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How to Write the University of Georgia Essays 2016-17

Check out the university of georgia application essays for 2017-2018.

So you have decided to apply to the University of Georgia, where the only thing hotter than your ardor for the Georgia Bulldogs will be your animus toward the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, or the Georgia summer heat. While UGA is known for its passion for football, it also offers a Southern retreat into the lively college town known as Athens.

UGA boasts a wide array of pre-professional career tracks into any one of its specialized colleges, such as the renowned Terry College of Business, the College of Veterinary Medicine, or the School of Social Work. Whichever field of study you end up choosing, there is little doubt that you will not have the classic Southern college experience, along with about 27,000 other undergraduates, while at UGA.

Part of being a public institution of higher education — as opposed to many of the private institutions that we at CollegeVine write about — means that UGA may make their final admissions decisions based on factors like GPA and test scores, and soft factors like essays are given less weight. Though ensuring your stats are up to the university’s standards is the most important thing you can do to increase your chances at admission, strong essays can also have a significant impact on your application.

About 52% of applicants were admitted in 2015, with the middle 50% of admitted first-year students having SAT scores ranging from 1290 to 1440, and admitted Honors students having scores ranging from 1480 to 1530. In terms of the ACT, the middle 50% of admitted first-year students ranged from 27-31, and those admitted to the Honors College were usually 32-34.

Below, our essay specialists have created a guide to help you write your essay for the University of Georgia.

University of Georgia Application Essay Prompts

Here are the four essay questions for this admissions cycle, with Essay 1 being required (200-300 words) and Essays 2-4 being three options from which the applicant can select two (150-200 words).

As the instructions explain, you must write two essays, and the topic for one of them can be chosen from any of three different essay prompts. Note that none of them require you to write an exorbitant amount, with the longest possible response being 300 words (or about half a page), single-spaced.

For all these essay prompts, you may find it helpful to write out longer responses with everything you could possibly include in them and weed down your responses from there until you’re within the maximum word count. This can help you ensure your responses contain all essential information and no fluff.

Now that we’ve discussed a general approach to getting around tight word limits, let’s tackle these prompts one by one.

(Required) The UGA faculty has defined the qualities that the student body should demonstrate in the Admissions Philosophy Statement. After reviewing this, help us understand which of your qualities will add value to our community of scholars. (200-300 words)

The first prompt requires you to have read the UGA Admissions Philosophy Statement and given it some thought. Principally, it calls for a University of Georgia scholar to commit to the conservation and enhancement of our society’s intellectual, cultural, and environmental heritage. While this statement echoes the concepts of many upstanding colleges, it also emphasizes more uncommon sentiments, such as an understanding and respect of foreign cultures, as well as commitment to citizenship.

Ideally, it would be great if you had regularly participated in some activities prior to applying that attested to your commitment to what the Philosophy Statement demands. This does not mean you need to have traveled abroad to teach English or opened a soup kitchen, as long as whatever activity you took part in rendered efficacious results, and was worth the effort.

This question also forces you to demonstrate the amount of high-level introspection you have done, such that you are able to relate and connect your personal qualities to your activities to effectively answer the prompt. A tale only of what you have done will not go as far as explaining what the experience meant to you, how it changed you, and how that change will cause you to impact the UGA community in a similar manner.

Describe a problem, possibly related to your area of study, which you would like to solve. Explain its importance to you and what actions you would take to solve this issue. (150-200 words)

Should you choose to write a response to the second prompt, you will need to demonstrate a significant amount of technical information about a field you are very familiar with and translate it into colloquial terms within 150-200 words. This is a challenging essay to write, since you will have to be your own fact-checker in whatever you are writing about; however, if you are truly passionate about the subject, then this essay will not be too difficult.

Often, the kind of knowledge necessary to concisely speak to the problem in a particular field requires one to have worked in the field in some capacity. If you have done some research in high school or have worked a job (related to your upcoming field of study), then it might be easier for you to discuss the problem in the field.

Discussing its importance to you also gives you an opportunity to demonstrate how passionate you are about the interest ( Note: Avoid using the word “passion” in your writing — it has become extremely overused to the point that it has lost much of its meaning in the admissions world). Even though you will make claims at large about your general love for the topic, this essay response will be much easier to write if you choose a specific problem within the field.

You might try to talk about, for example, the problems in scientific validation when published experiments are rarely replicated, and so it is truly unknown if the findings are sound; the poor effectiveness of creating dozens of new potential sources of energy in the last decade since none have gained traction in funding, attention, etc.; or the need to address implicit gender-based discrimination arising from the Romance languages such that new terms including “Latinx” (non-gendered, thus not Latino/a) have risen among millennials of Latino descent.

Choose a problem that speaks to you, and that you could see yourself potentially working to address in the future.

After choosing what problem you wish to discuss, you could research how others have attempted tackling it so that you have an idea of what might be expected from a reasonable solution. Your proposed solution does not (and most likely will not) need to be a surefire fix to the problem, but it does need to show a thoughtful attempt at innovation crafted by knowledge of the issue at stake. In fact, if you are feeling unsure about your solution, you might even try discussing the methods that you would employ to come up with an efficacious solution.

This is another way to demonstrate how far you would be willing to go to solve the problem, and might include the specific types of people you need to talk to, current potential fixes in the field and how they need to be changed, or even tangential topics like how you would go about acquiring funding for creating your solution. The point of this essay is not so much creating a solution as it is about your drive to find a solution.

Tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself that you have not already shared in your application. (150-200 words)

Should you choose to write a response to the third prompt, you will need to exercise your creativity muscle a bit more, but responding to this prompt gives you an opportunity to create a piece of writing that will truly stick in your reader’s mind. Quick psychology tip: Humans are creatures of stories, and thus, making yourself memorable through a good story is an ingenious way of making sure your application sticks out from the rest, especially when your competition might be discussing about problems in their field (above), or inventing a course (below).

In order to create an adequate response to this prompt, you will probably try and rack your brain for funny experiences to share. It’s a good idea to utilize your friends when brainstorming; friends will probably be your biggest help in jogging your memory about stories you may have forgotten.

Whatever the story ends up being, you need to be sure that it is appropriate, especially when considering your audience (UGA admissions officers). Consider running your story by a few of your teachers beforehand. Your essay does not necessarily need to be funny, so do not try to cram humor into a story that is more geared towards the “interesting” aspect of the prompt.

UGA’s First-Year Odyssey Program offers more than 300 seminar courses for new freshmen. Some examples include “The History of Horse Racing,” “Einstein and the Theories of Relativity,” and “The Zombie Plague.” If you could create your own seminar course at UGA in any subject area that interested you, what would it be? What would the course be named, and what would you hope to learn? Please write your response in the style of the UGA First-Year Odyssey descriptions as seen on their website. (150-200 words)

Should you choose to write a response to the third prompt, you will need creativity, much like in the second prompt. However, it will have to be more focused in order to take on the format of course descriptions as seen on UGA’s First Year Odyssey website . In a sense, this prompt asks the applicant to imagine how an interest of his or hers could play out if it were to be set in an open-discussion classroom context.

A good starting point is taking some time to ponder about questions that you may have had while learning about something in school. Admissions officers want to measure the extent of your intellectual curiosity, and how much debate you are willing to undergo to pursue some answers. This is a test of innovation in thinking, since inventing a feasible course capable of educating students via discussion requires diligent industry and thought.

Interestingly, many of these courses at the University of Georgia tend to combine different disciplines — like the economics of crime, or the policy implications of neuroscience findings — and this is definitely an avenue that you could pursue to make your application stand out.

As many of the course descriptions for the First-Year Odyssey demonstrate, you should begin by describing the context of the subject matter. Due to the variability in course topic, this context could take the form of a brief history, the description of a particular event, or even a single thought someone might have that is worth delving into.

Often, the titles of these courses are not obscure or vague, so you should name yours something similarly, bearing in mind you can be as creative as you want to be in the naming. Some possible titles include “Law and Professional Ethics” or “Save the Bees! Beekeeping and Colony Collapse Disorder.”

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

From our team at CollegeVine to you, we wish you the best as you apply to the University of Georgia.

Happy Writing!

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4 Tips for Writing Stellar UGA Essays

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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.

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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.

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How to Write the University of Georgia Supplemental Essay 2024–2025

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The University of Georgia , located in the city of Athens, is a highly ranked public research institution. Committed to student well-being , perhaps it’s no surprise that Bulldog football fans are among the happiest and Athens, GA is considered one of the best college towns. According to their website , the University of Georgia’s accomplished alumni include “lauded scientists and researchers; countless entrepreneurs; Academy Award winners; U.S. senators; nine Pulitzer Prize recipients; and 26 governors of Georgia.” If you’re hoping to be lucky enough to become a Bulldog, you’ll need to nail the University of Georgia supplemental essay. Let’s dive in.

University of Georgia’s 2024-2025 Prompt

The 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). (200-350 words), we’ll review your essay.

Receive edits in as little as 24 hours

General Tips

Let’s talk about two common grammatical mistakes students make in their college essays. Note that these are grammar rules applicable to Standard American English. Even if you’re not American, the University of Georgia is in the U.S., so it’s in your best interest to stick to these rules.

Avoid the comma splice.

The comma splice crops up in essays of all kinds, by all kinds of writers. In some circumstances, it can be considered stylistic, even though it’s grammatically incorrect, though most of the time it should be avoided. But what is a comma splice? A comma splice is when you use a comma to connect two independent clauses. Unfortunately, a comma alone is not allowed to connect two independent clauses. Note that an independent clause is a group of words that express a grammatically complete thought.

Here are some examples of comma splices and ways they could be corrected:

• Incorrect: I read this book in 8th grade, it changed my life.
• Correct: I read this book in 8th grade, and it changed my life.
• Incorrect: My 8th grade English teacher assigned it for summer reading, I forgot to read it until August.
• Correct: My 8th grade English teacher assigned it for summer reading; I forgot to read it until August.
• Incorrect: Although I had read it before, I never understood it until that summer, that was the summer I fell in love.
• Correct: Although I had read it before, I never understood it until that summer—that was the summer I fell in love.
• Incorrect: I reached the last page in tears, I wondered how I had never understood this before.
• Correct: I reached the last page in tears. I wondered how I had never understood this before.

Know how to use punctuation in quotes.

Because this particular essay question asks you to write about a book you have read, you may find yourself using quotes. If not, it’s not unlikely there’s some dialogue in your Common App essay. If so, you’ll need to understand how to use punctuation when you’re quoting something or someone. Here are the rules:

• Example: I shouted, “Look over here, Dad!”
• Example: The first line of the book is, “Call me Ishmael.”
• Example: Did he just say “fire”?
• Example: The last thing I wanted to hear was a “no”!
• Example: “I don’t know you anymore,” she whispered.
• Example: “Where are you going?” they asked.
• Example: “I have good news,” the doctor began, “but I still want you to sit down.”
• Example: “I think,” I said slowly, “that we’re lost.”

Still have questions? Check out our College Essay Review service, and we’ll be sure to identify any and all grammar issues you may have.

University of Georgia Short Essay Question

The University of Georgia supplemental essay prompt is unique in that it asks applicants to write about books read in the 8th or 9th grade approximate timeframe. In contrast, most college essays either ask you to write about a certain experience with no prescribed timeframe, or they restrict students’ responses to their most recent two years of high school. Nevertheless, the University of Georgia seeks to understand who you were and what impacted you just a little earlier. Here’s some more information their admissions team provides:

“We are not restricting you to the exact years of 8th-9th grades, but rather the general timeframe of the middle to high school transition, which can extend somewhat further than one year on each end. Feel free to use your discretion in your choice of the timeline focused on the shift to your high school years.”

Based on this information, it seems that the key is that your essay focuses on the transition from middle to high school . In addition, you need to address this time period through the lens of a book you read during this time. This book can be any genre, but it should have had a significant impact on you. This should be a book you still think about to this day. It should also be a book that you have read in its entirety. Note that whether or not you read this book for school is not relevant to this essay.

Moreover, because you did not read this book recently, you may want to revisit it before you begin to write this essay. That way, you can provide specific details about the book and why it impacted you. You can include quotes (as long as they are enclosed in question marks), but spend no more than 2-3 sentences summarizing the book to provide context if necessary. If this book is very well-known (for instance: the Bible, a book from the Harry Potter series, The Great Gatsby ), then you need not summarize it.

Focus on providing reasons for why this book impacted you. What are the themes and messages that have changed your behavior or mindset? How has the book influenced the way you write or communicate? What were the lessons you learned? If you can answer a few of these questions in your essay with clarity and specific details, then you’ll do well.

If you need help polishing up your University of Georgia supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.

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Students Also Read

University of Georgia (UGA) 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 1

You Have: 

University of Georgia 2024-25 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.

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"Just wanted to thank you so much for everything you have done for me. Couldn't have done it without your help. Go Bulldogs!"

– CEA Student, University of Georgia, Class of 2028

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2019 Freshman Essay Topics

  david graves        may 11th, 2018 in blog.

• ( Required ) 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.
• UGA’s 2017 Commencement speaker Ernie Johnson (Class of ’79) told a story from his youth about what he refers to as blackberry moments. He has described these as  “the sweet moments that are right there to be had but we’re just too focused on what we’re doing …, and we see things that are right there within our reach and we neglect them. Blackberry moments can be anything that makes somebody else’s day, that makes your day, that are just sweet moments that you always remember.” Tell us about one of your “blackberry moments” from the past five years.
• Creativity is found in many forms including artistic avenues, intellectual pursuits, social interactions, innovative solutions, et cetera. Tell us how you express your creativity.
• Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
• Describe a problem, possibly related to your area of study, which you would like to solve. Explain its importance to you and what actions you would take to solve this issue.

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