Georgia College Early College (GCEC)
Student Admission Policy
The GCEC Program gives preference to applicants who are underrepresented in higher education including low-income and first-generation college completers. The goal of Georgia College Early College’s admission process is to identify the most qualified applicants for participation in this intensive program. To achieve this, GCEC will use a holistic approach to enroll students with overall profiles indicating a level of readiness and motivation necessary for success in an accelerated curriculum that includes college coursework. Applicants are not automatically admitted or denied without an individualized evaluation of their application including a review of the following:
ELIGIBILITY_CRITERIA.PDF
Application: Applicants must complete and submit an application signed off by the principal or designee. Early admission applicants must complete and submit their applications no later than the last Friday in January prior to the anticipated school year of enrollment. In an effort to determine the needs of all students, a uniform reading screening of the applicant will be completed at the time of the interview. Students may be considered for later admission, as space is available. No applicants will be accepted after the 6-week grading period of each semester.
Interview: Applicants will join their parent/guardian in an interview to determine the applicant’s desire to attend GCEC, unique talents and interests, motivation, and dedication to academic success.
Application Process: All students from the Baldwin County School District and Putnam County Charter School System in grades 6, 7, 8, and 9 will be given the opportunity to apply for admission to GCEC during their 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade school year utilizing the following process:
- The open enrollment periods for the upcoming school year will be announced at Oak Hill Middle School and Putnam County Middle School no later than the second Monday in October of each school year.
- Interested students may receive an application from their middle school, Georgia College Early College, or the Georgia College Early College website.
- Early admission applicants must complete and submit their applications to their middle school no later than the last Friday in March prior to the anticipated school year of enrollment. Students may be considered for later admission, as space is available. No applicants will be accepted after the 6-week grading period of each semester.
- Applications will initially be reviewed at the middle schools. Based upon their status, as it relates to the preference (minority, first-generation college graduate, or economically disadvantaged) and the admission criteria, applications will be grouped in the following categories:
- Preference and Criteria (PC)- Students who meet one or more of the preferences and meet all of the criteria.
- Criteria Only (C)- Students who do not meet any of the preferences and meet all of the criteria.
- Does Not Meet the Criteria (DNM)- Students who do not meet the criteria
The students who meet the preference and criteria will be given first consideration for admission into the program, and then other students will be selected to fill the remaining available seats. Approval and denial of program admission will be determined by GCEC.
The middle schools will provide GCEC with a spreadsheet of all applicants in the following format:
SAMPLE SPREADSHEET.PDF
Lottery: When the number of qualifying applications received by the last Friday in January exceeds the number of seats (by grade level) in the program, a lottery will be utilized to determine program admissions.
Revised: June 9, 2011; October 2, 2011
Approved: 10-15-14
RECOMMENDED REVISION: 10-15-14