The University of Georgia, located in the city of Athens, is a highly ranked public research institution. Committed to student well-being, perhaps it’s no surprise that Bulldog football fans are among the happiest and Athens, GA is considered one of the best college towns. According to their website, the University of Georgia’s accomplished alumni include “lauded scientists and researchers; countless entrepreneurs; Academy Award winners; U.S. senators; nine Pulitzer Prize recipients; and 26 governors of Georgia.” If you’re hoping to be lucky enough to become a Bulldog, you’ll need to nail the University of Georgia supplemental essay. Let’s dive in.
University of Georgia’s 2024-2025 Prompt
- The transition from middle to high school is a key time for students as they reach new levels of both academic and personal discovery. Please share a book (novel, non-fiction, etc.) that had a serious impact on you during this time. Please focus more on why this book made an impact on you and less on the plot/theme of the book itself (we are not looking for a book report). (200-350 words)
General Tips
Let’s talk about two common grammatical mistakes students make in their college essays. Note that these are grammar rules applicable to Standard American English. Even if you’re not American, the University of Georgia is in the U.S., so it’s in your best interest to stick to these rules.
Avoid the comma splice.
The comma splice crops up in essays of all kinds, by all kinds of writers. In some circumstances, it can be considered stylistic, even though it’s grammatically incorrect, though most of the time it should be avoided. But what is a comma splice? A comma splice is when you use a comma to connect two independent clauses. Unfortunately, a comma alone is not allowed to connect two independent clauses. Note that an independent clause is a group of words that express a grammatically complete thought.
Here are some examples of comma splices and ways they could be corrected:
- Add in a conjunction.
- Incorrect: I read this book in 8th grade, it changed my life.
- Correct: I read this book in 8th grade, and it changed my life.
- Use a semicolon.
- Incorrect: My 8th grade English teacher assigned it for summer reading, I forgot to read it until August.
- Correct: My 8th grade English teacher assigned it for summer reading; I forgot to read it until August.
- Use an em dash.
- Incorrect: Although I had read it before, I never understood it until that summer, that was the summer I fell in love.
- Correct: Although I had read it before, I never understood it until that summer—that was the summer I fell in love.
- Make two separate sentences.
- Incorrect: I reached the last page in tears, I wondered how I had never understood this before.
- Correct: I reached the last page in tears. I wondered how I had never understood this before.
Know how to use punctuation in quotes.
Because this particular essay question asks you to write about a book you have read, you may find yourself using quotes. If not, it’s not unlikely there’s some dialogue in your Common App essay. If so, you’ll need to understand how to use punctuation when you’re quoting something or someone. Here are the rules:
- If the quote comes at the end of the sentence, the punctuation mark goes inside the quotation marks if the punctuation is part of the quote.
- Example: I shouted, “Look over here, Dad!”
- Example: The first line of the book is, “Call me Ishmael.”
- If the quote comes at the end of the sentence, the punctuation mark goes outside the quotation marks if the punctuation is not part of the quote.
- Example: Did he just say “fire”?
- Example: The last thing I wanted to hear was a “no”!
- If the quote is not at the end of the sentence, then periods, semicolons, and colons turn into commas, but other punctuation marks remain as is. These punctuation marks are placed inside the quotation marks.
- Example: “I don’t know you anymore,” she whispered.
- Example: “Where are you going?” they asked.
- If the quote is broken up by non-quoted material, use commas. Try to break the quotes up where there are natural pauses.
- Example: “I have good news,” the doctor began, “but I still want you to sit down.”
- Example: “I think,” I said slowly, “that we’re lost.”
Still have questions? Check out our College Essay Review service, and we’ll be sure to identify any and all grammar issues you may have.
University of Georgia Short Essay Question
The transition from middle to high school is a key time for students as they reach new levels of both academic and personal discovery. Please share a book (novel, non-fiction, etc.) that had a serious impact on you during this time. Please focus more on why this book made an impact on you and less on the plot/theme of the book itself (we are not looking for a book report). (200-350 words)
The University of Georgia supplemental essay prompt is unique in that it asks applicants to write about books read in the 8th or 9th grade approximate timeframe. In contrast, most college essays either ask you to write about a certain experience with no prescribed timeframe, or they restrict students’ responses to their most recent two years of high school. Nevertheless, the University of Georgia seeks to understand who you were and what impacted you just a little earlier. Here’s some more information their admissions team provides:
“We are not restricting you to the exact years of 8th-9th grades, but rather the general timeframe of the middle to high school transition, which can extend somewhat further than one year on each end. Feel free to use your discretion in your choice of the timeline focused on the shift to your high school years.”
Based on this information, it seems that the key is that your essay focuses on the transition from middle to high school. In addition, you need to address this time period through the lens of a book you read during this time. This book can be any genre, but it should have had a significant impact on you. This should be a book you still think about to this day. It should also be a book that you have read in its entirety. Note that whether or not you read this book for school is not relevant to this essay.
Moreover, because you did not read this book recently, you may want to revisit it before you begin to write this essay. That way, you can provide specific details about the book and why it impacted you. You can include quotes (as long as they are enclosed in question marks), but spend no more than 2-3 sentences summarizing the book to provide context if necessary. If this book is very well-known (for instance: the Bible, a book from the Harry Potter series, The Great Gatsby), then you need not summarize it.
Focus on providing reasons for why this book impacted you. What are the themes and messages that have changed your behavior or mindset? How has the book influenced the way you write or communicate? What were the lessons you learned? If you can answer a few of these questions in your essay with clarity and specific details, then you’ll do well.
If you need help polishing up your University of Georgia supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.
