On Friday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m., first-year admission decisions were delivered to approximately 8,700 students who applied in Georgia Tech’s Early Action 1 admission round, an application phase specifically designated for Georgia students. From this pool, 2,640 were offered admission to the 2026 first-year class.
The admitted students hail from 115 Georgia counties and 391 high schools.
“We continue to see expanded interest in Georgia Tech thanks to efforts to expand recruitment across the state,” said Mary Tipton Woolley, executive director of the Office of Undergraduate Admission. “We are thrilled to offer these students admission to join our campus community.”
The all-time high in applications for this admission phase represents a 7.3% increase from last year and includes 27 Georgia counties where application volumes increased by more than 100%.
Surprise Decision Deliveries
A handful of students were surprised with their admission decision early, as admission counselors spent Thursday and Friday traveling across the state to hand deliver acceptance letters.
These hand deliveries took place in Banks, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Pickens, Putnam, and Upson Counties.
At Putnam County High School in Eatonton, Georgia, all three applicants were admitted. Under the guise of a 9 a.m. meeting, school administrators led the three students to a room where family members, school staff, and admission counselor Antwuan Holloway waited.
Greeted by a raucous chorus of congratulations, a few tears were shed throughout the room as Holloway brought the students to the front and handed them their acceptance letters. The students were then asked to read the first sentence of their letters aloud, congratulating them on their admission.
For Vidhi Raiyani, one of the accepted students, the surprise showed that years of hard work had paid off.
“This has been the dream since seventh grade,” said Raiyani. “We have all worked so hard, and it’s so nice to be recognized like this.”
Raiyani’s parents, Vipul and Jinal, were notified on Wednesday about their daughter’s acceptance. Keeping the secret was hard, but seeing Vidhi’s reaction to the surprise was well worth it.
“This has been her dream,” said Vipul. “Georgia Tech is not just about the education; it’s about the ideas people are working on. We’re so excited for her.”
This hand delivery marked Holloway’s first. The experience proved to be everything he hoped for.
“These hand deliveries serve as a celebration of many years of hard work and dedication for these students accepted into Georgia Tech for Fall 2026,” said Holloway. “The highlight of the occasion was surprising these students at their high school in front of family, friends, faculty, staff, alumni, and community leaders. This was my first time being a part of the hand delivery effort at Georgia Tech, and I was extremely excited to be able to help in honoring these students.”
The deliveries cap off another successful fall recruitment season that connected staff with 8,700 students at over 400 high schools in 132 counties.
Admitted students have until May 1, 2026, to pay their deposit and join the record 21,026 degree-seeking undergraduate students at Tech.
Next Application Phases and Recruitment
“Now we turn our attention to Early Action 2 applications, our early application phase for non-Georgia students, and helping these newly admitted students choose Georgia Tech,” said Woolley. “We’ll have a number of opportunities for admitted students to visit campus and engage with our campus partners in the coming months.”
Early Action 2 decisions will be released in late January or early February. Regular Decisions will be announced in March, following the Regular Decision deadline of Jan. 5, 2026.
Follow @gtadmission on social media for the latest Undergraduate Admission updates or check the Undergraduate Admission website for more information.
