff you’ll consider as you apply to U Georgia (and other schools)

Here are some additional resources that can help you ace every aspect of your U Georgia application:

• Activities list: here’s how to write your activity list descriptions so they really impress. 
• Common App : UGA allows you to use the Common App, Coalition App, or their own system. If you choose the first of those, we have a guide for acing everything to do with writing your Common App application . 
• Applying early or regular : UGA offers “Early Action” as well as “Regular Decision.” Read our guide to early/regular decisions — it's a great overview of this decision at any school.  
• Note: UGA is not test-optional . 

BTW, here’s our guidance for approaching any college supplement + here’s where you can find our guides for almost every college’s supplements . 

Feeling inspired? A great place to start is at our College Essay Help Center . 

More articles on Prompt.com’s admissions-boosting methods:

• Work with a college essay coach
• Strong essays increase your chance of admission by up to 10x
• Don’t let influencers influence your college essays
• Should I apply test-optional?
• Early admissions: Everything you need to know
• College Essay Help Center

Related Articles

How to Write Your Waitlist Essay

Cassandra Cloutier

Your Waitlist Essay (aka, Letter of Continued Interest) serve two primary purposes: (1) share new (or additional) information that will make you a more compelling candidate and (2) confirm your level of interest in the school.

The Simple “Why Us” Essay Strategy that Works

A successful Why Us essay indicates you’ll likely enroll if admitted and shows why you’re a good fit. Focus on how your academic interests match what the college offers.

How to Write Every Ross School of Business Essay for the University of Michigan

This guide will help you develop compelling topics for both Ross School of Business essay prompts.

• Become a Writing Coach
• Writing Center
• Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
• Sign Up for an Essay Coaching Package
• College Essay Feedback for High Schools
• Prompt for IECs

University of Georgia 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 1

You Have: 

University of Georgia 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: 1 essays of 200-300 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball

T he transition from middle to high school is a key time for students as they reach new levels of both academic and personal discovery. Please share a book (novel, non-fiction, etc.) that had a serious impact on you during this time. Please focus more on why this book made an impact on you and less on the plot/theme of the book itself (we are not looking for a book report).” (200-300 words)

This prompt asks you to discuss a book that made a big impression on you as you navigated the transition from middle to high school. At CEA, we always recommend that you choose an unexpected work in order to stand out from the pack, but ultimately, you should aim for authenticity rather than uniqueness. If Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was the book you turned to in the beginning of freshman year, where you found not only fantastical escape, but also an accurate reflection of the struggles of fitting in (even if you weren’t the “chosen one”), then write about that! But a word of warning if you choose a more commonly read book such as those from the Wizarding World: your essay has to go above and beyond if it has any chance of making an impression on the admissions department at UGA. 

If, however, there is another less-mainstream book that struck a chord with you, we encourage you to select that one to elaborate upon. No matter your choice, as you contemplate the prompt, ask yourself: Which characters have inspired you? Which plotlines have stayed with you long after you closed the book? How did you apply what you took from the story to your own life?

Regardless of the book you choose, try to give yourself as much time as possible to reflect on its impact and the role it played in helping you navigate your introduction to high school. As always, it’s your job to tell admissions a story, one that reveals information about who you are, what you care about, and/or what inspires you.

About Kat Stubing

View all posts by Kat Stubing »

We have school-specific prompt guides for almost 100 schools.

Contact us for information on rates and more!

• I am a * Student Parent Potential Partner School Counselor Private College Counselor
• Name * First Last
• Phone Type Mobile Landline
• Street Address
• Address City State / Province / Region Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d'Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Macedonia Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Syria Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, the United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Türkiye US Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands Country
• Which best describes you (or your child)? High school senior High school junior College student College grad Other
• How did you find CEA? Internet Search New York Times Guidance counselor/school Social Media YouTube Friend Special Event Delehey College Consulting Other
• Common App and Coalition Essays
• Supplemental Essays
• University of California Essays
• University of Texas Essays
• Resume Review
• Post-Grad Essays
• Specialized Services
• Waitlist Letters
• Private School Essays
• General College Counseling
• School list with priorities noted:
• Anything else we should know?
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
• Agnes Scott College
• Alvernia University
• American University
• Amherst College
• Babson College
• Bard College
• Barnard College
• Baylor University
• Bennington College
• Bentley University
• Berry College
• Bethany College
• Bishop’s University
• Boston College
• Boston University (BU)
• Bowdoin College
• Brandeis University
• Brown University
• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• Butler University
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
• California Lutheran University
• Capitol Technology University
• Carleton College
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Catawba College
• Centre College
• Chapman University
• Claremont McKenna College
• Clark University
• College of Mount Saint Vincent
• College of William and Mary
• College of Wooster
• Colorado College
• Colorado School of Mines
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Culver-Stockton College
• D'Youville University
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Drexel University
• Duke University
• Earlham College
• Elon University
• Emerson College
• Emory University
• Flagler College
• Fordham University
• George Mason University
• Georgetown University
• Georgia State University
• Georgia Tech
• Gonzaga University
• Harvard University
• Harvey Mudd College
• Haverford College
• Hillsdale College
• Hofstra University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Illinois Wesleyan University
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Ithaca College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kalamazoo College
• Lafayette College
• Lehigh University
• Lewis and Clark College
• Linfield University
• Loyola Marymount University (LMU)
• Lynn University
• Macalester College
• Malone University
• Manchester University
• Marist College
• Mary Baldwin University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Meredith College
• Monmouth College
• Moravian University
• Morehouse College
• Mount Holyoke College
• New York University (NYU)
• North Park University
• Northwestern University
• Occidental College
• Oklahoma City University
• Olin College of Engineering
• Pepperdine University
• Pitzer College
• Pomona College
• Princeton University
• Providence College
• Purdue University
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Rice University
• Saint Elizabeth University
• Santa Clara University
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Scripps College
• Seattle Pacific University
• Smith College
• Soka University of America
• Southern Methodist University
• St. John’s College
• Stanford University
• Stonehill College
• Swarthmore College
• Syracuse University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Christian University
• The College of Idaho
• The George Washington University
• The New School
• Trinity College
• Tufts University
• Tulane University
• University of California
• University of Central Florida (UCF)
• University of Chicago
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Colorado Boulder
• University of Florida
• University of Georgia
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• University of Maryland
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Miami
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Oregon
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Richmond
• University of San Diego
• University of San Francisco
• University of Southern California (USC)
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Tulsa
• University of Vermont
• University of Virginia (UVA)
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Vanderbilt University
• Vassar College
• Villanova University
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest University
• Washington and Lee University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Wellesley College
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
• Yale University

Want free stuff?

We thought so. Sign up for free instructional videos, guides, worksheets and more!

One-On-One Advising

Common App Essay Prompt Guide

Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

• YouTube Tutorials
• Our Approach & Team
• Undergraduate Testimonials
• Postgraduate Testimonials
• Where Our Students Get In
• CEA Gives Back
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Graduate Admissions
• Private School Admissions
• International Student Admissions
• Common App Essay Guide
• Supplemental Essay Guides
• Coalition App Guide
• The CEA Podcast
• Admissions Stats
• Notification Trackers
• Deadline Databases
• College Essay Examples
• Academy and Worksheets
• Waitlist Guides
• Get Started

Undergraduate Admission

• Application Review Process
• Academic Preparation
• Standardized Tests
• Contribution to Community

Personal Essays

• Recommendations
• Interview for International Applicants
• Major Selection
• Institutional Fit

The purpose of the essays is to assess your writing ability and, more importantly, to learn more about you as an individual. This portion of the application helps us get to know you, assess mutual fit, and better understand what you could contribute to Georgia Tech.

Application Essay Prompts

Below are the Georgia Tech essay questions for 2023 applications. Both prompts are required of all applicants.

• Common Application Personal Essay: First-year applicants will choose one of seven essay prompts provided by Common App.
• Georgia Tech Short-Answer Question (max 300 words): Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?

Start Your Essays

What Are We Looking for in Your Essays?

Essays are evaluated for both content and writing/grammatical skills. So, before submitting your application, you should take the time to edit and review your essay thoroughly. The traits of a strong essay include ones that:

• Demonstrate authenticity & self-awareness.
• Demonstrate thoughtfulness.
• Display attention to topic, style, and grammar.
• Demonstrate a student has thought about why Georgia Tech, specifically, is a fit for them and how their goals align with Georgia Tech’s Values . The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university established by the state of Georgia in Atlanta in 1885 and committed to developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.

Our Advice for this Portion of the Application

• Get started early. Don’t wait until the last minute to complete your essays!
• Write and edit your essay in a document editor. Once you have the final draft, you can cut and paste it into your online application.
• Don’t write what you think we want to read. Write what you want to say!
• Don’t blow off the essay! We wouldn’t ask you to write it if we didn’t find it to be an important way to get to know you, and what you could bring to Georgia Tech.
• In the same way you would not copy directly from any other source you may incorporate into the writing process, you should not copy and paste directly out of any AI platform or submit work that you did not originally create. Instead, approach and consider any interaction with an AI tool as a learning experience that may help you generate ideas, provide alternative phrasing options, and organize your thoughts. Ultimately, we want to read and hear your unique and valuable writing style.

Per Georgia state law and Georgia Tech policy , all admission staff are mandatory reporters who are required by law to report suspected abuse or neglect of minors to appropriate authorities. Any statements in written materials, including anywhere in a student’s application or supporting materials, that give admission staff reasonable cause to believe abuse or neglect of someone under the age of 18 may have occurred must be reported to the Georgia Tech Police Department. Learn more about reporting requirements .

This website uses cookies. For more information, review our Privacy & Legal Notice . Questions? Please email [email protected] . OK

2022-2023 Common App Essay Prompts

• Facebook icon
• Twitter icon
• Linkedin icon

The Common App essay prompts will remain the same for 2022-2023. Because as we enter the third year of a global pandemic, consistency is not a bad thing.

That’s not the only reason, of course. We know from our most recent survey on the topic that over 95% of every group who responded--students, counselors, teachers, and admission officers--agree that the prompts spark effective essays. That’s why we kept them the same last year as well, with the exception of adding a new one about gratitude .

As we’ve said in the past, this announcement is not an invitation to juniors to start writing. And it’s definitely not a signal that they start thinking about applying. Those things will come in time. We share this news in January because it’s when some schools begin conversations about college options. It’s a time for learning, reflecting, and planning. That’s where the prompts can be useful: in helping students understand the aspects of their lives that colleges are curious about. 

"We share this news in January because it’s when some schools begin conversations about college options. It’s a time for learning, reflecting, and planning. That’s where the prompts can be useful: in helping students understand the aspects of their lives that colleges are curious about." Scott Anderson, Senior Director, Common App

Something else we’ve said in the past: prompts are not topics. They are simply questions designed to spark thinking. Our Telling Your Story resource shows students just how much flexibility they have in what they write when the time comes.

Below is the full set of essay prompts for 2022-2023. We will also retain the optional COVID-19 question within the Additional Information section.

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

News and updates

Washington State University applications surge with help from Common App

Common App announces 2024–2025 Common App essay prompts

New research: First-generation definitions and their implications

Information on the UGA 2021 Application

  david graves        may 7th, 2020 in blog.

• UGA will accept any of the following freshman applications: The Common Application, The Coalition Application and the UGA based Application (only submit one application from one of these options).
• We will still accept documents from all the same providers (SCOIR, Naviance/Parchment, documents submitted through the UGA admissions site, mailed in materials, etc.)
• We will still require a Secondary School Report (SRR) from a counselor, an official transcript sent from your school, and we will accept optional letters of recommendation from teachers/community members.
• Currently, we will still require an official SAT or ACT exam result sent to us from the testing agency. If the University System of GA and UGA change this policy, we will announce it ASAP.
• The Freshman Application will open up on September 1.

UGA will require two essays, a longer personal essay (250-650 words) and a shorter essay (200-300 words).

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
• The shorter essay prompt will be the following – “The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.”

Review Process

UGA still intends on having both Early Action and Regular Decision rounds, and we currently are still working on the same deadlines for both rounds as last year. If we need to change the materials deadline for one or both rounds, we will make an announcement as soon as we have made this determination.

• UGA understands that Spring courses and grades might look very different for some students and school systems this year, and we will take that into account in our review of an applicant’s academic record. We will calculate a GPA based on the grades that are on the official transcript, and P grades will not hinder a student’s chances of admission (though we cannot use them in a GPA calculation).
• UGA also understands that different student activities might have been altered due to the coronavirus epidemic, and we will take this into account in our holistic review process.

Tags: application changes , applications , essays , freshman admission

Waitlisted? No Brags. No Updates. Learn About Ivy Coach's Letter of Continued Interest

The Ivy Coach Daily

• College Admissions
• College Essays
• Early Decision / Early Action
• Extracurricular Activities
• Standardized Testing
• The Rankings

September 5, 2021

Georgia Institute of Technology 2021-2022 Essay Prompt

Georgia Tech has released its 2021-2022 essay prompt for applicants to the Class of 2026. The school asks applicants to respond to only one essay and the word count is merely 300 words — a rather short supplement if you ask us. So what’s the question the Georgia Tech admissions committee is posing to applicants to its latest class? Wonder no more as we’ve got it for our readers!

Georgia Tech applicants are asked, “Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?” So, in short, it’s a hybrid question. It’s not just a Why Major essay. And it’s not just a Why College essay. Rather, it’s a mix of both. So, yes, there should be specifics within the essay — about the intended major at Georgia Tech — that apply to Georgia Tech and only to Georgia Tech. If these sentences can apply to any school in America, then the sentences simply don’t work.

On its admissions website, Georgia Tech’s admissions committee writes that students should “Demonstrate authenticity & self-awareness, demonstrate thoughtfulness, display attention to topic, style, and grammar, demonstrate a student has thought about why Georgia Tech, specifically, is a fit for them and how their goals align with Georgia Tech’s mission statement: The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university established by the state of Georgia in Atlanta in 1885 and committed to developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.”

Have a question about the Georgia Tech 2021-2022 essay prompt? Let us know your question by posting it below. We look forward to hearing from you!

You are permitted to use www.ivycoach.com (including the content of the Blog) for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not copy, download, print, or otherwise distribute the content on our site without the prior written consent of Ivy Coach, Inc.

Related Articles

Using A.I. to Write College Admission Essays

October 13, 2023

Word and Character Limits in College Essays

September 27, 2023

What English Teachers Get Wrong About Writing College Essays

Bragging in College Essays: Is It Ever Okay?

September 26, 2023

What Not to Write: 3 College Essay Topics to Avoid

September 24, 2023

2023-2024 Caltech Supplemental Essay Prompts

September 14, 2023

TOWARD THE CONQUEST OF ADMISSION

If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s college counseling,
fill out our free consultation form and we’ll be in touch.

Fill out our short form for a 20-minute consultation to learn about Ivy Coach’s services.

• For the Media
• Open Records
• Division of Marketing & Communications

2024 Graduate Student Awards

Graduate student excellence-in-teaching awards.

The Excellence-in-Teaching Award was established by the Graduate School to recognize those students who have demonstrated superior teaching skills and have contributed to teaching beyond their own classroom responsibilities, making a significant contribution to the instructional mission of the university.

Jean Costa-Silva (Submitted photo)

Jean Costa-Silva is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Linguistics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. His major professors are Paula Jean Mellom and Bera Lee-Schoenfield. His primary interests pertain to second language acquisition, syntax and cognitive linguistics.

His work focuses on the acquisition of English and Portuguese as foreign languages. In essence, he is interested in how learners begin to employ different linguistic strategies to describe movement through space.

Costa-Silva has a B.A. in English Linguistics, Literature, and TESOL from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, as well as teaching certificates from the University of Oregon and the University of Cambridge.

Prior to coming to UGA, he taught English in Slovakia and Brazil for over 10 years. In 2017-2018, he received a Fulbright scholarship and worked in the Department of Romance Languages at UGA. Upon starting his Ph.D. at UGA, he was awarded a Goizueta Foundation Fellowship from 2019 to 2023. During his tenure in linguistics, he taught Generative Syntax and Study of Language. Costa-Silva is currently a teaching assistant for the Franklin College Writing Intensive Program, where he supports students in the Generative Syntax courses.

He also serves as the executive editor of UGA Working Papers in Linguistics , the social chair of the Linguistics Society at UGA, and the coordinator of the SLAC Research Group. In his free time, Costa-Silva likes to spend time with his friends, to watch TV series, hockey, and movies, and to travel the world.

Carolyn Cummins (Submitted photo)

Carolyn Cummins is a Ph.D. candidate in the Odum School of Ecology. Her major professor is Amy Rosemond. Her dissertation research focuses on how temperature affects carbon cycling, aquatic insect physiology and organismal community structure in southern Appalachian headwater streams.

Cummins is passionate about effective and inclusive undergraduate education, and she has pursued various on- and off-campus teaching roles during her time at UGA. She traveled to Costa Rica as the teaching assistant for the UGA Costa Rica Tropical Sciences Study Abroad Program in 2021, and she served as an instructor-of-record on the UGA Interdisciplinary Field Program in 2022. She has also contributed to course design in the Odum School, helping to design and teach a new ecosystem ecology lab during the 2022-23 academic year.

Cummins is a candidate for the UGA Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching, through which she has completed teaching-related coursework and a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project focused on effective strategies for helping students understand scientific literature. Cummins will defend her dissertation in April, and she hopes to pursue an academic career that centers on teaching and mentoring. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities including hiking and rock climbing, cooking, reading and spending time with her partner, Zeb, and their dog, Lula.

Rebekah Maynard (Submitted photo)

Rebekah Maynard is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Her major professor is Leonardo Lombardini. Her research focuses on increasing production of the biopharmaceutical compound, apigenin, in chamomile and parsley grown in controlled environments.

In addition to her dissertation research, she conducted teaching-related research in her department to determine faculty opinions about implementing a new, online master’s degree.

Maynard’s commitment to teaching started as an undergraduate student serving as a TA in introductory chemistry courses, and she has since taught in many upper-division horticulture classes at UGA. Her passion for teaching was inspired by faculty who cared deeply about creating meaningful learning experiences for their students.

Most recently, Maynard created an online fruit production course that prioritizes inclusive teaching practices. She completed the Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching in 2021 and was selected as a Future Faculty Fellow in 2023. Ultimately, Maynard plans to become a professor of horticulture with a significant teaching appointment.

Margot Popecki (Submitted photo)

Margot Popecki is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Genetics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences studying the evolution of light signaling in fireflies. Her major professors are John Wares and Kathrin Stranger-Hall.

Growing up, she was an avid reader and creative writer, so the Writing Intensive Program has given her the opportunity to unite her passion for writing, teaching and evolutionary biology.

At UGA, Popecki has been involved with science outreach, from STEMzone to developing content and activities related to her research on fireflies.

After graduation, Popecki plans to pursue postdoctoral research to study conservation genomics. She is from Durham, New Hampshire, and has two dogs, Axel and Orla. Her hobbies include hiking, furniture restoration and sewing.

Jeongah Shin (Submitted photo)

Jeongah Shin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She joined the program as a master’s student in 2018. Her research focuses on consumer emotion, attitude and behavior in computer-mediated environments.

Shin has expanded her research interests to the classroom under the theme of “bringing the technology into the classroom.” She consistently strives to integrate new technologies into the learning experience for fashion merchandising students.

Shin completed three innovative teaching projects (Wear Your Magic Box, Eye Tracking App Development, and Talk in Metaverse) under the direction of Yoo-Kyoung Seock. Shin has assisted several classes, including Trend Analysis and Forecasting, Fashion Product and Brand Management, UX/UI Design Application in Fashion Branding, and Fashion Meets Technology as a teaching assistant, co-instructor and instructor-of-record.

Additionally, she served as a graduate assistant for the FACS London Study Abroad Program in summer 2022. She was selected as a Future Faculty Fellow for the Center of Teaching and Learning and received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in 2023. Shin expects to earn an Interdisciplinary Certificate in University Teaching in Spring 2024. She desires to become a researcher and instructor who constantly brings new technologies and industrial insights into the classroom.

Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Awards

Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Awards were initiated in 1999 to recognize the quality and significance of graduate-student scholarship, these awards may be given in five areas: Fine Arts, Humanities and Letters, Life Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Applied Studies.

Anna Doner (Submitted photo)

Anna Doner is a postdoctoral associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Doner earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Georgia in May 2023. Her dissertation research explored chemical kinetics of alkyl-substituted cyclic ethers, an important class of combustion intermediates.

During her time at UGA, she contributed to method development for experimental diagnostics, built machine learning models to help identify combustion intermediates from experimental measurements and performed hundreds of theoretical chemical kinetics calculations with automated methods.

Doner is the lead author of seven journal articles from her graduate research. In 2021-2022, she collaborated with Judit Zádor, Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA, with funding from the DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellowship. Her resulting work was published and presented at the Faraday Discussions on Unimolecular Reactions in June 2022 at Keble College in Oxford, England. Doner was also awarded the Georgia Research Education Award Traineeship and the Graduate Education Advancement Board Fellowship from the Graduate School for her research efforts.

Katie Foster (Submitted photo)

Katie Foster is an environmental anthropologist based at the University of Georgia. In 2023, she earned her Ph.D. in integrative conservation and anthropology from the University of Georgia. Her major professor was Laura German. Broadly, her research focuses on issues of environmental governance, justice and policy related to complex multi-scalar social-ecological challenges like changing climates, biodiversity loss and natural resource conflicts.

Foster recently joined the Network for Engineering with Nature as a postdoctoral researcher where she studies equity in decision making for water management (related to flooding, drought, sea level rise, etc.) to better understand how to incorporate local needs and knowledge systems into natural infrastructure planning in the US.

Her dissertation research focused on mining conflicts in the Peruvian Andes and the implementation of international Indigenous rights laws on free, prior and informed consent. She also holds a B.A. from Southwestern University, where she studied the behavioral ecology of aquatic invasive species in Uruguay and the southern U.S. She has written on a variety of conservation issues including global agricultural value chains, third-party environmental certifications and the illegal wildlife trade.

Outside of her academic pursuits, Foster has been involved in policy advocacy at the UN climate negotiations (COP 20, 21, and 28) and worked for several years in the non-profit sector in sustainable urban agriculture, native plant conservation and environmental education. Her abiding appreciation for gardens, soils, native plants and wildlife informs her academic interest in ecological restoration and commitment to teaching about sustainability in its many facets.

Mark Garren (Submitted photo)

Mark Garren is a limited-term clinical assistant professor with UGA’s College of Engineering. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the College of Engineering’s Biomedical Engineering Program in spring 2023 and was mentored by Hitesh Handa.

His graduate work focused on developing novel material and surface design strategies for controlled delivery and catalysis of reactive species to mediate biological interactions at medical device interfaces.

To date, Garren’s work has led to more than 22 peer-reviewed journal publications and four provisional patent applications. During his Ph.D. studies, Garren was a recipient of the Georgia Research Education Award Traineeship as well as the Innovative and Interdisciplinary Research Grant and several travel fellowships from the UGA Graduate School.

In his clinical appointment, Garren is continuing to expand his work on reactive species technologies towards the improvement of therapeutic platforms and medical device technologies against infection, inflammation and thrombosis.

Matt O’Neal (Submitted photo)

Matt O’Neal is a visiting assistant professor of history and study of southern culture at the University of Mississippi. O’Neal earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Georgia in 2023, where he completed his dissertation, “Home and Hell: The Great Migration and the Making of Sundown Towns in Appalachia” under the direction of Scott Reynolds Nelson.

O’Neal is a historian of race, labor and migration in the U.S. South. He has authored publications in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and the New Georgia Encyclopedia, in addition to a forthcoming piece in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era .

O’Neal has also been featured in a documentary produced by Black in Appalachia and has participated in public conversations on the legacies of racial violence.

In 2022, he received the Robert H. Zieger Prize from the Southern Labor Studies Association for the best unpublished essay by a graduate student or early career scholar.

Nate Tomczyk (Submitted photo)

Nate Tomczyk is a research associate at the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute at New Mexico Highlands University. Tomczyk earned his Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Georgia in 2023.

Tomczyk grew up in Maine and pursued his undergraduate studies in ecology and environmental sciences at the University of Maine. The most formative parts of this experience were conducting research in wetlands and participating in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program that allowed him to conduct ecological research in the Arctic.

Following this he earned his master’s degree in ecology at the University of Georgia, studying heavy metal pollution of freshwater ecosystems, under the direction of Krista Capps.

After that, he walked home to Maine via the Appalachian trail before returning to UGA to work as a research professional in Amy Rosemond’s lab. From there, Tomczyk transitioned back into graduate school, working with Rosemond as his Ph.D. advisor. His doctoral research focused on the role of small freshwater streams in carbon and nutrient cycling and how these important functions are altered by warming and nutrient pollution. His field work was primarily conducted at the Coweeta Hydrologic Lab in North Carolina.

His research projects have used a wide range of methods to test questions at different scales and include laboratory studies of individual microbial taxa, experimental manipulations of sections of streams, and comparisons of environmental conditions on the conterminous United States.

Engaged Scholars

The inaugural Engaged Scholarship by Graduate Students Award recognizes extraordinary community-engaged scholarship and public service by graduate students. Such as endeavors that advance the public service, outreach, and engagement mission at UGA. This award is established by the Graduate School in connection with the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach and the Office of Service-Learning.

Three awards of $1,000 will be presented annually. Each graduate department may nominate one student. Recipients will be selected by a committee drawn from Public Service and Outreach-affiliated administrators and graduate faculty

Alyssa Quan (Submitted photo)

Alyssa Quan is an interdisciplinary ecology Ph.D. candidate in the Odum School of Ecology and in the integrative conservation program run by the Center for Integrative Conservation. Her major professor is Catherine Pringle. Her general interests include aquatic ecology, ethnobotany and animal behavior. She is originally from Southern California, and she graduated from the University of California Los Angeles in 2019 with a B.S. in ecology, behavior, and evolution.

Quan has conducted field science projects in various locations around the world, including Singapore, Malaysia, French Polynesia, the California coast and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her work on fish behavior in Mo’orea, French Polynesia, is published in the scientific journal Current Zoology .

Currently, her doctoral dissertation research focuses on the ecological and cultural intersections of rivercane, which she is co-producing with partners from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Overall, they are interested in the process and outcomes of research co-production with indigenous knowledge and are studying how the impacts of cultural relationships with rivercane can inform restoration.

Ammy Sena (Submitted photo)

Ammy Sena is a Ph.D. candidate in counseling psychology at the University of Georgia. She is an immigrant of Dominican Republic, raised in Providence, Rhode Island. She received her master’s degree in mental health counseling from Boston College with a certificate in human rights and international justice. Additionally, Sena received her bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University, double majoring in psychology and Latin American and Caribbean studies with a minor in education.

Sena’s research interests include the mental health and wellness of marginalized communities with a primary focus on Afro-Latinx and Afro-Caribbean persons. Additionally, she is interested in exploring decolonized and liberatory forms of healing as well as racial identity development. Her clinical interests include bilingual (Spanish) counseling, anxiety, stress and trauma-related disorders. She is a member of the Bienestar Research and Outreach Team under the direction of Edward Delgado-Romero as well as a member of the Sankofa Research and Outreach team under the direction of Collette Chapman-Hilliard.

Sena served as co-coordinator of La Clinica in LaK’ech, a student-run mental health clinic under the direction of Delgado-Romero that provides free counseling to the Latinx community of Athens. Currently, she supervises student trainees seeking to enter the counseling field at La Clinica in La K’ech and at the Center for Counseling and Personal Evaluation. Sena is the instructor-of-record for ECHD 3030- Diversity and Helping Skills course and is a TA for ECHD 4660/6660 U.S. Latinx Mental Health: An Introduction.

Cydney Seigerman (Submitted photo)

Cydney Kate Seigerman is a Ph.D. candidate in the Integrative Conservation and anthropology program. Their major professor is Don Nelson. Seigerman is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and was a research fellow at the Research Institute for Meteorology and Water Resources in Ceará, Brazil, from 2021 to 2023. They earned their B.S. in chemistry and Spanish language and literature from the University of Michigan, graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the Residential and Honors Colleges. They then relocated to Madrid, Spain, where they served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and studied acting at the theater school La Lavandería.

Seigerman is a transdisciplinary water scholar guided by the premise that equity and justice are fundamental to creating more sustainable futures. Their research examines the interactions among human behavior and the cultural, political, technological, and environmental factors that shape water governance. Seigerman works across the sciences and arts to develop more equitable solutions to water challenges.

Seigerman’s dissertation work examines how socionatural (i.e., interrelated sociopolitical, environmental and technological) processes shape and are shaped by the lived experience of water insecurity in Ceará, Northeast Brazil. Among their work across disciplines, Seigerman is a contributing author of “Chapter 4: Water” of the 2022 IPCC Report and collaborated with members of Quilombo Mearim, a rural community in Ceará, Brazil, to produce the play Mudanças na água do Quilombo Mearim ( Hydrological Changes in Quilombo Mearim ), which tells the story of the community’s water past, present and possible futures.

You may also like

Four local projects receive Sahm Award funds

UGA enhances residential belonging initiatives

UGA to celebrate CURO Symposium’s 25th anniversary

UGA seeking nominations for annual Footsteps Award

Out of Darkness Walk engages campus community in the…

UGArden herbal tea program launches sales in campus…