HackGT 9 Admissions

In the past few months, our organizers had the opportunity to live vicariously through each and every applicant throughout our admissions process. We loved to read about the projects you’ve worked on, the passion you have for technology, and everything you want to accomplish! With all the amazing things we’ve seen in your applications, we found this year’s admissions process to be particularly difficult.

We are thankful to all the applicants who are excited to attend our event and deeply appreciate all the time and effort applicants poured into their applications. For those who didn’t receive the decision they were hoping for, we understand your disappointment and we would like to give you a glimpse into what our application process is like. As an organization, we’d love to host every single individual at the event and it’s disheartening that we are unable to. We hope this post will clarify what we look for in our hackers, help you understand our admissions process, and show how appreciative we are of all the hard work you put into your applications.

The Process

HackGT has two different rounds for applicants: our travel reimbursement pool, which was smaller in application size and acceptance, and the non-travel reimbursement pool. The majority of participants at our event are accepted through the second application pool, which is predominantly Georgia Tech students and students from the Atlanta-area.

Additionally, HackGT has two different application paths for emerging and general members. These paths target two different types of hackers and are evaluated on different criteria, detailed further below.

The process of evaluating applications begins with members of the HackGT Organizing Team receiving an anonymous application with only the long answer questions from an applicant’s essay. Organizers then evaluate the questions on the effort and passion conveyed by the applicant in their answers.

Emerging Participants

For emerging hackers, these questions are the following:

• If you had any superpower what would it be, why, and what would you use it to do in the world?
• How do you motivate yourself to keep going when you get stuck on a problem? Describe a time when this happened and how you overcame the challenge.
• When you're in a new environment, how do you build relationships with other people?

General Participants

For general hackers, these questions are the following:

• If you could bring any of your past projects to a judging expo, what would it be? Why would it win?
• What is a hobby that you have kept for a long time? What challenges have you faced over the months and what makes you go back?
• How would you change the world with unlimited popsicle sticks?

Application Review

Essay Questions

For each question, individuals were evaluated on a variety of criteria depending on the question. We looked for students who embodied HackGT values and displayed enthusiasm about attending our hackathon.

Resumes

Though resumes were requested, they were not taken into account in the selection process. We additionally mentioned this on the application portal itself. Participant resumes are provided to sponsors interested in recruitment, streamlining the networking process at HackGT.

Other Applicant Data

Other additional applicant information, like school year, graduation year, major, or school was not taken into account when considering applications. This data was only used for statistical measures and did not impact a student’s admission.

Our Hacker Body

After reviewing all our applications, we chose a threshold above which we believe every participant would be a great fit for HackGT. One of our primary limitations in the admissions process is fire safety protocols, which restrict the number of participants we can host. Everyone who receives a score above this threshold is someone we believe would be a great hacker at our event.

For the handful of applicants that were exactly at this threshold, we looked through their additional materials and information. Our team intentionally admitted those on the threshold with diverse backgrounds and skill levels to create a broader, more inclusive event. We prioritized diversity to align with our team values because we understand technology is our future — and technology cannot be created for everyone if it is not made by everyone.

How Can I Still Be Involved?

While we regret being unable to invite everyone to hack the event, we would like to welcome any interested Georgia Tech students to attend workshops and talks throughout the event. A full schedule of events open to the Georgia Tech community will be posted on our website at 2022.hack.gt. Additionally, we host a handful of more focused events throughout the school year that are open to all Georgia Tech students. Our past events include HackGTeeny, BuildGT, Horizons, and Catalyst. We hope to see you at a future HackGT event!

We are also currently accepting applications for volunteers and mentors for all individuals if you are interested in helping behind the scenes or assisting students throughout the event! Visit registration.hexlabs.org to learn more. This is a great place to show your interest in HexLabs if you plan on applying to our organizing #dreamteam when we release applications after HackGT!

For more information on other events that we host, check out each event’s website (linked above) and stay tuned by following our social media, @TheHexLabs on all channels. If you have any additional questions, please send us an email at hello@hexlabs.org. We’re honored to be a part of the Georgia Tech community and are looking forward to another astounding year.

With ❤️,

The HexLabs Team