• Application Review Process
• Academic Preparation
• Standardized Tests
• Contribution to Community
• Personal Essays
• Recommendations
• Interview for International Applicants
• Major Selection
• Institutional Fit & Residency

Personal Essays

This portion of the application helps us get to know you better. We are excited to learn more about you and what is important to you. You will be asked to complete one of the Common App First-Year Essay prompts and an additional short-answer question. The Georgia Tech short-answer question is called the Georgia Tech Essay, and you will see it in the Georgia Tech-specific questions on the Common App. More details are below.

How will the essays be evaluated?

We take care in reading your essay and we hope you will do the same when creating it. Before submitting your application, you should take the time to reflect on the prompts and review your essays thoroughly. Strong essays often:

• Demonstrate authenticity & self-awareness.
• Deepen our understanding of you or your interests.
• Answer the chosen prompt completely and thoughtfully.
• Express a student’s sincere interest in the Georgia Tech community, specifically, how our campus is a fit for them and how their goals align with Georgia Tech’s Values.

Helpful Advice and Tips as You Begin

• Get started early. Giving yourself time to think and reread your work will reduce your stress.
• Write and edit your essay in a document editor. Your essays can be started outside of the Common App. This will make it easier to catch proofreading or grammar edits. Once you have the final draft, you can cut and paste it into your online application. Pro Tip: Once you paste your writing into the Common App, reread your work. Sometimes cutting and pasting can change punctuation marks in the text box. Give it a last look to make sure the final version is exactly how you want it.
• If you start to focus on what you think we want to hear, pause. Redirect your thoughts to what you want us to know about you when you are finished.
• It’s great to seek help with reviewing and proofreading after you have created your writing submissions. Ultimately, we want to read and hear your unique and valuable voice.

Other Writing Submission Opportunities on the Application

What if you have more information to share but you are not sure where the information should go? The Common App provides two additional, optional sections that may help. The Challenges and Circumstances section and the Additional Information section both provide spaces for students to share impacts or important contextual information. Just answer “yes” to the questions about challenges and circumstances or additional information to open up a text box. Again, these are optional so use them if you need them and do not stress if you do not need them.

We want you to know: 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.