{"562611":{"#nid":"562611","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Class Continues Trend of Prestige, Diversity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EOn Aug. 22, another impressive group of students will begin their careers as Yellow Jackets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EA record number of students applied for acceptance to Georgia Tech this year, with applications exceeding 30,500 for the first time. Of those who were accepted, around 2,860 will make up the new class.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EAs has been the trend in recent years, their credentials set new highs for an incoming class. These students have taken an average of 10 college-level courses, and 95 percent have take college-level calculus or an equivalent. The students represent 69 countries, 43 states, 89 Georgia counties, and 1,429 high schools (307 in Georgia). The class is 42 percent female \u2014 an Institute record for the second year \u2014 and 58 percent male. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u201cWe need more women in STEM and at the table when it comes to policy and product creation in the workforce, and we look at ourselves as part of the solution,\u201d said Rick Clark, director of Undergraduate Admission.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EStill, it\u2019s not just the stats that make Clark proud.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u201cThe fact that we continue to become more academically talented with each class, and more diverse on almost every metric of what you would call diversity, is really an anomaly,\u201d he said. \u201cColleges often have to give up one or the other. It kind of blows my mind, but it\u2019s just indicative of Georgia Tech\u2019s excellence and national prominence that we are coupling those two things.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EThis year, Tech saw an especially high increase in applications to the College of Computing and growth in matriculation in the College of Sciences, which will make up 13 percent of the new class.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn 2014, Georgia Tech started the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Scholars program to recruit, enroll, support and graduate the most academically talented students in the city school system.\u0026nbsp;This year\u0027s freshman class includes APS Scholars from 11 of the\u0026nbsp;13 high schools in the district.\u0026nbsp;Under the program, which started with the incoming class of 2015, Georgia Tech offers automatic admission to all APS valedictorians and salutatorians who apply and covers four years of in-state tuition and mandatory fees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EAs this class arrives on campus, the next admission cycle has already begun. This week, Georgia Tech joins the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and several others for the start of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/08\/15\/admissions-hits-road-peach-state-tour\u0022\u003Ethe Peach State tour\u003C\/a\u003E, where colleges collaborate to visit communities around the state and meet with prospective students.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EOne of Georgia Tech\u2019s challenges is continuing to attract the best and brightest in all of Tech\u2019s disciplines as the cost of higher education continues to increase.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t want to be an institution where students come out with a high debt burden, even if they are willing to pay,\u201d Clark said. \u201cWe have to find a way to meet a higher percentage of financial need.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EAnother challenge is to continue the upward trajectory Georgia Tech has seen in enrollment for the past five years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re really competing with the best schools in the country,\u201d Clark said. \u201cTo make the Olympic comparison, the people we are in the pool with are the best in the country, and we\u2019re racing right there with them.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EA record number of students applied for acceptance to Georgia Tech this year, with applications exceeding 30,500 for the first time. Of those who were accepted, around 2,860 will make up the new class.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A record number of students applied for acceptance to Georgia Tech this year, with applications exceeding 30,500 for the first time."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2016-08-15 10:11:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:19","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"562631":{"id":"562631","type":"image","title":"#gt20","body":null,"created":"1471270586","gmt_created":"2016-08-15 14:16:26","changed":"1475895367","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:07","alt":"#gt20","file":{"fid":"206800","name":"gt20-graphic-web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gt20-graphic-web.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gt20-graphic-web.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1192473,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gt20-graphic-web.jpg?itok=U6c7ur8G"}}},"media_ids":["562631"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/admission.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of Undergraduate Admission"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2016\/08\/15\/admissions-hits-road-peach-state-tour","title":"Admissions Hits the Road for Peach State Tour"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5453","name":"admission"},{"id":"122601","name":"APS Scholars"},{"id":"489","name":"atlanta"},{"id":"91","name":"enrollment"},{"id":"10347","name":"undergraduate admission"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}