Southern Polytechnic: Incoming freshmen

Prospective students

Meet SPSU

Undergraduate programs

Life at SPSU

Career planning

Financing your education

Apply to SPSU

Incoming freshmen
AP, CLEP, and IB courses
Transfer students
International students
Nontraditional students
Admission checklist
Immunization requirements
Online application

Learn about Orientation

Visit us

Request information

Incoming freshmen

Regular freshman admission standards
Regular freshmen are typically applicants who will be first-time college students and who attend the University soon after completing high school. SPSU's minimum requirements for admission as a regular freshman include the following:

Graduation from a regionally accredited high school, a high school accredited by the Georgia Accreditation Commission or an approved University System of Georgia agency or from a public school under the authority of the State Department of Education.
Completion of the 16 required CPC units, plus two additional academic units.
An academic high school GPA of at least 2.5 and minimum scores of 500 on the SAT I Verbal (21 ACT - English) and 500 on the SAT I Math (21 ACT - Math).

Limited freshman admission standards
The University System permits SPSU to admit a limited number of traditional freshmen each year who do not meet all the minimum requirements listed above, but whose records are sufficiently strong enough to show promise for success at the University. SPSU's minimum requirements for limited freshman admission include the following:

Graduation from a regionally accredited high school, a high school accredited by the Georgia Accreditation Commission or an Approved University System of Georgia agency or from a public school under the authority of the State Department of Education.
Completion of the 16 required CPC units.
An academic high school GPA of at least 2.5 and minimum scores of 450 on the SAT I Verbal (18 ACT - English) and 450 on the SAT I Math (18 ACT - Math).

Alternatives for home school and other applicants
Applicants, including home school students, who have not completed the prescribed units of the CPC from a regionally accredited or University System recognized high school may validate the CPC in an alternate way. This alternative is designed to give the student the ability to demonstrate proficiency in courses preparatory to college.

The alternative approach for handling exceptions for home school and other students waives the high school graduation requirement, the academic grade point requirement, and the Carnegie Unit requirements of the CPC in exchange for satisfactory performance on additional standardized tests (specific SAT II subject exams) which validate high school completion and college preparedness. The applicants must also meet SAT I requirements.

Applicants who have not completed the CPC at an accredited high school must achieve designated scores on the following SAT II subject tests in order to demonstrate College Preparatory Curriculum proficiency. The seven required SAT II subjects tests are: English Writing, Literature, Math I C or Math II C, American History and Social Science, World History, Biology, and Chemistry or Physics.

Students must also demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the level of two years of high school study by taking and passing appropriate assessment tests on campus.

Joint enrollment/post-secondary option
To be considered for joint enrollment, an applicant must:

Be enrolled as a junior or senior in high school.
Have minimum SAT I scores of 500 Verbal (21 ACT - English) and 500 Math (21 ACT - Math).
Have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Be on track for completion of CPC requirements by the end of their senior year in high school.
Have written consent from parents.

CPC units
To be eligible for admission to Southern Polytechnic, you must have completed the University System of Georgia's College Preparatory Curriculum requirements, which include a minimum of 16 units in the following areas:

Course (units)	Required course emphasis

English (4)	American, English, and World Literature integrated with grammar and usage and advanced composition skills.

Mathematics (4)	Algebra I and II, Geometry, and a fourth year that may include such courses as Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry, Algebra III, Precalculus, Discrete Mathematics, Calculus, AP Calculus, IB Mathematics, Analysis.

Science (3)	Must include at least one lab course from Life Science and one lab course from Physical Science.

Foreign Language (2)	Two units, both of which must be in the same language and must emphasize speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

For more information about applying as an entering freshman, contact the Admissions Office.