Application Philosophy

VIP sites handle their applications in a variety of ways. At Georgia Tech, they firmly believe applications should not be used to screen students.

• They do not screen by GPA. From experience, they have found little correlation between GPA and student performance on teams. Further, a team full of 4.0 students does not function well.
• They have no interviews. Research shows little correlation between interview performance and job performance. They also feel interviews are intimidating and that they would make the program less accessible to marginalized students.
• They do not take resumes or letters of recommendation. They feel these screening tools "make the rich richer," awarding enriching experiences to students who have already had enriching experiences.
• They feel the single strongest predictor of student performance is enthusiasm. For this reason, students apply to specific projects in which they are interested, and the application includes a single comment box in which they are asked about their interest in the team.

Application Process

Georgia Tech VIP has a rolling admissions process, so applications are considered and approved/denied as they come in.

• Students apply online.
• Students are approved/denied.
  • All returning students are automatically approved if they are returning to the same team. Students requesting team changes have to either take one semester off or provide a compelling justification.
  • If denied, they're invited to either apply to another team or to apply again for the same team the next semester.
  • The Director processes applications for new teams. Experienced instructors typically process their own.
• Course registration permits are issued to approved students.

Application Form

Web-based form, step by step. Georgia Tech's application form is web-based, and it ties into the Registrar's system. Students log into the system, and the system pulls their student IDs and flags them as new or returning based on past class rolls. The application at Georgia Tech requests only:

• Name
• Major
• Academic rank (sophomore, junior, senior)
• VIP team to which student wants to apply (only one)
• Number of credits requested (one or two)
• Comments
• Automated information: whether they've participated in VIP before, on what team, and when