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Fulton From the Ground Up

Agriculture and natural resource updates from Fulton County Extension

Is Your Soil Healthy? Most Home Gardeners Don’t Know

Gabrielle LaTora

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by Rock Reed, Fulton County Master Gardener Extension Volunteer trainee

This article is part of Garden Buzz, a series from Appen Media and the North Fulton Master Gardeners, where rotating columnists explore horticulture topics like herbs, insects, and wildlife conservation.  Find all Garden Buzz articles here .

How do you get healthy gardens and yards? It all starts with healthy soil!

How do we know if we have healthy soil? Just bring some soil to The University of Georgia (UGA) Extension office. They will have your soil tested to provide a report on the nutrients and pH of your soil and a detailed recommendation to improve the soil as needed. This report is an essential guide to maintaining healthy soil for whatever we want to grow.

Our yards and gardens need an annual or semiannual soil checkup. Our bodies deserve an annual checkup to make sure our organs are functioning as they should. Our swimming pools deserve a weekly checkup to make sure the chemical levels are balanced and microbiological organisms are in check. In the same way, our yards and gardens deserve the benefit of a soil check for optimal maintenance. Our plants will gather nutrients from the soil and produce color, fruits, strength, and structure that cannot be obtained from weak or deficient soil. 

What is healthy soil?

First, healthy soil delivers structural support for the roots to grow and sustain the plant. Second, soil provides water and nutrients for your plants. The soil holds water and acts like a purification system as water passes through it. Healthy soil helps break down organic waste and recycles nutrients back to the environment. The soil also provides a habitat for beneficial microbes and animals. Finally, the soil is good for our ecology as it stores and releases beneficial gases like oxygen and nitrogen.

What do you get with a soil test from UGA Extension?

You will get a professional analysis of your soil, which will indicate the pH (a measurement of acidity and alkalinity) and the measurement of key elements in your soil. Macronutrients are those that are required in larger amounts such as: nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn). Grass (sod) and garden areas should be sampled separately. You will get a professional recommendation of what your soil needs and how to achieve it. 

How do you collect soil samples?

Note: You only need about 1 pint (2 cups) of soil for each area!

• For each turf area (example: tall fescue or bermudagrass) you will collect 8 to 12 samples of soil. The samples should be taken from random locations in the yard using a zig-zag pattern. Collect a small “slice” of dirt from ground level to a depth of 4 inches. Put all the soil from the area being tested into a plastic (not metal) bucket, pulverize the soil and mix thoroughly, and lay your sample on newspaper or a trash bag to air dry thoroughly. After your soil is dry, put this sample into a plastic zip lock bag.
• For each ornamental area (trees, roses, blueberries, etc.) gather several samples from inside the drip line (leaf/branch edge). Again, you will pulverize and mix the soil in a plastic bucket, let it air dry, and place it in a plastic zip lock bag.  Note: mark each bag clearly as you want an individual report for each desired location.
• Use the UGA Extension publication, Soil Testing for Home Lawns, Gardens and Wildlife Food Plots , for a more detailed explanation of “how to” soil collection instructions.

How do you submit a soil sample to UGA Extension?

It’s easy! You can bring collected soil from important areas of your yard and garden to your local UGA Extension office . If you collected soil from multiple locations, please remember to have each sample clearly identified with the different locations in a zip lock bag.

Bring your samples to your Fulton County Extension office, and you will get a report back in 10-14 days at a cost of $12 per soil sample for a Routine Test. The analysis is a bit technical—it will give a detailed breakdown of current pH (soil acidity), minerals, and nutrients. However, the recommendations are easy to follow and implement. In laymen’s terms, they give specific nutrients to add and suggested amounts.

The test is easy, and the results will help bring you gardening success. Take out the speculation and become a garden guru without guessing what your garden needs.

• Soil Testing for Home Lawns, Gardens and Wildlife Food Plots
• The Farmer’s Guide to Agricultural Soil Testing
• How to Amend Garden Soil
• Find Your Local County Extension Office

About the Author

This week’s “Garden Buzz” guest columnist is Rock Reed, a master gardener intern. Rock is a resident of Alpharetta, GA and recently retired. He has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Walden University. Rock enjoys teaching, running, and (of course) gardening. He has experience with farming in Iowa, where large gardens are the norm. He has volunteered on Habitat for Humanity projects and leading children’s clubs and organizations.

These 8 senators each made more than $100,000 last year from writing books

• Writing books continues to be lucrative for senators with national profiles.
• In 2023, eight senators made more than $100,000 in royalties, according to financial disclosures.
• That includes Democrats like Raphael Warnock and Republicans like Ted Cruz.

If you're an ambitious member of Congress with a national profile, there's a tried and true way to make some extra money: write a book.

According to recently filed financial disclosures, 8 sitting US senators made more than $100,000 in extra income — on top of the $174,000 annual salary they each receive — from book royalties in 2023.

It's an ongoing trend. Last year, six senators made more than their annual salary in book royalties.

That includes both Democrats and Republicans, each of whom have cashed in on a mixture of personal biographies, policy blueprints, and political manifestos that they've published in recent years.

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia

Raphael Warnock, the first-term Democratic senator from Georgia, made more than $460,000 in book royalties last year.

That's on top of more than $655,000 in 2022 and nearly $244,000 in 2021. Altogether, Warnock has made more than $1.3 million from selling books since he was elected to the Senate.

According to a disclosure that Warnock filed last year, covering the year 2022, the senator even went on a book tour for his 2022 memoir, "A Way Out of No Way," in June and July of that year amid his competitive reelection fight against Republican Herschel Walker.

In his most recent disclosure, Warnock indicated that he had signed a new agreement with Penguin Random House in June 2023 to write two more books, entitled "We're All In This Together 1" and "We're All In This Together 2."

There's little public information about those forthcoming books, including when they're set to be released, and a Warnock spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas

Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and 2016 GOP presidential candidate known for hosting a thrice-weekly podcast , earned $390,000 last year from book royalties.

But that's just one portion of a much larger windfall that Cruz is set to receive for his book writing.

In January 2022, Cruz signed an agreement with the the right-leaning Regnery Publishing to write two books for a grand total of $1.1 million, to be paid out in four installments. In total, Cruz has disclosed receiving $890,000 of that sum so far.

Those books include "Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System," published in 2022, as well as his 2023 book "Unwoke: How to Defeat Culture Marxism in America."

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas

In 2022, Cotton published his second book, " Only the Strong: Reversing the Left's Plot to Sabotage American Power." Since then, he's received a total of $600,000 in book royalties — $300,000 in both 2022 and 2023.

But while most senators appear to receive their book royalties directly, Cotton does it differently. He has established a limited liability company called TBC Books (Cotton's full name is " Thomas Bryant Cotton") that holds his royalty earnings. Then, he draws money from that entity as he sees fit.

In 2023, he withdrew $100,000. In 2022, he withdrew $73,537.

It's not clear why Cotton uses an LLC rather than receiving the royalties directly, and a spokesperson did not return Business Insider's request for comment.

Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama

Britt, the freshman Alabama senator best known for her 2024 State of the Union response , earned $233,750 in book royalties last year for her 2023 memoir, " God Calls Us to Do Hard Things: Lessons from the Alabama Wiregrass."

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky

Paul, the staunchly libertarian Kentucky senator and 2016 GOP presidential candidate, earned $185,000 last year in book royalties for his 2023 book, " Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up."

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Sanders, the independent socialist Vermont senator and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, earned $148,750 in royalties last year from Penguin Random House.

The Vermont senator has published several books, the most recent of which is "It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism." In 2022, he earned enough in book royalties to essentially double his Senate salary .

"I wrote a best-selling book," Sanders memorably told the New York Times in 2019 . "If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too."

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri

Hawley earned $127,500 in book royalties in 2023, according to his most recent financial disclosure.

That's likely a windfall from his 2023 book "Manhood," which argues in part that the political left is waging an assault on traditional masculinity.

But Hawley has another book on the way, as Business Insider first reported in May .

In October 2023, the Missouri senator signed an agreement with Regnery Publishing to write a book entitled " The Awakenings: The Religious Revivals that Made America — and Why We Need Another One."

It is unclear when that book will be published, but a manuscript is due in January 2025, according to Regnery.

In 2021, Hawley made $467,000 in book royalties.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia

Kaine, the Virginia senator and 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, earned $114,000 in book royalties last year for his memoir, " Walk, Ride, Paddle: A Life Outside."

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Key things to know about U.S. election polling in 2024

Confidence in U.S. public opinion polling was shaken by errors in 2016 and 2020. In both years’ general elections, many polls underestimated the strength of Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. These errors laid bare some real limitations of polling.

In the midterms that followed those elections, polling performed better . But many Americans remain skeptical that it can paint an accurate portrait of the public’s political preferences.

Restoring people’s confidence in polling is an important goal, because robust and independent public polling has a critical role to play in a democratic society. It gathers and publishes information about the well-being of the public and about citizens’ views on major issues. And it provides an important counterweight to people in power, or those seeking power, when they make claims about “what the people want.”

The challenges facing polling are undeniable. In addition to the longstanding issues of rising nonresponse and cost, summer 2024 brought extraordinary events that transformed the presidential race . The good news is that people with deep knowledge of polling are working hard to fix the problems exposed in 2016 and 2020, experimenting with more data sources and interview approaches than ever before. Still, polls are more useful to the public if people have realistic expectations about what surveys can do well – and what they cannot.

With that in mind, here are some key points to know about polling heading into this year’s presidential election.

Probability sampling (or “random sampling”). This refers to a polling method in which survey participants are recruited using random sampling from a database or list that includes nearly everyone in the population. The pollster selects the sample. The survey is not open for anyone who wants to sign up.

Online opt-in polling (or “nonprobability sampling”). These polls are recruited using a variety of methods that are sometimes referred to as “convenience sampling.” Respondents come from a variety of online sources such as ads on social media or search engines, websites offering rewards in exchange for survey participation, or self-enrollment. Unlike surveys with probability samples, people can volunteer to participate in opt-in surveys.

Nonresponse and nonresponse bias. Nonresponse is when someone sampled for a survey does not participate. Nonresponse bias occurs when the pattern of nonresponse leads to error in a poll estimate. For example, college graduates are more likely than those without a degree to participate in surveys, leading to the potential that the share of college graduates in the resulting sample will be too high.

Mode of interview. This refers to the format in which respondents are presented with and respond to survey questions. The most common modes are online, live telephone, text message and paper. Some polls use more than one mode.

Weighting. This is a statistical procedure pollsters perform to make their survey align with the broader population on key characteristics like age, race, etc. For example, if a survey has too many college graduates compared with their share in the population, people without a college degree are “weighted up” to match the proper share.

How are election polls being conducted?

Pollsters are making changes in response to the problems in previous elections. As a result, polling is different today than in 2016. Most U.S. polling organizations that conducted and publicly released national surveys in both 2016 and 2022 (61%) used methods in 2022 that differed from what they used in 2016 . And change has continued since 2022.

One change is that the number of active polling organizations has grown significantly, indicating that there are fewer barriers to entry into the polling field. The number of organizations that conduct national election polls more than doubled between 2000 and 2022.

This growth has been driven largely by pollsters using inexpensive opt-in sampling methods. But previous Pew Research Center analyses have demonstrated how surveys that use nonprobability sampling may have errors twice as large , on average, as those that use probability sampling.

The second change is that many of the more prominent polling organizations that use probability sampling – including Pew Research Center – have shifted from conducting polls primarily by telephone to using online methods, or some combination of online, mail and telephone. The result is that polling methodologies are far more diverse now than in the past.

(For more about how public opinion polling works, including a chapter on election polls, read our short online course on public opinion polling basics .)

All good polling relies on statistical adjustment called “weighting,” which makes sure that the survey sample aligns with the broader population on key characteristics. Historically, public opinion researchers have adjusted their data using a core set of demographic variables to correct imbalances between the survey sample and the population.

But there is a growing realization among survey researchers that weighting a poll on just a few variables like age, race and gender is insufficient for getting accurate results. Some groups of people – such as older adults and college graduates – are more likely to take surveys, which can lead to errors that are too sizable for a simple three- or four-variable adjustment to work well. Adjusting on more variables produces more accurate results, according to Center studies in 2016 and 2018 .

A number of pollsters have taken this lesson to heart. For example, recent high-quality polls by Gallup and The New York Times/Siena College adjusted on eight and 12 variables, respectively. Our own polls typically adjust on 12 variables . In a perfect world, it wouldn’t be necessary to have that much intervention by the pollster. But the real world of survey research is not perfect.

Predicting who will vote is critical – and difficult. Preelection polls face one crucial challenge that routine opinion polls do not: determining who of the people surveyed will actually cast a ballot.

Roughly a third of eligible Americans do not vote in presidential elections , despite the enormous attention paid to these contests. Determining who will abstain is difficult because people can’t perfectly predict their future behavior – and because many people feel social pressure to say they’ll vote even if it’s unlikely.

No one knows the profile of voters ahead of Election Day. We can’t know for sure whether young people will turn out in greater numbers than usual, or whether key racial or ethnic groups will do so. This means pollsters are left to make educated guesses about turnout, often using a mix of historical data and current measures of voting enthusiasm. This is very different from routine opinion polls, which mostly do not ask about people’s future intentions.

When major news breaks, a poll’s timing can matter. Public opinion on most issues is remarkably stable, so you don’t necessarily need a recent poll about an issue to get a sense of what people think about it. But dramatic events can and do change public opinion , especially when people are first learning about a new topic. For example, polls this summer saw notable changes in voter attitudes following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. Polls taken immediately after a major event may pick up a shift in public opinion, but those shifts are sometimes short-lived. Polls fielded weeks or months later are what allow us to see whether an event has had a long-term impact on the public’s psyche.

How accurate are polls?

The answer to this question depends on what you want polls to do. Polls are used for all kinds of purposes in addition to showing who’s ahead and who’s behind in a campaign. Fair or not, however, the accuracy of election polling is usually judged by how closely the polls matched the outcome of the election.

By this standard, polling in 2016 and 2020 performed poorly. In both years, state polling was characterized by serious errors. National polling did reasonably well in 2016 but faltered in 2020.

In 2020, a post-election review of polling by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) found that “the 2020 polls featured polling error of an unusual magnitude: It was the highest in 40 years for the national popular vote and the highest in at least 20 years for state-level estimates of the vote in presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial contests.”

How big were the errors? Polls conducted in the last two weeks before the election suggested that Biden’s margin over Trump was nearly twice as large as it ended up being in the final national vote tally.

Errors of this size make it difficult to be confident about who is leading if the election is closely contested, as many U.S. elections are .

Pollsters are rightly working to improve the accuracy of their polls. But even an error of 4 or 5 percentage points isn’t too concerning if the purpose of the poll is to describe whether the public has favorable or unfavorable opinions about candidates , or to show which issues matter to which voters. And on questions that gauge where people stand on issues, we usually want to know broadly where the public stands. We don’t necessarily need to know the precise share of Americans who say, for example, that climate change is mostly caused by human activity. Even judged by its performance in recent elections, polling can still provide a faithful picture of public sentiment on the important issues of the day.

The 2022 midterms saw generally accurate polling, despite a wave of partisan polls predicting a broad Republican victory. In fact, FiveThirtyEight found that “polls were more accurate in 2022 than in any cycle since at least 1998, with almost no bias toward either party.” Moreover, a handful of contrarian polls that predicted a 2022 “red wave” largely washed out when the votes were tallied. In sum, if we focus on polling in the most recent national election, there’s plenty of reason to be encouraged.

Compared with other elections in the past 20 years, polls have been less accurate when Donald Trump is on the ballot. Preelection surveys suffered from large errors – especially at the state level – in 2016 and 2020, when Trump was standing for election. But they performed reasonably well in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, when he was not.

During the 2016 campaign, observers speculated about the possibility that Trump supporters might be less willing to express their support to a pollster – a phenomenon sometimes described as the “shy Trump effect.” But a committee of polling experts evaluated five different tests of the “shy Trump” theory and turned up little to no evidence for each one . Later, Pew Research Center and, in a separate test, a researcher from Yale also found little to no evidence in support of the claim.

Instead, two other explanations are more likely. One is about the difficulty of estimating who will turn out to vote. Research has found that Trump is popular among people who tend to sit out midterms but turn out for him in presidential election years. Since pollsters often use past turnout to predict who will vote, it can be difficult to anticipate when irregular voters will actually show up.

The other explanation is that Republicans in the Trump era have become a little less likely than Democrats to participate in polls . Pollsters call this “partisan nonresponse bias.” Surprisingly, polls historically have not shown any particular pattern of favoring one side or the other. The errors that favored Democratic candidates in the past eight years may be a result of the growth of political polarization, along with declining trust among conservatives in news organizations and other institutions that conduct polls.

Whatever the cause, the fact that Trump is again the nominee of the Republican Party means that pollsters must be especially careful to make sure all segments of the population are properly represented in surveys.

The real margin of error is often about double the one reported. A typical election poll sample of about 1,000 people has a margin of sampling error that’s about plus or minus 3 percentage points. That number expresses the uncertainty that results from taking a sample of the population rather than interviewing everyone . Random samples are likely to differ a little from the population just by chance, in the same way that the quality of your hand in a card game varies from one deal to the next.

The problem is that sampling error is not the only kind of error that affects a poll. Those other kinds of error, in fact, can be as large or larger than sampling error. Consequently, the reported margin of error can lead people to think that polls are more accurate than they really are.

There are three other, equally important sources of error in polling: noncoverage error , where not all the target population has a chance of being sampled; nonresponse error, where certain groups of people may be less likely to participate; and measurement error, where people may not properly understand the questions or misreport their opinions. Not only does the margin of error fail to account for those other sources of potential error, putting a number only on sampling error implies to the public that other kinds of error do not exist.

Several recent studies show that the average total error in a poll estimate may be closer to twice as large as that implied by a typical margin of sampling error. This hidden error underscores the fact that polls may not be precise enough to call the winner in a close election.

Other important things to remember

Transparency in how a poll was conducted is associated with better accuracy . The polling industry has several platforms and initiatives aimed at promoting transparency in survey methodology. These include AAPOR’s transparency initiative and the Roper Center archive . Polling organizations that participate in these organizations have less error, on average, than those that don’t participate, an analysis by FiveThirtyEight found .

Participation in these transparency efforts does not guarantee that a poll is rigorous, but it is undoubtedly a positive signal. Transparency in polling means disclosing essential information, including the poll’s sponsor, the data collection firm, where and how participants were selected, modes of interview, field dates, sample size, question wording, and weighting procedures.

There is evidence that when the public is told that a candidate is extremely likely to win, some people may be less likely to vote . Following the 2016 election, many people wondered whether the pervasive forecasts that seemed to all but guarantee a Hillary Clinton victory – two modelers put her chances at 99% – led some would-be voters to conclude that the race was effectively over and that their vote would not make a difference. There is scientific research to back up that claim: A team of researchers found experimental evidence that when people have high confidence that one candidate will win, they are less likely to vote. This helps explain why some polling analysts say elections should be covered using traditional polling estimates and margins of error rather than speculative win probabilities (also known as “probabilistic forecasts”).

National polls tell us what the entire public thinks about the presidential candidates, but the outcome of the election is determined state by state in the Electoral College . The 2000 and 2016 presidential elections demonstrated a difficult truth: The candidate with the largest share of support among all voters in the United States sometimes loses the election. In those two elections, the national popular vote winners (Al Gore and Hillary Clinton) lost the election in the Electoral College (to George W. Bush and Donald Trump). In recent years, analysts have shown that Republican candidates do somewhat better in the Electoral College than in the popular vote because every state gets three electoral votes regardless of population – and many less-populated states are rural and more Republican.

For some, this raises the question: What is the use of national polls if they don’t tell us who is likely to win the presidency? In fact, national polls try to gauge the opinions of all Americans, regardless of whether they live in a battleground state like Pennsylvania, a reliably red state like Idaho or a reliably blue state like Rhode Island. In short, national polls tell us what the entire citizenry is thinking. Polls that focus only on the competitive states run the risk of giving too little attention to the needs and views of the vast majority of Americans who live in uncompetitive states – about 80%.

Fortunately, this is not how most pollsters view the world . As the noted political scientist Sidney Verba explained, “Surveys produce just what democracy is supposed to produce – equal representation of all citizens.”

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Scott Keeter is a senior survey advisor at Pew Research Center .

Courtney Kennedy is Vice President of Methods and Innovation at Pew Research Center .

How do people in the U.S. take Pew Research Center surveys, anyway?

How public polling has changed in the 21st century, what 2020’s election poll errors tell us about the accuracy of issue polling, a field guide to polling: election 2020 edition, methods 101: how is polling done around the world, most popular.

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Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2024

Published by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) in support of the Global Network against Food Crises (GNAFC), the GRFC 2024 is the reference document for global, regional and country-level acute food insecurity in 2023. The report is the result of a collaborative effort among 16 partners to achieve a consensus-based assessment of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in countries with food crises and aims to inform humanitarian and development action.  

FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises. 2024. GRFC 2024 . Rome.

When citing this report online please use this link:

https://www.fsinplatform.org/report/global-report-food-crises-2024/

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Judge rules for Georgia election workers in defamation suit against Rudy Giuliani over 2020 election falsehoods

By Melissa Quinn

Updated on: August 30, 2023 / 7:43 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A federal judge on Wednesday sided with two former election workers from Georgia who filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani alleging he defamed them by falsely claiming they engaged in an election-fraud scheme during the 2020 presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who sits on the federal district court in Washington, D.C., awarded default judgment against Giuliani holding him liable on several claims, including defamation, brought by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss , who are mother and daughter, respectively. The two served as election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, in the last presidential election and assisted with the vote-counting process at Atlanta's State Farm Arena.

Howell also ordered Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who served as an outside lawyer to former President Donald Trump, to reimburse Freeman and Moss more than $89,000 in attorneys' fees and costs related to a request that the court force Giuliani to fulfill his discovery obligations. Giuliani also must ensure his eponymous businesses cover more than $43,000 in attorneys' fees associated with an effort to force them to respond to requests for documents and depositions, the judge said.

"Rather than simply play by the rules designed to promote a discovery process necessary to reach a fair decision on the merits of plaintiffs' claims, Giuliani has bemoaned plaintiffs' efforts to secure his compliance as 'punishment by process,'" Howell wrote in a 57-page opinion . "Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straight-forward defamation case, with the concomitant necessity of repeated court intervention."

The two sides must propose three dates between November and February for a trial to determine the amount of damages, if any, Giuliani owes to Freeman and Moss as a result of his defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to the order. Howell wrote that as a sanction for Giuliani's failure to reimburse the $89,000 in attorneys' fees by July 25, the jury may be instructed to "infer that he is intentionally trying to hide relevant discovery about his financial assets for the purpose of artificially deflating his net worth" when determining the amount to award Freeman and Moss.

Howell noted in her opinion that, aside from 193 documents initially produced by Giuliani, the result of efforts to obtain material during the discovery process was "largely a single page of communications, blobs of indecipherable data, a sliver of the financial documents required to be produced, and a declaration and two stipulations from Giuliani."

She criticized the  two stipulations from Giuliani as holding "more holes than Swiss cheese," and said they "make clear his goal" of bypassing the discovery process and a merits trial, where his defenses would be scrutinized and tested.

"Yet, just as taking shortcuts to win an election carries risks — even potential criminal liability — bypassing the discovery process carries serious sanctions, no matter what reservations a noncompliant party may try artificially to preserve for appeal," Howell wrote.

Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Giuliani, denounced the opinion from Howell and said it should be reversed. He claimed the electronic evidence Giuliani is accused of not preserving was seized and held by the FBI.

"This 57 page opinion on discovery — which would usually be no more than two or three pages — is a prime example of the weaponization of our justice system, where the process is the punishment," Goodman said in a statement.

The decision from Howell is the culmination of a months-long back-and-forth over Giuliani's discovery obligations in the suit brought by Freeman and Moss. The two asked Howell in July to impose sanctions on Giuliani for failing to preserve electronic evidence from his email, messaging and social media accounts, and electronic devices.

Giuliani asked the court to deny their request that he be punished and conceded that he made false statements when he claimed Freeman and Moss engaged in voter fraud during the election.

The two women filed their defamation lawsuit in December 2021, alleging Giuliani mounted a sustained smear campaign against them by repeatedly accusing them of committing voter fraud to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. 

The mother and daughter were thrust into the spotlight after they were shown in security camera footage from Atlanta's State Farm Arena processing ballots. Giuliani and the Trump campaign shared an excerpt from the video and falsely claimed Freeman and Moss were engaging in a fake-ballot scheme. Giuliani also claimed without evidence the two were passing around USB ports "as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine."

While Georgia election officials refuted the baseless claims spread by Trump's allies, Freeman and Moss were subjected to violent and racist threats and harassment. An indictment returned by a grand jury in Fulton County  this month charging Giuliani, Trump and 17 others for their alleged roles in a scheme to overturn the election results in Georgia detailed how allies of Trump went to Freeman's house in early January 2021 and allegedly attempted to influence her testimony in an official proceeding about the events at the State Farm Arena on Election Day in 2020.

Giuliani attempted to dismiss the lawsuit from Freeman and Moss, but Howell denied the request in October and accused the former mayor of pushing a false narrative that the election was stolen.

He has denied any wrongdoing in the Georgia case.

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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Blog The Education Hub

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/20/gcse-results-day-2024-number-grading-system/

GCSE results day 2024: Everything you need to know including the number grading system

Thousands of students across the country will soon be finding out their GCSE results and thinking about the next steps in their education.   

Here we explain everything you need to know about the big day, from when results day is, to the current 9-1 grading scale, to what your options are if your results aren’t what you’re expecting.  

When is GCSE results day 2024?  

GCSE results day will be taking place on Thursday the 22 August.     

The results will be made available to schools on Wednesday and available to pick up from your school by 8am on Thursday morning.  

Schools will issue their own instructions on how and when to collect your results.   

When did we change to a number grading scale?  

The shift to the numerical grading system was introduced in England in 2017 firstly in English language, English literature, and maths.  

By 2020 all subjects were shifted to number grades. This means anyone with GCSE results from 2017-2020 will have a combination of both letters and numbers.  

The numerical grading system was to signal more challenging GCSEs and to better differentiate between students’ abilities - particularly at higher grades between the A *-C grades. There only used to be 4 grades between A* and C, now with the numerical grading scale there are 6.  

What do the number grades mean?  

The grades are ranked from 1, the lowest, to 9, the highest.  

The grades don’t exactly translate, but the two grading scales meet at three points as illustrated below.  

The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A, while the bottom of grade 4 is aligned to the bottom of grade C.    

Meanwhile, the bottom of grade 1 is aligned to the bottom of grade G.  

What to do if your results weren’t what you were expecting?  

If your results weren’t what you were expecting, firstly don’t panic. You have options.  

First things first, speak to your school or college – they could be flexible on entry requirements if you’ve just missed your grades.   

They’ll also be able to give you the best tailored advice on whether re-sitting while studying for your next qualifications is a possibility.   

If you’re really unhappy with your results you can enter to resit all GCSE subjects in summer 2025. You can also take autumn exams in GCSE English language and maths.  

Speak to your sixth form or college to decide when it’s the best time for you to resit a GCSE exam.  

Look for other courses with different grade requirements     

Entry requirements vary depending on the college and course. Ask your school for advice, and call your college or another one in your area to see if there’s a space on a course you’re interested in.    

Consider an apprenticeship    

Apprenticeships combine a practical training job with study too. They’re open to you if you’re 16 or over, living in England, and not in full time education.  

As an apprentice you’ll be a paid employee, have the opportunity to work alongside experienced staff, gain job-specific skills, and get time set aside for training and study related to your role.   

You can find out more about how to apply here .  

Talk to a National Careers Service (NCS) adviser    

The National Career Service is a free resource that can help you with your career planning. Give them a call to discuss potential routes into higher education, further education, or the workplace.   

Whatever your results, if you want to find out more about all your education and training options, as well as get practical advice about your exam results, visit the  National Careers Service page  and Skills for Careers to explore your study and work choices.   

You may also be interested in:

• Results day 2024: What's next after picking up your A level, T level and VTQ results?
• When is results day 2024? GCSEs, A levels, T Levels and VTQs

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How to Write the University of Georgia Essay 2024-2025

So you have decided to apply to the University of Georgia, where the only thing hotter than your ardor for the Georgia Bulldogs will be your animus toward the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Georgia summer heat. 

While the school is well-known for its back-to-back football national championships, its campus also boasts a wide array of pre-professional career tracks into any one of its specialized colleges, such as the Terry College of Business, the College of Veterinary Medicine, or the School of Social Work. Whichever field of study you end up choosing, you’ll get all the excitement that comes from going to a large research university with almost 30,000 other undergraduates.

Of course, a large student body also means the University of Georgia receives a high number of applications. One of the best ways to help yourself stand out from the crowd is by crafting a strong supplemental essay, which is why we’re going to give you detailed guidance on how to tackle this year’s UGA prompt.

Read this University of Georgia essay example to inspire your own writing.

University of Georgia Supplemental Essay 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)., 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. (200-350 words).

This prompt may have caused you to do a double take. What? An essay about a middle school book? Don’t worry, the admissions committee isn’t trying to trick you. You are actually allowed to write about a book that impacted your transition from your tweens to your teens.

The motivation behind asking this question is to see how you approach and handle large changes. The transition from middle school to high school is a turbulent time that in many ways mirrors the transition from high school to college—increased responsibility, new friendships, more academic challenges, finding yourself, etc. Although you are framing your development through the lens of a book, the real core of your essay is about the challenges you faced and how you handled them.

As you start brainstorming your essay, there are two routes you can take.

• Pick a book first and tie it back to your life.
• Pick a challenge in your life and find a book that relates to it.

Either approach is valid, it simply depends on what stands out to you more. If you had a book you were in love with that deeply resonated with you when you were 13 or 14, pick that! Think about what drew you to the book. Did the main character experience a challenge similar to you at the time? Did you find parallels to reality in the social commentary? Was there a prevalent theme that inspired you? Asking yourself these questions can help you recall what was so monumental about the book so you can draw a connection to yourself.

It’s also okay to not have any book immediately jump out at you. In that case, you can start by thinking about yourself during that time frame and ask yourself what big changes or challenges you faced. Maybe you struggled to maintain old friendships when you moved to a bigger school. Maybe you became self conscious about your looks and struggled with confidence. Maybe you found a passion for a particular extracurricular activity. Once you pick something important, you can think about books you read that relate to your experience in some way.

Before we get any further, it’s important to remind you to pick a book you actually read . The prompt isn’t asking for the most impressive book you’ve ever read, so don’t pull out War and Peace just because you think it will make you sound sophisticated. The book you pick should reflect what you read as a 13 year old (give or take a few years), so there’s no penalty for choosing Divergent or a young adult romance book.

When you have both your book and your connection to yourself, you need to ask yourself what role the book played in your development. For some students, it might be that they saw themselves in the main character and drew strength from their actions to act more courageously towards the challenges in their life. For other students, maybe there was a central theme like not belonging that resonated with them and made them feel like they weren’t alone when they read, despite feeling that way at school. Maybe some students were spurred to change their actions upon reading a negative depiction of a character.

The connection you have to the book should be extremely personal. One hundred students could pick The Outsiders , but every student could have a different explanation for why that book helped them through their transition. Describing your unique connection to the book and the impact it had on you is the most important part of this essay, so make sure you go into as much detail as possible.

If you are unsure whether or not your essay explains the impact of the book on your life well enough, you can always use an anecdote to highlight the point you are trying to make. You can also use creative writing to your advantage and write your essay as if you were in the book. Just be careful not to get so creative that you take away from the heart of your essay!

At the end of the day, this should be one of the more fun supplemental essays you get to write. You don’t have to worry about selling yourself as a talented high school student; you are allowed to be young and yourself in this essay. Your book and its impact can be as deep as you want or more on the lighthearted side. Don’t overthink it!

Where to Get Your University of Georgia Essay Edited For Free

Do you want feedback on your University of Georgia essay? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a  free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

University of Georgia (UGA) 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action: Oct 15

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 1

University of Georgia 2024-25 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: 1 essays of 200-300 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball

T he 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).” (200-300 words)

This prompt asks you to discuss a book that made a big impression on you as you navigated the transition from middle to high school. At CEA, we always recommend that you choose an unexpected work in order to stand out from the pack, but ultimately, you should aim for authenticity rather than uniqueness. If Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was the book you turned to in the beginning of freshman year, where you found not only fantastical escape, but also an accurate reflection of the struggles of fitting in (even if you weren’t the “chosen one”), then write about that! But a word of warning if you choose a more commonly read book such as those from the Wizarding World: your essay has to go above and beyond if it has any chance of making an impression on the admissions department at UGA. 

If, however, there is another less-mainstream book that struck a chord with you, we encourage you to select that one to elaborate upon. No matter your choice, as you contemplate the prompt, ask yourself: Which characters have inspired you? Which plotlines have stayed with you long after you closed the book? How did you apply what you took from the story to your own life?

Regardless of the book you choose, try to give yourself as much time as possible to reflect on its impact and the role it played in helping you navigate your introduction to high school. As always, it’s your job to tell admissions a story, one that reveals information about who you are, what you care about, and/or what inspires you.

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UGA Supplemental Essay 2024-25 – Prompt and Advice

June 18, 2024

Over 43,000 students from around the world applied for a place in the UGA Class of 2028 . Further, the EA round in the 2023-24 cycle broke the previous year’s all-time high mark. This means that the UGA supplemental essay may be even more important in 2024-25 than in previous years.

Last year, the average incoming freshman took between 8-13 AP, IB, or dual enrollment courses in high school. The average student also earned a weighted GPA above a 4.0. Moreover, the SAT range for admitted freshmen was 1280-1470. The purpose of this information isn’t to engender fear in the hearts of Bulldog hopefuls; rather, we want to make sure that you take the task of presenting yourself in the best possible light very seriously.

 (Want to learn more about How to Get Into the University of Georgia? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into the University of Georgia: Admissions Data and Strategies  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

Although it only has one general essay prompt (same as last year’s), UGA’s supplemental section still affords applicants an opportunity to illustrate what makes them uniquely qualified for admission. Below is the University of Georgia’s supplemental prompt for the 2024-25 admissions cycle along with our advice for composing an effective essay.

2024-2025 University of Georgia 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).”

FYI – 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.

(200-300 Words)

UGA Supplemental Essays 2024-25 (Continued)

This isn’t your average supplemental essay so make sure you don’t produce an average response. The highly personal nature of this prompt gives you the chance to make a strong impression on a UGA admissions officer. Since you won’t have a chance to interview at this large flagship school, this essay (as well as the main Common App essay) is one of the best chances you’ll have to forge an intimate connection with a member of the admissions committee.

You may have to dig back into your childhood bookshelves for this one. If you are having trouble, referring to the following lists may jog your memory:

Common Middle School-Assigned Texts

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
• The entire Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
• Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London
• The Pigman by Paul Zindel
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Common 10th-Grade Assigned Texts

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Hiroshima by John Hersey
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• Black Boy by Richard Wright

Of course, the book you pick may not have been assigned by a teacher, Additionally, note that the instructions give you the right to move back into 7th grade or forward into 10th grade if you wish. Remember, it can be a fiction or non-fiction text.

Big-picture thoughts on the “middle school book” essay

With a 300-word limit, you have a substantial amount of real estate to play around with here. There is enough space in which to tell a fairly substantial and detailed story. Still, in all likelihood, getting this one precisely right will involve a round or two of revision, ideally with some insight and feedback from a trusted adult or peer in the process. Some tips to keep in mind include:

• Don’t feel boxed into one particular structure for this essay. You could tell a story in multiple acts or present a slice-of-life vignette that took place in a single afternoon.
• You can use this opportunity to reveal something deep and meaningful about your personality/character.
• Make sure the content of this essay doesn’t overlap with your Common App essay. Always remember that an actual human being is going to be reading both documents; they don’t want to read two similar accounts of the same event.

How important is the UGA supplemental essay?

The essays (both the Common App essay and the supplemental one) are “considered” by the UGA admissions committee. This places them on the same tier of importance as recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, character/personal qualities, first-generation status, volunteer work, and work experience.

At UGA, three factors are “most important” in the admissions process. Those are: rigor of your coursework, GPA, and standardized test scores. However, application components like the supplemental essay can serve as a critical tie-breaker between similarly credentialed applicants.

Want Personalized Essay Assistance with your UGA Supplemental Essay?

If you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your UGA supplemental essay, we encourage you to get a quote  today.

• College Essay

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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4 Tips for Writing Stellar UGA Essays

College Info , College Essays

The University of Georgia is an excellent public school ranked in the top 50 universities nationwide . If you're applying here, you'll need to submit two amazing essays. So what are the UGA essay prompts? And how can you ensure your UGA essays will make you stand out?

In this in-depth guide, we give you all the current UGA essay prompts and tips for choosing and approaching the best prompt for you. We also look at an actual UGA application essay example to give you an idea of what your own essay can and should look like.

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What Are the UGA Essay Prompts?

The UGA application, which you can submit via the Common Application or the Coalition Application , requires all first-year applicants to submit two essays.

The first essay is the personal essay that's part of the Common App or Coalition App. You can find a list of the Common App prompts and how to answer them here (and you can find the same information for the Coalition App here) .

The second essay you'll submit is unique to the University of Georgia application. The first UGA essay must answer the following prompt:

The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.

This essay prompt is pretty different from what you'd expect in a college application; it offers you many possibilities, both content-wise and stylistically. But don't worry: we're going to break it down for you below!

How to Write the UGA Supplement Essay

All applicants must respond to this prompt in 200-350 words. Here it is again for reference:

As noted above, this prompt isn't like most other college essay prompts in that instead of asking about your academic goals, skills, or accomplishments, it's trying to loosen you up by having you write about something fun and unique in your life.

In other words, UGA wants to tease out your less serious, less academic side to get a better sense of who you are as a person and not just as a student. Specifically, they want to know what holds meaning in your life and what kind of experience you think is worthy enough to share with the admissions committee.

Therefore, your first UGA essay must accomplish the following:

• Should be different from what you've talked about elsewhere on your application
• Should highlight your sincerity and personality
• Should reveal something important about who you are and/or what you value
• Should NOT be too serious—remember that UGA wants an "amusing" story!

Some of these qualities might go against everything you thought you knew about college essays, but it's important here to really try to be sincere, write with an authentic voice, and not shy away from showcasing your more irreverent side.

Here are some examples of possible topics you could write about:

• A time you made a faux pas or silly mistake (in or outside of school), how others reacted, and what you did to remedy the situation and/or learn from it
• A funny misunderstanding you had with someone, such as a teacher, friend, or parent, and what this experience taught you about the importance of clear communication
• Something amusing or thought-provoking you watched, listened to, read, or did, and why you found this particular thing so fascinating (this shouldn't be any old movie or book but something a little more unique)
• A unique hobby or interest you have, how you developed it, and why it's important to you

As you can see, you have a lot of options for what you can write about for this UGA essay. That said, make sure to avoid the following topics:

• Politics, religion, or any other overly serious or potentially controversial topic
• Death, illness, or any other grave event or moment from your life
• Something everyone has experienced or heard of—your topic should be unique to you
• Anything you've already mentioned in a different section of your application
• Stories about bodily functions (UGA specifically mentioned getting too many of these stories, so have some pity on them and choose a different topic!)

A Real UGA Application Essay Example + Analysis

Below is an actual UGA application essay example written by an admitted applicant named Micaela B. This essay, which is a response to an older prompt (" Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it" ), was taken from the UGA undergraduate admissions website where it was used as "an example of what we [UGA] consider a strong essay."

Here is the essay, at just around 300 words long (the word limit):

It's unassuming, the tiled top square table with mismatched chairs, its lacquer wearing thin from dishes being passed back and forth, room for four but always crowded by eleven. It may be unassuming but its power is undeniable.

As I grew older, the after-dinner conversations grew more intriguing to me. I began to stay and listen, to the politics I didn't understand and the adult gossip I shouldn't have been privy to. The dynamic of the debate shifted almost every time the topic changed, but the one thing that was consistent was that after all the plates were cleared and the chairs were pushed back in, everyone came together for dessert; pizzelles and biscotti. No afterthoughts, no bitterness.

I admire my family's ability to embrace each other for their differences, instead of letting it break us apart. There was no greater example of the lesson in acceptance than when my family learned of the change in sexuality of one of our relatives. After the dissolution of a marriage and a traditional family, the initial resentment towards her for the challenge to our family values was difficult to digest, yet unavoidable. It was the first dispute that ever brought tears to that weathered table with the peeling laquer. Instead of allowing differing lifestyles to drive a wedge between us, our family challenged each other's misconceptions, we discussed, we cried and we accepted.

Being raised in such a racially, economically and religiously diverse community, I am lucky to have developed the skill set to empathize with the people around me and understand that not everyone thinks the same way. In fact life would be pretty boring if everyone acted in uniformity; in a more harmonious world, everyone should be able to voice their opinions and speak their minds, and still come together for dessert.

Here's what makes this UGA essay work:

• It opens with a captivating description: This essay, especially the first two paragraphs, is undeniably attention-grabbing. The vivid image of the "tiled top square table" and how it is "always crowded by eleven" thrusts us directly into Micaela's boisterous life, making us feel as though we're sitting right there beside her and her family.
• It's tightly focused and easy to follow: From the beginning, we can tell that the crux of this essay is family, specifically the challenges that come with being a member of a large, diverse group. The story here really begins to open up by the third paragraph, where Micaela relates a surprising event—the "change" in a relative's sexuality—and shows how her family learned a valuable lesson in acceptance as a result.
• It's got a positive spin: Even though the essay discusses the challenges for a family to come together, it ultimately ends on a high note. This reveals to us a lot about Micaela's character, especially her commitment to harmony and her open-mindedness toward others.

4 Essential Tips for Your UGA Essays

Now, it's time to wrap up with some final helpful tips for your UGA essays.

#1: Be as Specific as Possible

Specificity is key to producing an effective and compelling college essay. In both your UGA essays, make sure you're being as specific as you can be: use real names of people or places, describe the emotions you felt at the time, and tell us what was said, both by whom and to whom.

Details are what will ultimately make the UGA admissions committee be able to more easily relate to your experiences, passions, and point of view. So don't forget to include them!

#2: Use an Authentic Voice

The essays are the time for your personality to shine, so don't hold back— use your natural voice to tell your story. It's OK to tell some jokes or emphasize your love of flowery language with a few poetic metaphors, for example.

That said, essays don't give you free rein to be impolite or to completely break the conventions of English grammar, so know what your limits are as you write.

#3: Write Concisely

You only have up to 350 words for the supplemental UGA essay, so it's important to focus on being concise. If one of your rough drafts exceeds the word limit by a lot, you can try to trim it down by deleting any irrelevant or wordy passages.

#4: Remember to Edit and Proofread

Finally, don't forget to edit and proofread your UGA essays! As you edit, spend time looking for the following:

• Irrelevant passages, phrases, and/or sentences
• Redundant words, phrases, and/or descriptions
• Awkward-sounding or misplaced phrases/passages
• Errors in spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation

Once you've done your own edit of your UGA essays, give them to someone to look over, such as a teacher, parent, or older sibling. Ask this person to proofread the essays and to offer you any advice they might have on how you can improve them in terms of organization, examples or details, word choice, etc.

What's Next?

Applying to other colleges in the eastern United States? Then check out our in-depth guides for tips on how to write the Georgia Tech essays , the Duke essays , and the Johns Hopkins essay .

Lots of colleges use the Common App and require an essay submitted through this system. Read our guide to learn all about the Common App essay prompts and how you can ensure your essay will impress admissions committees.

Still want to know more about UGA? Take a look at our UGA admissions requirements page to get info on the GPA and test scores needed to secure admission to this popular school.

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Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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Fall 2022 Application and Essay Information

  david graves        july 1st, 2021 in blog.

For the Fall 2022 class, UGA will be keeping the same essay questions as have had for the past few years. UGA will require two essays, a longer personal essay (250-650 words) and a shorter essay (200-300 words). The Common App has changed one essay in their list, and it is reflected here and on their prompts page. In addition, the Fall 2022 application will open up on August 1 in order to align our opening with other institutions using the Common Application. This is a change to the traditional September 1 opening, and it is due in part to having a large number of prospective students asking why they could not see UGA on the Common Application when it opened on August 1.

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
• The shorter essay prompt will continue to be the following – “The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.”

As I have done in the past, I am including an essay from an enrolling freshman for Fall 2021 that our office believes is an extremely strong writing sample.

Blades of Grass

“Five hundred sixty-one. Five hundred sixty-two.” I muttered to myself. I sat in a crouched position with a brown dress draped between my thighs. I held an opened marble composition book in one hand and a fat yellow Ticonderoga pencil in the other. Darkened tally marks engulfed the wide-ruled pages. I looked above and saw my teacher looming over me. 

 “Ciara, honey, it’s recess. You can go play. What are you counting?”

Her question intruded and derailed my concentration. I balled my fists and buried my nails into the center of my palms.        

“I just lost my space. I don’t know which piece of grass I left off at.”       

“So, I see you are counting grass.”      

“Yes ma’am, because no one could answer my question today in math.”       

Earlier that morning, Ms. Reynolds taught a lesson about counting everyday objects using tally marks. I raised my hand and asked how many blades of grass were on the playground. She looked startled when she realized I was expecting a precise number.       

She responded, “Well, I don’t actually know that Ciara. We don’t really need to know that.”       

“How come?”      

“Because I said so!”       

My grin disintegrated as I lowered my hand. How come no one knows this stuff? I thought teachers were supposed to know everything. Since no one could give me an answer, I did the only thing I knew how: figure it out myself. I made a declaration that I would find out how many blades of grass were on the playground. I would count one by one, and there would be no room for estimations or errors.     

I have always been one to ask astronomical questions like “how was the sun created” or “how much does the sky weigh”. But I have always been greeted with the typical uniform response of blank stares and shrugged shoulders. The world is so complex, yet it seemed like no one around me cared about how it worked. I learned quickly that I was expected to fall in line and accept all of the information that was presented to me. My “outlandish” questions were not permitted in the classroom. The lack of exploration of the intricacies and anomalies of the world has created an education system where identical thought processes are imposed upon students. But I aimed to abolish the rules that kept me contained within these walls, and my elementary school playground became the headquarters to do so. Eight months, six tally mark covered composition books, and17,238,782 blades of grass later, my project was complete. That playground was the birthplace of my analytical thoughts, where no question was off-limits. I was allowed to explore the whys , the how manys , and the hows of the world. It was the location of my first scientific investigation and the place that harvested my curiosity.

Because my inquisitiveness stems from my rejection of superficial explanations, the majority of my learning has taken place outside of school. I constantly challenge myself to push beyond the classroom walls and investigate topics I am interested in on a deeper level. For example, after taking AP Environmental Science and AP Biology, I became intrigued by the textile manufacturing industry and its detrimental effects on the environment. In class, I proposed the question “how can more sustainable textiles be created utilizing biological agents?” But I was not afforded an answer. For the past two years, I have been conducting an independent study to answer this question. I have developed a biodegradable textile, out of a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, that is more environmentally friendly than traditional ones.      

Every question deserves an adequate answer. I reside in my boldness to not only ask unconventional questions but also in my courage to find the answers. I am setting out to conquer the unknowns and replace the words “I don’t know” with “I’ll find out”.    Ciara M., Brookwood HS class of 2021.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, thoughts on uga essay prompts for 2023.

I'm beginning to work on my University of Georgia application, and I wanted to get some opinions on the essay prompt for this year. Any tips or ideas on how to approach this topic would be much appreciated!

Luckily for you, CollegeVine has a blog post breaking down UGA's supplemental essay prompt for this year, to help guide you in putting your best foot forward: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-university-of-georgia-essays. Also remember that CollegeVine offers both free peer essay reviews and paid reviews by expert college admissions advisors, if you get to a stage with your draft where you think getting a second set of eyes on it would be beneficial.

Good luck with your application to UGA!

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The Ultimate Guide to the University of Georgia's Supplemental Essays

Applying to the University of Georgia (UGA)? You're on the right path! UGA's beautiful campus, renowned academic programs, and spirit of community make it a top choice for many students. The college application process often comes with writing supplemental essays, and UGA is no exception. This blog post aims to guide you on how to best approach these UGA supplemental essays for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #1

The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself from your high school years that you have not already shared in your application.

Approach: This prompt invites you to share a unique aspect of your high school life. It could be an anecdote about a memorable event, a surprising hobby, or an unusual skill you have. Keep the tone light and enjoyable to read. Show your personality through this essay; let your sense of humor or interesting perspective shine!

During my sophomore year of high school, I decided to try out for the school's ultimate frisbee team, despite never having touched a frisbee before. In my first practice, my throws looked more like lopsided boomerangs than smooth, flat discs. At the team’s first game, I was given the task of throwing the first "pull," the ultimate frisbee equivalent of a kickoff. My nerves took over, and instead of the frisbee soaring downfield, it flew straight up and then veered right, landing in the nearby tennis court. This sparked a roaring laughter from both teams, and even the referee couldn’t contain his chuckles. I was mortified but joined the laughter because of the absurdity of the situation. That moment of shared laughter taught me the value of not taking myself too seriously and helped me bond with my teammates. By the end of the season, my throws had improved, and while I'll never be an ultimate frisbee champion, I'll always be the champion of good humor on the team.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #2

The University of Georgia community creates, contributes, and applies knowledge in many ways. Describe an example of your leadership and the impact it had on others.

Approach: Here, UGA wants to understand how you lead and contribute to a community. Reflect on moments when you stepped up to take charge—maybe in an academic setting, a club, a sports team, or volunteering. How did your leadership make a difference? Remember, leadership isn't just about being the president of a club. You could have demonstrated leadership through initiative, teamwork, or problem-solving.

In my junior year, I served as the project manager for our school's Robotics Club. Our team was tasked with designing a robot for a local competition, but we hit a snag when our design kept failing during tests. As project manager, I decided to take a new approach. I organized a brainstorming session, where everyone, including the newest members, was encouraged to propose solutions. One of the freshman members suggested a minor adjustment to the weight distribution, which many had overlooked. His solution turned out to be the key to fixing our design! By fostering an environment where every voice was valued, we not only built a successful robot but also strengthened our team cohesion.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #3 (Optional)

In our diverse and interdependent world, please tell us about an experience that demonstrated or gave you the opportunity to understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Approach: UGA values diversity and inclusion, and this prompt asks you to share an experience where you came to understand its significance. It could be a personal encounter, an event, or a revelation from a book or film. The key is to convey your ability to learn from diverse perspectives and experiences and to contribute to an inclusive campus culture.

In high school, I volunteered for a local organization that supports refugee resettlement. One of my primary tasks involved tutoring a young girl from Syria. The language barrier and cultural differences made the task challenging at first, but I gradually found ways to connect with her through visuals, storytelling, and games. The experience showed me the value of patience, empathy, and open-mindedness in understanding and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and experiences of others. It also reinforced the importance of equity in access to education, regardless of one's origins.

UGA Supplemental Essay Short Answer Question

UGA’s 2023 First-Year Odyssey Program offers more than 300 seminar courses for new students. Which do you find most appealing and why?

Approach: Research is key here. Explore the First-Year Odyssey program, select a seminar that genuinely interests you, and articulate why. Link it back to your academic interests, career goals, or intellectual curiosity.

Sure, let's dive into example responses for each of the University of Georgia supplemental essays.

UGA Supplemental Essay Prompt #3

I find "Unleashing Creativity Through Visual Storytelling" particularly appealing among UGA's First-Year Odyssey seminars. As a budding filmmaker, this course aligns with my passion for storytelling and my desire to delve deeper into the techniques of visual narration. The opportunity to analyze the work of acclaimed filmmakers and apply those insights to a project of my own is thrilling. Moreover, it would be invaluable in preparing me for my intended major in Film Studies.

Remember, your essays are a chance to showcase your personality, experiences, values, and goals. Be authentic, thoughtful, and concise. Tailor your responses to UGA, showing why you're a good fit for their community.

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