Adorable bulldog puppy lying on the grass with a red spiked collar featuring the University of Georgia's 'G' logo. The playful image aligns with UGA's mascot and theme, complementing the discussion about the competitiveness of admissions at UGA Honors.

Guest Post: Is it easier to get into Harvard than UGA Honors?

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By Kate Harmer, Catalyst College Counseling

Every year, there is much excitement and anticipation surrounding the UGA Early Action admissions decisions that drop the Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Last week was no different. But among the excited messages conveying good news, a few students were surprised. They expected to not only be admitted to UGA, but also to be auto-admitted to the UGA Honors College.

But why the surprise? Would they have been surprised had they not been admitted to Harvard? Probably not. Everyone knows those are low single-digit percent chances. But surely it’s easier to get into the UGA Honors College than to get into Harvard. Right? So how do UGA honors admissions stats compare, and how do students get admitted?

How does UGA admit Honors College Students?

The UGA Honors program admits students in one of three ways:

  1. Auto-admitted in Early Action (both in-state and out-of-state rounds)
  2. Admission via additional honors application submitted by January 15th of senior year
  3. Admission via additional honors application during freshman year

UGA Honors aims to admit the top 10% of the class into the honors college, filling approximately 620 incoming freshman honors student spots out of a class of roughly 6,200 freshmen. Honors admissions are conducted separately and by different staff members than general University admissions. Those honors spots are also for out-of-state and international students, who make up about 20% of UGA’s admitted class.

So, of the 620 spots for incoming honors students, only about 500 are for in-state students. (That’s barely more than one student per high school who applied)!

Numbers Breakdown of UGA Admissions and Honors Admissions:

Please see Edison Prep’s Famous UGA Admissions Data and Strategy Page for a full breakdown and analysis of UGA admissions trends. Let’s look at some of the most important numbers.

There are a ton of stats to consider. Let’s start with one of the most important: the sheer number of in-state applications that have almost tripled over the past decade, making admissions significantly more competitive.

  • 2014: Around 11,000 EA applicants
  • 2025: Around 30,400 EA applicants + around 1100 auto-admit Honors

Now, let’s consider the ACT/SAT for the recently admitted class of 2029 students.

  • 75th percentile ACT: 34
  • 75th percentile SAT: 1510

This means the top 25% of in-state, Early Action-admitted students had HIGHER scores than those numbers. You can see how the top 10% would mean nearly perfect standardized test scores. It is also important to remember that UGA superscores the ACT/SAT, thereby increasing the number of students with exceptionally high test scores. UGA also only considers the English and Math sections of the ACT.

Now let’s look at the UGA Core GPA and Rigor (remember this is NOT the GPA shown on a student’s transcript!)

  • 75th percentile core GPA: 4.43
  • 75th percentile Rigor: 15 IB/DE/AP classes

Like the standardized test scores stats, this means that 25% of the in-state, Early Action-admitted students had a HIGHER GPA and rigor than those numbers. You can quickly see that those numbers might correlate to salutatorian/valedictorian levels of GPA/rigor at many high schools.

The Competitive Georgia Applicant Pool

Now, let’s think about the competitive landscape across the entire state. Georgia is a very populous and diverse state with 159 counties, second only to Texas! This is relevant because UGA seeks to recruit and educate talented students across the state.

In the most recent round of admissions, UGA admitted students from 409 different high schools in 115 different counties. This means 818 valedictorians and salutatorians who are offered auto admission to UGA.

While these salutatorians and valedictorians are not all auto-admitted to the UGA honors program and may not all have applied to UGA, you can be sure they are competitive.

How does all this compare to Harvard?

For the Class of 2028 (23-24 application cycle), Harvard received 54,008 applications and admitted 1,970 students (3.6%) for a yield of 1,647 students (3.0%). Nearly everyone says yes to an offer of admission from Harvard. Source: Harvard.

In comparison, UGA received a total of 43,416 applications and enrolled 685 (1.5%) students in the honors program for the Class of 2028. Source: UGA.

This year, in the 24-45 application cycle, UGA is on track to receive close to 50,000 applications and is targeting to enroll 620 students in the honors program.

What does this mean for me?

It is easy to get discouraged when facing low odds of a desired outcome. However, students have more than one chance to gain admission to the Honors College at UGA and should submit their honors application with their Early Action application. If auto-admit or spring admission to the honors college isn’t successful, try again as a UGA freshman. Plenty of my past clients and those of test prep companies’ like Edison Prep have gotten in after the auto-admit round.

And finally, remember that college is just part of a long career journey with many twists and turns. Whether a student is in the Honors College at UGA or not, there are many paths to success!

We are fortunate to have both a top 10 public flagship in the country that is buttressed by the Zell Miller and HOPE scholarships to boot!



By Kate Harmer, Catalyst College Counseling

Kate Harmer provides comprehensive college counseling services to students and families who are navigating the complicated college admission process. Kate holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MPH/MBA dual degree from Emory University.