Traditional Freshman Admission
Traditional freshmen are students that have graduated from high school within the past 5 years, prior to the term of entry. All traditional freshmen applicants must submit SAT or ACT scores and have a high school diploma or a General Educational Development Diploma (GED). The high school diploma must be issued from a high school accredited by a regional accrediting association, the Georgia Accrediting Commission, the Georgia Private School Accrediting Commission, the Accrediting Commission for Independent Study, or from a public school regulated by a school system and state department of education. Applicants who have a High School Certificate (also called a Certificate of Performance) or a Special Education Diploma are not considered to be high school graduates for admission purposes. Students applying for freshman admission must meet the following set of criteria for the various degree programs:
Students must meet all the following criteria for entrance into the institution:
- Minimum Test Scores
- SAT Scores: 33 Critical Reading and 310 Math for test taken before March 2016 or
- 19 Reading and 360 Math for test taken after March 2016
- ACT Scores: 12 English and 14 Math
- Minimum Freshman Index of 1860*
- Freshman Index = 500 x (HSGPA) + (SATCR) + (SATM) or
- Freshman Index = 500 x (HSGPA) + [42 x (ACTC)] +88
- No RHSC (Required High School Curriculum) deficiencies
*Traditional age beginning freshmen who have earned a GED will not have a calculated Freshman Index but will be evaluated using alternative evidence of university readiness.
**Applicants that graduate from a non-accredited high school may still be considered for admission to MGA. A high school transcript and portfolio must be submitted that includes course descriptions of all courses taken. Minimum test scores, freshmen index and RHSC requirements also apply.
Required High School Curriculum
Students who graduate from high school in 2012 or later must present credits for (17) specified units. Students applying to an institution who graduated prior to 2012 must present credit for sixteen (16) specified units. The 17 specified units are:
- MATHEMATICS: Four (4) units of Mathematics, including Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry and a fourth year of advanced Math or Mathematics I, II, III and a fourth unit of Mathematics from the approved list.
- ENGLISH: Four (4) units of English which have as their emphasis grammar and usage, literature (American, English, World), and advanced composition skills.
- SCIENCE: Four (4) units of science, with at least one laboratory course from the life sciences and one laboratory course from the physical sciences. Georgia Public high school graduates must have at least one (1) unit of biology, one (1) unit of physical science or physics, and one (1) unit of chemistry, earth systems, environmental science and one (1) unit of a fourth science.
- SOCIAL SCIENCE: Three (3) units of social science, with at least one (1) course focusing on United States studies and one (1) course focusing on world studies.
- FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Two (2) units in the same foreign language emphasizing speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Two (2) units of American Sign Language may be used to satisfy this requirement.
Note: In addition to these minimum requirements, students are encouraged to take additional academic units in high school to improve their probability for admission and success.
Students who do not meet published admission standards but who show exceptional potential may be granted admission on a limited basis. Furthermore, meeting minimum Board of Regents requirements does not guarantee admission to MGA as each institution may set additional and/or higher requirements.